Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements of the Degree of Master's in Public Management, Durban University of Technology, 2017. / The purpose of the study explores the perception and experiences of students regarding weapons in schools, in a bid to create a peaceful and conducive learning environment. This study concentrated on four high schools in Umgungundlovu District. Students, educators and principals were asked to participate in this study on a voluntary basis. The study recognises that existing data related to weapons in South African schools is largely anecdotal. The significance of the study is that it collected data related to the weapons in schools and used data to inform recommendations on ways in which we can make schools safer places to the young people and staff. This was a mixed methods survey; however, the bulk of the findings were drawn from the quantitative data, which was conducted through surveys. The qualitative data was collected in interviews and in focus group discussions. The data revealed that a high proportion of students have seen weapons in school, which might be an indication that weapons find easy access onto school premises. The results revealed the types of weapons brought to schools. Knives were the weapons most seen at school followed by guns, while some other weapons mentioned were pepper sprays, screwdrivers, pangas and bats The study showed that in other schools, drugs, alcohol, substance abuse were reported in the sample. Among the contributing factors raised by the respondents on the reasons for the presence of weapons onto schools were the issue of drugs, alcohol, bullying, fights among students, and being involved on gang activities. Some policy recommendations regarding school security measures were proposed on the basis of the findings which were drawn from this study. As part of the study, it is recommended that the Department of Education ensure that all South African schools implement well-documented discipline policies, a code of conduct and school rules for their school which must clearly indicate seriousness of carrying a weapon in school as well as the consequences of misbehaviour. The policy must have steps to be followed by the principals and or educators where there are elements of misconduct against the students and sanctions to be issued if the student is found guilty. Other recommendations were made in line with the findings based on the results. Limitations of the study were further pointed out. / M

Youth crime has been and still is a social problem in South Africa. It is a problem that shakes the very fabric of the society. The problem with the youth in modern society is both a national concern and an important subject for academic study. High school environments are where youths converge for learning purposes, but they have also turned to hotspots for crime. Different theories on explanations for high school crime have been developed over time. This particular study, conducted in 2008, adopts the criminal opportunity theory to study the social, economic and the demographic characteristics of selected environments in which high schools are located to determine significant factors that are conducive for high schools to be crime hotspots. Three schools were selected in different neighbourhoods in East London for the study. The study used an intensive case design technique to conduct the research. Different characteristics of the communities in which the schools that were studied were located showed different crime pattern. The Law enforcement agencies also realize these differences and they try to address crime issues in various communities in the study areas individually

Made available in DSpace on 2017-06-01T18:29:25Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 1 maria_fatima_ferrao_castelo_branco.pdf: 1697466 bytes, checksum: a578925dc4ceee1986a68e50e2605384 (MD5) Previous issue date: 2014-09-02 / This research was developed with the aim of reflecting on the experience of educators about school violence. The study included twenty four teachers from three schools, among them, one public and two private (corporate and other religious one) in the Metropolitan Region of Recife. The general objective of this study was: understanding how educators experience school violence in their institutional routine and specific were: to characterize teachers regarding gender, age, length of experience in education, academic education; describe the experiences of educators about school violence and identify how educators perceive themselves in relation to the issue of school violence. From a qualitative methodology as a tool for data collection used collective conversations with script of questions. The results were analyzed based on the theory of Social Representation (RS) with respect to a creative process of cognitive and symbolic elaborations that provide guidance to human behavior, as well as being a mechanism for developing social object by interpersonal communication, group , mass and analysis of collected data we use the Collective Subject Discourse (CSD) because it is a technique of tabulation and organization of qualitative data that is based on the theory of RS. DSC enables, through systematic and standardized procedures, add testimonials