Theme Two: Successes in execution of the Peer Educator role

The second theme is “successes in the execution of the peer educator role”. Each of the two associated sub-themes (Table 4.1.) will be discussed.

4.2.2.1 Peer Influence and Behaviour Change

It emerged strongly from the data that participants across all the schools had achieved success by being influential to their peers and effecting behaviour change. A participant expressed:

There are those [peers] who support us, they even help with cleaning the classes. There are those who help others with homework even if we [peer educators] are not around. (D2, L80-81)

Another participant commented that “some learners really learn from us, by changing their behaviour” (E1,130-131).

Yet another participant remarked:

Others [peers] have been influenced because they come and others even bring their friends to join…the group [peer educators], I think a lot of learners have been influenced. (B2, L407-409)

A participant confidently expressed:

They [peers] listen to me when I advise them, because they normally come back to me to tell me that what I told them has worked and they thank me for [the] advice. That makes me realise that they do actually listen to me. (C1, L172-174)

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Teenage pregnancy, smoking, alcohol abuse and bullying has decreased. Those who used to smoke, do not smoke here. Maybe if they want to smoke, they go somewhere or to the shops. (D1, L145-147)

Similarly, a participant remarked that:

Now the rate [teenage pregnancy] has been reduced … and smoking of boys in the corridors has stopped. Mostly, boys no longer harass the girls that much, when passing on the stairs. (A1, L96-97 & L139-141)

A participant acknowledged:

The issue of bullying here at school has decreased. Learners are not

complaining that much about bullying … the substance abuse has

decreased; the issue of school uniform … they now listen to us and wear appropriate uniform. (C2, L189-191)

There was sufficient evidence to show the successes achieved by participants, which included a decrease in substance abuse, teenage pregnancy, bullying, and sexual harassment. Data showed that out of the five schools, three schools managed to achieve a decrease in substance abuse. From the transformational leadership perspective, through inspirational motivation, PEs were able to inspire and motivate their peers and engage them in thinking about the ideal future (Bass, 1998:5).

This indeed is an achievement that needs to be acknowledged and praised. Renfrew et al. (2002:3) contend that peers have a stronger influence on individual behaviour due to a level of familiarity; hence, they are able to influence individual and peer group norms. A peer-led approach is particularly appropriate for adolescents as they have a greater tendency to learn from and be influenced by their own peers (Sun & Miu, 2018:33). “Leaders are people whose ideas are endorsed voluntarily” (Kort, 2008, cited in Ciulla, 2011:60) and this is evident when peers supported the PEs initiatives and helped others with homework even if the PEs were not around. The PEs had the ability to attract peers to follow their vision voluntarily.

4.2.2.2 Peer Educators’ Personal Development

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result of being a peer educator. A participant described the positive impact that the PE role had: “The BEM/GEM [peer educator programme] has given me confidence” (E2, L225). A similar sentiment was echoed by another participant who commented that, “because of going to the programmes, you gain confidence, you learn how to talk to

people” (C1, L474-477). A participant who shared the same view remarked, “I have

developed self-esteem and confidence” (B1, L405-406).

In working with the peers, a participant developed compassion as indicated in the following quote:

I did not love people, but now I have this love for people ‘cause I am working with people every day and you [I] understand the challenges they face. You [I] even understand the reasons for behaviour. (C1, L479-483)

Some of the participants’ responses seemed to indicate that being a peer educator improved their decision-making skills. Participants commented that being a peer educator, “has taught me to know what is wrong and right” (D1, L157-160) and “I must

learn to differentiate between right and wrong and do the right way” (B2, L420-421).

One of the skills that is required of peer educators is the skill to convince people or to influence people. The ability to influence is key in leadership. A participant remarked, “What I have learnt is that you need to convince people on what to do but not force them” (E1, 163-164); a similar view was shared by another participant who explained that “You learn to convince people to do right, to say guys let’s do this, convince them to do right” (C1, L492-495).

Participants appeared to have learned to listen to their peers without being judgemental. This is shown in the remarks that “The lesson I learned is not to judge” (C1, L548) and “It [being a peer educator] has taught me not to be judgemental” (E1, 186-189) as well as “I have learnt not to be judgemental” (E2, L235).

One of the developmental areas for participants was learning to respect their peers. Participants commented, “It [being a peer educator] has taught me to respect other

people” (D2, L151-152), “I should respect others” (C2, L256-257) and “It [being a peer

educator] has taught me respect goes both ways, the young must respect the old and vice versa. Try to respect other learners” (E1, L186-189).

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It was encouraging to see how being a peer educator helped to improve the participants’ personal development. There was evidence of how they had improved in their leadership skills, communication skills and decision-making skills. The findings in this study concur with a study undertaken in Cape Town, which revealed that PEs improved in their leadership skills, decision making and communication skills (Swartz et al., 2014:35). Furthermore, participants’ responses confirmed that PEs gain critical skills such as confidence in public speaking, and they become persuasive and convincing communicators which leads to their effectiveness as PEs (Badura, Millard, Peluso, Ortman, 2000:475; Njovana, 2010:12).