LEARNER ON TEACHER VIOLENCE

 

1. Teachers have been experiencing an increasing prevalence of violence in schools. What’s going on?

• How do race, gender, culture etc factor into violence in the classroom?
• What are teachers’ attitudes and perceptions about the violence?
• What are the challenges or/and problem about school violence against teachers?

                                                                             

2.   What do you see as the root cause of violence committed by students against teachers? How and why are students drawn or forced into violent behavior?

 

3.    What are the school and learner characteristics associated with crime and violence?

• Can you comment on how school demographic characteristics, school disorder characteristics and administrative practices are associated with violence prevalence?

 

4.    What type of violence or kind of physical aggression do you most experience in your school?

• Where does it mostly happen, is it in classrooms?

 

5.    What are the effects of violence against teachers?

• Are they being specifically targeted?
• How does repeatedly witnessing violence normalize it?
• What short- and long-term impacts do these experiences have on teachers and teaching?
• What are signs of exposure to traumatic violence? Are some teachers more affected by violence than others?

 

 

 

6.    Please explain about teachers’ rights. Are there any challenges in implementing them? Why?

 

7.    What makes a school a safe place? What can be done?

 

8.    What are the roles of educators, HODs, principals, and community leaders in the local level crime and violence prevention in the school?

• Please comment on the school safety programmes and interventions initiatives, local safety forums and structures?
• Do you monitor and evaluate them to guide school improvement?

 

9.    The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has provided a framework for a whole-school approach – a strategy. Any comment about it?

 

10.   Do you have:

a) a system, to ensure that principals and educators are held accountable for classroom safety?

b) a teacher-friendly reporting mechanism?

c) a social/behavioural programme to provide students with clear expectations and appropriate social and behavioural skills to manage anger, resolve conflict and improve classroom norms and environment?

d) clear plans and procedures for responding to students who show signs of behaviour issues as well as a plan for students who have violated behavioural expectations?

e) any violence training programmes for educators, HODs and principles for e.g., to teach about how to identify behaviour issues and how to respond to and de-escalate aggressive behaviours or designed to educate or protect teachers from violence? What skills should teachers who work in difficult schools have in order to help minimize violence against teachers?

f) an emergency preparedness plan? Is it adequate? Are there potential funding challenges that have prevented schools from being fully prepared for emergencies? How could your school be better prepared for emergencies and protect teachers? How should schools respond to a teacher’s threats?

g) a violence prevention plan and crisis management teams in place? Did you develop it in cooperation with school and health officials, parents, and community members?

 

11.   Please talk about government support to try to create safety and security in the school. What about NGOs or any other organisation?

12.   We might have left out some important issue concerning school violence against teachers. Is there anything else you’d like to say about it?