Abstract
The issue of school violence is of great concern to all education stakeholders. Many studies have examined the causes of school violence and its effect on the teaching and learning process. However, there has been little focus given to how learners’ rights influence the management of school violence by educators. School violence has been linked to indiscipline which results in learners becoming uncontrollable leading to apathy in schools. While school leaders have the legal authority to maintain discipline, they must do so without infringing on the rights of learners. This study sought to investigate the opinions of three Tshwane North high schools’ learners, educators and parents on learners’ rights and their role in the prevalence of school violence. It was a generic qualitative study framed within the constructive interpretivist paradigm. The researcher utilised qualitative data collection methods, which included document analysis and semi-structured interviews. The researcher also undertook a purposive sampling of research sites and participants. The selected participants included principals, deputy principals, teachers, learners, and parents. The findings suggest that school leaders are aware of and employ the recommended strategies for combating school violence. The study also revealed that learners misunderstood, and mis used their rights. Thus, learners’ rights did not influence school violence. The research findings revealed that educators were no longer using corporal punishment, however they were using other degrading forms of disciplining learners, thereby violating the learners’ rights. The data analysis indicates the difficulties that learners experience in the age of human rights. Learners want their rights to be respected, but at the same time they desire harsher penalties for misbehaving learners. These findings allow schools and policy makers to reflect on the implementation and effectiveness of the various discipline strategies to curb school violence.
M.Ed. (Educational Leadership and Management)