- Title
- Educators’ views on the effectiveness of alternatives to corporal punishment to maintain discipline: a case of four high schools in the O.R. Tambo District
- Creator
- Kassim, Abdul Fatau
- Creator
- Pylman, N J
- Subject
- School discipline -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape Corporal punishment of children -- South Africa -- Eastern Cape
- Date
- 2020
- Type
- Thesis
- Type
- Masters
- Type
- MEd
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10353/11329
- Identifier
- vital:39060
- Description
- The purpose of this study is to explore educators’ views on the effectiveness of alternatives to corporal punishment to maintain discipline in selected high schools in the O.R. Tambo District. Corporal punishment has been outlawed in all South African schools through the South African Schools Act and was replaced by alternatives to corporal punishment. The objectives of this research were to determine educators’ understanding of alternatives to corporal punishment; the interface between alternatives to corporal punishment and learner behaviour; alternatives to corporal punishment in relation to effective teaching and learning and the barriers that educators experience with the implementation of alternatives to corporal punishment. This research study is fundamentally placed within two schools of thought, namely, Thorndike’s traditional behaviour modification theory and Roger’s diffusion of innovations theory. This study is a multiple-case study located within the interpretivist paradigm, and qualitative in nature. Purposive sampling was used to sample four secondary schools in the O.R. Tambo districts. Twelve (12) participants comprising four principals, four teachers and four SMT members were purposively selected from the four schools. In depth semi-structured interviews and document reviews were used as data generating instruments. Thematic analysis was used to analyse taperecorded data obtained from the semi-structured interviews and document reviews. Findings revealed that there seems to be a common understanding amongst participants around the issue of alternatives to corporal punishment. The findings indicated that participants are aware of the different strategies that can be used to discipline learners without causing physical pain or a violation of their rights. The second finding noted that alternatives to corporal punishment did not serve the purpose which it was intended to. This view points to the fact that learners do not take alternatives to corporal punishment seriously and as such do not lead to improved discipline and behaviour amongst learners. The third finding also revealed that the implementation of alternatives to corporal punishment does not contribute to effective teaching and learning as well as the academic performance in the classroom, because learners frequently absent themselves and are also bunking classes which leads to poor academic performance. It was also claimed that teaching and learning is not all that effective as learners do not respect educators anymore and as such also fail to v complete homework and assignments on a regular basis. The final finding alluded to the fact that insufficient orientation and lack of training on alternative methods of discipline by the Department of Education made it extremely difficult for teachers to implement and administer alternatives to corporal punishment in schools. Given the aforementioned findings, it can be concluded that alternatives to corporal are mainly viewed as ineffective. Furthermore, findings from this study also revealed that educators have not adopted alternatives to corporal punishment, which is in line with Rogers’ theory who aptly states that any new idea or innovation can either be adopted or rejected by social groups. In addition is also seems as if educators have as yet not undergone a change in behaviour in line with Thorndike’s traditional behaviour modification theory, which further hinders the successful implementation of alternatives to corporal punishment.
- Format
- 191 leaves
- Format
- Publisher
- University of Fort Hare
- Publisher
- Faculty OF Education
- Language
- English
- Rights
- University of Fort Hare
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| Thumbnail | File | Description | Size | Format | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| View Details | SOURCE1 | Kassim AF Final assesed Word copy- 11 May 2020.pdf | 2 MB | Adobe Acrobat PDF | View Details |