The influence of the fourth industrial revolution in teaching and learning: the COVID-19 context

Literature review

COVID-19 is a contagious disease caused by a new virus known as SARS-CoV-2 (World Health Organisation [WHO], 2020). This novel disease was originally known in China in Wuhan City in 2019. Mahaye (2020) indicates that South Africa had its first confirmed case of COVID-19 on 5 March 2020, and within a month, the total number of infected cases increased to 1,585. As of 23 April 2020, the number of confirmed cases in South Africa increased to 3,953, with 75 related deaths. COVID-19 is spread from one person to another through respiratory droplets that are expelled when an individual with the disease sneezes, coughs, or talks (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention [CDC], 2020).

Thus, medical specialists suggested social distancing as a means of containing the transmission of the dreaded virus (CDC, 2020). Mahaye (2020) states that the rapid spread of the pandemic in several countries of the world led to the temporary closure of schools at all levels of learning. The global statistics show that above1.6 billion youngsters have been out of school due to the abrupt and short-term closure of institutions (World Bank, 2020). The aftermath of the school closure propelled governments across the world to embrace distance learning to curtail the spread of the virus and enable home learning despite the virulent pandemic.

Thus, the World Bank (2020) is working relentlessly to support Ministries of Education to offer online learning to various institutions of learning during the ravaging pandemic. All schools in South Africa were temporarily closed down on 27 July 2020 during the pandemic, and alternative methods of teaching such as blended learning was effectively introduced to the school systems to allow learners access to education during the lockdown period (Mahaye, 2020).

The Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR)

The World Economy Forum (2018) indicates that 4IR connotes technological innovation that shapes the boundaries between physical, biological, and digital worlds. Kayembe and Nel (2019) also state that 4IR is based on the present digital revolution that leads to the creation of fresh opportunities and possibilities for society. Erboz (2017:2) contends that the components of 4IR include the Internet of Things (IoT), Cyber-Physical Systems, Internet of Services, and Smart Factory. Other components are artificial intelligence, three-dimensional (3D) printing, robotics, blockchain technology, cryptocurrency, quantum computing, nanotechnology, and bioengineering. Universally, cloud-based platforms like Zoom, Google Hangouts, and WebEx are useful for teachers and learners to complete their tasks from home during the pandemic. Beetham and Sharpe (2013) indicate that digital technology promotes interactions between teachers and learners, thereby transforming the teaching and learning activities. However, Rashid and Asghar (2016) found that there is an insignificant impact of digital technologies on learners’ academic performance.

Kayembe and Nel (2019) found that the education system in South Africa is facing some challenges during 4IR implementation. The challenges are inadequate funding, infrastructure, and adequate skills needed for 4IR implementation. The teachers’ challenges are in the areas of pedagogical adaptation, teacher development, and infrastructure for technological innovation (Kayembe and Nel, 2019). The 4IR provides the following opportunities:

Effects of the COVID-19 pandemic on the teaching and learning process

The COVID-19 pandemic led to temporary school closures that drastically affected the academic calendar (Mhlanga and Moloi, 2020). To minimise the rate of academic disruptions by the nationwide lockdown, several institutions of learning have embarked on online programmes (Mhlanga and Moloi, 2020). Before the pandemic, not all teachers in South Africa had the required training in line with the new technology to support blended or online learning (The Conversion, 2020). The temporary closure of schools by the Ministry of Basic Education compelled teachers to adjust to the new technology to forestall any impediment to learning activities (Jantjies, 2020). The teachers in South African schools had to provide adequate support to learners using online resources and face-to-face discussions on platforms like Zoom, WhatsApp, and Google apps for video calls (Jantjies, 2020). The teachers had to supplement learning by the use of educative programmes on Radio and television (Kuwonu, 2020). Before the pandemic, the focus of South Africa was on the digital revolution in the 4IR, thus, teachers play a leading role in digital skills progress and sustainability (Jantjies, 2020).

