International Journal of Humanities and Social Science Vol. 2 No. 1; January 2012 233 Gender Differences or Not? Harsh Discipline in Childhood and Its Impact on Bahraini Teacher Candidates’ Perceptions and Classroom Practices Nina Abdul Razzak Bahrain Teachers‟ College- University of Bahrain Bahrain Teachers College (BTC) S-22 University of Bahrain P. O. Box 32038 Manama, Kingdom of Bahrain Abstract This study focused on Bahraini childrearing practices implemented on young girls and boys at home. Its purpose was to check for discrepancies in the application of harsh physical and verbal discipline between the two groups and to assess if the type of discipline that Bahraini public school teachers had been subjected to as youngsters could possibly be reflected in their disciplinary and classroom management practices at school. The results of this study for the male participants compared with results from a previous study for the females indicated some discrepancies between the two genders. It also pointed out a need for a change in the perceptions of prospective female and male teachers in relation to the implementation of harsh discipline, as well as a need for specific educational and training measures to be taken, especially in the case of the males, in order to ensure a brighter future for the Bahraini public schools. Keywords: Harsh discipline; childrearing practices; classroom management; teacher candidates‟ perceptions; Bahraini educational reform; punishing styles; Generational theory of discipline 1. Introduction The Bahrain Teachers‟ College (BTC) is a teacher preparatory institut ion that was primarily established as a part of the Kingdom of Bahrain‟s national education reform project. The college offers a multiplicity of programs among them the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.) program for fresh high school graduates and the Educational Leadership Program (ELP) for assistant principals working in the public school system. Bahrain, as a country, is an archipelago of islands in the Arab Gulf region and consists of three main types of communities: the generally poorer tribal and rural communities and the richer urban centers. (Khuri 1980). The country has lately witnessed major economic, social, and cultural developments. Despite this, however, the Bahraini public school system is in need of major reforms, which explains the national education reform project underway in the kingdom. Bahraini public schools have been primarily fashioned in accordance with the British educational system and their method of teaching is mainly that of direct instruction. Maintaining student discipline in such schools, as in the traditional British educational system, is of utmost importance. The researcher of this study was interested in investigating at what cost is discipline being maintained in these schools and, as a result, discussed this question at BTC with a focus group of thirteen experienced ELP assistant principals from the Bahraini public schools. The discussion focused on harsh discipline and its implementation in the Bahraini elementary public schools. The following is a summary of the main aspects of the focus group‟s discussion, as quoted in the researcher‟s latest manuscript under publication: “There is a general law issued by the Ministry of Education (MOE) in the Kingdom of Bahrain that prohibits harsh discipline in schools. This law is generally abided by in the Bahraini elementary schools but there are cases of violation and the violations are more common in schools located in rural areas than in those located in the urban centers; they are also more prevalent in the boys‟ schools than in the girls‟ schools. The violations are manifested in two forms of harsh discipline: verbal and physical, with the verbal existing at a higher scale than the physical. The common types of verbal discipline in schools are yelling, name-calling, and negative criticism; while, the common types of physical discipline are slapping, pinching, hair- pulling, ear-pulling, and beating with a ruler.