Discipline in Schools

SCOPE OF THE ESSAY
In this essay I will attempt definitions of the following terms; Indiscipline, schools, colleges, management and machineries. I will also confirm the realization or observation that indeed indiscipline in our schools and colleges has reached high levels. For the greater part of this essay, I will then seek to address how managers in schools and colleges can use various approaches to discipline and other management machineries to minimize indiscipline in their institutions. Since I am a manager in one of the boarding high schools in South Africa, I will make reference to some guide line documents, policy and initiatives that are being implemented to minimize indiscipline in schools. This essay will not be exhaustive, but I will attempt to shed some light on some important aspects of a set of problems in our institutions of learning which I think if not engaged would or are beginning to cause great controversy.

DEFINITION OF TERMS
The term indiscipline is described as follows in the Thesaurus: “lack of discipline or restraint,” as “bad behaviour; Unwillingness to obey orders or maintain prescribed standards of conduct,” in the Kernerman Multi-lingual English dictionary. It could also be described in the following; “a lack of control in the behaviour of a group of people, with the result that they behave badly.” Or simply, “uncontrolled behaviour,” or “lack of control or obedience.” According to Threkshona (2001), “Indiscipline is the distortion of controlled moral and mental behaviour. It may also refer to the intentional refusal to follow rules and set regulations of a given society.” All these views put together, indiscipline therefore, “is the sum total of lack of respect towards a combination of tasks of learning, control of emotions and cultural, traditional and religious values.” The terms “schools and colleges,” here in this essay, would be used to refer to institutions or centres of learning where learners or students interact with their peers, support staff, teachers, administrators, parents, stakeholders, visitors and other professionals. “Management” in this context, refers to the force behind getting people together to accomplish predetermined and desired goals and objectives in a school or college. In another way, “management” can also be defined as the “human action” geared towards “facilitating the production of useful outcomes from a system.” This view in the context of an organisation or learning institute such as school or college would then imply that as managers it is important to 'manage ' oneself before one can attempt to manage others. This is also applicable to student leadership in schools and colleges. The tern “machineries,” here refers to methods, ways, processes, approaches, structures and mechanisms by which indiscipline could be minimized or curbed by managers in schools and colleges.

BODY OF ESSAY
If one visits a number of countries, speaking to managers and school administrators to identify the most serious problems facing school systems today, one would soon realize that in all these countries, the maintenance of discipline is crucial, especially in high schools colleges and other tertiary institutes. The observation or declaration that indiscipline has reached high levels in schools in this regard needs no argument or defense to refute it. In the newspapers and magazines there is a continuous public outcry about high levels of indiscipline in some schools. Television talk shows have this issue as one of their regular discussions with parents, audiences and professional individuals. Indiscipline in educational centres is a mirror reflecting the most fundamental characteristics of the crisis of purpose in the face of changing cultural and social circumstances currently afflicting many of our educational institutions everywhere. These indiscipline cases more often than not in some cases have led to violent strikes, demonstrations, riots and class boycotts. While in some schools, indiscipline is nipped in the butt when it surfaces its head, in others it is left to parade the corridors of those institutions leaving behind victims of violence, scares and irreparable institutional reputations. Others argue for Christian education instead of the public alternative, stating that at least in a Christian schools you have the good Christian influence as well as the critical mass from Christian homes and staff to curb indiscipline and model acceptable good behaviour. Some are quick to blame the weak institutional management; others think the cause is all types of dysfunctional homes. Some would prefer to pull the bull by its horns and lay the blame squarely on the ill disciplined individual, arguing that the bug stops with you and it’s high time that individuals need to take responsibility of their own actions. Infact the high levels of indiscipline in schools have created discussion and phrases such as “creating safe learning zones.” This sounds like schools and colleges instead of being centres of learning have become “battlefields” and “bloodspots” or even “jungles” where it’s now the survival of the fittest. If you cannot beat them you must join them hence the prevalence of gangs and gangsterism and even hooliganism. Some parents failing to get answers have resorted to home schooling their children as the better and safer option. At least here there is obvious parental control, monitoring and intentional character building particularly with teens in their impressionistic and formative years. Whatever the case may be, there is no doubt that the phenomena has assumed alarming proportions, and has become a matter for serious thought and enquiry. The reality is that schools and colleges are faced with high levels of indiscipline. How our future generation is shaping up and what type of leadership our countries are going to inherit are important matters for all of us particularly managers. We cannot, therefore, dismiss the problem from our minds with a shrug and give way to despair and become helpless prophets of doom. For this reason school managers need to formulate ways to deal with or at least minimize its occurrence. We have a go deep into causes, and, in the light of our findings, apply whatever correctives measures, which may appear to be feasible and effective.