Blended learning approach during the COVID-19 pandemic

For some years now, teachers and studies have suggested blended learning for future learning (Best, 2020). The school closure caused by the pandemic enabled the concept of blended learning to be placed into practice (Best, 2020). Mahaye (2020) defines blended learning as a technology-based teaching system that integrates a traditional teaching method with an online learning method. Also, Best (2020) defines blended teaching as an instructional strategy that uses digital approaches in combination with conventional practice in the classroom. In this concept, digital and conventional face-to-face teaching may support depending on the timetable. In this case, learners might take one class in the classroom and another class entirely online.

Blended learning normally occurs in tertiary institutions. This concept can be defined as the combination of traditional and online learning methods (Dziuban et al., 2018; Hrastinski, 2019). Its use involves learners and teachers within the classroom where face-to-face instruction is carried out. Besides, blended learning is described as the total means of teaching and learning that involve traditional face-to-face classroom methods of instruction with online learning (Siemens, Gasevic, and Dawson, 2015). The recent lockdown has propelled teachers to implement online, blended learning teaching practices. Oliver (2020) reports that almost 10% of homes in South Africa have access to an internet connection. Limited schools implemented blended learning before the lockdown and few schools adopted it in the lockdown period. Thus, schools with inadequate resources were redundant.

Research questions

This paper was guided by the need to explore how the 4IR shaped teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic in some of the schools located in Gauteng and Mpumalanga provinces, South Africa.

The following are the research questions that guided this paper:

Ethical statement

The Unisa College of Education ethics review committee approved this study (Ref: 2021/06/09/51994186/17/AM). Written informed consent was obtained from participants prior to data collection. The records are available from the authors.

Theoretical framework

The theoretical framework for this paper was based on constructivism theory. According to Vygotsky, social constructivism propounds that people play an active role in creating their knowledge (Schreiber and Valle, 2013). Vygotsky’s theory is based on the social construct that learning takes place in social groups (Schreiber and Valle, 2013). He established a learning model that enables the teachers to be very active so that they will lead the learners to develop their understanding in the way they think.

Constructivism theory is a vital theory that is used in the education system. Constructivism theory was used to guide this paper as it involved the integration of 4IR in teaching and learning. Constructivism theory has assisted the researchers in exploring teachers’ understanding of 4IR, the role of SMT in the integration of 4IR as well as the challenges and opportunities in the integration of 4IR in teaching and learning. Constructivism believes that learners should be actively involved in learning while the teachers’ role is to assist the learners in their learning activities (Williams, 2018).

In this paper, the constructivist approach was utilised in online teaching and learning activities during the COVID-19 pandemic since access to face-to-face traditional teaching methods was not possible. These teaching and learning activities involved using mobile phones and laptops to access Google Classroom, Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and WhatsApp applications. These applications enable teachers and learners to engage in knowledge construction. By using constructivism theory, the researchers were able to evaluate whether the teachers have appropriate understanding in support of the teaching and learning through 4IR. Hence, teachers with appropriate knowledge supporting the integration of 4IR understood that 4IR comprises technology, the internet and electronic devices.

In this context (4IR), teachers and learners were expected to be actively involved in teaching and learning using technology. According to Kaur (2017), in constructivist perspectives, teachers play the role of a facilitator by guiding and motivating the learners. As a result, for teachers to be able to facilitate their role in teaching and learning through the integration of 4IR, support from district officials and SMT will be required for learners to receive quality education. Kaur (2017) reported that teachers ensure a conducive learning environment that will enable the learners to become effective thinkers. Nevertheless, effective teaching and learning through the integration of 4IR requires adequate teaching and learning resources such as smartboards, computers, as internet access.

Research design and methodology

This paper followed a qualitative interpretative multiple case studies design. We employed a case study design to provide rich descriptions of how 4IR shaped the teaching practices of teachers during the COVID-19 pandemic. We considered a case study design to be appropriate for this paper as it enabled us to gain concrete, contextual, in-depth knowledge about the phenomenon under exploration (McCombes, 2019). In addition, the paper also focused on the teachers knowledge about 4IR and the challenges that teachers experienced when teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic in their school setting. Moreover, it was plausible to use constructivism theory and, in particular social constructivism as the teachers who were our case; information was sourced from them in their natural setting (that is, at their schools), and they assisted the researchers in constructing the data.

