Educators’ and learners’ view on feedback

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Educators’ and learners’ view on feedback

- a study about feedback, respect and corporal punishment in a South African school

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Sandra Smedberg

Fakulteten för hälsa, natur- och teknikvetenskap

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Idrottsvetenskap / Lärarprogrammet

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15 högskolepoäng

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Handledare: Sven-Olof Palm

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Examinator: Konstantin Kougioumtzis

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2014-02-25

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Abstract

South Africa has a complex history which has, among other things, affected the education system. The system is still in crisis in many ways. The purpose of this study is to investigate the educators’ approach to learners and vice versa in a South African school. It is to examine the overall respect between educators and learners and how educators give learners feedback.

The aim is also to find out if corporal punishment is a common way to discipline learners and to investigate the educators’ way to give praise and confirmation. The study was made on a High School outside Cape Town and it includes qualitative interviews with three educators and three learners. The results of the interviews are presented in three categories, which is:

feedback, respect and corporal punishment. First, the results show that the feedback is a

subject that can be improved. According to the respondents they are doing things right but also quite a few things wrong. They all think that feedback is extremely important for the learners’

development, but only if it is provided in the right way. Second, it shows an overall lack of respect in the South African school, which is reflecting the issues in the communities and in the learners’ homes. But it is something that the Department of Basic Education is trying to improve with the help from the Life Orientation subject. Finally, the results show that a lot of the respondents have mixed feelings about the banning of corporal punishment and that is partly why it is hard to get rid of. This study shows a deeper understanding of these issues and why South Africa still struggle with developing their education system.

Keywords: South Africa, School, Life Orientation, Feedback, Respect, Corporal Punishment.

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1 Introduction and context

1.1 Background

As a former student and as a future teacher in the Swedish school I have been a part of the Swedish school system for a long time. I am well aware of the fact that the values and perceptions within the Swedish school are values and perceptions that our Swedish students bring with them into their adult life. It is values and perceptions that the Swedish school has been working on for many years by curricula and guidance documents. I have, however, been thinking about how it works in other countries. As we all know, there are many countries which in many ways are behind Sweden in the development, South Africa is such a country (Sida, 2013). When my lecturer Sven-Olof Palm asked me if I wanted to go to South Africa and do my study I did not hesitate at all.

Various forms of feedback, respect and corporal punishment is important and interesting topics. Therefore, these topics were chosen as research subjects.

We want to be loved, in the absence thereof admired, in the absence thereof feared, in the absence thereof hated and despised. We want to inaugurate people any kind of feeling, our soul shudder for the void and want to have contact at any price. - Hjalmar Söderberg from Doctor Glass, 1905 (Translated by Sandra Smedberg)

Feedback is an important subject because it is so vital for our development, and therefore it is vital for the educators to provide learners with concrete feedback. John Hattie and Helen Timperley (2007) claim that feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning, if it is provided in the right way (Hattie & Timperley, 2007).

South Africa is a country with a complex history and thus also a complex school history. In order to be able to investigate the South African school of today we have to have some facts about how it has been in the past.

1.2 History

The colonial history of South Africa begins in 1652, when the Dutch East India Company founded Cape Town as provisioning station for its commercial fleet. The station quickly developed into a colony. Through the later immigrations like French Huguenots and Germans, the white population grew and developed an own culture. Later these European settlers then used, or even sold, the black indigenous peoples as slaves. During the two world wars South

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Africa attended as a member of the British Commonwealth on the United Kingdoms’ side. It was during this time that the apartheid system was introduced, which meant that the black people were deprived the rights to own land. They would also work considerably cheaper and they had limited freedom of movement within their own country (Nationalencyklopedin, 2014).

In 1948 The Nationalist Party won the elections and the discrimination and the racism was legalized. Their idea was that the black majority and the white minority would live separately.

In 1958 Hendrik Verwoerd was elected to be the new prime minister and he enacted laws that all were based on that the white people was the superior race. He divided the population into four races. First there were the white people who were the ancestors of the Dutch settlers, second there were the colored people who originally were slaves imported from Asia and Madagascar. Third there were the Indians and last the black indigenous peoples (Eriksson, 2010).

There were, however, liberation movements which were against the apartheid system. The African National Congress (ANC), with the leader Nelson Mandela, was leading in this struggle. In 1962 Mandela was arrested and sentenced to life in prison. During the 1960’s the international public opinion turned against the apartheid system and required that South Africa would be isolated from the outside world. In the end of the 1980’s this isolation forced South Africa to negotiate with the ANC. In 1990 Mandela was released from prison and the ANC was legalized. Nelson Mandela was elected the country’s new president in 1994, in the country’s first democratic elections (Regeringskansliet, 2013).

Even today South Africa is characterized by the legacy of apartheid. The social inequalities between the different peoples are still big and the revenue is really unevenly distributed. Most of the white people have a high standard of living while millions of black people live very poorly in shacks or in rural areas (Sida, 2013).

1.3 School history

On the basis of apartheid there was at the beginning of the 1900’s huge gaps in the education system. The white people received almost all the education budget while the black people were severely discriminated. In the year of 1995 the resources was divided into 19 educational departments and the division followed the apartheid system. These authorities prepared the

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children in different ways depending on race and ideology. The quality of the education and training was variable, which resulted in that approximately one-third of the black people over 15 years were illiterate.

After South Africa’s first democratic elections in the year of 1994 the new government ANC took over a school system in crisis. Some of the problems that the South African school had were unequal educational opportunities, lack of equipment and bad facilities, an irrelevant curriculum and outdated learning, as well as a large percentage of school dropouts. For the ANC the education and training was a high priority subject, since they wanted to democratize society and overcome the apartheid system divisions. One of the ANC’s first actions was to establish a uniform national ministry, which among other things was responsible for new curricula and new education material (Nationalencyklopedin, 2014).

