Journal of Research and Reflections in Education December 2014, Vol.8, No.2, pp 97 - 104 http://www.ue.edu.pk/jrre Effectiveness of Training Program in Changing Teachers’ Attitude towards Students’ Corporal Punishment 1 Munawar S. Mirza, 2 Asghar Ali 1 Pro-Vice Chancellor Lahore Leads University The study was aimed at developing and conducting a training program for studying its effectiveness in changing the teachers‟ attitude towards students‟ corporal punishment. In the first phase a survey was cond ucted to collect data about the attitude of teachers towards students‟ corporal punishment; the second phase consisted of an experiment using a pre-test post-test design for measuring change in the attitude of teachers towards corporal punishment by conducting a training workshop. An Attitude Scale of Corporal Punishment (ASCP) for measuring teachers‟ attitude towards corporal punishment was developed. All the mathematics teachers of government boys‟ high/higher secondary schools in District Swabi and District Nowshera teaching secondary classes were taken as sample. However, only 94 of them returned the questionnaire making a response rate of 65%. Sixty-one of the ninety-four teachers were identified as having positive attitude. A total number of 51 teachers participated in the fourteen days training program. On the last day the post- test was administered and focus group discussion was conducted with the teachers taking their views on the training program. It was concluded that majority teachers believe in the use of corporal punishment and that the training was significantly effective in changing the attitude of teachers towards its use. Key Words: Corporal punishment, Teachers’ attitude, Attitude Scale of Corporal Punishment, Training Introduction Pakistan ratified the Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) on 12 th November 1990 with a reservation to make its provisions according to the principles of Islamic Laws and values. In 1997 Pakistan decided to withdraw its reservation and World Organization against Torture (hereinafter OMCT) warmly welcomed this decision since it showed the intention to unconditionally implement children‟s rights in Pakistan (Berti, 2003). ). Article 37a of the Convention states that no child shall be caused to undergo torture or other cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment (Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, 2003). The UN Committee on the Rights of the Child has stressed the use of alternatives to cruel punishment in the form of positive discipline in schools. It has advised on October 2003 that Pakistan should completely forbid all forms of corporal punishment; begin an awareness campaign among the people on the negative impacts of corporal punishment on children, and provide teachers and parents with training on non-violent forms of discipline as an alternative to corporal punishment (UNICEF, 2001 &Save the Children 2005). It is important to train prospective teachers and retrain in-service teachers for the minimization of discipline problems in a positive manner. If we do not provide acceptable alternatives to the banned behaviour, it causes anger and frustration among teachers and thus creates further problems for students, parents and school (Hyman & Ronald 1993; Richardson, Rita, Evans & Elizabeth, 1994). As Pakistan has signed the Convention on the Rights of the Child (UNICEF, 2001 & Save the Children, 2005), the government of Pakistan has banned corporal punishment in December, 2003 and the teachers have been ordered to avoid harsh treatment of students. Similarly, the Government of North West Frontier Province (now KPK) has also banned corporal punishment in schools and directed them to use alternative methods for disciplining students. Even after a complete ban by the provincial education department in the NWFP (now KPK) of Pakistan on corporal punishment in schools in 2003, teachers have continued to inflict corporal punishment (UNICEF & Save the Children, 2005; Human Rights Commission of Pakistan, 2005). Society for the Protection of Rights of the Child (SPARC, 2012) reported that not only the