Older teachers still believe in the value of the cane
Older teachers who themselves were themselves caned as pupils still believe in the value of the rod, a survey in South Africa found.
Teachers differ on corporal punishment
Research shows past classroom experiences of rod
not a deterrent
TEACHERS confident in their
teaching methods and caring for their pupils were less likely to mete out
corporal punishment.
But older teachers who
themselves were on the receiving end of the rod as pupils still believe in the
value of the abolished practice, according to interviews with a small sample of
KwaZulu-Natal primary school teachers by researchers, published in the South
African Journal of Education
This month, the research
reveals that older teachers, despite their own experiences of fear and pain,
did not see anything wrong with meting out corporal punishment.
The research authors,
Sagree Govender and Reshma Sookrajh, are with the school of education at the
University of KZN.
For Andrew (real names are
not used), an alternative strategy for maintaining classroom discipline was
model the behaviour he expected from pupils. “I want children to know that I am
well organised and that I am good at what I do, and I try to set a model in my
classroom in how I do my teaching.”
He established himself as
an authority through displaying confidence in his teaching approach without
using corporal punishment, researchers observed. Andrew believed that good
discipline depended on the teacher’s approach, level of preparedness and
self-discipline,
Relating his own experience
of corporal punishment, Andrew recalled: “The teacher had some words on the
chalkboard. I knew that one of those words did not fit there, and I told her.
She pinched my cheeks and gave me a slap and asked me if I wanted to teach.”
But for other teachers
interviewed, corporal punishment was more firmly entrenched.
While Sipho’s schooling
years were characterised by fear of corporal punishment, he said he belonged to
this “old school of thought”.
Another teacher, Maggie,
who attended a private school in the late 1950s, described her own teachers as
“awful” and “dreadful”. However, she described herself as “a bit of a dragon”.
“Once in the class, I
tapped the child at the back of the head and said, ‘Come on, do your work!’ And
she looked at me and said ‘You are not allowed to do that.’
“I said, ‘Don’t you ever
say that again. You are a troublemaker!’
“We chatted it out. We were
not brought up with that rule where teachers were not allowed to hit,” Maggie
said.
The researchers recommended
that teachers be taught how to instil discipline through alternative methods.
As published in
The Star (Johannesburg, South Africa), 17 June
2014
Picture credit: CP Services, London
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