Abstract:
Secondary schools in South Africa are facing many challenges one of them being
unsafe school environment. Although schools have in place School Management
Teams (SMTs) who oversee teaching and learning activities, such are also
responsible for ensuring a safe school environment. In some South African
schools, there is daily occurrence of violence; bullying; drug and alcohol use; and a growing culture of gangsterism have been reported. Despite these incidences little is known about the perspectives of SMTs regarding creating safe school
environment. The aim of this study was to conceptualize safe learning school
environment from the views of SMT members. I intended to establish how the SMT members in this study, namely, teachers, go about creating a safe learning
environment; the challenges they experience; as well as the support they need in
creating and managing a safe learning environment. The research followed a
qualitative research approach and a Case Study design. Purposeful Sampling was
used to select participants from three secondary schools in Brits, North West. The
three schools are non-paying schools under Quintile 1, with more than 1000
learners per school. The participants included Heads of Department, Deputy
Principals and School Principals. The findings from this study show the different
perspectives of what contributes to unsafe and safe schools; the strategies that the SMTs take to create a safe school environment; as well as the support.
Recommendations from the study are made on how to support SMTs in creating
safe learning school environment.
