The role of values in school discipline

Abstract

The role of values in school discipline Despite the fact that the Constitution of South Africa uses language that could be described as " value-language " , our country is experiencing an intense moral crisis. There is an urgent need to establish ways of finding answers to the value crisis in South Africa. Morality has been and is part of education. In this article the relationship between values, education and discipline is addressed from a Biblically-based (in this case, reformational) perspective. The teacher as secondary educator plays an important role in the establishment of values among learners. The Department of Education has made clear its intention to establish values in schools in its Manifesto on Values, Education and Democracy. The values emphasised in this document concur with the ideals of nation-building in the new democratic South Africa. Unfortunately, the absence of discipline and self-discipline among learners and educators implies that these ideals cannot be realised. The main cause of discipline problems can possibly be ascribed to the absence of a value system rooted in a specific life and worldview, for without such a perspective the management of discipline problems can only be symptomatic. Opsomming Die rol van waardes in dissipline in skole Nieteenstaande die feit dat die Grondwet van Suid-Afrika taal gebruik wat as " waarde-taal " beskryf kan word, ondervind ons land 'n intense morele krisis. Daar is 'n dringende behoefte om antwoorde op die waardekrisis in ons land te vind. Moraliteit is en was altyd 'n deel van opvoeding. In hierdie artikel word die verhouding tussen waardes, opvoeding en dissipline vanuit 'n Bybelse (in hierdie geval: reforma-toriese) denkraamwerk ondersoek. Die onderwyser as sekondêre opvoeder speel 'n belangrike rol in die vestiging van waardes by leerders. Die Departement van Onderwys het sy voorneme om waar-The role of values in school discipline 354 Koers 68(4) 2003:353-371 des in skole te vestig duidelik gemaak in sy publikasie Manifesto on Values, Education and Democracy. Die waardes wat in hierdie dokument beklemtoon word, stem ooreen met die gedagte van nasiebou in die nuwe demokratiese Suid-Afrika. Ongelukkig ver-oorsaak die afwesigheid van dissipline en selfdissipline onder leerders en onderwysers dat hierdie ideale nie bereik kan word nie. Die oorsprong van dissiplinêre probleme kan moontlik toegeskryf word aan die afwesigheid van 'n waardestelsel as 'n deel van 'n besondere lewens-en wêreldbeskouing, want daarsonder bly die hantering van dissiplinêre probleme slegs simptomaties.