Management strategies for learner discipline in secondary schools in Ngaka Modiri-Molema District

Abstract

Learner discipline and its management continue to be a common problem for educators, parents, and learners themselves in South African schools. The purpose of this study was to examine the management strategies as currently applied for learner discipline in secondary schools of Ngaka Modiri-Molema district of the North-West province. The key theories that underpinned this dissertation were theories of management and leadership, the choice theory of behavior and the geborgenheit theory. All these theories formed a theoretical framework for the study by offering different aspects of relevance. The study was conducted using the mixed methods approach which was supported by the pragmatic philosophical assumption by using the explanatory sequential research design, it employed the use of questionnaires and interviews (focus groups and one-on-one) for collecting data. The population of this study was all educators in the Ngaka Modiri-Molema district, N=6180. Samples were drawn differently for the quantitative and qualitative phases using different sampling techniques. The sample size used for educators in the quantitative phase was, n=361 educators, while the qualitative phase used, n=20 educators. However, samples for the qualitative phase (n=20) was drawn from the n=361 of the quantitative phase. Both statistical techniques and content analysis were used to arrive at the findings of this study. The main findings of this study revealed that: a vast number of discipline and management strategies available to school managers are not implemented and policies according to South African legislation address more of learner’s rights than their basic responsibility towards education. The study concludes that a review of the current policies is done, a proper implementation strategy is adopted for discipline and management strategies and a dialogue for a review of a new disciplinary method other than the use of corporal punishment be done by relevant stakeholders. The study recommends that a similar study is done in other provinces for further comparative studies in order to examine the effectiveness of the discipline and management strategies available for school managers in all South African secondary schools.