to corporal punishment
On the whole, perceptions regarding the implementation of ATCP in schools are largely negative. Teachers and learners from these four township secondary schools who participated in this study did not have a favourable impression of ATCP and the manner of its implementation in schools. A common perception was that the ATCP measures are time-consuming and difficult to implement. Learners seem to enjoy being disciplined this way and continue as if nothing has happened. In one learner’s words:
They do not work, they are time-consuming especially ones whereby the learner is picking up papers or cleaning the school. (Learner, location unknown, date unknown)
A teacher’s comment confirms the learner’s perception with these words:
Learners continue with their ill-disciplined behaviour even after they have been punished […].(Teacher, location unknown, date unknown) The above comments are also confirmed in Ntuli and Machaisa’s (2014:1788) study.
It appears from the findings that implementation differs across schools. Although in some schools ATCP disciplinary measures are already part of school culture, in others there is inconsistency in implementation and a sense of resentment at the banning of
corporal punishment. One learner participant felt that application or implementation of ATCP is not consistent, stating that ‘[t]here is no co-relation amongst teachers when it comes to disciplining learners and that is really needed’ (learner, location unknown, date unknown).
A teacher participant had this to say:
Learners are no longer disciplined at all. About 80% of learners are ill-disciplined to an extent that they cannot take simple instructions and if there was corporal punishment the situation would have been much better. Teachers have no support at all from parents or the government, and this is also contributing towards low level of discipline because we are powerless. (Teacher, location unknown, date unknown)
Another teacher participant expressed her feelings at the deterioration of learner discipline to which she attributed teacher frustration, lack of joy in teaching and teacher turnover:
Learners’ behaviour has totally changed. The way learners behave at school is a true reflection of how they behave at home and as a result parents tend to be protective of their children. The level of discipline is so low to an extent that it frustrates us and that is the key reason many educators leave the profession. (Teacher, location unknown, date unknown)
In addition, learner indiscipline had deteriorated to such an extent that, in the words of one teacher, ‘we no longer enjoy teaching’.
Teacher frustration regarding learner behaviour is not only attributed to ATCP but also to parents who ‘tend to be protective of their children’, implying a tendency towards permissiveness by parents. The introduction of ATCP therefore appears to be highly resented by some teachers on the one hand and not taken seriously by some learners on the other hand.
This sense of helplessness and powerlessness is echoed in Mtshweni’s study (cited in Kalipa 2015:12), ‘[t]eachers feel helpless and powerless in the absence of corporal punishment’.
Ntuli and Machaisa (2014:1781) echo the sentiments of teacher participants who bemoaned declining levels of learner discipline
in schools. This decline was attributed by Ntuli and Machaisa to a lack of thorough knowledge and information on how to implement the ATCP measures. The Department of Education was largely blamed for not adequately training teachers on the use of these alternatives.
One of the key concerns raised by teachers in the study was lack of training in the implementation of the ATCP measures, which made it difficult for them to discipline learners appropriately.
This concern is captured in this statement (Marumo 2015):
[T ]he whole implementation of alternative forms of learner discipline is difficult because […] no knowledge of how to implement them successfully. (p. 66)
One question designed to gauge teachers’ true perceptions of ATCP yielded a variety of responses. The responses confirmed teachers’ true feelings about the current disciplinary measures in South Africa. Asked if they felt that corporal punishment should be re-introduced, teachers’ responses ranged from an emphatic
‘yes’ to ‘yes with certain conditions’ to an emphatic ‘no’. The majority of calls for the reintroduction of corporal punishment stemmed from desperation on the part of teachers as a result of their inability to handle ‘out of control’ learners. One teacher’s comment captures the sense of desperation experienced by many teachers, with a resounding YES. ‘Corporal punishment should be re-introduced in order to curb ill-disciplined behaviour by learners’ (teacher, location unknown, date unknown).
Other teachers, however, felt that although there was a need to reintroduce corporal punishment, it should not be used as the sole disciplinary method. A strong sentiment was that it should not only be controlled and coupled with ATCP, but that strict limits should be set regarding its administration. The following comments best capture this perception:
Corporal punishment should be re-introduced, but they should be coupled with the alternatives to corporal punishment. If corporal punishment is re-introduced, teachers must be trained on how to practise it appropriately to avoid cases of assault. (Teacher, location unknown, date unknown)
Another comment, which echoed similar sentiments, was that:
Corporal punishment should be re-introduced but with strict limitations. Not all educators should have the powers to practise it. There should be nominated individuals in schools who have the special right to discipline learners through the use of corporal punishment. (Teacher, location unknown, date unknown)
The conditions for the reintroduction of corporal punishment are training, joint implementation with ATCP and specific persons to administer it.
The idea of ‘nominated individuals’ concurs with the old disciplinary method that was used in Kenya where only the head teacher administered corporal punishment or a teacher with the head teacher present. Regulations further stated that there must be a specific place on the body where a specific punishment must be inflicted and records of such an act must be kept (Busienei 2012:156).
The final perception was an emphatic ‘No’ to corporal punishment, and in the words of a participant, ‘[c]orporal punishment should not be re-introduced because the provided