The national ministry immediately started to work on the new curriculum, Curriculum 2005, and in March 1997 the new curriculum was launched. It was called Curriculum 2005 because it was supposed to be implemented in one grade every year until it finally was implemented in every grade. The implementation began in 1998. However, the new curriculum encountered some problems and in the year of 2000 the minister of education decided that the curriculum should be revised. The revised curriculum; The Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS), would for example simplify the language, improve educators’ skills as well as in a clearer way indicate what is expected of the learners at the end of primary school in terms of knowledge, skills and values (Eriksson, 2010).

In the year of 2011 the curriculum was revised again and it was named National Curriculum Statement (NCS). When it comes to the subject Physical Education (PE) it was a subject of its own until the year of 1998. Now PE is a topic within the subject of Life Orientation (LO) (Department of Basic Education, 2011).

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2 Purpose

The purpose of this study is to investigate how educators give learners feedback in the South African school. It is also to investigate educators’ approach to learners and vice versa. The study will examine the overall respect between educators and learners in the school and the aim is to find out if corporal punishment is a common way to discipline learners. It is also to study educators’ way to give praise and confirmation and in which manner it takes place. The focus will primarily be on these conditions in Life Orientation.

2.1 Research questions

 What is the educators’ view on feedback in the South African schools?

 What is the learners’ view on feedback in the South African schools?

 How is the educators’ approach to learners and vice versa in the South African schools?

 What is the educators’ and learners’ view on corporal punishment in the South African schools?

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3 Literature review

This part of the study will initially display an important theoretical starting point, then some central concepts and finally some previous research.

3.1 Theoretical starting point

In the study The power of feedback Hattie and Timperley defines feedback as “information provided by an agent (e.g., teacher, peer, book, parent, self, experience) regarding aspects of one’s performance or understanding” (Hattie & Timperley, 2007, p. 81). In order to be effective the feedback must be connected to a learning situation. Based on a large number of studies and previous research Hattie and Timperley has constructed a model for feedback that increases learning.

Figure 1. A model of feedback to enhance learning.

Purpose

To reduce discrepancies between current understandings/performance and a desired goal

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The discrepancy can be reduced by:

Students

Increased effort and employment of more effective strategies OR Abandoning, blurring, or lowering the goals

Teachers

Providing appropriate challenging and specific goals

Assisting students to reach them through effective learning strategies and feedback

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Effective feedback answers three questions

Where am I going? (the goals) Feed Up How am I going? Feed Back

Where to next? Feed Forward

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Each feedback question works at four levels:

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

Task level Process level Self-regulation level Self level

How well tasks are The main process needed Self-monitoring, directing Personal evaluations and understood/performed to understand/perform task and regulating of actions affect (usually positive)

about the learner

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(Hattie & Timperley, 2007, p. 87) According to their model the purpose of providing feedback is to reduce discrepancies between current understandings or performance and the desired goal. This discrepancy may be reduced (as the model shows in figure 1) by different actions from the teachers and the students. According to Hattie and Timperley (2007) there are four types of feedback. The discrepancy may be reduced depending on how the student and/or the teacher manage to answer the three questions, which must be answered if the response is to be effective.

3.2 Central concepts

3.2.1 The concept of feedback

According to the Swedish National Encyklopedia feedback is described as follows: “In psychology feedback means that an individual is given immediate or delayed direct information on their actions or performance” (Nationalencyklopedin, 2014).

Originally, the concept of feedback comes from technology and means that “the information on the controlled behavior of the system is returned to the steering mechanism. Thus the system can be controlled to the required target despite changes or disturbances in the surrounding area” (Nationalencyklopedin, 2014).

Most of the processes in the nerve- and hormone levels are regulated by means of feedback, which keeps the whole organism (homeostasis) in a state, when the individual takes a rest, but whom is disturbed by emotional reactions and divided when necessary. Trough research about psychology scientist has discovered that people are very much dependent on feedback from for example clients, colleagues and managers. In education and training feedback is of great importance for learning, partly for the motivation that constructive criticism creates, and for direction, correction and the structuring of the learning process. Lack of feedback can even make people feel stressed and uncomfortable (Psykologiguiden, 2014).

Respect and corporal punishment is, in different ways, important aspects within feedback.

www.oxforddictionaries.com defines respect as “a feeling of deep admiration for someone or something elicited by their abilities, qualities, or achievements”, “due regard for the feelings, wishes, or rights of others” and “a particular aspect, point, or detail” (Oxford Dictionaries, 2014). Maree (referenced in Morrell 2001) defines corporal punishment as a “physical punishment as distinguished from pecuniary punishment or a fine; any kind of punishment of or inflicted on the body” or “the infliction of pain by a teacher or other educational official

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upon the body of the student as a penalty for doing something which has been disapproved of by the punisher” (Morrell, 2001, p. 293).

3.2.2 The Life Orientation subject

In the year of 1998 South Africa took away the Physical Education (PE) as a subject on its own. In the current curriculum Physical Education is one of six topics of the subject Life Orientation (LO), which is a subject were the educators teaches the learners different values of life. The other five parts in LO is development of the self in society, social and environmental responsibility, democracy and human rights, careers and career choices and study skills. Life Orientation is therefore a subject that includes a lot of aspects. The Curriculum and

Assessment Policy Statement Grades 10-12 of South Africa describes the purpose of the subject like this:

Life Orientation is the study of the self in relation to others and to society. It addresses skills, knowledge, and values about the self, the environment, responsible citizenship, a healthy and productive life, social engagement, recreation and physical activity, careers and career choices. These include opportunities to engage in the development and practice of a variety of life skills to solve problems, to make informed decisions and choices and to take appropriate actions to live meaningfully and successfully in a rapidly changing society. It not only focuses on knowledge, but also emphasizes the importance of the application of skills and values in real-life situations, participation in physical activity, community organizations and initiatives” (Department of Basic Education, 2011, p. 8).

