Carrots or sticks? Educational innovations to reduce corporal punishment

Corporal punishment is commonly used in schools in Tanzania, despite its negative impact on children’s development. In this project, we explore whether an alternative disciplining method, based on positive reinforcement rather than corporal punishment, can create a safe, supportive, and inclusive school environment in which children can flourish. The project is designed as a randomized controlled trial and will be carried out with grade 4 (P4) students (around 9 years of age) in schools in both urban and rural Tanzania. In treated schools, teachers will be trained in positive reinforcement pedagogy, through a series of workshops led by local educational experts and role-model teachers. The intervention will be implemented during the fall of 2026 (November – December, while the children are still in P3), and the spring of 2027 (the first term of P4). Students, teachers and parents will be tracked for the full school year of 2027 to measure effects and diffusion of the new pedagogical tool over time. Our main outcomes are the use of corporal punishment and shifts in (perceived) disciplinary norms, as well as children’s holistic skills and early literacy and numeracy, which we measure through a combination of survey and administrative data.