without reducing them to numbers. DSC emerged in some central ideas (ICs), described as follows: Dissatisfaction educator / illness; Students' disinterest; Context family / school; Link teacher / student and expressions of violence. The results achieved in this study allows us to assert that the experiences of educators on school violence refer to confrontations caught, every day, for them to establish links between personal and professional well-being in the workplace, in constant search of partnership with families in the process of educating, preserving the affectivity and the ability to deal with the violence that hit the school environment. Keywords: education; school; violence. / Esta pesquisa foi desenvolvida com o objetivo de refletir sobre a experiência dos educadores sobre violências escolares. Participaram deste estudo vinte e quatro educadores de três escolas, entre elas, uma pública e duas privadas (uma empresarial e outra religiosa) da Região Metropolitana do Recife. O objetivo geral este estudo foi: compreender como os educadores experienciam as violências escolares em seu cotidiano institucional e os específicos foram: caracterizar os professores quanto ao sexo, idade, tempo de experiência na educação, formação acadêmica; descrever as experiências dos educadores sobre violências escolares e identificar como os educadores se percebem em relação à temática das violências escolares. A partir de uma metodologia qualitativa, como instrumento para coleta dos dados utilizamos conversas coletivas com roteiro de perguntas. Os resultados foram analisados a partir da teoria da Representação Social (RS) que diz respeito a um processo criativo de elaborações cognitivas e simbólicas que servem de orientação ao comportamento humano, além de ser um mecanismo de desenvolvimento do objeto social pela comunicação interpessoal, de grupos, de massa e para análise dos dados coletados utilizamos o Discurso do Sujeito Coletivo (DSC) por se tratar de uma técnica de tabulação e organização de dados qualitativos que tem como fundamento a teoria da RS. O DSC permite, através de procedimentos sistemáticos e padronizados, agregar depoimentos sem reduzi-los a quantidades. No DSC surgiram algumas Ideias Centrais (ICs), assim descritas: Insatisfação do educador / adoecimento; Desinteresse dos alunos; Contexto família / escola; Vínculo professor / aluno e Expressões de violência. Os resultados alcançados neste estudo nos permite afirmar que as experiências dos educadores sobre violência escolar se referem a confrontos travados, cotidianamente, por eles no sentido de estabelecer vínculos entre bem-estar pessoal e profissional no ambiente de trabalho, na busca permanente de parceria com as famílias no processo de educar, a preservação da afetividade e da capacidade em lidar com as violências que atingem o meio escolar. Palavras- chave: educação; escola; violência.

In the light of increasing concerns related to violence in the South African society, this study sought to explore the nature of aggression amongst Grade R learners through the voices of principals, phase heads, educators, parents and support staff. Bandura’s Social Learning Theory, Social Learning Cognitive Theory and Bronfenbrenner’ Bio-ecological Theory provided the theoretical lens for this qualitative study. The study was undertaken in two primary schools and one nursery school with 22 participants in the Johannesburg area in South Africa. Data was produced through interviews and questionnaires. The findings show that the nature of aggression is complex, multi-dimensional and contextual. Aggressive behaviour was conceptualised as interconnected physical and emotional states coupled with the verbal competence to act out aggressive behaviour. This was triggered by a number of factors included in the genetic and environmental domains. The exploration of approaches, methods and lines of intervention suggest the need for multi-stakeholders to work together for holistic and responsive interventions. These findings contributed to the development of the Tree of Nurturance in order to unravel a contextualised site-based model for intervention to address aggressive behaviour. / Early Childhood Education / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)

No description available.

This study examined the effects of delay of gratification on academic success, substance abuse, and violent behavior. The participants in this study were chosen from an alternative learning school comprised of middle school students in Florida. The hypothesis for this study is as follows: Delay of gratification is negatively related to substance abuse and violent behavior, and positively related to academic achievement. The analysis of the data was conducted on the primary predictor variable (delay of gratification), alternate predictor variables (substance abuse & violent behavior) and the ultimate outcome variable (academic achievement) of this study. Initial statistical inquiry involved descriptive statistics (mean, standard deviation, kurtosis and skew) of the aforementioned variables, partial correlations (variable interrelationships), and the formulation of a multiple regression path analysis to investigate the particular paths individually within the proposed theoretical model (Wagner, 1993).

