The summary of the findings is based on the analyses and discussions presented in the previous chapter. The summary will be presented under the following headings: The blame game in the management of learner discipline problems, and gender related issues in the management of learners‟ behaviour.
5.2.1 The blame game in the management of learner discipline problems
Learner discipline was located externally and internally. The external location of the learner discipline was when by the novice teachers shifted the blame for behavioural problems to the community, parents, learners themselves and the school. This suggests that the novice teachers blamed the above-mentioned people and the institution when learners were ill- disciplined and therefore posed a challenge in managing their behaviours. The internal location of the management of learners‟ discipline problem was directed to the novice
70 teachers themselves. Fortunately or unfortunately, these two teachers provided the only voice for the study through the data collected during the interviews.
These novice teachers tended to shift the blame for learners‟ poor discipline to the community, learners and school itself as the major contributors to learner ill-discipline. They argued that learner discipline could be internalized; this suggests that the teachers themselves were not to be blamed for learner discipline problems. Therefore it was difficult for them to successfully and effectively manage a learner whose behaviour was not as a result of environmental influences but as a result of hereditary factors. Such learners were constantly being troublesome and strategies to manage these behaviours such as detention, cleaning the school and/or classroom after school, or cleaning the toilets (which they detested doing) did not work. This persuaded some of the novice teachers, out of frustration, to ignore the rule which forbids the use of corporal punishment and to use it on some learners in an attempt to help them to effectively manage discipline problems.
These teachers also argued that most learners spent only about eight hour a day at school but they were disruptive as they were in and out of the classroom all the time. Therefore, according to them, the school and other community stakeholders should be more actively involved in addressing learners‟ discipline problems. They felt that the time learners spend at different locations within the community during his/her growing up stage can be effectively used if parents and the community prioritise the need for the learners to have a good sense of mature and community acceptable behaviours. This will provide synergy that will help learners to take their homework seriously, just as they do with their class activities. These novice teachers therefore lamented the fact that community involvement and parental concern were weak in the school under investigation. This weakness contributed to the poor academic outcomes of the learners as revealed by the participants.
Despite the fact that novice teachers blamed the community and parents for their lack of involvement in the management of children‟s discipline problems, the teachers themselves should carry a fair share of the blame. One of the reasons for this conclusion is that professional teachers should assume their responsibilities and not transfer them to externalize the problem. These teachers did not have much knowledge on administering alternatives to corporal punishment. Novice teachers need to fit themselves into a specific context and learn the practices and traditions of the individual school where they teach. There are schools that have policies which are contradictory to the National Education policies. The issue of
71 corporal punishment creates a problem for most novice teachers since they are in favour of it, yet the law forbids it.
There was evidence that the novice teachers had not been given any formal training regarding the management of learner discipline problems. These educator believed that learner discipline should occur only when the learner does something wrong. Perceptions of this nature bring only negative thoughts when the term discipline is mentioned; therefore, such perceptions must be corrected with the best possible method to eradicate this unwanted behaviour. Steyn (2004) affirms that the training of [novice] educators does not receive appropriate priority in schools. Most training with regards to learner discipline problems is highlighted in management meetings.
5.2.2 Gender issues related to learner discipline problems
There is no clear cut guidance given to educators by most educational institutions regarding learner discipline. The teachers failed to adequately assist each other in learner discipline as they would have wanted. The male respondent remarked that it seemed easier for him as a male to take the initiative to discipline learners, but that he thought female were more reluctant to discipline learners. This comes from a remark by Mafa. The consequences are that male teachers may become the victims of aggressive learners who misbehave because they feel he is very strict, whereas female teachers become victims because they are too scared to deal with aggressive, violent learners, as was stated by Soffie. The educators suggested that the school should have a strong DSSC which comprises of all stakeholders of the school, i.e., learners, educators, parents and members within community structures.
The learner discipline problems experienced by the novice teachers cut across both genders.
Nevertheless, these problems were not evenly distributed between the two groups. The male learners were more prone towards violent disciplinary problems and drug related misbehaviour whilst very few female learners were involved in such types of behaviours. On the periphery, some girls seemed to have been influenced towards violence by their boyfriends or siblings. Lesser types of violent disciplinary problems were experienced by the novice teachers and were more common for the female teacher, like disturbance during a lesson, late coming and disrespect.
The male teacher believed that he managed learner discipline problems better than his female counterpart. The male teacher got involved with the more violent learners and made sure that they were on par with their behaviour and sometimes he provided relevant follow-up
72 measures for the learners to deal with their problems. The male teacher would sometimes move around the school looking for learners who were smoking or taking drugs. He also made sure that learners‟ school bags were searched on a regular basis.
Although the female novice teacher also got involved with the management of learners‟
problems, she was more passive and reluctant to get involved with those learners that were violence orientated, irrespective of the gender of the said learner. That notwithstanding, the female teacher supervised measures like detentions, and cleaning of the toilet and classrooms, which were strategies that she herself instigated.