CAUSES OF INDISCIPLINE
The word indiscipline has as its root the word disciple. A disciple is a student or follower of a wise mentor, adult or teacher. With the concept of discipline comes learning. A student or learner who is undisciplined cannot learn. In this section of the essay I will explore causes of indiscipline which I think can be traced back to other several root causes and problems which might go beyond educational institutions. To determine the causes of indiscipline one has to do a comprehensive analysis of the problem of indiscipline in our schools and colleges, taking into account the spirit of the age in which we are living. A list of causes could be outlined as follows; lack of proper esteem and respect for authority, lack of value for one self and ones studies, lack of social maturity, lack of adequate and effective adult or teacher instruction and even laziness on the part of the student which could result in exam malpractice. In some cases it could be rules not being enforced by authorities, lack of communication; that is rules not being communicated properly, lack of strong and firm leadership in our institutions of learning, no continuity in the upholding of the schools values, conventions, norms and customs, lack of or no clear sense of institutional purpose, lack of both intrinsic and extrinsic motivation, lack of or inadequate teacher supervision leading to unauthorized exits and entrances within school or college campuses, lack of proper moral training by parents and guardians, careless and indifferent homes, and lack of good funding to schools by their governments to make provision for the necessary infrastructure. Some of these causes are behavioural such as, alcohol consumption, sale of and consumption of drugs and substance abuse and other bad habits, immoral relationships among students, as well as involvement in social vices such as prostitution, rape and even theft and robbery. Seen from the students point of view it could be that, their welfare, complaints about the lack of amenities in learning institutions is not being prioritized or exclusion of students in decision making, favouritism, familiarity in terms of student-teacher relationships particularly with regards to male staff, unapproachable administrators, school administrators not leading by example and serving as good role models and display of contrary traits by administrators. On issues of curriculum it could be argued that, lack of guidance and counseling as a subject in the schools curriculum.

One realises that the natural propensities of most of our young people as well as the external factors have influenced their behaviour. We are living in the age of science. New discoveries every day are making young people particularly conscious of their hidden powers. They have become worshipers of intellect and reason and are no longer prepared to accept anything particularly in schools, without questioning it. Established moral values and faiths passed from one generation to the next have lost their appeal with most young people. With that, most young people in schools and colleges no longer have spiritual anchors and stability. They have become like a straw wafer about in all directions with every wind of change. The result then is a baseless, rootless and undisciplined generation. Many students today are members of this baseless generation which not only questions authority but has also lost all sense of purpose and direction. Infact they have fallen prey to an undisciplined character, which is marked by marked by a purposeless baviour, fearlessness of authority, non-conformism regarding school rules, wanton disobedience and mental lethargy or dullness.
Atul Josh in the article “causes and remedies of student indiscipline” makes the following observations regarding indiscipline in schools and colleges; “the natural propensities of youth towards revolt and adventure, has served as the ideal setting for students to appear in the role of mobs of frustrated agitators, not willing to listen anybody, out to assert themselves in all their adolescent exuberance, and to have a good time at any cost.” He goes on to add that there are other factors which aggravate indiscipline in schools and colleges, such as a “discrepancy noticed almost daily between percept and practice... While on the one hand, their elders extol before them the spirit of adventure, on the other, they caution them to play safe and dangle before them day in and day out the aim of securing a good job as the sole purpose of education. In the class-rooms they are taught the virtues of purity in public life, but outside they see the rule of jobbery and corruption everywhere. It is not therefore surprising that they feel confused and really do not know what is expected of them. Other educationists argue that the “much-maligned system of education” also contributes to indiscipline in schools and particularly in colleges. They question the real aims of education. They see such aims as; broadening the intellect, developing the mind and discipline of thinking being relegated to the background, while gearing students to pass exams, memory rather than understanding, and book-knowledge rather than thinking as the main focus.
Our schools and colleges particularly, are crowded not with students seeking after education, but with young people intent on securing passports to careers. In some institutions the main criterion or suitability of student for admission is his or her parents ' capacity to pay, instead of the student’s willingness to conform. In some other countries where there is political instability, this has become another factor which promotes student indiscipline. In such areas unscrupulous political organizations and politicians are ready not to hesitate making use of the students for furthering their aims. Looking out for fun and excitement, students fall an easy prey to their machinations.