Sample

The sample of this paper consisted of four teachers; two teachers taught in schools located in the Gauteng province, one teacher taught in a school located in Limpopo province, and one teacher taught in a school located in Mpumalanga province. The participants were identified purposefully as they taught in different school contexts, in an essence such that their contexts ranged from technical (the school offered technical subjects), independent (the school was a privately owned), and government schools, which we used as our selection criteria. The participants were contacted telephonically as they are our acquaintances who participate in this paper. By using a purposeful sampling, the researchers managed to include four cases according to relevant criteria, such as teachers offering teaching in any phase of school located in Gauteng, Limpopo, and Mpumalanga province. Although the sample size is small, in qualitative research, it is not foreign. The advantage is that it allows the in-depth analysis of the case studies. According to Crossman and Nicki (2020), purposive sampling in qualitative research is a non-probability sampling method, which researchers selected based on the population characteristics and the aim of this paper. The selected participants assisted the researchers in answering the proposed research questions and achieving the aim of this paper.

Participants

The four teachers that participated in this paper were three females and one male. We used keywords and symbols for each participant. The four participants were referred to as P1/F/46/TS, P2/M/40/TS, P3/F/26/PS, and P4/F/25/GS. These symbols represent participant number, gender, age, and the nature of the school. This was also to ensure anonymity. The first two participants, who were referred to as P1/F/46/TS and P2/M/40/TS, were based in Limpopo province, but they are currently working in Gauteng province. Three participants were teaching at the Senior (senior phase starts at grade 7 until grade 9) and FET phase (starts at grade 10 up to grade 12) whereas one participant was teaching foundation phase (starts at grade R until grade 3) and all participants were qualified to teach the subjects they were currently teaching. Moreover, the participants have different teaching experiences. Table 1, below, summarises participants’ demographic details:

Data collection instrument and procedure

Data for this paper was collected telephonically using a semi-structured interview tool. The entire interview with each participant was in English and was audio-recorded. The rationale for this data collection method was for convenience purposes as the telephonic interviews offered an opportunity to probe, and the participants were at their schools. The interviews were conducted in October - November 2021. Participants’ permission was requested by researchers before interview in order to ensure reliability and to avoid a mix-up of data collected during the process of analysing data. The semi-structured interview is a qualitative data collection technique where researchers prepare questions to ask the participants in advance. Additionally, in a semi-structured interview, interviewers do not necessarily follow a formalised list of questions but ask open-ended questions that allow for discussions with the interviewee (Doyle, 2017).

The interview tool was used to collect data based on teachers’ knowledge about the 4IR in education, teacher understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic, teaching and learning experiences during a pandemic, and challenges and opportunities in integrating 4IR in teaching and learning. The recording device, i.e., audio recorder was used to capture the data of the entire interview process, and researchers ensured that the participants were asked the same open questions. We developed the tool based on our research questions and the context of the study. The questions were validated by the authors. We piloted them with one of the teachers who was not part of the research.

Rigour

To ensure that the study is trustworthy that is, it is credible, transferable, and dependable we ensured that the instruments are valid (Leung, 2015). This was achieved through a pilot study that was conducted with one teacher who was not part of the main study. What we found from this pilot study was that some of the questions were not clear in terms of the language and content, and we had to change them. Again, the interview was too long, and as we were using telephone interviews, we had to reduce the questions to avoid being cut off.

Data analysis

The data attained from four cases were analysed and interpreted separately. Researchers transcribed audio-recorded semi-structured interviews verbatim, to a word document. After transcribing data from the audio-recordings to word documents, the researchers replayed the audio to check if the words transcribed corresponded with what was on the audio; thereafter they were destroyed. Moreover, researchers did not correct any grammatical errors of the participants. This was done to ensure that the data collected was presented accordingly and did not lose its original meaning. Hence, the data that the researchers transcribed was communicated to relevant participants before being considered as the final product.

The data collected was presented in the form of case studies, i.e., case 1, case 2, case 3, and case 4. The data of this paper was analysed using Data Analysis Scheme (DAS), which was developed from the literature review, research questions, and personal experiences. The data was analysed using a typology approach whereby themes that derived from the literature reviewed and research questions were used. The following are the themes derived from the literature reviewed and research questions.

