Abstract
M.Ed.
It is clear to me that the need for the teacher and the school to provide educational help and support is greater than ever before. With reference to democratic values in a multicultural society Le Roux (1997:1) is of the opinion that teachers have a lot of responsibility for both “what” and “how” learners learn. To gain better understanding in the “functioning” of the modern educational system it is of the utmost importance to investigate “how” educational goals are attained in the modern classroom. In accordance with this reasoning not only the content of the teaching and learning experience is important but also the process of educational communication (Du Plessis, 1974:5). Especially where education is viewed as help and support to the youth, the helping relationship between teachers and the learners in their care occupies a central position (Okun, 2002:21). In accordance with this view teacher and learners in this study will be seen as senders and receivers of educational verbal and non verbal messages (Goleman, 1996:116; Goleman, 2006:14; Johnson, 2006:126).
If the helping relationship is of great importance to teaching and learning and if this relationship is built and maintained via teacher-learner communication, how does the experience of aggression while communicating with their teachers affect learners? What is learners’ experience of aggression while communicating with their teachers? What can be done about the experience of aggression during teacher-learner communication?
This research was done in two phases. In PHASE 1 the goal was to explore and describe grade eleven learners’ experience of aggression while communicating with their teachers. In PHASE 2 the goal was the description of guidelines for communication between secondary school learners and their teachers with special reference to the handling of aggression in the communication and relationship. It is a qualitative investigation to explore and to describe learners’ experience of aggression while communicating with their teachers. The research rests on Phenomenological principles and methods (Giorgi, 2002). I followed a functional approach and the research is carried out with the view of improving my own educational practice as well as educational practice in general. The method of data collection followed is a qualitative interpretive constructivist approach to the generation of new knowledge and the specific method employed is phenomenological interviews. The research was conducted at an ex-Model C school. The sample was purposive and grade 11 learners were given an opportunity to participate in the research on a voluntary basis. Grade eleven learners were given opportunity because, in my view, in general, they have both enough experience with teachers and the vocabulary to talk about a complex phenomenon such as the experience of aggression. The methods and procedures employed made extensive use of triangulation with a view to enhancing trustworthiness. Twelve individual phenomenological interviews were conducted as well as a focus group interview. There was a total of nineteen voluntary participants of which eighteen are Afrikaans first language speakers and one is an English first language speaker. Eight boys and eleven girls participated. All of the participants are seventeen years of age. All the participants, except one boy, also wrote a naïve sketch about their experiences before the phenomenological interview or focusgroup interview was conducted. During all the interviews, as well as directly afterwards, field notes were made, by the researcher. The central question of this investigation is: “What is grade eleven learners’ experience of aggression wile communicating with their teachers?” and this question was operationalised in the individual phenomenological interviews, focus group interview, and the naïve sketches as: “How is it for you when your teachers are aggressive when they talk to you?”