This study aims to identify the perceptions that teachers have regarding the nonimplementation of the Alternatives to Corporal Punishment Policy (ATCP). Using a qualitative research approach, data was collected from teachers in a high school in Mdantsane that is still using corporal punishment. The main tools of data collection used were semi-structured interviews and document analysis. The findings from this study revealed a range of factors that influence teachers not to implement the alternatives to corporal punishment policy. These include: culture, religion, lack of parental involvement, violence in schools and lack of capacitation in teachers on the policy. Moreover the findings of this study revealed that if new policies are imposed on implementers there is bound to be resistance. This study therefore recommends that new policies need to be discussed and agreed upon by both the policy makers and policy implementers. The study also recommends that teachers need capacity building workshops so that they understand the need and the benefits of implementing the ATCP.

Thesis (MTech (Education))--Cape Peninsula University of Technology, 2007 / In this mini-thesis data has been collected and processed to detennine which factors inf1uence effectiv'e classroom management in the intermediate and senior phases at poor rural schools, A Comprehensive review of relevant National and International literature were conducted and farmed the basis for the construction of a questionnaire. The questionnaire was formulated to determine the extent, complexity and reality to which educators at poor rural schools are exposed to on a daily basis. External and internal factors contributing to poor classroom management were identified. External factors include home circumstances and the environment in which learners live. The lack of stimulation at home, low literacy levels of parents, the absence of good early childhood programmes and the shortage of food have a huge impact on learners performance in the classroom. Negative role models in the community and home as well as proper supervision, lead to discipline problems and unmotivated learners. Internal factors refer to the role of the teacher, the curriculum and discipline in the classroom. It is clear that educators play a central role in the provision of quality education. It is not an easy task. Working conditions are difficult and lead to weak motivation and low morale among teachers. It is impossible to implement outcomes based education in large classes. Dejected teachers try to survive by using traditional teaching and classroom approaches. There is however a big group of professional and motivated teachers. This teachers do everything to support and motivate learners. It is clear that poverty in the community is the main reason for the problems in rural schools. It is also clear that this problems need to be addressed. Long-term political solutions are needed to combat poverty. Short-term solutions might include better cooperation between the school and the community. The key to success is sustainable coaching and mentoring of teachers. The excessive emphasis on teaching and demonstration of outcomes are not beneficial for both learners and teachers. A solution to the problem is: ..... adapt the system in the child's best interest rather than the child having to adapt to the education system." Human Rights Commission (2006: 16)

M.Ed. (Educational Psychology) / The question of exercising authority has become crucial as a result of many disciplinary problems which educators progressively encounter. Social structures in educational context are presently changing drastically and consequently children and adults are facing new demands in their disciplinary relationship. This study forms part of a research project initiated by the Department of Educational Sciences of the Rand Afrikaans University. The importance of ten facets of discipline in the consideration of the discipline of children is being investigated. The aim of this study is to determine the importance of authority as a facet of discipline. Once this is known, educators in future could be directed towards this. In this research project authority has been fundamentally analysed. A literature study revealed aspects such as the acceptance of the child that he/she is subjected to authority, the child's attitude towards authority, the childs human decency, the mutual support of teachers and parents in implementing authority, the fact that the child should know that educators have authority over him/her, that the child should know that authority is the "rule of life" and that the child should know that authority is meant to protect him/her. Following the identification of the above mentioned aspects, a questionnaire was compiled to establish perceptions regarding the importance of authority as a facet of discipline. Parents and teachers were approached to respond to the questionnaire. The validity of the findings obtained from the questionnaire were investigated through factor analyses. A principal component analysis (peA) was followed by a principal factor analysis (pFA). The reliability of the information was investigated by means of an item analysis. Hypotheses on gender, language, qualification, educator status, school involvement, age, permanent residence religion marital status of respondents, number of children in primary school, number of children in secondary school and income level of respondents were tested. Significance was tested on the 1%- and 5%-level. The most important findings of the above mentioned investigation are as follow: The high averages obtained on all of the items on the importance of authority indicate that authority as a facet of discipline is very important. The high value which was attached to the mutual support of teachers and parents in ' implementing authority, that the child should know that authority is meant to protect him/her and that the child's human decency should be considered in an authority situation, show these aspects to be of fundamental importance to education. Significant differences of opinion between respondents were found to exist between gender, language groups, qualification groups, religious groups, marital status groups, residential localities, number of children in secondary school and income groups. No significant differences of opinion were found between respondents at different degrees of school involvement, educator status, age groups and number of children in primary school. It is concluded that respondents are of opinion that authority is of the utmost importance in the disciplining of children. It is recommended that guidance programmes in authority should be developed to equip parents and teachers with the necessary knowledge, skills, attitudes and understanding regarding the discipline of the child.