Additionally, only data related to themes suggested for this paper were considered and assisted researchers in responding to the research questions and fulfilling the aim of this paper.

Case 1: Participant 1/Female/46/Technical School= P1/F/46/TS

Theme 1: Understanding of 4IR and the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) by teachers

For this paper, we had to ask the teacher about her understanding of 4IR and COVID-19 within the context of the teaching and learning process. During the interview process, we noted that the teacher had an idea of what 4IR entails, as she was able to highlight some of the aspects that enable the integration of 4IR. She indicated that 4IR entails technology, the internet, and electronic devices. This was evident in the statement from the interview below:

We had to ask further as to what she understands about the ‘4IR’ abbreviation. She indicated that 4IR stands for “Industrial Revolution,” which was incorrect in this context. This led us to probe about her understanding of COVID-19, as this shaped how 4IR is integrated into teaching and learning. However, the teacher could not explain what COVID-19 is, but she was able to describe some of the COVID-19 regulations that she had to adhere to, such as using hand sanitiser and maintaining social distancing in her classroom. She indicated that:

Theme 2: The role of the School Management Team (SMT) during the COVID-19 pandemic within the 4IR context

The SMT plays an important role in ensuring that there is quality of teaching and learning in school. As a result, we had to find out the role that was played by the SMT during the COVID-19 pandemic within the 4IR context. The teacher revealed that the SMT was not fully involved in incorporating 4IR during the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the district officials introduced the 4IR initiatives at the school to teach teachers how to use 4IR tools such as “Zoom”. Nonetheless, they failed to complete the training task. This was evident in the statement from the interview below:

It was apparent that the lack of consistency and commitment from the district officials was one of the barriers that hindered the integration of 4IR, as they did not train the teachers on how to use “Zoom” as one of the 4IR tools.

Theme 3: The challenges provided by COVID-19 within the 4IR context of education

We had to probe further on other challenges that the teacher encountered when she had to integrate 4IR during the COVID-19 pandemic. Based on our findings, the teacher encountered numerous challenges to the extent that she ended up classifying herself as a “Born Before Technology (BBT)” teacher. This was a challenge because she created a negative viewpoint that older teachers are not interested in integrating 4IR, as they do not have a background of using technology or adequate knowledge and skills of 4IR. She also indicated that she did not integrate 4IR during the COVID-19 pandemic as she is teaching senior phase. She asserted that:

The teacher pointed out that the COVID-19 pandemic brought more challenges in the classroom, in relation to the matters of social distancing because learners were coming to school in groups and rotating. As a result, some groups would participate actively while other groups would not do that during her lessons. This was evident in the statement from the interview below:

Furthermore, inadequate teaching and learning resources were a contributing factor to some of these challenges. The teacher indicated that they do have access to internet, but the computer laboratories are no longer useful since the COVID-19 pandemic. When asked if they all have their own personal laptops, she indicated that the Department of Basic Education (DBE) only offered the departmental laptops to Further Education and Training (FET) teachers in the school. This was evident in the statement below:

Socio economic background was also a challenge that hindered the incorporation of some 4IR tools such as the creation of a WhatsApp group for the purposes of teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. We had to ask the teacher if her learners had access to smart phones. She indicated that not all of them have smart phones. As a result, it makes it difficult for her to have a WhatsApp group. This was evident in the statement below:

As the teacher had already mentioned that she did not integrate 4IR during the COVID-19 pandemic, we had to probe further whether there were other teachers that did or did not integrate 4IR in teaching and learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. We were also interested in finding out if other teachers used tools that are aligned to 4IR such as “Zoom or Microsoft Teams” or not. The teacher asserted that:

Based on the above statement, it was evident that the incorporation of 4IR during COVID-19 was a personal choice as there were teachers that incorporated it while others did not.

Theme 4: The opportunities provided by COVID-19 within the 4IR context of education

The teacher has hope that 4IR can bring about opportunities that can make teaching and learning more effective. This was evident in the statement below:

Case 2: Participant 2/Male/40/technical school = P2/M/40/TS

Theme 1: Understanding of 4IR and coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) by teachers.