The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement Grades 10-12 in the subject of Life Orientation also says that the aims of the Constitution are to:

1) guide and prepare learners to respond appropriately to life’s responsibilities and opportunities;

2) equip learners to interact optimally on a personal, psychological, cognitive, motor, physical, moral, spiritual, cultural and socio-economic level;

3) guide learners to make informed and responsible decisions about their own health and well- being and the health and well-being of others;

4) expose learners to their constitutional rights and responsibilities, to the rights of others and to issues of diversity;

5) equip learners with knowledge, skills and values to make informed decisions about subject choices, careers, additional and higher education opportunities and the world of work;

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6) expose learners to various study methods and skills pertaining to assessment processes and 7) expose learners to an understanding of the value of regular participation in physical activity (Department of Basic Education, 2011).

The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement Grades 10-12 is very clear on the matter that feedback should be provided to learners to give them “opportunities to develop and master the knowledge, skills and values related to the subject” (Department of Basic Education, 2011, p. 25).

3.3 Previous research

This study about feedback takes its cue from Hattie’s and Timperley’s report The power of feedback from 2007. In their study they claim that feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement, but that the impact of the feedback can be either positive or negative, depending on how it is given. They mean that it is a clear distinction between providing instructions and providing feedback. They also claim that the main purpose of feedback is to reduce discrepancies between current understanding’s and performance and a goal. They say that:

Effective feedback must answer three major questions asked by a teacher and/or by a student: Where am I going? (What are the goals?), How am I going? (What progress is being made toward the goal?), and Where to next? (What activities need to be undertaken to make better progress?). (Hattie & Timperley, 2007, p. 86).

An ideal learning environment or experience occurs when both teachers and students seek answers to each of these questions. It is very important that when the learners ask themselves the feed up-question (Where am I going?) the educators have given them information about the learning goals related to the task or performance. To answer the feed back-question (How am I going?) it involves an educator providing information relative to a task or performance goal. Hattie and Timperley mean that the feedback is effective when it consists of information about progress and about how to proceed. The feed forward-question (Where to next?) is the question that feeds forward and it can have the most powerful impacts on learning. The educators provides information to the learners that leads to greater learning possibilities, they can for example enhance the challenges. According to Hattie and Timperley there are four levels of feedback. The first level can be about a task or a product, such as whether the work is

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correct or incorrect. It includes feedback about how well a task is being accomplished or performed. At the second level feedback can be aimed at the process used to create a product or complete a task and it is more specific to the processes underlying tasks. The third level is feedback that is focused at the self-regulation level. It includes greater skill in self-evaluation or confidence to engage further on a task. The fourth level of feedback is directed to the learners “self” and often has nothing to do with the performance on the task. According to Hattie and Timperley the fourth level is the least effective way of feedback and they also mean that this level of feedback is too often used instead of the other levels (Hattie & Timperley, 2007).

Claes Annerstedt writes about feedback in his article from 2007, The trained eye - how to give feedback in sports. (Translated by Smedberg) Schmidt and Wrisberg (referenced in Annerstedt 2007) define feedback as “the information that is available as a result of the movement (and returned to aggressor)” (Annerstedt, 2007). They also divide feedback into two main groups, own feedback and additional feedback. The additional feedback comes from outside sources like comments from educators or parents. The feedback can also be either descriptive or prescriptive. The descriptive feedback refers to the information on what the learner has done.

Prescriptive, also called instructive, feedback refers to information that the learners can use to make more effective improvements as a solution to the problem.

According to Tinning, Kirk & Evans (referenced in Annerstedt 2007) we should also

distinguish between feedback on behavior and feedback on performance. The educator gives feedback on the performance when a physical activity is carried out and its main aim is to improve the performance. Feedback on behavior has to do with good manners and how to behave towards each other. Both of these forms of feedback are important for the learners’

learning and their development.

Pierre du Plessis, Lloyd Conley and Elize du Plessis’ study Teaching and Learning in South African School from 2007 focuses on the educators’ roles in school. Among other things it is describing different types of assessment. These two are summative and formative assessment.

The summative ratios are mentioned also as judgmental and the formative are mentioned as developmental. Summative and formative assessment is also mentioned by the Swedish national agency for education. The formative assessment develops students to a greater extent and should therefore be the one to strive for (Skolverket, 2010).

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This study also takes its cue from Erna Prinsloo’s study Implementation of life orientation programmes in the new curriculum in South African schools: perceptions of principals and life orientation teachers from 2007. In her study she describes that a lot of children in South Africa are not guided towards positive self-concept formation or the realization of their potential, which makes them grow into irresponsible adulthood. According to Prinsloo the children have little respect for their own dignity, suffer from negative self-concepts, refuse to accept authority and pay little respect for the value of others or for their lives and possessions.

She writes that authority structures often are weak and because of that children never learn the value of discipline and self-discipline. She also means that “the rapid moral decline in society has an extremely negative influence on the young generation” (Prinsloo, 2007, p. 168). Life Orientation is the subject that should help the learner to deal with these issues and therefore it requires expert skills from the educators. The educators need to have particular training in aspects such as positive discipline strategies, how to devise ways to an informal atmosphere and how to involve the learners in the process.

Cosmas Maphosa and Almon Shumba write about the disciplinary problems in their study Educators’ disciplinary capabilities after the banning of corporal punishment in South African schools from 2010. They write that their study was triggered by the escalation of learners’

indiscipline which according to them has raised safety and security concerns. They mean that the learners’ lack of discipline has escalated and that “the escalation of cases of learner

indiscipline in schools suggests failure by teachers to institute adequate alternative disciplinary measures after corporal punishment was outlawed in schools” (Maphosa & Shumba, 2010, p.

