I prepared carefully for the training. There were 21 in attendance, including another HT and teachers from Olepolos Primary, in Kisames. I wanted to create an environment where honest discussion and professional dialogue were encouraged. The first step was admitting the problem existed.
I talked about my own experiences. Corporal punishment was still legal in Scotland when I was at school. The leather belt (or tawse as it was called) was displayed prominently in many classrooms. I was beaten regularly – I always talked too much! When it was made illegal, many parents and teachers were panic–stricken. There would be no discipline in schools. Children would no longer learn. However, Positive Behaviour Management Training was given and the discovery was surprising. Children learned better and behaved better when the climate of fear was removed from the classroom.
We had discussions on why teachers use corporal punishment (to instil discipline, to correct children, to improve performance etc.) and I challenged them a little. Is it ever used in anger, I wondered aloud. It took a few moments but eventually everyone agreed that it was. I asked them in their groups to think about an incident from their own school days where they had been subjected to or witnessed corporal punishment and the effect it had had.
Story 1
A teacher shared that she had been in Class 4 at the time. A child had come to school late. He was often late because his parents made him tend the animals at home. The teacher had laid him down on a bench and beaten him, with a huge stick, in front of everyone. She remembers feeling terrified because she thought she was going to be sick. Eventually, the child jumped up and ran from the classroom. He never returned to school again.
Story 2
A teacher shared that as a young teacher, she had worked in a rural school.
A child was being beaten – she can’t even remember why. The teacher had made the child put his head on the floor, under the desk, so that the teacher would have more access to beat his back and bottom. The child lifted their head and a nail from the stick or the desk became embedded in his head. He was taken to the office, the Head Teacher removed the nail, the child was taken to hospital and everyone was warned to keep their mouths shut. Luckily the child wasn’t brain damaged.
Story 3
A teacher shared that she loved maths at school and believed she had a natural ability. Her dream was to be a a mathematician when she grew up. However, in Class 5, her teacher was very strict and used the stick a lot. He particularly focused on beating girls. She was never actually beaten but she lived in such constant terror that she couldn’t concentrate on her work. She went from being top of the class to being average, to performing badly. Gradually all the girls stopped attending his class and some of them stopped attending school. She lost her love of maths and has never recovered it.
It was very powerful for these teachers to share their stories with each other. For every single one that we heard, there were many more similar but untold horrors. It was an important part of the training to encourage teachers to re-live their own experiences and consider the impact that it had had on them and others. This was the foundation of being open to a different approach.
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