During the interview process, we asked the teacher what he comprehends about 4IR within the context of education. He described 4IR as:

The teacher displayed inadequate knowledge of what 4IR is, as he was of the impression that 4IR focuses on the system that limits direct contact between the teacher and the learner which, in this context, was a misconception. Furthermore, he explained that COVID-19 is a virus that spreads and affects the whole world. His understanding of COVID-19 was limited. This is evident in the statement from the interview below:

Theme 2: The role of the School Management Team (SMT) during COVID-19 pandemic within 4IR context

We had to find out more on the roles that the SMT played during the COVID-19 pandemic towards the integration of 4IR in teaching and learning. The teacher revealed that the SMT was disorganised when it comes to the incorporation of 4IR in teaching and learning. He asserted that:

It was evident that the SMT played a minimal role in ensuring that the teaching and learning was not affected. There was nothing planned or prepared to continue with the lessons and this affected the process of teaching as time was also wasted.

Theme 3: The challenges provided by the COVID-19 within the 4IR context of education

There were also challenges when he had to integrate 4IR in teaching and learning. The teacher indicated those challenges in the statements from the interviews below:

The teacher revealed that not all learners have smart phones, some do not have access to internet and, even if he can incorporate 4IR in teaching and learning, it was not effective. This is so because other learners were unable to do the work given to them. As a result, the teacher will have to spend more time in using 4IR tools such as WhatsApp and phone calls to try and explain the work given to learners individually on what needs to be done and this time consuming. When using 4IR tools such as Zoom and WhatsApp, he experienced the following challenges:

Another challenge he encountered was that some of his colleagues were reluctant in teaching online as it was based on personal interest, which led them to be resistant to change. This was evident in the statement below:

Theme 4: The opportunities provided by the COVID-19 within the 4IR context of education

The school itself had enough resources that can be used to incorporate 4IR during the pandemic but those resources were not used effectively. For instance, he revealed that the school has access to the following resources that were provided by the DBE which learners had an opportunity to access them:

We had to find out about the opportunities that led to the incorporation of 4IR during the COVID-19 pandemic. The teacher indicated that he did incorporate 4IR in teaching and learning during this pandemic. He incorporated 4IR by the doing the following:

Furthermore, he also used 4IR tools such as Zoom, YouTube, and Microsoft Teams but his preference was WhatsApp as it was conducive for his lessons and consumes less data. This was evident in the statement below:

Case 3: Participant 3/Female/26/Private school= P3/F/26/PS

Theme 1: Understanding of 4IR and coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) by teachers

The teacher’s understanding of what 4IR was in teaching and learning context was limited as she indicated that 4IR was introduced with a motive of making life, teaching and learning easier. However, she did not elaborate further about those aspects that are capable of making teaching and learning accessible. This was evident in the statement from the interview below:

The teacher showed that she had an in-depth understanding of the COVID-19 pandemic. She was able to explain the origin of this virus, how it spreads, and how one can protect themselves from contracting it. She asserted that:

Theme 2: The role of the School Management Team (SMT) during COVID-19 pandemic within 4IR context

The SMT played an important role in ensuring that teaching and learning of the school continues uninterrupted. The teacher indicated that the SMT did not have lot of strategies at hand for introducing online lessons however with time; they were able to come up with strategies that they implemented to continue with the lessons. This was evident in the statement from the interview below:

Theme 3: The challenges provided by the COVID-19 within the 4IR context of education

She also indicated that she faced certain challenges during the COVID-19 pandemic, which hindered her from incorporating 4IR in teaching and learning. Load shedding and poor network connection were some of the challenges she encountered. This was evident in the statement from the interview below:

Theme 4: The opportunities provided by COVID-19 within the 4IR context of education

COVID-19 pandemic brought lot of opportunities in teaching and learning. The teacher was able to incorporate 4IR in her lessons. Numerous platforms for 4IR were implemented as indicated in the statement below:

It was evident that the COVID-19 pandemic provided the teacher with opportunities to use 4IR platforms such as technology frequently, teach online lessons, zoom lessons, google meet and google forms. This enabled the teacher to have effective lessons, as she was able to assess work given to learners using these 4IR platforms. Furthermore, she indicated that 4IR and the COVID-19 pandemic enabled teachers to bridge the gap between traditional teaching methods and online learning.