To make education a profitable enterprise and contributor to social development requires that schools infuse values into schooling as part of the ethical construction of learners and citizenship building. This research used Kampala district as the case study to conduct a qualitative inquiry with grounded theory to examine the integration of values into the management of learners’ discipline in Ugandan schools. Using a sample of 60 participants, the researcher gathered data using personal interviews, focus group interviews, and documentary analysis. Through the analysis of this data, the researcher established that the School Governing Body (SGB), government, educators, missionaries and the community are stakeholders highly involved in directing the process of values integration into learners’ discipline. He also discerned that different schools impart moral, spiritual, academic, aesthetic, social and universal values into the learners. However with the 1963 Castle Report on Education that led to the nationalization and secularization of schools, denominational schools strongly felt that government robbed them of their powers to control and manage schools through the “principle of subsidiarity”. This seems to have led to the gradual erosion of values and breakdown of discipline in the denominational schools as well as the others. The central argument of this thesis is that integrating values into school discipline in Uganda would result into an inclusive education system that supports both theist and atheist attitudes towards formal schooling. Some respondents argued that values should be directly integrated into learners’ discipline while others opposed values integration. Those who supported values integration into school discipline pointed out that it is an integral part of life-education. On the other hand, those who oppose integrating values argued that values integration might be misused to impose secular influences on the learners. The existing avenues of optimal integration of values into school discipline include use of physical punishment and restorative justice, although custodial methods are widely condemned by human rights activists for being too harsh, punitive and retaliatory. Restorative justice methods used include the use of religious and social clubs as well as counseling and guidance. Collective stakeholder participation in school management is also widely used where school management, government, parents and the community take on a collaborative role in empowering and creating an environment for positive discipline. Finally, missionary educators play a significant role in learners’ behavioural modification. The challenges of values integration into school discipline, on the other hand, are policy-related; including poor school administrative styles, failure to define which values to emphasize in disciplinary management, lack of staff motivation and educators’ unethical behaviour. The classroom-related challenges were an over emphasis on academic values that, consequently, turn education into a theoretical rather than a practical exercise. This is compounded by the poor teaching methodologies used like rote-learning due to the problem of dealing with large classes especially in UPE and USE schools and the strict emphasis on an examination-centered syllabus. The social-related challenge observed was the negative influence of the media on young people’s life styles, consequently, leading to permissiveness, aggressive, violent and militant behaviours now common in schools. The study underscored the need to emphasise stakeholder responsibility in school disciplinary management, and the necessity to offer visionary and collegial leadership, identify a common set of values critical to the promotion of life-long learning, promotion of life-education to ensure formation of morally upright learners, and encourage inclusive education (UBUNTUISM). Government should draft a national education philosophy to guide schools in integration of values education, emphasizing secular, moral and religious values, as well as the need for restorative justice, and employing more pragmatic teaching methodologies. There is also the need to create role-models and staff motivation. All these are cardinal remedies in ensuring constructive school discipline. Finally, the central theory that explains the integration is an Integrated Values Framework (IVF) for Positive Discipline (PD). It advocates that discipline is a process of nurturing learners through the provision of inclusive education, life-long learning and citizenship building.

This study set out to establish the role of conflict Management in Maintenance of Discipline in Kenya’s Public Secondary Schools. The study formulated 6 objectives as follows: examine the nature of Conflict experienced in Public Secondary Schools in Kenya; establish how teachers and students perceive conflict in secondary schools; determine how teachers and students experience conflict in Secondary Schools; investigate the effectiveness of conflict Management Programmes used in Secondary Schools; discover suitable conflict management programmes to address present and future conflict in secondary schools; generate findings based on a theoretical approach for understanding and managing conflict in secondary schools with particular reference to schools in Kenya. The research was conducted in the form of a descriptive survey design with a mixed methods approach which combined qualitative research design and quantitative research technique. A sample of 649 Students, 16 secondary school head teachers, and 16 secondary school guidance and counseling officers from 4 provinces in Kenya was used to obtain data for the study. Random and purposive sampling techniques were used. Data was collected using questionnaires and structured interviews. Descriptive statistics such as mean, percentages, standard deviation, and frequencies was used to discuss the research findings. The study also used inferential statistics, particularly chi-square to test the significant statistical differences on the nature of conflict in schools, how students and teachers experience and perceive conflict in different categories of schools. From the findings, students witness conflict in form of theft, 51.7%, bullying, 29 percent, rumours and fights. Results from males and females indicate that drugs are abused in secondary schools (males (26.8%) and females (13.6 percent). All the respondents revealed that students take drugs to please their peers, and to release stress, and for adventure. On the effectiveness of conflict management programmes, a majority of students accept punishment when they break the school rules (80.0%) as they feel that punishments improve their behaviour. Most of the teachers had not had proper training in conflict management and some of them do not understand the role of peer mediation as they lack such programmes in their schools. The study concluded that failure to train teachers in conflict management skills, and to involve students in decision making causes conflict in schools. The study recommended that life skills, and peace keeping lessons should be taught in schools. In addition, head teachers and teachers should go for a refresher course in conflict management. Also, the study recommends that a comparative study should be done in a wider scope in secondary schools that experience conflict and those that do not, so as to get an insight of the suitable strategies needed to manage conflict in schools.

M.Ed. (Education Management) / Please refer to full text to view abstract

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The purpose of this study was to investigate the relationship between disruptive behavior and academic performance. Using an ABA design the experimenter trained a teacher of a disruptive class to use precision teaching technique to reduce the incidence of out-of-seat and talking-out behaviors. The experiment was conducted during the history period. The effects of the experiment upon academic performance in history were measured by equivalent weekly history tests. Students participated in goal setting and selection of reinforcement. Students reached their behavioral goals during 4 of the 5 weeks of treatment. Percentage of occurrence of target behaviors was reduced by 4:1 for talking-out, and 17:1 for out-of-seat, as recorded by outside observers. The mean percentage of correct responses on weekly history tests increased by 36% under treatment conditions. During the reversal phase a slight increase in target behaviors occurred. Single subject analysis showed that all students improved in performance during the treatment phases. A return to baseline conditions brought an incomplete reversal; 19 decreased slightly in academic performance, 12 continued to improve. Results suggest that the children who will benefit most from such interventions are those who, in a disruptive class, have a low or moderate level of academic performance.

No description available.

No description available.