I WAS leading an online discussion in a postgraduate class when the subject of rewards and punishments came up.
Many in the class were already working full-time as teachers at different levels of education.
The teachers shared the ways they encouraged good behaviour in their classrooms, as well as how they dealt with student misconduct.
There was a collective groan as they talked about how almost impossible it was to mete out any form of punishment to students these days for fear of repercussions.
“We are always told, ‘All teachers are discipline teachers’,” said one teacher who had been serving in national schools for almost 12 years, “but believe me, there are a lot of restrictions and conditions attached to this.”
Corporal punishment, like caning, is carried out under very strict regulations. Only male students may be caned with a light cane, restricted to the palm of the hand or the buttocks over clothing.
Caning in the school can only be carried out by the principal, headteacher, or an expressly authorised teacher. All details of the punishment also need to be formally recorded.
In cases of serious or repeated misconduct that could lead to suspension or expulsion, parents are informed.
While there are guidelines on the actions that can and cannot be taken in cases of student misconduct, the overarching rule is that punishment needs to be proportionate to the offence.
“Certain forms of punishment are simply not allowed,” added another teacher in the class. “Like making them stand outside the class or in the sun, write many lines, run around the field, do ketuk ketampi, clean toilets and so on.”
There were murmurs of approval from the teachers in the group, who remembered some of the harsher punishments they themselves had endured during their school days.
As difficult as it is, we need to find other ways to deal with misconduct in the classroom, such as disruptive behaviour, blatant disrespect, deliberate slacking or repeatedly failing to turn in homework.
“We can’t always be sending them off to the discipline teacher’s or counsellor’s room,” said another teacher.
“So no doing lines, no detention, no ‘classroom’ community service like cleaning the classroom ... even raising your voice at them is not allowed. Does it surprise you, then, if discipline cases increase in schools? It is almost as if students these days know that they can get away with almost anything.”
I understood the teachers’ predicament, just as they themselves understood why certain forms of punishment should not be meted out to their students.
So what can teachers today do when their students misbehave?
“There are verbal warnings, reprimands, although we have to be careful that our words do not humiliate the students.”
I heard a collective “humph” in the classroom, and comments came swiftly.
“Demerit points that go into their student records,” a teacher said.
“Additional homework is on our school’s prescribed list for student misconduct, which is ironic, seeing that they were on the misconduct list for never turning in their regular homework.”
“For serious cases, we just refer them to the discipline teacher.”
I thought about the punishments of past decades, those that my primary schoolteachers dished out regularly.
There was Miss J and her double-ruler punishment: basically two wooden rulers tied together that could land on an errant student’s outstretched palm. This included not memorising the multiplication tables or leaving homework incomplete.
Quite a number of pupils under Miss J went home with sore palms, but generally, all of us mastered the tables by heart before the end of the school year.
Then there was the “stand outside the classroom” punishment, which was not so bad unless you had to stand holding a sheet of paper outlining all your misdemeanours for every passer-by to see.
Running around the school field was another standard punishment, usually meted out to those who had repeatedly “forgotten” to bring their clothes for physical education class.
“There were variations of the standing punishment, actually. Standing on the chair, standing while holding the chair over your head, standing on the table. We hardly ever reported these punishments to our parents because then we would get a second punishment from our parents,” said a senior teacher in the group.
Looking back, it seemed almost as if our former teachers were masters of the classroom punishment game. We never really questioned our rights or whether we were being treated fairly. All we knew was the pain or embarrassment, and we mostly strove not to experience it again by doing better the next time.
So, did our teachers scar us for life? Maybe they did, increasing our aversion to the subject or the teacher, or maybe they made us stronger.
While teachers may be struggling to strike a balance between discipline and reinforcement, it is heartening to know that the Education Ministry is serious about student discipline and has taken a stand that aims to be more educative and corrective rather than punitive.
The recent policies that emphasise schools as safe environments are also timely and necessary for all students.
The truth is that whether then or now, punishment should never have been an avenue for teachers to vent their frustrations on students or cause humiliation or physical abuse.
Dr G. Mallika Vasugi, who currently teaches at a local university, provides insights into the teaching profession. The views expressed here are the writer’s own.