MANAGERIAL MACHINARIES/EFFECTIVE REMEDIAL MEASURES
There are various approaches that have been researched and are applicable to schools. These can be used in dealing with indiscipline in schools and colleges. The “assertive approach” by Duke and Meckel, emphasizes on managers specifying rules of behaviour and their consequences. In this approach students must not forget who is in charge and must conform to institutional rules and regulations. The manager is authoritarian, repressive, militaristic and prejudicial. This approach advocates a firm management style in schools and colleges. The “business-academic approach” by (Evertson and Emmer) suggests that managers need to put more emphasis on classroom instructional techniques to minimize undisciplined classrooms. Some of the techniques include direct instruction, mastery learning and effective teaching methods. The assumption is that, if students are organized well in their academic work and tasks and there is clear communication, monitoring and feedback by managers or teachers, cases of indiscipline in schools will be minimized. Another approach is the “behavioural-modification approach” by Watson and Skinner which suggest that behaviour is shaped by environment and consequences and also strengthened by reinforcement such as praise, rewards and other forms of positive motivations. While doing this managers still need to establish rules and enforce them. The assumption here is that parents, teachers, adults and managers model acceptable and good behaviour, teacher and student relationships are unquestionable and moral, because best models are those that students can identify with. In that institution of learning, students see no discrepancy between precept and practice. There is also the “group managerial approach” which emphasizes on managers responding immediately to group student behavior that might be inappropriate and undesirable in order to prevent problems (ripple effect) and indiscipline. Any form of deviancy or misbehaviour is stopped before it becomes serious misbehaviour. Managers are alert and have put into place effective structures of visible teacher-student supervision.
There is also the “group-guidance approach” in which managers need to study surface behaviour of students on a group basis. Though in some instances students misbehave in groups, it is also true that discipline is produced through the group atmosphere and enhanced through group rapport.
With the focus on student-centered education, managers need put more emphasis on “humanistic approaches” in minimizing indiscipline in schools and colleges. Students need to be valued and respected as people. While making sure that there is some measure of control in the schools, as managers we must be aware that students need to experience a reasonable ammount of success in order to develop feelings of competence and self-worth. Rules are needed and enforced, but whatever rules govern the school are fair and primarily serve the needs of the students not the needs of the teachers or administration and the role of the management through the teacher is to effectively link the student and the school curriculum. In this regard as a manager currently, I am inclined towards an “acceptance approach” to discipline in schools. In my experience as a teacher and manager responsible for discipline I have noted that with some students indiscipline is often intertwined with academic problems or failure in school. The failing student might become frustrated by their inability to perform and start expressing uneasiness by acting out. I have also come to sense the need for acceptance in most high-school students. Students like everyone else strive for acceptance. They want to belong and to be liked by others who are important to them; similarly they would rather behave than misbehave. Acceptance by peers, teachers and management and even administrative staff, is the pre-requisite for appropriate behaviour in schools. People generally and students in particular try all kinds of behaviour to get status and recognition. If they are not successful in receiving recognition through socially acceptable methods, they turn to mistaken goals that result in anti-social behaviour.
Rudolph Dreikurs ( ) identifies the following as mistaken goals among students in schools and colleges; attention getting misbehaviour, power seeking attitude that defies adult authority, revenge seeking bent on hurting others despite threats of punishment and withdrawal from social interaction to guard whatever little self esteem. As managers with the assistance from faith based organisations (FBOs) and non-governmental support organisations (NGSOs) as well as professional therapeutic support from educational psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers, we should spent some time in our schools identifying these mistaken goals. As we do so as managers we intentionally address social conditions that might be impacting negatively on student behaviour. Since behaviour is a matter of choice as managers we need to assist teachers to make students choose right and students who have feelings of positive self-worth and acceptance and are experiencing success will make good choices most of the time. This pathway begins with a good relationship and people who care and for some students; the school or college where they attend could be the only place where they meet people who genuinely care for them. Managers need to emphasize a democratic approach to teaching and learning in which while the institution provides leadership by establishing rules and consequences, simultaneously students are allowed to participate in decisions and making choices as well as making commitment to rules and enforcing them. By so doing, we are stressing student responsibility for their own behaviour and choices.
As a manager responsible for discipline in school, I have also noted that the department of education in South Africa has made provisions and put in structures to assist school managers in dealing with indiscipline in schools and colleges. Since corporal punishment is a criminal offence, a violation of human right and discouraged in schools as stated in the South African Schools Act No. 84 of 1996, the department of education has put together a book that deals with alternatives to corporal punishment. The authors: Kimberley, Salim and Tamar (2001) suggest the following approaches or schools of thought to managers in dealing with indiscipline in schools; bahaviour modification, emphasis on learning barriers and social challenges, democratic discipline and community building. School managers have also been provide with templates of the Schools Safety and Discipline Policy (SSD) which details the following; learners code of conduct, purpose of the code, dress code, dress requirements for sporting activities and physical education, sport and extra-mural activities, school property, property of members of staff, fellow learners and visitors to school, schoolwork and homework, punctuality, absence from school, motor vehecles and moto cycles, environment, school notices, library books and equipment, rights of learners, learner pregnancy and discipline. This code of conduct is so elaborate and can be easily customised to individual schools and colleges by managers. The department of education has also recently launched a national policy on whole school evaluation(WSE) as one of the cornestones to quality assuarance in education. This policy document is also supported with guidelines and criteria on how to conduct a whole school evaluation as well as school self evaluation forms. While the document deals with all aspects of the school, criteria number 7 in this document puts emphasis on school safety, security and discipline. According to this criteria, managers in schools are expected to: Evaluate the extent to which the school knows about legislation and human rights and implementation thereof; to check that the school is secure and the learners, educators and support staff are safe; and to evaluate the effectiveness of the school’s disciplinary procedures. In addition, the department of education through the office of the member of the executive council (MEC) in each province has also ensured that school managers are equiped with the policy guidelines on miscoduct of learners at public schools and disciplinary proceedings to be followed in cases of serious misconduct by students.
In the five year strategic plan (2009/10 – 2014/15), one of the mandates and strategic priorities and goals is for the departments head office and districts to provide relevant coordinated and effective support to managers in schools. The Strategic Objective 10 states that: School safety: schools require more effective support on strategies which will enable them to deal with safety related issues. These range from discipline, drugs, weapons, bullying to first aid and traffic management. Recently the Minister of education Angie Motseka rolled out a schoolyard safety project called “Hlayiseka” or “Be Safe” with booklets 1 up to 4 as guidelines for monitoring school safety as well as training manuals on school safety for heads, principals and educators. This roll out, comes as a result of rising concerns for the safety of learners at various schools in Gauteng. The minister added that it was time that different stakeholders in the education sector contributed and assisted school managers to ensure the safety of children in schools."Schools are supposed to be safe and secure environments for children to enable the teachers to do their core business which is to teach the children that we entrust to them," she emphasized. The minister explained that this project will be rolled out in the following manner: Training of 4- people (1 principal, 1 teacher, 1 parent and 1 learner) in each school in matters pertaining to school safety. The department of education collaborating with sister departments in the Gauteng government will devise an integrated strategy that involves all because issues at the core of violence affect the community at large. School managers have also been provided with circulars to help guide disciplinary proceedings in schools like the Circular 74 of 2007, entitled “management of suspension and expulsion of learners in public ordinary schools.” One of the objectives of this circular is to help school managers or principals align their disciplinary proceedings with the latest legislation as well as advise them on their obligations and administrative procedures. All this support from the department of education has added to management machineries in minimizing indiscipline in the schools and colleges.
CONCLUSION
As managers if we undertake the task with will and determination, there is no reason why we should not be able to enforce effective remedial measures which should rescue our youth from the perilous path they are treading. Tightening up of rules and restrictions could be considered a remedy worse than the disease because it will only produce reaction and make matters worse. The right approach would be to re-orientate education to make it more purposeful. It should not only give the students a sense of a mission in life but also furnish them with a set of values which should serve as guideposts in their journey of life. It should be something more than an apprenticeship for this or that type of job. It should teach them to live in the real sense of the term and not merely to vegetate. The teacher must be given his rightful place if he is expected to co-operate in the task of building the nation. He should be a living example of the ennobling influence of real learning, and not a pitiable wage-earner. The administration of schools and colleges as institutions of learning should be improved and proper amenities provided. The very creation of schools as educational structures must be linked with the idea of discipline and keeping students under closer supervision. Discipline is still an important issue. Very few educational authorities on education can avoid it altogether, even though they may be reluctant to deal with it explicitly because of the authoritarian connotations and traditional associations with punitive measures, including corporal punishment. Those in charge of schools, however, have always known that considerable effort must be invested in maintaining order, because the work of education, and to a great extent the public image of the school, depends upon it. As long as a certificate or degree remains the passport to a good job and nothing more, this attitude will continue to rob educational institutions of their real purpose. The student-teacher relationship, which should be an inspiring association of minds easily, turns into a commercial relationship. How can he or she inspire any feelings of respect for the profession or any interest in the subject he or she teaches? The result is boredom and the typical reaction thereto in the form of indiscipline. Closer parent-teacher collaboration should be established; and last but not least, politics of any shade or colour must be banished from all educational institutions. As Mahatma Gandhi said, "For the students there should be no party politics. There should be no Socialist, Communist, Congress or other groups among students. They should be all students first and last, determined to gather as much knowledge as possible and that for the sake of the service of the people, not for the sake of getting jobs."