Case 4: Participant 4/Female/25/Government school= P4/F/25/GS

Theme 1: Understanding of 4IR and coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) by teachers

During the interviews that were conducted with the teacher, she demonstrated that she has an idea as to what 4IR was all about. She asserted that 4IR is:

We had to probe further to understand what she means by using 4IR to bring outside world in the classroom environment. She indicated that:

Her explanations led us to enquire what she comprehends about COVID-19. She asserted that:

Theme 2: The role of the School Management Team (SMT) during COVID-19 pandemic within 4IR context

For teaching and learning to be effective, SMT’s need to support teachers in order to achieve that goal. However, that was not the case with this teacher as her SMT was not supportive towards the incorporation of 4IR during COVID-19. In fact, based on our findings it was evident that there was no unity amongst staff members as seen in the statement below:

Theme 3: The challenges provided by COVID-19 within the 4IR context of education

Lack of support from the SMT was not the only challenge that the teacher experienced especially when she had to incorporate 4IR during the COVID-19 pandemic. We had to find out about her actual teaching experience during COVID-19. She indicated that:

She mentioned that lack of resources and lack of electricity in the classroom were major challenges as it hindered the incorporation of 4IR, as the classrooms did not have electrical plugs. She indicated that she did not integrate 4IR during COVID-19. We further probe to find out if she did or did not use some of the 4IR tools such as WhatsApp or Facebook. She asserted that:

Furthermore, the socio-economic background of the learners served as a challenge as a majority of them came from poor backgrounds. This led us to find out the percentage of learners who have smart phones. She indicated that less than 60% of learners have access to smart phones. We had to find out about the opportunities that 4IR could bring in teaching and learning. She indicated that:

Theme 4: The opportunities provided by COVID-19 within the 4IR context of education

In order for the incorporation of 4IR to be success, the teacher suggested that:

Understanding of the 4IR and corona virus pandemic (COVID-19) by teachers

Ramukumba (2019) described 4IR as a third revolution, which combines multiple technologies from the digital, biological and physical worlds. This is so because it provides opportunities for various countries to advance themselves through innovative technology that is driven by growth. It is the advanced technology based on communication and information (Min et al., 2019). This is similar to P1/F/46/TS who indicated that 4IR consist of technology, internet and the use of electronic devices to make teaching and learning easier. A similar perspective was given by P4/F/25/GS when she mentioned that 4IR has to do with technology used to enhance teaching and learning.

The Minister of Basic Education emphasised on the need to enhance the quality of teaching and learning in schools in order to prepare for 4IR adequately (Motshekga, 2018). Hence, it is important for teachers to have access to internet and technology in schools in order to prepare the next generation for the 4IR (Doucet et al., 2018). By doing so, teachers will be able to share skills such as innovation, critical thinking, and the ability to solve problems and collaboration rather than only focusing on technology and internet access.

The 4IR has brought numerous changes on how learners are taught and how they must learn (Ilori and Ajagunna, 2020). Hence, P3/F/26/PS had a different view regarding her understanding of 4IR where she asserted that 4IR does not reflect the teacher but it is there to make teaching and learning easier. Similar perspectives where also evident when P2/M/40/TS described 4IR as a system that is used for teaching and learning to reduce a direct contact between the teacher and a learner. This is similar to Scepanovič (2019) who revealed that 4IR has altered the way we do things.

These assertions reveal that there is still more work that needs to be done in order for teachers to have an in-depth understanding of 4IR. Hence, the President of South Africa said; “the country and teachers needed to change the direction of secondary school education to develop relevant skills to match the fourth industrial revolution” (Ramaphosa, 2019). This is so because most teachers that taught in the old system are not fully equipped on the use of computers.