390).

Robert Morrells study Corporal punishment in South African schools: a neglected explanation for its persistence from 2001 is a study about corporal punishment in South African schools.

He means that there still is corporal punishment in the schools but now in a milder form forms and that this mostly occur in black or colored township schools. Not everyone was happy about the banning of corporal punishment and a lot of people still have mixed feelings about it.

Morrell also means that one of the reasons that there still is corporal punishment in school and at home is because most of the South African parents grew up in a home where there was strong corporal punishment.

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The UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child is an important aspect of this study. Article no. 37 of the UNCRC is about detention and punishment and it states that “No one is allowed to punish children in a cruel or harmful way. Children who break the law should not be treated cruelly. They should not be put in prison with adults, they should be able to keep in contact with their families, and should not be sentenced to death or life imprisonment without

possibility of release.” This article makes me curious because there is corporal punishment in South African schools (Morrell, 2001). Article no. 29 states the goals of education:

“Children’s education should develop each child’s personality, talents and abilities to the fullest. It should encourage children to respect others, human rights and their own and other cultures. It should also help them learn to live peacefully, protect the environment and respect other people. Children have a particular responsibility to respect the rights their parents, and education should aim to develop respect for the values and culture of their parents.” Learners have the right to be respected and to develop in school, which feedback, if it is given in the right way, gives the opportunity to (UNICEF).

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4 Research design and methods

In this part of the study the research design and methods will be discussed. The methods were chosen based on the study’s purpose.

The school that was chosen for the research is located in a township outside Cape Town. The study was made in November, a few weeks before their exams which are taking place just before their summer break (in December). The township is a community with almost

exclusively colored people and the school is a High School with approximately 1200 learners.

In this study three educators and three learners were interviewed on this particular High School.

4.1 Design

In this study, it is people’s perceptions of the concepts feedback, respect and corporal punishment that is investigated. The approach is phenomenological and a qualitative methodology was chosen. In qualitative studies phenomenology is a term that points to an interest in understanding social phenomena based on the peoples own perspective. It describes the world as it is experienced by them under the assumption that the relevant reality is what the people perceive it to be (Kvale & Brinkmann, 2009). Qualitative methodology also involves interpretations by trying to understand the human being. The aim is to understand how people imagine the world and what meaning they give various phenomena in the world (Hassmén & Hassmén, 2008).

Just because the purpose was to access the educators’ and learners’ thoughts on feedback, respect and corporal punishment semi-structured interviews was chosen, since an interview is the best way to find out the human thoughts on various phenomena. Qualitative interviews are usually not very structured and that is because the interviewer usually wants to give the respondent the opportunity to talk freely about the subject. This is also the case in this study.

The order of the questions was the same with all the respondents but the respondents were given the opportunity to say whatever they felt like. This sort of interviews is often called semi-structured interviews (Patel & Davidson, 2011).

4.2 Selection

To be able to examine these phenomena in the South African school interviews were done with both educators and learners. All the educators that were interviewed in this study works

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as Life Orientation educators, just because this study focuses on feedback in that particular subject. There were two females and one male that participated. The first respondent among the educators is female and she is 47 years old, the second respondent is female and she is also 47 years old. The last respondent is male and he is 31 years old.

The learners were selected based on if they had the time, if they wanted to participate during their free time at school and if they were in grade 10 or above as they, in that case, all were in the same phase in the curriculum. It was also a conscious choice to select learners over the age of 15, since then their parents did not have to be asked about their participation. “Children at the age of 15 years and who realizes what research means for his or her part, shall be informed and agree to research. In other cases, parents and guardians should be informed of, and agree to the research” (Vetenskapsrådet, 2013. Translated by Smedberg). The first respondent among the learners is female and she is 17 years old. The second respondent is male, 16 years old and the last respondent is female and she is 16 years old.

4.3 Interview guide

When an instrument, in this case an interview guide, is made the central concepts or the variables’ in the literature review are used as base to get data for the analysis. During the interviews two different interview guides were used, one guide for the educators and one guide for the learners. Before the main questions some background questions were asked regarding education and age. It is an advantage to start the interview with background questions to get the respondent “warmed up”, relax in the situation and to feel safe in their answers (Hassmén

& Hassmén, 2008). The main questions were asked based on the purpose with the

investigation. The questions were also open for the respondent to speak freely, but within the particular subject (Patel & Davidson, 2011). The instruments (the interview guide) validity in this study would be considered quite high, since the study investigates what it intend to investigate. (Attachment 1)

4.4 Execution

Before the interviews the respondents were informed about the purpose of the investigation so that they could prepare themselves for the questions and think about what they would say.

They were told that the study is completely confidential and that the participation was voluntary. There will be more aspects of this in the chapter of ethical considerations.

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All the interviews took place at the particular school and the majority of them in one of the educators’ office. One of the interviews took place in a classroom and one was held outside at the playground. I was, however, always alone with the respondent so that we could talk undisturbed. The interviews are between 6 - 20 minutes long. The educators’ interviews tended to be longer, since they had longer answers to my questions. The educators’ interviews were 15, 16 and 20 minutes long and the learners’ interviews were 6, 7 and 8 minutes long.

According to Hassmén and Hassmén (2008) the interviews should be between 30 - 45 minutes.

In this study the interviews, especially with the learners, were quite short which may lower the reliability of the study. The reason for the short interviews with the learners might be that young people do not reason in the same extent as adults do. However, the answers were rich and they served the purpose of the study well.