Abstracts in Afrikaans, English and Southern Sotho / Geweld en skoolgeweld veroorsaak ernstige maatskaplike ontwrigting in Suid-Afrika. Die metodes waarmee skoolgeweld tans hanteer word, is oneffektief en meestal op mag en dissipline gegrond. Die doel van hierdie navorsing is om alternatiewe benaderings vir die hantering van skoolgeweld te ondersoek en om ʼn implementeringsraamwerk vir ʼn heelskoolbenadering teen skoolgeweld te ontwikkel. Ten einde hierdie doel te bereik, fokus die navorsing, wat binne ʼn aangepaste ekologiese model (AEM) onderneem is, op ʼn konseptuele analise van die aard en inhoud van die konsepte “geweld” en “skoolgeweld”, omdat beide dikwels met konsepte soos “mag” en “dissipline” verwar word. Beide begrippe is multidimensioneel en kom binne al die sfere van die AEM voor. Dit sluit geweld weens verskeie oorsake, soos psigo-biologiese faktore, strukturele geweld en reaksiegeweld in. Skoolgeweld kom eweneens weens verskeie oorsake en in verskillende vorms binne die sfere van die AEM voor. Voorbeelde sluit lyfstraf, boeliegedrag, bendes en strukturele skoolgeweld soos rassisme, die kwaliteit van onderwys en oorvol klasse, in. Die navorsing toon aan dat die wyse waarop skoolgeweld tans in Suid-Afrika hanteer word, onsuksesvol is. Dit word hoofsaaklik by wyse van mag, dissipline en ʼn strafbenadering hanteer, wat meebring dat die verhoudings wat weens die geweld beskadig word of skipbreuk ly, versoening tussen dader en slagoffer verhoed en dat die slagoffer se behoeftes nie in ag geneem word nie. Die wyse waarop skoolgeweld hanteer word, bied ook nie ʼn wyse waarop strukturele skoolgeweld bestuur kan word nie. Een van die alternatiewe wyses waarop skoolgeweld hanteer kan word, is herstellende onderwys. Dit is ʼn betreklik nuwe benadering tot onderwys, wat op herstellende geregtigheid gegrond is, maar ook proaktiewe aktiwiteite insluit. Omdat herstellende onderwys op beginsels soos verhoudings, dialoogvoering, waardegedrewenheid, herstel en versoening gegrond is, kan dit gebruik word om skoolgeweld te beheer. Herstellende onderwys maak van verskillende proaktiewe en reaktiewe metodes gebruik, soos slagoffer-oortrederbemiddeling en groepsgesprekke. Dit fokus op ʼn skoolgemeenskap wat waardegedrewe is, eerder as op oortredings. Herstellende onderwys word egter deur ʼn aantal knelpunte gekniehalter. Die navorsing toon aan dat hierdie knelpunte deur die Freire se benadering tot onderwys ondervang kan word. Freire se benadering tot onderrig word aan die hand van ʼn aantal kernelemente, wat in vyf groepe verdeel is (naamlik sy siening oor mag en bemagtiging, etiesgodsdienstige elemente, bewustheid en aksie, dialoogvoering, onderwyspraktyk en onderwys en die samelewing) hanteer. Die navorsing toon aan dat hierdie elemente gebruik kan word om die leemtes in herstellende onderwys te vul en dat die twee benaderings en ʼn aantal ander benaderings wat daarby aansluit, soos onderwys vir maatskaplike geregtigheid, kritiese pedagogiek en die leerstellings van Mohlomi, tot ʼn geïntegreerde onderwysbenadering – geïntegreerde helende onderwys – saamgevoeg kan word. In die voorlaaste gedeelte van die navorsing word die beginsels van geïntegreerde helende onderwys gebruik om ʼn praktykgerigte implementeringsraamwerk te ontwikkel. Die raamwerk word in twee dele hanteer: eerstens die implementeringsterreine, naamlik die geleerde en geleefde leerplanne, en tweedens die implementeringsproses wat deur middel van deelnemende aksienavorsing uitvoer kan word. Die navorsing sluit af met ʼn opsomming van die navorsing, ʼn uitwysing van die beperkings van die studie en aanbevelings vir verdere ondersoek. / Violence and school violence play havoc with South African society. Current methods to curb school violence depend on power, discipline and a penal approach, and prove to be ineffective. The purpose of this research was to investigate alternative approaches to manage school violence and develop an implementation framework for a whole-school approach to it. This research was conducted according to an integrated ecological model. The concepts “violence” and “school violence” were analysed as they are often confused with the concepts “power” and “discipline”. The former pair of concepts are multidimensional and present in all spheres of the integrated ecological model. They include individual violence, group violence and structural violence. School violence manifests in different forms, including bullies and gangs. This research differentiates between controllable school violence – which is within the school community’s sphere of influence – and manageable school violence – which originates outside the school community. The research indicates that the ways in which school violence is currently addressed do not consider damaged relationships because of violence, reconciliation between the perpetrator and the victim, and the needs of the victim. In addition, they do not contribute to the management of structural school violence. Restorative education is a recent approach based on restorative justice and includes proactive activities. Because it is value-driven and grounded on relationships, dialogue, restoration and reconciliation, it can be of great use in the fight against school violence. Restorative education includes both proactive and reactive methods such as victim-offender mediation and group discussions. It focuses on a value-driven school community rather than infringements. However, restorative education has certain deficiencies. This research indicates that they can be made good thanks to Freire’s approach to education. Freire’s approach to education comprise a number of key elements, which can be divided into five groups, viz his views on power and empowerment; ethical-religious elements; consciousness and action; dialogue; educational practice; and education and the community. The research indicates that these elements can compensate for the deficiencies in restorative education. Freire’s approach and a number of connected approaches such as education for social justice, critical pedagogy and the doctrines of Mohlomi, can be combined in an integrated approach to education, referred to as integrated healing education. In the penultimate part of the research, the principles of integrated healing education are utilised to develop a practice-orientated implementation framework. The framework is discussed in two sections: the fields of implementation, viz the learned and lived curricula, and the implementation process through action research. The research concludes with a summary, limitations of the study, and recommendations. / Tirisodikgoka le tirisodikgoka ya kwa sekolong di baka tlhakatlhakano mo baaging ba Aforikaborwa. Mekgwa ya ga jaana ya go fedisa dikhuduego e ikaegile ka dithata, maitsholo a a siameng le molebo wa kotlhao, mme go bonala e sa nonofa. Maikemisetso a patlisiso eno e ne e le go batlisisa melebo e e farologaneng ya go samagana le tirisodikgoka ya kwa sekolong le go tlhama letlhomeso la tsenyotirisong la molebo wa sekolo sotlhe go samagana nayo. Patlisiso e dirilwe go ya ka sekao se se golaganeng sa ikholoji. Go lokolotswe megopolo ya "tirisodikgoka" le "tirisodikgoka ya kwa sekolong" ka ntlha ya fa gantsi e tlhakatlhakanngwa le megopolo ya "dithata" le "maitsholo a a siameng". Sebedi sa ntlha sa megopolo se dintlhadintsi mme di gona mo magatong otlhe a sekao se se golaganeng sa ikholoji. Se akaretsa tirisodikgoka ya batho bongwe ka bongwe, tirisodikgoka ya setlhopha le tirisodikgoka e e rulaganeng. Tirisodikgoka ya kwa dikolong e tlhagelela ka dipopego tse di farologaneng, go akaretsa badipisi le digongwana. Patlisiso eno e farologanya magareng ga tirisodikgoka e e laolegang ya kwa dikolong – e e mo legatong la tlhotlheletso la mo sekolong – le tirisodikgoka e e tsamaisegang kwa dikolong – e e tswang kwa ntle ga sekolo. Patlisiso e bontsha gore ditsela tse go samaganwang le tirisodikgoka ya kwa dikolong ka yona ga jaana ga di lebelele dikamano tse di senyegang ka ntlha ya tirisodikgoka, poelano magareng ga modiri le motshwasetlhabelo, le ditlhokego tsa motswasetlhabelo. Go tlaleletsa foo, ga di tshwaele mo tsamaisong ya tirisodikgoka ya kwa