Management of bulling behaviour among ECE learners

Abstract

The research study investigated on the management of bulling behaviour among early childhood education learners. The design which was adopted for the study was the descriptive survey. The sample of the study comprised of 32 participants who included12 teachers and 20 learners. A simple random sampling technique was used where by four out of ten schools in Nyama East Cluster of Umguza District in Matabeleland North Province were involved in the study. Questionnaires and interviews were used to collect data and the data collected was presented in form of pie charts, graphs and tables and the data collected was analysed as well. The study revealed that bullying behaviour is a serious behaviour that needs to be uprooted at an early stage as it can cause great harm if it grows among ECE learners. The findings showed that the home and the school should work together to mould a child especially at ECE level. The parents and teachers should be good role models as ECE learners are good imitators of behaviour. From the collected data learners felt they could handle bullies on their own as they did not report the behaviour to the school administrators and at home. The findings also showed that those learners who came from broken homes and those who came from homes with poor parenting styles where children are neglected tend to be bullies. Conclusions for this research study were drawn and the recommendations were made and some of these recommendations suggest that the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education and other stakeholders should work hand in glove in managing bulling behaviour among ECE learners.