Making Our Judgments Right: Ethics of Corporal Punishment in Indian Schools

Ashwini Tiwari

doi:10.5539/ies.v8n5p69

Abstract

The case Ayub Khan v. Municipal Corporation of Delhi Schools is one of the landmark cases for promoting a conversation on ethics of corporal punishment in Indian society. Based on literature synthesis and the critical examination of the Court case using ethical frameworks (Stefkovich, 2006; Stefkovich & Shapiro, 2010) this paper argues that law alone may not preclude teachers from using an age old practice such as corporal punishment. Furthermore using literature related to the Court case as secondary data sources, the paper argues that teachers trained in incorporating ethical paradigms in their decision making presents best chances for effective implementation of laws against corporal punishment in Indian schools.

Highlights

Ethics in Teaching ProfessionEthics is concerned with judgment people make regarding right or wrong based on morality (Stob, 1978)
Based on literature synthesis and the critical examination of the Court case using ethical frameworks (Stefkovich, 2006; Stefkovich & Shapiro, 2010) this paper argues that law alone may not preclude teachers from using an age old practice such as corporal punishment
Using literature related to the Court case as secondary data sources, the paper argues that teachers trained in incorporating ethical paradigms in their decision making presents best chances for effective implementation of laws against corporal punishment in Indian schools

Summary

Introduction

Ethics is concerned with judgment people make regarding right or wrong based on morality (Stob, 1978). People use their consciousness based on their background and past experience to solve problems in ethical manner. Ethical framework is basic assumptions about beliefs, values and principles to guide choices (Starratt, 2004). An ethical framework constantly guides individuals to make decisions. There are four main ethical frameworks: ethics of justice, ethics of care, ethics of critique and ethics of profession (Starratt, 2004; Stefkovich, 2006; Stefkovich & Shapiro, 2010). Depending on the situation one or more than one ethical framework could be applied to solve problems. Depending on the situation one or more than one ethical framework could be applied to solve problems. Stefkovich (2006) argues that due to the nature of profession teachers often use more than one framework to conduct their daily business (See Table 1)

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