BIBLIOGRAPHY 1. Alternatives to Corporal Punishment: Growing Discipline and Respect in Our Classrooms, Porteus K. Vally S. And Ruth T., Heinemann, South Africa, 2001 2. Causes and Remedies of Student Indiscipline, John A., 3. Guidelines for Managing Discipline in Schools and For Alternative Strategies to Corporal Punishment, Gauteng Department of Education, South Africa, 2006. 4. Five Year Strategic Plan 2009/10 – 2014/15, Department Of Education, Gauteng Provincial Government. 5. Introduction to the Open File, Furlain A, Prospects, Vol. XXVII, No. 4 1998. 6. Management of Suspension and Expulsion of Learners in Public Ordinary Schools, Department of Education, Circular 74/2007 7. Misconduct of Learners at Public Schools and Disciplinary Proceedings, General Notice 6903 of 2000, Department of Education 8. National Education Policy Act No. 27 of 1996 9. Regulatory Procedures in Respect of Learners Absent from School During School Hours And Late Coming, Circular 13/2002: Gauteng Provincial Office, Johannesburg. 10. School Safety and Discipline Policy, Department Of Education, South Africa, 2010 11. Safety; Towards Creating a Safe Learning Environment, Centre For Justice and Crime Prevention, Newlands, South Africa, 2006 12. The Hlayiseka “Be Safe” Project: Early Warning System Book 1,2,3 and 4: Guidelines For Monitoring School 13. The National Policy on Whole School Evaluation, Government Gazette No. 22512, South Africa, 2001 14. Training Manual on School Safety for Principals and Educators, Department of Community Safety, Gauteng Provincial Government, South Africa. 15. Whole School Evaluation Forms, Department of Education, South Africa, 2004. 16. Whole School Evaluation Guidelines and Criteria, Department of Education, South Africa, 2004.