For this paper, we had to tap into what the teachers understands about the COVID-19 pandemic. A study by Cennimo (2021) defined COVID-19 as an illness that is caused by a novel coronavirus which is now referred to as acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 which was first identified in Wuhan City, Hubei Province, China. This is similar to P3/F/26/PS, P4/F/25/GS, and P2/M/40/TS who indicated that COVID-19 is a virus that originates from China, which spreads through droplets from the surfaces.

This relates to who revealed that COVID-19 is transmitted through respiratory droplets (Kord et al., 2020). There are measures such as disinfecting surfaces, wearing of personal protective equipment, lockdown, and social distancing that can be implement to assist in preventing and controlling the COVID-19 pandemic (Xiao and Torok, 2020). This is similar to P1/F/46/TS who indicated that she adheres to COVID-19 regulations such as using hand sanitisers and maintaining social distancing in class.

The role of the School Management Team (SMT) during the COVID-19 pandemic within 4IR context

For the purpose of this paper, we had to understand the leadership role that is played by SMT especially during this pandemic. SMT plays an important role in giving leadership guidance, assistance and direction in teaching and learning situation (Mathipa et al., 2014). This is similar to P3/F/26/PS who indicated that the SMT did manage to provide teachers with support needed for teaching and learning even though they encountered challenges. This showed that the SMT managed to improve the quality of teaching and learning as they were able to assist teachers to continue with teaching and learning during the pandemic (Kgothe, 2013).

However, that was not the case with P1/F/46/TS, P2/M/40/TS, and P4/F/25/GS as there was no support or guidance from the SMT. This is similar to P3/F/26/PS who revealed that most SMT members have a challenge when they have to work as a team and some members do not know their roles in the SMT (Maja, 2016). As a result, this affects the management effectiveness, impacts negatively on the leadership and affect teaching and teaching.

The challenges provided by the COVID-19 within the 4IR context of education

Teachers encountered numerous challenges during COVID-19 pandemic when they had to integrate 4IR during teaching and learning process. A study conducted by Kayembe and Nel (2019) revealed that lack of funding, resources and skills are major challenges that hinders the incorporation of 4IR. Connectivity is an important aspect towards successful integration of 4IR in teaching and learning but most of public schools do not have access to internet (Moyo, 2019).

This is similar to P1/F/46/TS, P3/F/26/PS, P2/ F/46/TS, and P4/F/25/GS as they mentioned that lack of teaching and learning resources, access to internet, and socio-economic background are some of the challenges that hindered the incorporation of 4IR effectively. Furthermore, Oke and Fernandes (2020) revealed that there is insufficient knowledge regarding the acceptability and consequences of the 4IR in the education sector. This is similar to P1/F/46/TS who indicated that inadequate knowledge and skills of using technology were some of the factors that hindered 4IR incorporation. Hence, Feza (2019) indicated that the incorporation of 4IR and advanced technology in teaching and learning would be a challenge on teachers who are already been overworked.

The opportunities provided by the COVID-19 within the 4IR context of education.

The incorporation of 4IR in teaching and learning process has developed many opportunities for teachers, such as the use of google in classroom situation, which has replaced the teacher as the oracle of knowledge (Naude, 2019). This is similar to P3/F/26/PS who indicated that Google meet were one of the tools that contributed successfully in the integration of 4IR during the COVID-19 pandemic. This clearly indicates that 4IR has opened up new opportunities that allows new and innovative solutions to problems (Munasi and Madikizela-Madiya, 2020). This is so because P1/F/46/TS, P2/M/40/TS, P3/F/26/PS, and P4/F/25/GS indicated that 4IR tools such as smartboards, Google meets, WhatsApp, Zoom, YouTube, Microsoft Teams and Zoom were used to integrate 4IR during the COVID-19 pandemic. Hence, it is important for schools to be equipped for teaching with and 4IR (Musgrave, 2019).

Therefore, it is recommended that the government should develop interventions in training of the teachers for professional development in the usage of 4IR for teaching and learning activities. These will enable the teachers to be more skillful and competent in the implementation of 4IR technology. Furthermore, adequate support is also required from the government and stakeholders in the education sector concerning the supply of resources such as smartboards, computers, and network access in schools lacking such facilities. The limitations of this paper are that the sample was small but the advantage is that the findings can be inferred to similar cases. Only one data collection technique was used.