Abstract
D.Ed.
The researcher explored and described the teachers’ experience of aggression in a secondary school. In order to assist teachers who experience aggression in a secondary school, she developed, implemented and evaluated a Psycho-Educational Programme to facilitate their mental health.
Aggression-related attitudes and behaviour has become part of the learning and teaching process, and directly contributes to the increased levels of stress and frustration for teachers, learners, and non-teaching staff. Despite this stressful environment, teachers are still expected to fulfil their normal duties as teachers. Teachers specifically ascribe disciplinary problems as one of the major reasons why they resign from teaching as profession.
The research design was systemised into four sequential research steps. Step 1, the situation analysis, was conducted according to the qualitative research approach by means of individual phenomenological interviews with purposefully selected teachers. Tesch’s descriptive approach to data reduction was applied whereafter a literature control was conducted. Trustworthiness was ensured by adherence to credibility, transferability, dependability and confirmability. Step 2 introduced the development of a Psycho-Educational Programme to facilitate the mental health of teachers who experience aggression in a secondary school. The nature, content and extent of the programme were based on a conceptual framework. Step 3 and step 4 comprised the implementation and evaluation of the Psycho-Educational Programme according to the classical experiment approach. Participants completed the pre-test and post-test questionnaires. Adherence to internal validity, external validity, reliability and objectivity ensured the trustworthiness of the process.
The following three themes emerged during the situation analysis:
Theme 1: Teachers experienced feelings of anger, hurt, frustration and disappointment.
Theme 2: Teachers experienced their locus of control in relation to aggression to be internal as well as external; and,
Theme 3: Teachers were aware of barriers in the establishment and maintenance of constructive relationships at school.
The evaluation of the data showed that the questionnaires were appropriate and valid. The variables; self-awareness internal locus of control and external locus of control and relationships, was effectively addressed in the Psycho-Educational Programme and also had a positive effect on the experimental group. The implementation of the Placebo Programme, however, had no significant impact on the control group.
The public concern regarding aggressive behaviour at secondary schools is escalating, although contextualised research related to this issue is seriously lacking. The development, implementation and evaluation of the Psycho-Educational Programme, indicated that the aggression teachers experience in a secondary school can be managed by facilitating the mental health of the teachers. The study further allowed the researcher to practically demonstrate the value added to the study when both the qualitative and quantitative research approaches are appropriately included in the research design.