School Managers' Perceptions of the Occurrence of Upward Bullying In
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SCHOOL MANAGERS’ PERCEPTIONS OF THE OCCURRENCE OF UPWARD BULLYING IN PUBLIC AND INDEPENDENT GAUTENG SECONDARY SCHOOLS – IMPLICATIONS FOR SCHOOL MANAGEMENT by CIDALIA MARIA DOS SANTOS OLIVIER MINOR–DISSERTATION submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of MAGISTER EDUCATIONIS in EDUCATIONAL MANAGEMENT AND LEADERSHIP in the FACULTY OF EDUCATION at the UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG SUPERVISOR : Prof BR Grobler May 2012 DEDICATION This mini-dissertation is dedicated to my husband, Rynardt Gideon Olivier, for all his support, encouragement and all the moral support that he gave me in studying for and working towards this degree. 2 | P a g e ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS My children, Jason, Lauren and Micaela. My mother, Maria Amelia Jordao. My sister, Dr Anabela Nascimento and her husband José Nascimento. My supervisor, Professor BR. Grobler for all of his guidance, patience and uncanny ability to recognise my eternal optimism whilst attempting to dodge all the bullets by suggesting that sentences would be more appropriate. 3 | P a g e TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER ONE - INTRODUCTION, BACKGROUND, AIMS OF STUDY AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1.1 INTRODUCTION 9 1.2 THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK 11 1.3 AIMS AND OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY 13 1.4 RESEARCH STRATEGY AND METHOD 13 1.4.1 Research design 13 1.4.2 Research method 14 1.4.3 Data collection and analysis 15 1.4.4 Demarcation of research 16 1.5 CONCEPT CLARIFICATION 16 1.6 ETHICAL CONSIDERATIONS 16 1.7 BENEFITS OF THE RESEARCH 17 1.8 CONCLUSION 18 CHAPTER TWO - A LITERATURE STUDY TO ELUCIDATE THE COMPONENTS CONTAINED IN THE CONSTRUCT OF UPWARD BULLYING 2.1 INTRODUCTION 19 2.2 DEFINING BULLYING 20 2.2.1 Types of bullying 21 2.2.1.1 Pressure bullying 21 2.2.2 Statutory framework 23 4 | P a g e 2.2.2.1 The Constitution 24 2.2.2.2 Labour Relations Act 66 of 1995 25 2.2.2.3 Employment of Educators Act 76 of 1998 25 2.2.2.4 Employment Equity Act 55 of 1998 27 2.2.2.5 Basic Conditions of Employment Act 75 of 1997 27 2.2.2.6 South African Council of Educators Act 31 of 2000 29 2.2.2.7 The South African School’s Act 84 of 1996 29 2.3 DEFINING WORKPLACE BULLYING 30 2.3.2 Bullying tactics 32 2.4 DEFINING UPWARD BULLYING 32 2.4.1 The bully 33 2.4.1.1 Sociopathic or psychopathic bullies 33 2.4.1.2 ‘Self-boosting’ bullies 34 2.4.1.3 Socially incompetent bullies 34 2.4.1.4 ‘Micro-political’ bullies 34 2.4.1.5 ‘Pass the parcel’ bullies 34 2.4.2 THE VICTIM 35 2.4.2.1 Vulnerability to becoming a target of a bully 35 2.4.2.2 Characteristics of a victim 35 2.4.3 THE BULLYING CULTURE 36 2.4.4 THE BYSTANDERS 36 2.5 FACTORS/REASONS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO UPWARD BULLYING 37 2.5.1 LEADERSHIP, POWER AND AUTHORITY 37 2.5.1.1 Leadership 37 2.5.1.2 Power 38 2.5.1.3 Authority 40 2.5.2 PERSONALITY 43 2.5.2.1 Fundamental characteristics of personality 43 2.5.2.2 Personality types 43 2.5.3 RESENTMENT 44 5 | P a g e 2.5.4 VOICING DISSATISFACTION 44 2.5.5 POWER AND CONTROL 44 2.5.6 SOCIAL IDENTITY 45 2.5.7 ORGANISATIONAL UNCERTAINTY 45 2.5.8 GENDER 45 2.5.9 ETHNICITY 45 2.5.10 AGE 45 2.6 HOW UPWARD BULLYING IS MANIFESTED/EXPERIENCED 46 2.7 WHAT ARE THE CONSEQUENCES/IMPACT OF UPWARD BULLYING? 47 2.7.1 LOSS OF SELF-ESTEEM 47 2.7.2 ISOLATION 47 2.7.3 ILL HEALTH 47 2.8 CONCLUSION 47 CHAPTER THREE - RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 3.1 INTRODUCTION 49 3.2 RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 49 3.2.1 RESEARCH METHOD 49 3.2.2 DATA COLLECTION 50 3.2.3 DATA ANALYSIS 51 3.2.3.1 Factor analysis 51 3.2.3.2 Monte Carlo analysis 52 3.2.3.3 Reliability of the empirical factors 52 3.3 RESEARCH QUALITY 52 3.3.1 RELIABILITY 53 3.3.2 VALIDITY 53 3.3.2.1 Criterion validity 53 3.3.2.2 Content validity 54 6 | P a g e 3.3.2.3 Construct validity 54 3.4 CONCLUSION 55 CHAPTER FOUR - DATA ANALYSIS 4.1 INTRODUCTION 56 4.2 RELIABILITY OF QUESTIONNAIRE 56 4.3 VALIDITY OF QUESTIONNAIRE 57 4.4 DESCRIPTIVE STATISTICS 57 4.4.1 GENDER 58 4.4.2 AGE 58 4.4.3 TYPE OF SCHOOL 58 4.4.4 POPULATION GROUP 58 4.4.5 HIGHEST EDUCATIONAL QUALIFICATION 58 4.4.6 MARITAL STATUS 59 4.4.7 WELL-RESOURCED SCHOOL 59 4.4.8 PRESENT POST OCCUPIED 59 4.4.9 YEARS OF EXPERIENCE IN EDUCATION 59 4.5 INFRENTIAL STATISTICS 60 4.5.1 SIGNIFICANCE OF DIFFERENCES BETWEEN TWO INDEPENDENT GROUPS 63 4.5.1.1 Gender (A1) 65 4.5.1.2 Population groups (A4) 65 4.5.1.3 Marital status groups (A6) 67 4.5.2.1 Present post level occupied 68 4.6 SECTION C OF THE QUESTIONNAIRE 70 4.7 CONCLUSION 77 7 | P a g e CHAPTER FIVE - SUMMARY AND RECOMMENDATIONS 5.1 INTRODUCTION 79 5.2 SUMMARY OF THE RESEARCH FINDINGS 81 5.2.1 EXPLAIN THE ESSENCE OF UPWARD BULLYING AND THE INFLUENCE THAT IT CAN HAVE ON THE LEADERSHIP OF THE SCHOOL. 