Teaching angry secondary school learners: mechanisms for coping

Abstract

This paper explores how fatherlessness contributes to pulling hard with their studies by public secondary school learners due to the harboured anger. The paper was motivated by diverse discourses about how the presence of a father figure at home has a share on good performance of learners at schools. The paper is conceptual and empirical in nature within the qualitative research paradigm. The question guiding this paper is: why are fatherless learners performing below par in academic work in comparison to pupils with fathers at homes? Narrative enquiry and interviewing techniques were employed to collect data. Out of the population of 13 public secondary schools in one of the circuits in Vhembe district in Limpopo Province, South Africa, 6 were conveniently sampled. In each of the 6 sampled secondary school, only Representatives of the Teacher Components in the School Governing Body and Chairpersons of the Representative Council of Learners became research participants. Findings revealed that firstly, learner anger at school could be attributable to a sense of insecurity from home. Secondly, learner anger could be a product of identity crisis. Thirdly, learner anger could be a product of a harrowing pain of growing up without a father. Fourthly, learner anger could be a product of being denied by a blood father. Fifthly, learner anger could result from the absence of enlightened school leadership. Sixthly, it could emanate from mocking by fellow learners. Lastly, learners could turn angry due to becoming victims of grade repetition. The researcher recommends for the public secondary schools to prioritise the provision of counselling and psycho-social support to learners from fatherless homes to contribute to their emotional and mental stability. Such stability could enable those learners to cope with their studies just like fellow pupils with fathers at home.