Use of Punishment

The teacher’s use of punishment is a controversial area in relation to being a good teacher.
Kyriacou (1998) states that there are three main purposes of punishment as follows:
1) Retribution: justice requires that wrong-doing is followed by a morally deserved punishment
2) Deterrence: the pupil or other pupils wish to avoid such behaviour in the future for fear of the consequence
3) Rehabilitation: pupils will be helped to understand the moral wrong-doing of the misbehaviour and the need to behave well in the future.
However, many pupils have not good perceptions about the teacher’s use of punishment. For example, according to the UNESCO study (1996), pupils valued the teacher who does not give punishment. Marie from Ghana, says that ‘a good teacher must reason with children instead of beating them’. Jana from Czech Republic, states that ‘teachers shouldn’t be very strict and angry because it makes children afraid of them and unwilling to go to school’. In addition, the B.B.C (2006) collected pupils’ poems on ‘What it takes to be a good teacher’. Ruby, who is a primary school pupil from the UK, wrote a poem of the good teacher as follows:

‘Don't shout and ball,
for no reason at all,
or you will never survive as a teacher.
Don't hurt people’s feelings or turn them away
Listen to every one, whatever they say’.

These views are reflected in the research literature as follows: Beishuizen et al. (2001) found that pupils valued ‘the teacher who does not punish too heavily’. In addition, Jules and Kutnick (1993) found that boys showed greater concerns regarding teacher control and use of punishment than girls. Beishuizen et al. (2001) showed that the typical detachment item as ‘the teacher does not punish too heavily’. Some teachers use verbal reprimand to control pupils. Kyriacou (1998) defines verbal reprimand as follows. ‘A reprimand is an explicit verbal or comment by the teacher to a pupil which indicates the teacher’s disapproval of the misbehaviour which has occurred’. Kyriacou (1998) states some qualities to use verbal reprimand effectively. ‘Reprimand should be firm and consistent. In addition, the teacher needs to avoid anger and confrontation with pupils. Teachers should criticise the behaviour, not the pupil, as well as using reprimand privately rather than publicly. The teacher should avoid reprimanding the whole class and avoid unfair comparisons’.

Moreover, in the UNESCO study (1996), Maía from Russian Federation, believes that ‘a teacher shouldn’t get angry about trivial matters (things that don’t really matter), should be strict but just’. In the B.B.C - cbbc study (2005), Natasha from the UK says that the ‘good teacher is one that doesn't SHOUT all the time’. Natasha’s views actually are supported by Desai et al.’s ( 2001) research on the belief of pupils about good teaching in higher educational setting in the US. Pupils mentioned that the teacher ‘avoids quarrels over minor points with students in classes. Younger and Warrington’s study (1999) found that the teacher should not be ‘too strict’ and a number of groups (12 boys and five girls) mentioned it. Pupils stressed that ‘control was not achieved through shouting, but through gaining the respect of the students’. Beishuizen et al. (2001) found that a ‘Good teacher maintains order and warns pupils in advance. He/ she should not verbally aggressive’. Robertson’s study (2006) of pupils from grades 3 to 5 mentioned that the teacher ‘knows how to control students without screaming at them’. Punishment has a large number of drawbacks and it may affect pupils’ physical, psychological and social development. Therefore, the teacher needs skills to understand the reasons for pupils’ misbehaving and use punishment very carefully.