dikolong e e rulagantsweng. Molebo wa pusetso ke molebo wa fa gautshwane o o theilweng mo bosiamising jwa pusetso mme o akaretsa ditiragatso tsa pele ga tiragalo. Gonne o tsamaisiwa ke dintlhatheo mme o theilwe mo dikamanong, dipuisano, pusetso le poelano, o ka nna mosola thata mo ntweng kgatlhanong le tirisodikgoka ya kwa dikolong. Thuto ya pusetso e akaretsa mekgwa ya pele ga tiragalo le ya go tsibogela tiragalo e tshwana le tsereganyo ya motswasetlhabelo-molatofadiwa le dipuisano tsa ditlhopha. E tota baamegi ba sekolo ba ba laolwang ke dintlhatheo go na le tlolomolao. Le gale, thuto ya pusetso e na le makoanyana a a rileng. Thutopatlisiso eno e bontsha gore a ka baakanngwa ka molebo wa ga Freire wa thuto. Molebo wa ga Friere wa thuto o na le dikarolo di le mmalwa tsa botlhokwa, tse di ka aroganngwang ka ditlhopha tse tlhano, e leng, megopolo ya gagwe malebana le dithata le maatlafatso; dintlha tsa maitsholo-tumelo; temogo le tiragatso; puisano; tiragatso ya thuto; le thuto le baagi. Patlisiso e bontsha gore dintlha tseno di ka emela makoa a a mo thutong ya pusetso. Molebo wa ga Freire le melebo e mengwe e le mmalwa e e golaganeng e tshwana le thuto ya tshiamiso ya loago, thuto e e rutang barutwana go sekaseka dithata le kgatelelo le ditumelo tsa ga Mohlomi, di ka kopanngwa mo molebong o o golaganeng wa thuto, o o bidiwang thuto e e golaganeng e e alafang. Mo karolong ya pele ga ya bofelo ya patlisiso, go dirisiwa dintlhatheo tsa thuto e e golaganeng e e alafang go tlhama letlhomeso la tsenyotirisong le le theilweng mo tiragatsong. Letlhomeso le tlhalosiwa mo dikarolong tse pedi: lephata la tsenyotirisong, e leng kharikhulamo e e ithutilweng le e e tshetsweng, le tirego ya tsenyotirisong ka patlisiso ya tiragatso. Patlisiso e konosetsa ka tshobokanyo, ditekanyetso tsa thutopatlisiso, le dikatlenegiso. / Educational Foundations / Ph. D. (Philosophy of Education)

The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences and practices of School Management Teams (SMTs) in the control and management of school bullying in the Tshwane West District of the Gauteng Province. This study came out of a global concern about the security and safety of learners in schools. While there is substantial international and national literature on violence in schools, South Africa continues to experience high levels of violence in schools more than ever before and this in the Tshwane West District is no exception. In this study, a mixed method approach was undertaken to explore the experiences and practices of SMTs in the controlling and managing of bullying in the Tshwane West District. The questionnaires and focus group interviews were used as research tools for data gathering to unpack the experiences of the SMTs. / Educational Management and Leadership / M. Ed. (Education Management)

Aggression in South African schools is a matter of great concern. A review of the existing literature indicated that physical exercises contribute to people’s well-being. This study thus investigated to what extent physical exercises could be used to address the aggression of students in a secondary school. An empirical investigation was done by means of a mixed methods case study design. A purposive sample of 25 students was chosen from students in grades 9 to 11. The students completed an adapted Buss-Perry questionnaire on aggression to determine their levels of aggression. Thereafter they embarked on a 10 week physical exercise programme (30 sessions of 40 minutes each), before completing the same questionnaire. The results indicated that the programme alleviated their feelings of aggression, especially in the boys. Qualitative interviews with 10 of the participants who benefitted most from the exercises indicated how they experienced the programme. Recommendations were made for similar programmes and for future research. / Psychology of Education / M. Ed. (Psychology of Education)