81 5.2.2 HOW UPWARD BULLYING MANIFESTS ITSELF IN GAUTENG SECONDARY SCHOOLS BY PROBING THE PERCEPTIONS OF EDUCATORS 81 5.2.3 CLARIFY THE POSSIBLE IMPACT AND THE REASONS FOR THE OCCURRENCE OF UPWARD BULLYING AND HOW IT AFFECTS THE VICTIM. 82 5.3 RECOMMENDATIONS 82 5.3.1 RECOMMENDATION 1 82 5.3.2 RECOMMENDATION 2 83 5.4 CONCLUDING REMARKS 83 BIBLIOGRAPHY 85 APPENDICES 89 Appendix A: Gauteng Department of Education approval to conduct research 90 Appendix B: Letter to principals 92 Appendix C: Questionnaire 93 8 | P a g e CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION, BACKGROUND, AIMS OF STUDY AND RESEARCH METHODOLOGY 1.1 INTRODUCTION The purpose of the research is to obtain school managers’ perceptions of the occurrence of upward bullying in Public and Independent Gauteng Secondary Schools and what implications upward bullying will have on the management of the school. Historically bullying has always been associated with children and was mainly practised by them in the classroom and on playgrounds. Today bullying extends beyond these arenas and has habituated the staffroom as well as the school administrative offices. The educational system has undergone total transformation and restructuring in the last fourteen years. For example, our educational system moved from a multiple system to a single non-racial system that has brought about many important and challenging changes to education (Rossouw, 2008:7). In 1993, the Education Labour Relations Act 146 of 1993 was passed. This had a significant impact on educators as far as their labour rights were concerned. For the first time, educators were given certain labour rights that previously did not exist. According to Bray (2008:1), the introduction and the adoption of the Constitution of the Republic of South Africa of 1996 (hereafter Constitution) which includes in Chapter Two a Bill of Rights, means that South Africa has turned its back on the past and that the changes being brought about are both fundamental and irreversible. Section 12 of the Bill of Rights as entrenched in the Constitution deals with security of the person and provides that everyone has the right to freedom 9 | P a g e and security which includes the right to be free from any form of violence, not to be tortured in any way and not to be treated or punished in a cruel or inhumane or degrading way. Managers of schools need to be knowledgeable and adequately trained to face the many challenges which they are confronted with on a daily basis. In past years the educational world has been infested with bullying behaviour, especially at school level. Managers of schools would bully staff members and staff members would bully management. The latter can be referred to as being upward bullying. Bush (2003:1) states that educational management is a field of study and practice that is concerned with the operation of educational organisations. Managers of schools need to at all times remain focused on the aims and objectives of the institution which they lead. In order for this to be achieved, the leader needs to remain objective and impartial when making decisions. Yukl (2002:3) defines leadership as follows “Most definitions of leadership reflect the assumption that it involves a social influence process whereby intentional influence is exerted by one person [or group] over people [or groups] to structure the activities and relationships in a group or organization.” Leaders’ decisions are very often influenced by the actions of other people. Cuban’s (1988:193) definition of leadership clearly highlights this when he says “Leadership, then refers to people who bend the motivations and actions of others to achieving certain goals; it implies taking initiatives and risks”. Being the target or victim of upward bullying will impact on the leader’s ability to lead as the leader will be hesitant to take initiative or risks for fear of increasing the likelihood of being subjected to further bullying. The researcher is of the opinion that the proposed research topic will be of benefit to all educational organisation leaders as “knowledge and power are inextricably intertwined” (Foucault, 1966 in Ritzer, 2008: 607).