I spent about three weeks on this school so all the respondents had seen me at the school before. Two of the educators I got to know quite well, since I participated in their PE lessons. I also met the learners in my teaching of PE during these weeks. On basis of this it felt like the atmosphere during the interviews was relaxed and it felt like a conversation more than an actual interview, which according to Patel and Davidson (2011) is to strive for. The educator that I had not met as much before was also relaxed. One learner I had not met so much before and he/she was a bit nervous, but I tried to get the learner to relax by making the interview as informal as possible and the further the interview went, the more relaxed the learner got.

4.5 Processing of data

During the interviews a voice recorder was used to record what was said. The recorded was used because then it makes it easier to remember and interpret the respondents answers. Then I listened to the interviews and carefully transcribed them on the computer. This process is important as a first step in the process of analyzing (Hassmén & Hassmén, 2008). There were places in the recordings where the answers were difficult to hear. This is, however, only loss of single words it has no impact on the outcome of the study. When the interview was transcribed they were carefully interpreted to get accurate results.

4.6 Reliability and validity

Reliability and validity is two concepts that are very important in research. There are two main questions every scientist has to ask themselves. Have I really investigated what I wanted to investigate? The validity is thus about the researcher’s ability to conduct a study that captures

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the phenomenon that the study aims to investigate. How reliable is my results? The reliability is about if the results of the study are trustworthy and if you can do the same study and get similar results. If you can, then the study has a high degree of reliability. This is of course to strive for in every research study (Hassmén & Hassmén, 2008). In this study the reliability is strengthened by the interview atmosphere and the time that was taken to interpret the answers.

The interviews situation and the interpretation process might also be issues that lower the reliability, since I am unfamiliarity with interviews and I was alone in the process of interpret them. The validity is strengthened by a clear research process and the instruments high validity. These aspects will be discussed more in the chapter: Discussion of methods.

4.7 Ethical considerations

According to the Swedish research Council there is four concepts that scientists must follow to protect the respondent’s integrity. The concepts are; anonymity, confidentiality, privacy and professional secrecy. First, anonymity is done so that it becomes impossible to attribute a particular response or sample to a specific individual. Second, the researcher shall take measures to protect the respondent’s integrity and the right to protection against transparency in their privacy. When it comes to privacy the basic principle is that public documents are public and that information may be subject to confidentiality only if they occur in a certain paragraph in Government Secrecy. The last concept is professional secrecy. With privacy comes professional secrecy in the sense that if some information is confidential, then the same professional secrecy applies to that information (Vetenskapsrådet, 2011).

When the contact was made with the respondents they were first told, who I am, the purpose of visiting their school and what the purpose of this study is. They were told that their participation was completely voluntary and that if they chose to participate, it would be completely confidential. They were also asked if it was alright for them that the interviews was recorded with a voice recorder. The learners that were interviewed were all over 15 years old and it was clearly explained to them that their participation was completely voluntary. The study is confidential and the respondents are anonymous so their real names will not be used anywhere in the study. It should be impossible to attribute a particular response to a specific individual and that is why the respondents’ only will be mentioned as Educator 1, 2 and 3 and Learner 1, 2 and 3. The name of the High School is not mentioned either.

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5 Research results and analysis

In this part of the study the results and the analysis of the investigation will be presented. The results were based on the interviews that were held with the educators and the learners. The results are presented in different categories.

5.1 In what way is the feedback given?

Research questions: What is the educators’ view on feedback in the South African schools?

What is the learners’ view on feedback in the South African schools?

All three of the learners said that the feedback they get is often comments like “Good job!” or something similar. Two of them also said that there are times when educators point out learners in front of the class and says that he or she has done something good or something bad. Learner 2 said that “they will mention your name and they would tell maybe in front of the whole class that you have been doing good, and they may be saying that the other students must look up to me and they must also try what I do.”

This form of feedback is what Schmidt and Wrisberg (referenced in Annerstedt 2007) refer to as additional feedback. The learners get feedback from an outside source, which in this case are the comments from the educator. The feedback, however, is not prescriptive because it is not providing the learners any information about how to do any effective improvements.

Hattie and Timperley (2007) say that this form of feedback is called Feedback about the self as a person and that it is the least effective of the four different levels. This form of feedback

“usually contains little task-related information and is rarely converted into more engagement, commitment to the learning goals, enhanced self-efficacy, or understanding about the task”

(Hattie & Timperley, 2007, p. 96). This form of feedback does not answer the three major feedback-questions. It does not feed forward to a specific goal. (Figure 1)

Two of the learners also said that there are times when the educators give them further

instructions on a task to help them improve. Learner 2 said that “the educators always give the instructions from A to Z and they really try to make us understand.” This learner also said that he/she likes that his/her LO educator always shows them the proper way to do things.

Wolter (referenced in Annerstedt 2007) discusses some central concepts within feedback, which according to her are observe, amend and improve. When it comes to observing an

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exercise the educator really has to take notice of the learners. It is a clear distinction between watching them, and observing and taking notice of what they are doing and how they are doing. When the educator has observed the learner it is time to correct the things that is not quite right, with the purpose of making some improvements in the learners’ skills.

When we do the PE she will show us stuff, and she will see we’re not doing it right she will tell us like lift higher lift higher you must do it like this and you must do it like that, she will always show us the proper way how to do it. (Learner 2)

This form of feedback do Hattie and Timperley call Feedback about the task, level one, it is also called corrective feedback. This type of feedback is the most common and it can relate to correctness, neatness, behavior, or some other criterion related to task accomplishment. They write that it is very common that educators mix these two levels (level one and four) when they give the learners feedback, which we also can tell from this study. By itself, this form of feedback can be very powerful. Mixing these forms of feedback can, however, reduce the power of Feedback about the task. (Figure 1)

Two of the learners also mention marks as a way of feedback. Learner 3 said that; “If you do something good they will reward you by maybe give you extra marks.”

