School climate, an enabling factor in an effective peer education environment: lessons from schools in South Africa

SOURCE: South African Journal of Education
OUTPUT TYPE: Journal Article
PUBLICATION YEAR: 2020
TITLE AUTHOR(S): B.Moolman, R.Essop, M.Makoae, S.Swartz, J-P.Solomon
KEYWORDS: EDUCATIONAL ENVIRONMENT, PEER EDUCATION PROGRAMMES, WESTERN CAPE PROVINCE
DEPARTMENT: Equitable Education and Economies (IED)
Print: HSRC Library: shelf number 11239
HANDLE: 20.500.11910/15187
URI: http://hdl.handle.net/20.500.11910/15187

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Abstract

Globally, peer education and school climate are important topics for educators. Peer education has been shown to improve young people's decision-making and knowledge about healthy and prosocial behaviour, while a positive school climate contributes to positive learning outcomes in general. In this article we explore the role of school climate in enabling the success of peer education outcomes. We do so by considering 8 geographically and socially distinct schools in the Western Cape province of South Africa where the peer education programme, Listen Up, was implemented, and for which measures of peer education quality exist. We then report a qualitative assessment of each school's climate characteristics (student-interpersonal relations, student-teacher relations, order and discipline, school leadership, and achievement motivation), conducted through a rapid ethnography drawing on work by Bronfenbrenner (1977) and Haynes, Emmons and Ben-Avie (1997). Finally, we conclude that school climate can enhance learning and positive peer education outcomes.