South African children's voice on school discipline: A case study

Abstract This article draws on material from a case study of a South African school. The abolishment of corporal punishment in 1996 necessitates a shift towards alternative discipline methods. It is argued that discipline in school context would be more successful if learners were given a voice in the process. A mixed method approach was employed to gather data by means of questionnaires from 40 learners. Results showed that although mechanisms were introduced to improve children's rights in South African schools, their participation in the process of school discipline is still limited. Recommendations were formulated in line with the findings.