An investigation into learner discipline at Silverlea Primary school

Abstract

Corporal punishment was abolished in schools in June 1995 (Benson:1995). The suspension was sudden, and the Education Department provided very Little guidance with regard to alternative means of maintaining discipline. Teachers, who for years had the option of resorting to corporal punishment as a final means of instilling and maintaining leaner discipline, now had very little to fall back on to. An upsurge in disciplinary problems seemed to follow the suspension, and many schools struggled to maintain effective learner discipline. As with many other schools, Silverlea Primary School battled to come to grips with learner discipline in the post-corporal punishment era. Educators had little or no training in alternative methods of maintaining discipline, but still had to deal with the same, or worsening, levels of learner discipline. It is because of this perceived erosion of learner discipline that this study was undertaken. It is grounded in the belief that a positive, disciplined ~environment is essential for effective teaching and learning to happen consistently, and moves from the premise that the system of discipline and, to a large extent its effectiveness, is the creation of the staff of that school. This system, though, should operate within a supportive framework of the Department of Education. Discipline impacts strongly on the quality of education offered and received. It also affects the ability of educators to maintain consistently high standards. Although the environment from which the learners come affect their behaviour and discipline, the management of this discipline at school is dependent on the management skills and systems present at the school. Four concepts - effective discipline, curriculum, management styles, and the abolition of corporal punishment - are identified as being central to the study of discipline. They affect the running of the school, and thus the discipline adhered to at the school. This discipline in turn impacts on the educators who have to constantly be dealing with disciplinary problems rather than teaching. A descriptive research method was used