Mathematical Attribution Patterns and Academic Achievement in Rural South African Secondary Education: A Case Study from the Lady Frere District, Eastern Cape

Abstract

South African mathematics underperformance is most severe in rural, under-resourced schools, yet how rural learners explain their results is rarely studied. This qualitative case study examined how learners at a rural school in Lady Frere District, Eastern Cape, explain mathematical success and failure. Thirty purposively selected Grade 10-12 learners took part in interviews and focus groups, with eight weeks of classroom observation. Reflexive thematic analysis was followed by deductive mapping of attribution statements onto locus, stability, and controllability. Most learners attributed failure to external, stable, uncontrollable causes; a minority, mostly high achievers, gave effort-based explanations. Five themes shaped these patterns: teaching methods, self-efficacy beliefs, environmental factors, resource accessibility, and cultural and linguistic influences. Because the named causes were verifiably present, the dominant pattern is an accurate diagnosis of structural adversity rather than cognitive distortion. Attribution retraining alone is insufficient where resource scarcity removes the mastery experiences that adaptive attributions require.