This form of feedback or assessment is what du Plessis, Coley and du Plessis (2007) call summative assessment. This form of assessment is also called judgmental assessment and it is the least effective way of assessment. The educators should always strive for formative assessment, which is also called developmental assessment. The assessment is only developmental if some kind of feedback is given. The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement Grades 10-12 in the subject of Life Orientation says that any form of assessment that is used to give feedback to the learner is fulfilling a formative purpose. It is also a crucial element of teaching and learning. The summative assessment is used to record a judgment of the competence or performance of the learner (Department of Basic Education, 2011).

Two of the educators said that the corrective feedback is the form they usually use when the give the learners feedback. Educator 1 said that; “When we do PE I will usually demonstrate it to them and then the feedback is whenever there’s supposed to be progression.”

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If it was in PE I would show them what to do. Take them again trough the steps and make sure that the child knows what is expected of him or her, and at the end of the period they’re supposed to know that little skill that I’ve taught them. (Educator 2)

As was written earlier the corrective feedback is a powerful way of feedback by itself because it helps the learners to improve. According to Tinning, Kirk & Evans (referenced in

Annerstedt 2007) this form of feedback is also called feedback on performance and it is given when a physical activity is performed and its main purpose is to improve the performance.

Educator 3 describes how he/she, as a way of feedback, often is giving the learners information that they can apply in their life outside the school:

I take a lot of life lessons, my own experience, and try to put it incorporate it into my lessons that I have, and a lot of them can relate to what I’m saying, so I think that’s one of my best ways of giving them feedback making them understand what I am trying to teach them at that very moment or in that period, and Life Orientation is all about preparing the child holistically so we do not just concentrate on sport and we do not just concentrate on the content itself, we try to send the child out there that really know what he wants, how he’s going to get there, and how to maintain what they have, so that’s how I give my feedback to the children. (Educator 3)

5.2 The importance of feedback

Research questions: What is the educators’ view on feedback in the South African schools?

What is the learners’ view on feedback in the South African schools?

In Hattie and Timperley’s study (2007) they came to the conclusion that feedback is very important for the learners’ learning and for their development. In fact feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement. When feedback is given in the right way it can increase effort, motivation, engagement and/or cue searching and task processes that lead to understanding.

All of the respondents very much agree to the fact that feedback is very important for the learners’ development. The learners mean that it is important both for their learning and for their personal development. Learner 3 said; “Yes, because then you’ll know that you made a mistake and how to correct your mistake.”

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It’s important for your personal development because it helps you as a person to develop, by learning from them and from their feedback and stuff it’s where you can apply it and where you can be a better person yourself and grow into a more mature and experienced person.

(Learner 1)

The educators do also mean that feedback has an important role in the learners’ learning and in their personal development. Educator 2 mean that “it is very important so the child knows what is right and wrong or where he or she went wrong, so it’s very very important to give feedback at all times.” One of them said that the educators aim is to prepare the learners holistically and by giving them feedback they can do that. To guide and prepare the learners for life is the main purpose in the Life Orientation subject (Department of Basic Education, 2011).

I think it’s very important, we aim really to prepare the child holistically for the world out there so it’s very very important for me to give them very positive feedback on how life is there outside. How we can build up a community, how you can be a player in the community instead of being a drug dealer. […] So giving them positive feedback is very it’s very vital, it’s important for them, it’s one of the most important things. (Educator 3)

As was written before The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement Grades 10-12 is very clear on the fact that feedback should be provided to learners to give them the opportunity to develop (Department of Basic Education, 2011). The National Protocol For Assessment Grades R – 12 states that assessment is important because: “Assessment is a process of collecting, analyzing and interpreting information to assist teachers, parents and other stakeholders in making decisions about the progress of learners” and because “Classroom assessment should provide an indication of learner achievement in the most effective and efficient manner by ensuring that adequate evidence of achievement is collected using various forms of assessment” (Department of Basic Education, 2011, p. 3).

5.3 Lack of respect

Research question: How is the educators’ approach to learners and vice versa in the South African schools?

Only one out of the six respondents think that the overall respect on the school is good, the rest is witnessing about a lack of respect from the learners to the educators. Two of the educators

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mention that they think that the lack of respect that the learners show the educators mainly comes from the homes. They mean that the conditions at the learners’ homes and in the community often make them act disrespectful in school:

I think that a lot of those learners that do not respect teachers are those learners who aren’t taught properly at home. I don’t think they have really guidance from their parents, cause some of them, a lot of them comes from broken homes, so that’s why a lot of them act out in school, they disrespect teachers. (Educator 3)

All three of the learners do also mention that the lack of respect is an issue that mainly comes from the learners’ homes and from the issues in the community, issues like alcohol and drug abuse. “It maybe come from the house also, it’s not just at the schools, its problems at house and in the community.” (Learner 2)

Prinsloo (2007) writes that the children of South Africa are not adequately guided towards positive self-concept formation by their families and/or by the communities, and it makes them grow towards irresponsible and unfulfilled adulthood. This is issues which has its origin in other issues such as over-population and unplanned urbanization, which leads to

unemployment, which further leads to poverty. Prinsloo means that these issues make the moral decline and that it plays a huge part in the disciplinary problems in school. The weak moral in society has an extremely negative affect on young people. Prinsloo also writes that there is a lack of parent involvement in school activities and in their children’s learning process. This lack of parent involvement also contributes to the disciplinary problems in school. In her study, Prinsloo also came to the conclusions that the influence of the community played a big part in the learners’ behavior. Issues like a general refusal to obey laws,

alcoholism, drug abuse, criminal activities and total lack of responsibility served as a daily example to learners in their formative years.

5.4 The view on corporal punishment

Research question: What is the educators’ and learners’ view on corporal punishment in the South African schools?

