Effect of Self-efficacy on the Relationship between Corporal Punishment and School Dropout

Abstract

Corporal punishment results in aggressive behaviours in students. As a result, some students leave school. Researchers believe that the issue of school dropout can be reduced by adopting different motivational techniques. Self-efficacy is one technique that can be promoted to create a caring and supportive learning environment. The issue of dropout is alarming in many Pakistani schools especially at the primary level due to the prevalence of corporal punishment and other factors. This issue prevails mostly in government schools where teachers adopt stringent steps in the teaching process. This study was specifically designed to examine the role of self-efficacy as a moderator between corporal punishment and school dropout. Many studies have explored the relations of corporal punishment with school dropout. It remains to be seen what actually moderates these relations. This study contributes to this gap in the literature by examining self-efficacy as an influencing factor. The study used a validated questionnaire to survey 300 government primary school teachers' attitude on this issue. Results of the study indicated that corporal punishment significantly correlated with school dropout rate. Secondly, self-efficacy significantly moderates the relations between corporal punishment and school dropout. On the basis of these findings, the study concludes that teachers may reduce the issue of school dropout by creating a supportive and caring teaching and learning environment in school. Finally, the study suggests that the school administration play a key role to overcome the issue of increasing rate of school dropout by adopting rules and procedures to convince and motivate teachers to avoid corporal punishment.

Bangladeshi school‐age children's experiences and perceptions on child maltreatment: A qualitative interview study

“…Education was considered important to get a good life, but because the children perceived their school environment to be rather hostile, it led to low educational performance and school dropouts. Similar findings of lower academic performance, tendency for school avoidance, and school dropout due to CM are found in other studies (Ahmad et al, ; Portela & Pells, ). Alokan and Olatunji () proposed that corporal punishment made children less attentive leading to school failure.…”

Physical Punishment at School in Three Educational Systems in Pakistan

“…Another study from Pakistan showed that both mild and severe forms of physical punishment were associated with poor academic performance, learning problems, low class attendance, low creativity,lack of self-confidence, fear, depression, low self-esteem, pessimism, and feelings of inferiority (Naz, Khan, Daraz, Hussain, & Khan, 2011). Furthermore, physical punishment has been found to be the most important reason for school drop-out in Pakistan (Ahmad et al, 2014;Hussain, Salfi, & Khan, 2011;Naz et al, 2011).…”

The intersection of school corporal punishment and associated factors: Baseline results from a randomized controlled trial in Pakistan

“…Corporal punishment at school is also associated with school dropout. A study conducted in primary schools in Pakistan identified that corporal punishment as the primary reason for children leaving school [ 17 ]. Children who are victims of corporal punishment are commonly perpetrators of violence against family and society [ 18 ].…”