A Study of Attitudes Towards Corporal
Punishment as an Educational Procedure From the Earliest Times to the Present by Robert McCole Wilson |
table of contents |
1.3 The Procedures![]() This work will be primarily an historical survey of corporal punishment as an issue in education. The emphasis will be on attitudes, but the actual practices will occupy a prominent part. The main body of the investigation will be an examination of notable educational writings to see what development there has been since the earliest times in the approach to the problem. Other contemporary literature will be used to show what the actual attitudes and practices have been, and what forces have been instrumental in bringing about a change from an almost universal acceptance to an occasional use only, of corporal punishment. Wherever possible, the original words of the writer will be used so that the reader may judge for himself the accuracy of the interpretation and the fairness of the comment. ![]() ![]() ![]() ![]() |
1.4 Questions![]() After a preliminary reading, certain questions were formulated and kept before the writer as the investigation proceeded. These were, of course, questions which were considered to be significant in themselves, but they were also useful in giving the work greater cohesion and clearer direction. ![]() |
1. | Has there been a significant advance in the approach to the
problem of corporal punishment since the earliest commentators? That is, have the problem
and possible answers changed significantly in the last two thousand years, and if so, in
what way?![]() |
2. | What distinction has been made by each writer between the use
of corporal punishment as a stimulation to learn, and as a stimulation to remedy
unacceptable social behaviour? Or does he combine or confuse the two?![]() |
3. | In his support or opposition to the use of corporal
punishment, how clearly does each writer distinguish between motivational arguments (it
doesn't work) and ethical arguments (it's morally wrong)? Or again, does he combine or
confuse the two?![]() |
4. | To what extent is the use of corporal punishment as a
classroom practice a philosophical (or ethical) issue, and to what extent is it a
psychological (or motivational) issue, at the present stage or research?![]() |
To put these in a more general form, who has supported or
opposed corporal punishment in schools, to what extent, and for what reasons?![]() ![]() |
Suggestions or
comments to the author:![]() |
Mail to rmw@island.net |
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http://www.zona-pellucida.com/wilson01.html © Copyright 1997-2000 Robert M. Wilson ![]() |