The objective of this study was to investigate and analyse the educators’ experience in managing
a full-time school within a Correctional Services environment. Provision of education in the
South African Department of Correctional Services is in terms of Section 29 (1) of the
Constitution of the Republic of South Africa (Act No.108 of 1996) which stipulates that
“everyone has a right (a) to basic education, and (b) to further education, which the state, through
reasonable measures, must make progressively available and accessible.” “This constitutional
imperative for schooling is not a right that is curtailed by incarceration” (DCS, 2005:137).
The researcher used qualitative research inquiry. This is a case study of the educators’
experience in managing a full-time school within a Correctional Services environment. To obtain
an in-depth understanding and gain more insight on the research topic, this study focused on one
full- time school within the South African Department of Correctional Services.
Literature reveals that “correctional centres are bureaucratic institutions that are characterised by
a number of factors that can potentially encourage or impede education programme success”
(Sanford &Foster, 2006:604). The environment makes learning difficult as there are frequent
lockdowns, headcounts and hearings that disrupt the consistency of classes and interrupt the
education process (Schirmer, 2008:29). Few learners attend classes and whilst in class they are
not really listening, instead, they would be sleeping and unproductive. In most cases, learners
would be present because they were forced to be in the education programme (Wright,
2004:198).
In this study, the researcher used semi-structured one on one interviews, and document analysis
as data collection strategies. Purposeful sampling was utilized to select respondents. A total of
six respondents who are full-time educators employed by the Department of Correctional
Services were interviewed. The study reveals that managing a full-time school within a
Correctional Services environment seems to be challenging because education is not respected
and not prioritized. This finding appears to be consistent with literature which reveals that the
uniqueness of correctional centre culture with a correctional centre management characterized by a focus on security measures such as lockdowns and head counts constraints the possibilities of
learning (Watts, 2010:57). Based on the findings in this study, the researcher recommends that
educator development should be prioritized within the Department of Correctional Services and
school management should be informed about learners that are released from the correctional
centre. This study concludes that managing a full-time school within a Correctional Services
environment is challenging due to Correctional Services environment being not conducive for
teaching and learning and inadequate resources. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Education Management and Policy Studies / unrestricted
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:up/oai:repository.up.ac.za:2263/36791 |
| Date | January 2013 |
| Creators | Mkosi, Ntombizanele Gloria |
| Contributors | Mahlangu, Vimbi Petrus, Sehoole, Molatlhegi Trevor Chika |
| Publisher | University of Pretoria |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Dissertation |
| Rights | © 2013 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
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