Deux objectifs sont poursuivis dans le cadre de cette thèse. Le premier est de dresser un état des lieux des victimations scolaires au Sénégal à partir d’un questionnaire administré à quelques 2707 élèves des cycles moyen (équivalent du collège en France) et secondaire (lycée). Quant au second objectif, il est centré sur la recherche d’un cadre explicatif global ainsi que des déterminants sociohistoriques des violences scolaires à travers une comparaison avec les résultats des enquêtes et des travaux conduits en France depuis le début des années 2000. C’est à partir d’un examen des rapports entre déviance, délinquance juvénile et école que le poids des facteurs externes des phénomènes de violences scolaires a pu être relativisé, voire atténué, au profit des facteurs purement institutionnels et endogènes. Le paradoxe qui ressort alors de cette confrontation et de la comparaison, à savoir la relative préservation des élèves sénégalais des violences portées par des camarades et la tendance lourde du développement en France des microviolences dont les personnels enseignants constituent la principale cible, s’explique par la spécificité des systèmes éducatifs tant dans leurs processus historiques d’institutionnalisation, dans leurs modes d’organisation que dans leur fonctionnement quotidien. Ainsi, les violences scolaires au Sénégal se construisent dans le cadre des relations éducatives inspirées de représentations socioculturelles qui légitiment des méthodes pédagogiques plutôt coercitives à travers des rapports de domination établissant le pouvoir de sanction du maître doublé d’une supériorité liée à l’âge et au sexe des membres de la communauté éducative. En France, elles sont tributaires des contradictions entre, d’une part, les conditions et les modalités de l’offre scolaire et, de l’autre, les demandes sociales d’éducation des populations ; elles trouvent alors leurs racines dans l’incapacité du système et de l’institution scolaires à prendre en compte les inégalités sociales, la diversité des profils cognitifs des élèves et de leurs motivations. Il ne reste alors aux plus « désorientés » d’entre eux que des stratégies de survie pour « sauver la face », avec tout ce que cela peut impliquer en termes de transgressions, d’« incidents » et de « perturbations » de l’ordre des classes. / This thesis is driven by two goals. The first one deals with assessing school victimizations/bullying in Senegal using a survey answered by 2707 pupils from middle grade (junior high school in France) and secondary grade (Senior high). Its other goal was to focus on seeking for global explanations as well as sociological and historical grounds for “school victimizations” through a comparison with the studies and unchallenged works carried out in France since the 2000s.Based on a study about the connections between deviancy, juvenile delinquency and school, we’ve found that the influence of external factors driving to school violence phenomena is all relative, even diminished, compared to purely institutional – so internal- factors. This confrontation and comparison bring out a paradox: Firstly, Senegalese pupils are relatively protected from schoolmates’ acts of violence. Secondly, in France, micro-acts of violence aimed at teachers tend to develop increasingly. This can be explained by the specific organization and working of each school system.Thus, school violence in Senegal is shaped by educational relations which are based on cultural representations that justify rather coercive teaching methods. It is obviously reflected in the punitive power of the teacher as well as the superiority of school staff due to their age and their sex. Consequently those facts establish relations of power. The situation in France lies on contradictions between institutional policies –school offers- and social demands in education. The first are linked to paradoxical orders such as, on the one hand, compulsory school attendance and academic success and, on the other hand, ranking and selective assessment which totally neglect the pupils’ cognitive skills. Consequently the latter are left with nothing but survival strategies aiming at “saving face” which implies all kinds of transgressions, incidents and disturbing of order within the class.