Over the past decade the teaching environment in South Africa has changed drastically. One of the thorny issues facing the current education dispensation is that of learner discipline. Traditional views and disciplinary methods have had to give way for the Constitution's Bill of Rights.

In light of this, the Faculty of Education Sciences at North-West University launched a research project on learner discipline and found that where before the emphasis was on reward and punishment, aspects such as co-ownership, mutual respect and co-responsibility are now key to the creation of a learning environment characterized by order and discipline.