Corporal punishment is a sensitive topic and according to Morrell (2001) corporal punishment is still practiced in South African schools, even though it has been against the law since 1996.

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However, he means that it is corporal punishment in a milder form, that the education system is changing and that the learners are ready to move to more consensual models. He also writes that surprisingly not everyone was happy about the banning of corporal punishment.

None of my respondents says that they agree with corporal punishment. Learner 1 mean that;

“I don’t agree with hitting children to get them to respect you. I think that it should be verbally done. Children do respect you because you are over them, they know that you have more experience in life and that’s a reason enough to respect you.” The educators said that it is a phenomenon that is one the way of disappearing, but that some of them have mixed feelings about that. They mean that the disciplinary problems seemed to increase when corporal punishment became illegal. Educator 1 said that; “I don’t believe in it. But I must say that they’ve done a way with it. […] We don’t have, I feel, things in place effective measures in place to replace that.” One of the educators says that corporal punishment is not right in school but that parents should be allowed to use corporal punishment:

You need to discipline the child, but if you go into to discipline the child with intend of hurting the child it’s not right. I grew up in the era when it was corporal punishment. I’ve got a hiding when I did something wrong, I mean you might be a better person also, but I’m not saying that because of corporal punishment you become a better person. Sometimes you can discipline the child by just talking to the child and in most cases it works if it comes from home. […] So corporal punishment is a no no, it’s just out, you can’t punish a child with the attend of hurting the child. If you would punish the child, the child used to know what they did was wrong and used to learn from it, but I don’t think today it’s the same thing. But corporal punishment is out, you cannot do it. But also there’s a law now that you can’t hit the child at home. I think that is wrong because the parents need to discipline the child at home also, so sometimes a spanking is good so that the child knows. You need to discipline the child but corporal punishment now long gone. (Educator 2)

Maphosa and Shumba (2010) mean that the learners’ indiscipline has escalated and that “the escalation of cases of learner indiscipline in schools suggests failure by teachers to institute adequate alternative disciplinary measures after corporal punishment was outlawed in schools”

(Maphosa & Shumba, 2010, p. 390). Morrell (2001) mean that because most of the South African parents grew up in a home where there was strong corporal punishment, there is a tendency to continue with this type of disciplining. He also means that it is a short step from the use of corporal punishment at home to the use of it in schools.

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6 Discussion

In this part of the study the methods and the results of the investigation will be discussed. We will see if the choice of methods affected the results in any way and the results will be linked to previous research. Then there will be some suggestions of future research.

6.1 Discussion of methods

The methods were chosen based on the study’s purpose. The aim was to get the educators and learners view in different questions and that is the reason why a qualitative methodology was chosen. The qualitative methodology’s aim is trying to understand the human being to understand how people imagine the world. I also chose to do semi-structured interviews. I believe that this was the right choice of methods because previous research and method books mean that interviews is the best way to find out the people’s thoughts on various phenomena (Patel & Davidson, 2011).

The purpose of the study was to investigate different phenomena such as feedback, respect and corporal punishment in the South African school. The result of this study can be used to try to understand these different phenomena. With the help of the instrument the study has

investigated what it intended to investigate, which increases the validity of the study. The reliability is about showing if the results of the study are trustworthy and if you can do the same study again and get similar results. I believe that the same results will occur if the study was done again as previous research points in the same direction. However, the study is not comprehensive enough to be able to make any generalized conclusions. The study is for example only made on one school. One problem is that the interview answers from the respondents are interpretable. I do not have a lot of experience in doing interviews and that may affect the outcome of the interviews. It should also be noted that English is not my first language so there may be some hidden language barriers. Culture differences are also something that a researcher has to have in mind during the interviews. As I write the study alone, it is just my interpretations expressed in my results. The interpretations one person make do not need to be the same as other people’s interpretations and that makes the reliability lower. It may also be easier to generalize if there is a larger selection where it has been

examined whether the respondents is representative for the population. The reliability is, however, strengthened by a clear research process where the interviews and the results have been reported in a scientific way. The strengths with this study are also that I really got to know most of the respondents and that the interviews were relaxed and not so formal. With the

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choice of methods and a high validity of the interview guide there really was profound answers and a clear view on the respondent’s thoughts. The interview was recorded which makes it easier to remember and interpret the respondents answers. Then a lot of time was taken to interpret all the answers (Hassmén & Hassmén, 2008).

6.2 Discussion of results

The purpose of the study is to investigate how educators give learners feedback in the South African school. It is also to investigate educators’ approach to learners and vice versa, and it is to examine the overall respect between educators and learners in the school. The aim is also to find out if corporal punishment is a common way to discipline learners and in what way the educators’ give praise and confirmation. The focus will primarily be on these conditions in Life Orientation.

6.2.1 Feedback

On the first and second question about the educators and the learners view on feedback there was a slight difference in their answers. Even though the educators claimed to use a formative form of feedback the learners did not agree completely. The results show that the educators, according to the learners, often use a summative form of feedback. Mostly they just give comments like “Great job!”. They also spoke of marks as a way of feedback. Previous research claims that this is a common way of giving feedback but also that it is not very effective, since it do not feed forward (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). This research points in the same direction. This form of feedback seems common. However, I cannot say if it is effective or not since that is not a question in this research. That the feedback in some cases may be a bit poor may be due to, as was written earlier, that a lot of the LO educators do not have the proper education.

The educators said that they often use a formative form of feedback, a form that is also called corrective feedback. This is good way of giving feedback and it is also a very common way (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). The learners agree that the educators also use this form of feedback and they like when this form is used. Researchers agree that this is a form of feedback that let the learners improve their performance and helps them to develop. The results show that this too is a quite common way of giving the learners feedback. It is, however, hard to say if it helps the learners to develop since there was no opportunity to follow them for a long time. But the results did show that most of learners want and like this

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form of feedback.

