Analysing approaches to discipline at year six level in two primary schools

Abstract

Management of discipline is central to effective teaching because without it, no teaching and thus no learning will take place. In the recent past, the maintenance of discipline has become a major concern in schools, because overall, it seems students' behaviour is becoming more and more challenging. This study attempts to investigate discipline strategies used by four different primary school teachers, two in a Church School and two in a State school, teaching at Year 6 level. This study also observes methods of discipline used by the school administration, under the guidance of the Head of School, in handling difficult student situations. Interviews take place with the teachers and Heads, and observations are also conducted in the four classrooms, covering approximately twenty hours of work. This is done in order to ascertain the validity of the data collected from the study. Questionnaires are administered to the respective students to include their opinions on the subject. Reference to literature is made to strengthen findings from interviews, questionnaires and observations. A number of significant conclusions related to discipline approaches were concluded from the study mainly: (i) a good relationship with students, parents and the SMT; (ii) making use of graded discipline methods with a high degree of flexibility; (iii) schools must have a clear, attainable and practical discipline rules; (iv) policies that support teachers; (v) address disruptive children individually to be able to discover the cause of the deviant misbehaviour.