Educator involvement in improving learner discipline in secondary schools in Rustenburg Area Office

Abstract

Learner discipline is a very serious challenge to educators and principals in the Rustenburg Area Office Secondary Schools. Since corporal punishment was abolished in South Africa educators have found it difficult to maintain learner discipline in schools. Learners' socio-economic factors have a negative impact on the discipline of learners as well as the involvement of educators in improving discipline in the schools in general. The qualitative research design was used to conduct the study. The researcher used qualitative method to conduct the study in order to obtain the information from the participants. The objectives of the study focused on: exploring disciplinary strategies that educators used to curb learner misconduct; how educators can become more involved in learner discipline, alternative disciplinary strategies that educators suggest and how educator involvement assists in improving learner discipline. The study was linked to the two theoretical frameworks. The first one by Pianta et al, (2012:324), (the behavioural management) which stressed that educators should involve learners in discipline and make constructive use of time. The theory emphasised educator-learner interactions which were aimed at promoting positive behaviour. The second one was that of Mestry and Khumalo (2012) which focused on three-dimensional approaches to the management of learner discipline. The focus was on how school management teams dealt with learner misconduct and how educators were involved. Document analysis was conducted to investigate the extent to which educators were involved in learner discipline as and which procedures were in place to ensure that learner discipline in school was maintained. The study revealed that some educators make efforts to manage learners' discipline while others were not involved at all. There were those educators who absented themselves from school, who did not attend their periods and those who did not have respect for authority. Parents were not fully involved in the education of their children which results in indiscipline in schools. It was also discovered that educators in rural secondary school motivated learners and rewarded them for good conduct. The school also held empowerment workshops for educators on learner discipline. In the urban secondary school, the investigation revealed that educators were also motivating learners and reprimands were used to discipline learners.