Mitigating violence directed at teachers: a narrative inquiry.
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Date
2022
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Abstract
Violence directed at teachers has become a pervasive problem with long-term
consequences for teachers and educational outcomes. The issue of violence directed
at teachers warrants urgent attention. All those within the school environment,
learners, teachers, heads of departments, deputy principals, principals, and support
personnel, should feel safe when they are in the school environment. In the same
way, learner safety is prioritised within the school environment, teachers’ safety within
the classroom and school should also be prioritised so that they can confidently
perform their duties.
This study is a collective case study of two schools couched within the interpretivist
paradigm. This paradigm was suitable for understanding teachers' experiences of
violence that is directed at them and the consequences thereof. The study adopted
qualitative data generation methods, which included narrative interviews. For the
interviews, a purposive sampling of the participants was adopted; there was no set
formula rigidly applied to determine the sample size. The study adopted the social
cognitive theory.
Findings provide evidence of the high rate of violence directed at teachers, especially
when accounting for both physical and non-physical forms of violence. The findings
established that verbal violence was the most common form of violence that is directed
at teachers. Furthermore, it was found that most of the teachers were negatively
affected by the violence directed at them, with significant repercussions for their wellbeing.
Recommendations made were that there should be a comprehensive approach
to addressing violence directed at teachers. Teachers should be trained in classroom
management and crisis intervention. Individual intervention strategies should be
recommended for learners with serious behavioural problems. Furthermore, there
should be an explicit school policy and effective strategy to handle issues of violence
directed at teachers. The study concluded that violence directed at teachers is
exceptionally prevalent. Moreover, it is complex, multi-dimensional, and dynamic, and
it also negatively affects educational outcomes. Mitigating violence directed at
teachers should a critical component of school violence programs.
Description
Masters Degree. University of KwaZulu-Natal, Edgewood.