Abstract
Corporal punishment is a form of disciplinary measure that uses physical force with the intention of causing a learner to experience pain but not injury for reasons of correcting his or her behaviour. Section 10 of the South African Schools Act (84 of 1996), however, prohibits all forms of corporal punishment in schools (RSA, 1996). Despite this ban, many schools continue to practise it widely. Media reports suggest that students in many schools, especially rural schools, display arrogance, violence, rudeness, truancy and other types of misconduct. In the light of above and with the implications of the implementation of the Schools Act in mind, it was investigated whether the South African Government’s decision to abolish physical punishment was viable and whether it had any impact on student conduct. A sample was drawn of 400 learners and 100 teachers from 10 high schools in an educational region of the North West Province of South Africa. In contrast to the thrust of the theoretical investigation that revealed that the abolition of corporal punishment would probably lead to an increase in poor behaviour, the empirical investigation, particularly the application of the chi-squared test, indicated no positive relationship between the abolition of corporal punishment and increase in misconduct. The study recommends that alternative forms of disciplinary measures are necessary to minimise misdemeanours among learners. DOI: 10.5901/mjss.2014.v5n7p435
Highlights
IntroductionIntroduction and BackgroundThe present situation in South African schools seems to suggest that a lack of discipline and self-discipline among high school students has led to a continuation of unsuccessful learning and teaching
Introduction and BackgroundThe present situation in South African schools seems to suggest that a lack of discipline and self-discipline among high school students has led to a continuation of unsuccessful learning and teaching
Whereas the theoretical analysis of this study seems to suggest an escalation in misdemeanours in the absence of corporal punishment, the chi-squared test applied to the findings suggests no significant relationship between abolition of physical punishment and bad behaviour
Summary
Introduction and BackgroundThe present situation in South African schools seems to suggest that a lack of discipline and self-discipline among high school students has led to a continuation of unsuccessful learning and teaching. Research indicates that the majority of education students believed that the abolition of corporal punishment had been a mistake leading to poor discipline in schools. The framework is the product of the researchers’ constructive-hermeneutic understanding of views expressed in the relevant literature Conducting research in this manner requires the researcher to be mindful that knowledge is conjectural; absolute truth can never be established. This means that evidence found in research is always imperfect and fallible, research is a process of making claims which deserves more credit The design and method followed for the empirical investigation are described in a separate section below. 4.2 Research Design
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