Browsing by Author "Thieras, Jillian"

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    Considering an ethics of care in managing disciplinary problems at four Cape Town schools
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2024-12) Thieras, Jillian; Davids, Nuraan; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Education Policy Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Poor discipline is a perennial problem in most South African schools. On the one hand, there are several factors, both internal and external, that influence and affect the conduct of learners. On the other hand, schools are under continuous pressure to respond to and manage new types of disciplinary problems. Regular playground disagreements or truancy are accompanied by more worrying acts of violence and cyberbullying. Despite a plethora of post-apartheid policies, directed at managing classrooms through democratic practices, principals, teachers, and school governing body continue to struggle to maintain disciplined teaching and learning environments. Since corporal punishment has been abolished, teachers and principals have struggled to develop long-term solutions to manage discipline effectively. Despite disciplinary policies that have been introduced to assist schools with poor disciplinary problems, teachers and principals have their own methods of managing discipline, and these tend to be short-term alternatives. It has been found that the policies recommended by the Western Cape Education Department and the Department of Basic Education have the potential to assist with disciplinary problems. However, teachers and principals lack the consistency in implementing these policies. Therefore, ethics of care has been introduced as a new approach to managing discipline so teachers and principals can eliminate general disciplinary problems. This study examines how four schools in the Western Cape – two high schools and two primary schools manage and respond to learner disciplinary problems. This study sought insights into the types of disciplinary problems typically experienced at these four schools, how teachers and principals responded to and managed disciplinary problems, school-based policies on managing discipline, and how these are being implemented. this is done by adopting a qualitative and phenomenological paradigm. In an effort to look at alternative practices to those currently employed, in the four schools, I drew on Noddings’ (2005) espousal of an ethic of care. Noddings (2005) opines that caring is an encounter between two human beings. However, we cannot suggest that caring will accomplish everything that must be done in education, but it is a step in the right direction. An ethics of care requires teachers and principals to first listen attentively to learners, and trust will be established as time passes. In this way, learners will start to accept what teachers and principals try to teach. Thereafter, as teachers and principals engage actively with learners about their needs and experiences, they will gain important information about the learners and better understand why certain learners tend to misbehave (Noddings, 2005). The findings suggest that teachers at high and primary schools experience some form of poor discipline, and teachers try to devise different strategies to manage them, as the lack of discipline in schools impacts teaching and learning tremendously. Furthermore, the findings revealed that poor learner discipline worsens in high school. This could be due to several problems that they may be experiencing at home or in the community. Specifically, gangsterism and substance abuse which is later discussed in the literature review. The study argues for an ethic of care as a new approach to managing poor discipline as it is clear that teachers are slowly becoming demotivated to teach effectively, and current strategies and approaches are not bringing about the changes, conducive to a functional schooling environment.