Effect of Corporal Punishment on Students’ Motivation and Classroom Learning

This study examined the effect of corporal punishment on students’ motivation and classroom learning. Research has indicated that behavior of teacher profoundly influences students’ learning. It has been observed with great concern that teachers in Pakistani schools resort to corporal punishment to motivate students for classroom learning. Over the years this practice has resulted in reduced students’ motivation towards learning.This study was purposefully designed to investigate this area of concern. For this purpose, the study attempted to find answer to the question that was there any relationship between corporal punishment and students’ motivation and classroom learning. Using a correlation design, the study surveyed attitudes of a randomely sampled 250 teachers from secondary schools in Malakand district, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan. For data analysis, SPSS was used. This research studied the relationship between the following three main variables: corporal punishment as independent variable and student motivation and classroom learning as dependent variables. To examine correlation between the variables, ANOVA and Regression Analysis were utilized. Results of the study revealed that corporal punshment was significantly negatively correlated with students’ motivation and classroom learning.