Teachers' Management of Learner Discipline in a Primary School

This study examines the role of teachers in the management of learner discipline problems in a primary school where I am currently employed as a teacher. While the management of learner discipline is the major focus of the study, other key issues that relate to this process are also examined. In addition this research study examines the types of discipline problems that teachers face at this school and some of the factors that contribute to these problems. For the purposes of this study I use the pseudonym ¿Proteä for the actual name of the school. In the past few years I have become interested in issues of learner discipline, particularly how to deal with learner discipline. Concern has been expressed in South Africa and elsewhere in the world about the problem of discipline generally, but in recent years the management of learner discipline has become a focal point of policy and media attention (Rossouw, 2003; Cohen, 1996; Joubert & Prinsloo, 1999).