A result that was really clear was that all the respondents underlined the importance of feedback. They all agree that feedback helps the learners learn and that it helps them in their personal development. Previous research proves that feedback is one of the most powerful influences on learning and achievement (Hattie & Timperley, 2007). The importance of feedback is also something that The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement

Grades 10-12 in the subject of Life Orientation is very clear on. It claims that it is important to give the learners information about their own progress and development. (Department of Basic Education, 2011) It is also important to follow the UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child and the conventions Article no. 29 states that the education should “develop each child’s personality, talents and abilities to the fullest” (UNICEF). And according to Hattie and Timperley (2007) feedback is one of the best ways to do so.

6.2.2 Respect

The third of the research questions is: How is the educators’ approach to learners and vice versa in the South African schools? The results show that the respondents were a unanimous about the lack of respect towards the educators in the school. The results also show that most of them think that this is an issue that often comes from the learners’ homes and from the community.

I think that it would be fair to say that this lack of respect partly comes from the community and from the learners’ homes. Both the respondents’ answers and the previous research point in that direction. The weak moral in society has an extremely negative affect on young people and the influences and issues in the community play a big part in the learners’ behavior. This influences and issues make the moral drop and that plays a huge part in the disciplinary problems in school. The children are also not guided towards positive self-concept formation by their parents and it makes them grow towards irresponsible adulthood (Prinsloo, 2007).

Life Orientation is a quite young subject. It was introduced in 1998 to contribute to a just and democratic society, a productive economy and an improved quality of life for all (Department of Basic Education, 2011). Life Orientation is a subject were the educators teach the learners different values of life. The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement Grades 10-12 in the subject of Life Orientation says that the aims of the Constitution are to:

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1) guide and prepare learners to respond appropriately to life’s responsibilities and opportunities;

2) equip learners to interact optimally on a personal, psychological, cognitive, motor, physical, moral, spiritual, cultural and socio-economic level;

3) guide learners to make informed and responsible decisions about their own health and well- being and the health and well-being of others;

4) expose learners to their constitutional rights and responsibilities, to the rights of others and to issues of diversity;

5) equip learners with knowledge, skills and values to make informed decisions about subject choices, careers, additional and higher education opportunities and the world of work;

6) expose learners to various study methods and skills pertaining to assessment processes and 7) expose learners to an understanding of the value of regular participation in physical activity (Department of Basic Education, 2011).

These aims are really interesting when it comes to the questions of the overall respect between educators and learners. The educators teach the learners democratic values, fundamental human rights and how to improve the quality of life of all citizens. It is, however, in these points they seem to fail. However, LO is a young subject and it may take a few years before we see any changes in the schools and in the community. LO may be a good way of trying to get rid of a lot of the problems that the country have had for a long time, for example teenage pregnancy, HIV, drugs and school dropout. The aims of LO shows in all cases that they really try to make a change in the South African society. The aims are also compatible with Article no. 29 in UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child since the subject teaches them human rights and to respect others. The article also states that the children have a particular

responsibility to respect the rights and values that the education aims to develop. Prinsloo (2007) also means that LO is the subject that should help the learner to deal with these issues.

Educating learners in LO requires expert skills from the educators and that the educators have particular training in positive discipline strategies. Two of my respondents (the educators) had no training in LO, one of them had actually no educator training at all. This seems to be a big problem in the South African school system as a lot of the educators that I spoke to say the same thing, that a lot of the educators lack a proper educator training. This may be a reason to some of the disciplinary problems in school and the problems in the community’s.

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6.2.3 Corporal punishment

Corporal punishment may also be a reason why there are disciplinary problems in school and the view of corporal punishment is the fourth research question. The educators’ in this study was unanimous about the fact that they do not agree with corporal punishment, but also that they have not found an effective way to replace it. It was their opinion that the disciplinary problem had increased when corporal punishment became illegal. Maphosa and Shumba (2010) mean that the disciplinary problems have escalated after the banning of corporal punishment in school. Although, Morrell (2001) mean that there are studies that show that corporal punishment of children has a really bad effect on their academic performance and that it produces low self-esteem and anti-social behaviors (Morrell, 2001). So is it really the

banning of corporal punishment that creates the disciplinary problems, or is it the corporal punishment itself? Maybe we could even blame some of the issues in the communities on corporal punishment since it seems to evoke anti-social behaviors?

Morrell (2001) also writes that there still is corporal punishment, particularly in township schools. He also writes that the schools that have responded most readily to the prohibition of corporal punishment are the former white schools. This is really interesting since the school that this research was made on is a colored township school. This may be an explanation why the educators on this school had mixed feelings about the banning of corporal punishment. It seems to be like that in most colored township schools. This is quite unpleasant results since UN’s Convention on the Rights of the Child states in Article no. 37 that “No one is allowed to punish children in a cruel or harmful way” (UNICEF).

6.3 Future research

Feedback is an ongoing question, not only in South Africa. I would like to see some research on improvement in giving learners feedback. I would also like to see if corporal punishment still is a constant issue in South African schools and if so, if it still disappearing more and more.

When it comes to the educators approach to learners and vice versa, which also is an ongoing question in South Africa, it would be interesting to see if it has been any changes in a couple of years. In that case, it would also be interesting to see if the subject of LO had anything to do with it.

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The ideal would be to do the research with a bigger group of respondents and in more schools.

To get the most accurate results it would be best to do the research in different kinds of schools, such as white schools, colored schools and black schools.

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du Plessis, P., Conley, L. & du Plessis, E. (2009). Teaching and Learning in South African Schools. Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers.

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Educators’ and learners’ view on feedback