Rethinking Discipline in Education

This happened back in 2017. John* (not his real name*), a Secondary 2 student, got caught for smoking and was told that as a punishment, he would get two strokes of the cane.

The caning was to be administered by the school’s discipline master (DM), and for that to happen, the DM required permission from John’s mother.

For context, in this boys’ school, caning was handed down as a punishment frequently, and even though permission was sought from parents each time, consent was always given without many questions. However, on this day, John’s mother refused to permit the school to cane her son.

We (as his co-form teachers) were present in the staff room as the DM called John’s mother to find out her reasoning.

Here’s the rough conversation:

John’s mum: You can’t cane my son.

The school: Why not?

John’s mum: A punishment is meant to change a negative behaviour. Can you guarantee that this caning will stop my son from smoking again?

The school: This is our standard punishment for this offence.

John’s mum: There are other punishment methods that work just as effectively, depending on the type of student or child you’re dealing with. My son doesn’t react well to physical punishment.

The school: Sorry, it’s either that or suspension.

(John’s mum was a single parent who couldn’t afford to let him miss school and stay home as she had no one to look after him, so she eventually relented to the caning).

John’s mum: Ok fine. Since you’re so sure that it’s an effective deterrent, you can go ahead and cane him, but if he ever smokes again, then you have failed in this method and you may never punish him with physical pain again.

No surprises, John laughed off his caning to ‘save face’ in front of his friends, and of course he was smoking again by the next week. His mother was right about her child.

However, the “other punishment methods” she spoke of intrigued us, and we did some research on classroom discipline which eventually was presented at NIE.

In a nutshell, there are four different types of reinforcement methods (see photo attached).

1. Punishments (to stop bad behaviour)

a. Positive punishment: Giving a negative stimulus to stop an unwanted behaviour. (Eg. Caning or beating a child).

b. Negative punishment: Taking away a positive stimulus to stop an unwanted behaviour (E.g. Confiscating the child’s mobile phone or restricting play time with friends).

2. Reinforcements (to encourage good behaviour)

a. Positive reinforcement: Giving a positive stimulus to encourage desirable behaviour (eg. Praising the child for being respectful and kind to his siblings).

b. Negative reinforcement: Taking away a negative stimulus to encourage desirable behaviour (e.g. Stopping any scolding or nagging when the child finishes his homework on time).

The experience with John’s mother was humbling.

It taught us, as teachers, that we don’t always have the right answers when it comes to discipline, but what we can do is to take the time to understand the personality and learning style of each child, and adapt our discipline strategies accordingly.

So, dear parents and tutors, we hope this post helps you think about the way you could punish or reinforce behaviours in your children & tutees.

As usual, send us a message if you have any questions about classroom strategies, and we will be more than happy to create a subsequent post to address them.