The (possible) influence of neoliberalism on learner ill-discipline in South African schools

Abstract

Neoliberalism absolutises economic and market rationality and foregrounds values that serve the economy's exclusive needs. As a result, it not only alters the aims and objectives of education but also erodes, marginalises and replaces authentic pedagogical and social values with marked values such as individualism, competition, performance, self-interest, self-reliance, accountability, etc. These market values negatively affect school discipline by transforming what it means to be a teacher and a learner. In addition, it also changes the teacher-learner relationships, with both teachers and learners being disengaged from the teaching and learning process. This conceptual paper argues that South Africa's adoption of neoliberal education policies negatively impacted teacher and learner value systems and teacher-learner relationships, resulting in a decay in social values in schools and creating a favourable context for exacerbating ill-discipline in South African schools. It proposes Ubuntu as an ethical and moral framework for restoring teacher-learner relationships and reversing neoliberalism's negative influence on learner discipline in South African schools.