AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ATTITUDE OF PARENTS AND TEACHERS TO

THE USE OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS

A Case Study of Selected Secondary Schools in Obio/Akpor L.G.A of Rivers State

BY

TESSY HARCOURT WERINWO

NTI/NCE/2019/ITS/BIO/6808

NATIONAL TEACHERS INSTITUTE,

KADUNA

DECEMBER, 2022

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 AN INVESTIGATION INTO THE ATTITUDE OF PARENTS AND TEACHERS TO
THE USE OF CORPORAL PUNISHMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOLS:
A CASE STUDY OF SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN OBIO/AKPOR L.G.A OF
RIVERS STATE

BY

TESSY HARCOURT WERINWO

NTI/NCE/2019/ITS/BIO/6808

A RESEARCH PROJECT SUBMITTED TO THE NATIONAL TECAHERS INSTITUTE

KADUNA, IN PARTIAL FULFILMENT OF THE REQUIREMENTS FOR THE AWARD
OF NIGERIA CERTIFICATE IN EDUCATION OF THE NATIONAL TECAHERS
INSTITUTE, KADUNA.

DECEMBER, 2022

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 CERTIFICATION

This is to certify that this project was carried out by Tessy Harcourt Werinwo and was approved
by National Teachers; Institute, Kaduna.

Dr (Mrs) Akogwu, C. Ada ……………………. …………………

(Project Supervisor) Signature Date

Dr (Mrs) Akogwu, C. Ada ……………………. …………………

(Centre Manager) Signature Date

Mrs Audu Martha ……………………. …………………

(State Coordinator) Signature Date

……………………… ……………………. …………………

(External Examiner) Signature Date

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 DEDICATION

This work is dedicated to God Almighty

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 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

I sincerely appreciate and thank God Almighty for giving me the energy, good health sound

mind and the divine enablement to write this project. May the glory, honour and adoration be

given unto Him forever.

My profound gratitude goes to my project supervisor Dr Akogwu, C. Ada for guiding me

throughout the writing of the project. She really took the pain to read through my manuscripts,

giving sharp criticism and correction where necessary. I say a big thank you to her and may God

prosper all your efforts in Jesus name.

I am gratefully thankful to my husband Mr Igeyn Pilata and my brother Mr. Honesty Harcourt

for their moral and financial supports through the period of my programme.

I also want to thank my children for their encouragement and supports throughout the duration of

my programme at NTI. They gave me their maximum supports. God reward you abundantly.

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 TABLE CONTENTS

Title Page ii

Certification iii

Dedication iv

Acknowledgement v

Table of contents vi

List of tables ix

Abstract x

CHAPTER ONE

Background of the study 1

Statement of the problem 5

Purpose of the study 5

Research Question 5

Scope of the Study 6

Limitation of the Study 6

Significance of the Study 6

Operational Definition of Terms 7

CHAPTER TWO

Literature Review

Conceptual Framework 9

Concept of Corporal Punishment 9

Concept of a Parent 11

Concept of Teacher 12

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Theoretical Framework 13

Empirical studies 15

Indiscipline among Secondary school students 15

Causes of indiscipline among secondary school students 16

Internal factors of indiscipline 18

Corporal Punishment in Secondary Schools 19

Alternatives to Corporal Punishment 20

Attitude of Parents and Teachers towards Punishment Administration 21

Literature Appraisal 24

Summary of Literature Review 24

CHAPTER THREE

Research Methodology 26

Research Design 26

Area of Study 26

Research Questions 27

Population of the study 27

Sample and Sampling Techniques 27

Instrument of Data Collection 28

Validation of In\9strument 28

Reliability of the Instrument 29

Method of Data Collection 29

Method of Data Analysis 29

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CHAPTER FOUR

Data Presentation 30

List of Corporal punishment administered in schools 30

Attitude of Respondents towards corporal punishment 35

Perceived Dangers as identified by Respondents 40

Discussion of findings 44

CHAPTER FIVE

Summary of the study 50

Conclusion 51

Implications of the Findings 51

Recommendations arising from the study 52

Limitations of the study 53

REFERENCES 54

Appendix A 56

Appendix B 57

Appendix C 58

Appendix D 59

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 LIST OF TABLE

Table 4.1
List of corporal punishment 31
In school as identified by teachers

Table 4.2
List of corporal punishment 33
In school as identified by parents

Table 4.3
Attitudes of teacher’s respondents ‘towards corporal punishment 36

Table 4.4
Attitudes of parents’ respondents ‘towards corporal punishment 38

Table4.5
Factors to be considered before student are 42
Disciplined in school as identified by parents.

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 ABSTRACT

The study sought to investigate into the attitude of parents and teacher to the use of corporal
punishment in Senior Secondary School In Obio / Akpor Local Government Area Of Rivers
State, Nigeria. Four research questions were formulated to guide the study. The descriptive
survey design was used. The population of the study comprise of all the SS II student, teachers
and parents which was used three thousand and four (3004). The research made use of oral
interview focus group discussion (FGD) and questionnaire to collect the data collection were
validated by the expert from social studies department and education department respectively.
The instrument for data collection were pre-tested using a representative sample of students,
teachers and parent from the school and locations outside those sampled for the study but from
the same Obio / Akpor LGA. The results obtained from the pilot tests were used for the
estimation of the internal consistency (Reliability index) of the instrument using Cronbach alpha
co-efficient of 0.78 indicating that instrument was reliable. The finding of the study revealed that
both teachers and parent have positive attitude toward the administration of corporal punishment;
that there should still be some alternatives to corporal punishment in order to have a balance.
Based on the outcome of the study, the following recommendations were made: adequate
training and seminars should be organized periodically to improve teachers’ knowledge and skill
about classroom management. Parents and teachers should use themselves as role models.