Violation by learners of educators' right to safety and security : a case study of secondary schools in Zeerust District

Abstract

This study examines the challenges regarding the violation of educator's human rights by learners. The case studies were conducted in two secondary schools, which consisted of one principal or deputy principal, two HODs and three educators from two selected secondary schools were used in this study in the Zeerust District in the North West province. The aim of this study was to investigate how educators' human rights are violated by learners in Zeerust District secondary schools. It was guided by the following main question "How are the educators' human rights violated by learners in Zeerust District? Since this was a qualitative study, an interpretive research paradigm was adopted in order to gain an in-depth understanding into the descriptions and information that the participants shared. Purposive sampling was chosen as a method of selecting the participants. The sample consisted of twelve participants which were educators from various post levels in selected public secondary schools since they were the ones who experienced the violation of their rights by learners. The research tools comprising of semi-structured interviews for one principal or deputy principal per school and focus group interviews for educators and HODs per school were used. The theoretical framework underlying this study was the social learning theory by Bandura. Primary and secondary sources from local and international literature were reviewed. The results of this study indicated that the environment in which learners grew up negatively impacted their behaviour and taught them the wrong things which they displayed out in the school environment, hence they violate educators' rights. Learners from child-headed families create problems for the educators because they think that they are of the same age as educators at school. Participants also indicated that media influences the behaviour of learners. Learners imitate what they see on television and then practice it in classrooms and in schools. The major recommendation was that learners should be taught and encouraged to respect educators' human rights.