Perceptions of teachers and learners on the effects of corporal punishment on learner conduct in Kanye Governement Secondary Schools of Botswana

Abstract

Corporal punishment is still legal in Botswana. The country's education system still permits the use of corporal punishment as the regulations drafted in 1967 appearing in the Education Act remains in force with minimum amendments. The government has not altered its stand on the use of corporal punishment as a disciplinary method because of the ever-increasing cases of indiscipline of learners though many international organisations have suggested that all nations abolish the use of the approach which is regarded as inhumane. The study investigated teachers' and learners' perceptions of the effects of corporal punishment on learner conduct in government secondary schools in Kanye, Botswana. A mixed method research design was used to conduct the study on a sample of one hundred learners, six teachers and three more learners (109). A structured questionnaire was used to collect data from one hundred learners and a semi structured interview guide was used to collect data from the teachers and three learners. Qualitative data was analysed using the computer SPSS software and the content analysis approach was used to deal with the qualitative data. The findings reflected that both teachers and learners agree that learner misconduct is prevalent in schools. A number of common forms of misconduct for which corporal punishment is used were mentioned. The findings have also indicated conflicting statements on the effects of corporal punishment. There is contradiction in some of the findings under effects as not all respondents and participants agree that corporal punishment can change learner behaviour. Those in support of the use of corporal punishment stated it works only as an immediate deterrent. Some argue that corporal punishment fails to give the desired effects and learners interviewed all indicated that it has no effect. The findings outlined numerous negative effects of corporal punishment as compared to the positive effects. Almost all teachers and learners agree it causes injuries to the body, lowers learner's self-esteem, causes emotional problems, behavioural problems and contributes to truancy. The study revealed that there are alternative methods of disciplining learners such as guidance and counselling, positive reinforcement, having a code of conduct and peer support programmes. The majority of the teachers and leaners revealed that they consider guidance and counselling to be the most effective alternative. Recommendations are the Ministry of Education should ensure teachers are adequately trained in the use of alternative methods to corporal punishment to enable them to effectively deal with learner misconduct in their schools.