SOLUSI UNIVERSITY
FACULTY OF EDUCATION
DEPARTMENT OF GRADUATE STUDIES
COURSE TITLE: EDMT 600: EDUCATIONAL PLANNING AND MANAGEMENT
COURSE LECTURER: Dr. Samuel Adebayo Awoniyi.
ESSAY TOPIC: Currently Discipline has reached its highest level in Schools and Colleges. Discuss the various causes of indiscipline among students and pupils and suggest effective managerial machineries that could be put in place in order to minimize indiscipline.

Presented In Partial Fulfillment of The Requirements for the Degree Masters of Education in Educational Management.

NAME: STEPHEN SIBANDA STUDENT I.D No. 11035 YEAR : AUGUST 2012

Bibliography: 1. Alternatives to Corporal Punishment: Growing Discipline and Respect in Our Classrooms, Porteus K. Vally S. And Ruth T., Heinemann, South Africa, 2001 2 3. Guidelines for Managing Discipline in Schools and For Alternative Strategies to Corporal Punishment, Gauteng Department of Education, South Africa, 2006. 10. School Safety and Discipline Policy, Department Of Education, South Africa, 2010 11 15. Whole School Evaluation Forms, Department of Education, South Africa, 2004. 16. Whole School Evaluation Guidelines and Criteria, Department of Education, South Africa, 2004. NAME: STEPHEN SIBANDA STUDENT I.D No. 11035