Tapping into the Asset-based Approach to Improve Academic Performance in Rural Schools

摘要

This theoretical paper, through the Critical Emancipatory Research lens, captures the discourse around the asset-based approach, in different contexts for purpose of arguing for it in improving academic performance in the South African rural schools. It begins with exploring literature that support the need for the asset-based strategy in improving academic performance: the components of the asset-based approach are discussed and literature on how the school environment can best be set to utilise the asset-based approach is explored; possible threats for the asset-based approach are also discussed with an aim to establish how they can better be addressed in the context of applying this approach in improving academic performance. The paper concludes by combining together the discussion with an aim to demonstrate why the asset-based approach is relevant particularly in the rural context.