Perceptions of Teachers on the Ban of Corporal Punishment in Pre-Primary Institutions in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to investigate perceptions of teachers on the ban of corporal punishment in pre-primaryinstitutions. The objectives of the study were to investigate teachers’ attitudes towards corporal punishment ban inpre-schools and to establish whether the level of education of teachers had an influence on the use of corporalpunishment. A descriptive survey design was used. Stratified sampling was used to select the pre-schools; simplerandom sampling was applied to select all the teachers in the pre-schools. Data was collected through questionnairesand analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Major findings indicated that: 71% agreed thatreasonable corporal punishment is beneficial to the pre-school learners; 80% of the pre-school teachers used corporalpunishment to maintain order in the classroom; Teachers perceived negatively the outlawing of corporal punishment;the level of teachers’ education had no influence on the use of corporal punishment. The instances when corporalpunishment was used by teachers were non-academic. The results form a basis of re-thinking the initial teacherstraining curriculum and subsequent in-service training in regard to classroom disruptions and how best they could behandled. As changes occur in educational setting, courses for training of teachers in the initial course, inductioncourse or later in-service courses must reflect such changes and support and develop relevant skills in the staff uponwhom these changes will impinge. The teacher trainee ought to be exposed to other methods of behaviourmodification and these methods should have their own content and well researched.