Abstract:
The purpose of the study was to investigate perceptions of teachers on the ban of corporal punishment in pre-primary
institutions. The objectives of the study were to investigate teachers’ attitudes towards corporal punishment ban in
pre-schools and to establish whether the level of education of teachers had an influence on the use of corporal
punishment. A descriptive survey design was used. Stratified sampling was used to select the pre-schools; simple
random sampling was applied to select all the teachers in the pre-schools. Data was collected through questionnaires
and analyzed using both quantitative and qualitative approaches. Major findings indicated that: 71% agreed that
reasonable corporal punishment is beneficial to the pre-school learners; 80% of the pre-school teachers used corporal
punishment 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 corporal
punishment was used by teachers were non-academic. The results form a basis of re-thinking the initial teachers
training curriculum and subsequent in-service training in regard to classroom disruptions and how best they could be
handled. As changes occur in educational setting, courses for training of teachers in the initial course, induction
course or later in-service courses must reflect such changes and support and develop relevant skills in the staff upon
whom these changes will impinge. The teacher trainee ought to be exposed to other methods of behaviour
modification and these methods should have their own content and well researched.
