Violence in secondary schools: Educators experiences in Soweto, South Africa

The rise of violent incidents in South African schools has sparked widespread concern. Most studies on school violence focus on the experiences of learners; little attention has been paid to educators’ experiences. As a result, violence against educators is both underreported and understudied. The research question prompting this study was: What are educators’ experiences of educatordirected violence (EDV) at secondary schools in Soweto, Gauteng? Social learning theory and ecological systems theory serve as the theoretical underpinnings of the study. The study adopted a qualitative phenomenological approach, with data obtained from open-ended questionnaires and semi-structured interviews with 100 purposively selected educators from eight secondary schools in Soweto. All the participants (principals, deputies, department heads, novice and veteran educators) had personally experienced educator-directed violence. Attacks were committed against educators of both genders and all educational ranks. The violence took a variety of forms: verbal, physical, sexual, cyber-related, relational exclusion (stigmatisation and marginalisation), and theft and property destruction, both of which caused emotional distress. Male educators were more likely to be physically attacked than female educators, and female educators were more likely to be sexually and verbally attacked. The findings show that, despite the safeguards put in place by the Department of Education, educator-directed violence is on the rise in Soweto classrooms. We recommend that the Department of Education reconsider its approach to addressing EDV in schools; that educators receive regular training to improve their capacities and violence-mitigation strategies; and counselling be considered for educators who have experienced traumatic incidents. Finally, policies should be modified to assist with reducing violent incidents, and appropriate mechanisms should be devised for dealing with repeat offenders.