Managing school discipline through alternative to corporal punishment in Ogbomoso, Nigeria

Abstract

The general aim of this study was to determine the extent that alternatives to corporal punishment can be used in the management of school discipline in secondary Schools in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. Methodologically, purposive sampling is also known as judgmental, selective or intentional sampling. Stratified random sampling was used to sample the selected secondary schools while purposive sampling was used to select the principals and teachers assigned by the principal to be in charge of the administration of corporal punishment in senior secondary schools in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria. The research is qualitative in nature. Therefore, an open-ended interviews strategy was employed to collect the data. A thematic analysis method was used to analyse the data. The study reached a number of conclusions and made several recommendations. Conclusively, the study revealed that secondary school teachers in Ogbomoso, Oyo State, Nigeria disagree with the introduction of an alternative to corporal punishment to maintaining discipline in secondary schools in Oyo State Nigeria. Maintenance has been posing a serious problem, students are very difficult to control (uncontrollable); no more respect for the teachers. In the light of the findings of this study, the following recommendations were suggested: Government should provide an alternative to corporal punishment in schools after the pronouncement of the abolishment of corporal punishment in schools. Government should organise training workshops and seminars for the teachers and the school heads (principals) on the alternative to corporal punishment to arrest indiscipline in secondary schools.