Dealing with incidents of serious disciplinary problems amongst learners: A comparative study between South Africa and selected countries

Charl C Wolhuter,Charles Russo

doi:10.4102/koers.v78i3.451

Abstract

Teachers in South African schools battle with problems in learner discipline. Research indicates that teachers are at a loss as to handling these situations. The aim of this article is to survey incidents of serious learner misconduct in a representative selection of education systems abroad to extract any guidelines that might be applicable to South African schools. Eight education systems were surveyed: Brazil, England, Turkey, Singapore, Malaysia, China, Australia and New Zealand. The international systems surveyed in this article developed promising models, namely the National Safe Schools Framework (NSSF) in Australia, the Response Early Intervention and Assessment Community Health (REACH) programme in Singapore, the National Education Plan in the state of Sao Paolo, Brazil, and the two models in the category of positive disciplinary approaches in New Zealand, namely the Respectful Schools: Restorative Practices in Education and the New Zealand Minister of Education’s Positive Behaviour for [ a ] Learning Action Plan. A study of these international practices and underlying principles for dealing with discipline in pedagogical situations (Christian or secular) could provide guidelines for South African teachers and education authorities.

Highlights

Recent research (De Wet 2010; Wolhuter, Oosthuizen & Van Staden 2010; Wolhuter & Steyn 2010) demonstrates that learner discipline, derived from the Latin discipulus, is an ongoing and serious problem in most South African schools
In an empirical study, surveying South African teachers, a significant percentage of the teachers interviewed indicated that they were confronted with violence on a regular basis (Wolhuter & Van Staden 2008)
In the post-1994 political context, this practice has become especially controversial as the contention amongst progressive analysts and historians of education is that corporal punishment had been applied in Black schools more frequently and severely than in the White schools and was an instrument to ‘beat Black children into submission’ (Christie 1991)

Summary

Introduction

Recent research (De Wet 2010; Wolhuter, Oosthuizen & Van Staden 2010; Wolhuter & Steyn 2010) demonstrates that learner discipline, derived from the Latin discipulus, (a learner, pupil or follower) is an ongoing and serious problem in most South African schools. In the post-1994 political context, this practice has become especially controversial as the contention amongst progressive analysts and historians of education is that corporal punishment had been applied in (the pre-1994) Black schools more frequently and severely than in the White schools and was an instrument to ‘beat Black children into submission’ (Christie 1991) Both the 1996 South African Schools Act and a 2000 Constitutional Court Ruling have prohibited corporal punishment even in private schools (Smit & Rossouw in press). A point-demerit system, extra work, community service, the final measures of suspension and expulsion and corporal punishment (for the 15% of South African teachers who, according to research, still use it) (Wolhuter & Van Staden 2008) are ineffective They use retroactive methods that are of a retributive nature. After an empirical study on learner discipline in schools, Eloff, Oosthuizen and Van Staden (2010) came to the conclusion that a whole-school approach should be rolled out when addressing the problem of disciplinary problems with learners in South African schools

Analysis and discussion

Findings

Conclusion