Thesis (MEd(Psych) --Stellenbosch University, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Bullying seems to be a pervasive problem in most secondary schools and teachers have
the daily task of dealing with it. Not only do teachers have to unravel the complex
dynamics of bullying, they also often have to navigate a school climate and culture that is
not conducive to addressing bullying. In South Africa, there are many unique contextual
factors which impact on teachers’ management of bullying, such as community violence
overflowing into the school, increased administrative load and limited support from
school management, parents and education authorities. Therefore, teachers’ abilities to
conceptualise bullying, recognise and respond to incidents of bullying, and their
knowledge of the nature and extent of bullying behaviour impact greatly on anti-bullying
strategies.
The theoretical framework which informed this study is the social context perspective
which drew on views from both social constructionism and the bio-ecological framework.
The social context perspective emphasises the interactions between individuals and the
systems as delineated in the bio-ecological model. Furthermore, this study did not aim to
reveal the “truth” about school bullying. The intention has rather been to provide a
comprehensive picture as was portrayed by the participants in this study. This picture
included the nature and extent of bullying in their secondary school, the teachers’
perspectives and experiences of bullying, and proposed prevention and intervention
strategies which they aim to implement at their school. In keeping with the constructionist
nature of the process of inquiry, a qualitative, interpretivist research approach was used.
Purposive sampling was used to identify potential participants who were then asked to
volunteer to be part of the study. Data was generated through semi-structured interviews
with individuals and focus groups. Furthermore, the constant comparative method was
used to analyse the data.
The research findings indicated that the teachers experience and perceive a wide variety
of bullying behaviours which take place at various sites, both within and outside the
school grounds and that involve a diverse range of individuals within the school
community. Furthermore, the teachers conveyed several factors which they experienced
as maintaining bullying and highlighted their perceived effects thereof. In addition to this,
the participants shared knowledge about their teaching practices and suggested a few
strategies on how to deal with bullying more effectively in their school community. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Afknouery word beskou as ‘n deurlopende probleem in hoërskole en onderwysers moet
die gevolge daarvan daagliks hanteer. Onderwysers moet nie net die komplekse
dinamiek van afknouery ontrafel nie, maar worstel ook met ‘n skoolklimaat en -kultuur
wat nie toepaslik is om afknouery te bekamp nie. In Suid-Afrika is daar unieke
kontekstuele faktore wat ‘n invloed het op hoe onderwysers afknouery hanteer. Dit sluit
onder andere in die geweld wat oorvloei vanuit die gemeenskap na die skool, verhoogde
administratiewe werklading asook beperkte ondersteuning van die skool se bestuurspan,
ouers en die onderwysowerhede. Daarom speel onderwysers se vermoëns om
afknouery te konseptualiseer, insidente van afknouery te herken en daarop te reageer,
asook hulle kennis van afknougedrag ‘n groot impak op anti-afknouery strategieë.
Hierdie studie word gekonseptualiseer vanuit ‘n sosiaal-konstruktiwistiese en bioekologiese
perspektief. ‘n sosiale konteksperspektief beklemtoon die interaksies tussen
individue en die sisteme wat uiteengesit is in die bio-ekologiese model. Die doel van
hierdie studie was nie om die “waarheid” oor afknouery in die skool te openbaar nie. Dit
was eerder om die deelnemers se perspektief in diepte te analiseer en beskryf. ‘n
Kwalitatiewe, interpretivistiese navorsingsbenadering is daarom gevolg. ‘n Doelgerigte
steekproef is gebruik om potensiële deelnemers te identifiseer en hulle is gevra om
vrywillig deel te neem aan die studie. Data is gegenereer deur semi-gestruktureerde
individuele en fokusgroeponderhoude. Verder is die konstante vergelykende metode
gebruik om die data te analiseer.
Die navorsingsbevindinge het aangedui dat die onderwysers ‘n wye verskeidenheid
afknougedrag van diverse groepe en individue binne en buite die skoolterrein ervaar. Die
onderwysers het verskeie faktore identifiseer wat afknouery moontlik instandhou en het
die moontlike gevolge van afknouery uitgelig. Laastens het die deelnemers kennis oor
hulle onderwyspraktyke gedeel en voorstelle gemaak oor hoe om afknouery meer
effektief in hul skoolgemeenskap te hanteer.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:sun/oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/17929 |
| Date | 12 1900 |
| Creators | Kruger, Martha Margaretha |
| Contributors | Swart, Estelle, Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Educational Psychology. |
| Publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | xiv, 190 : ill. |
| Rights | Stellenbosch University |
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