Corporal Punishment, School Discipline, and Children's Rights in the History of Education

CALL FOR PAPERS

Corporal Punishment, School Discipline, and Children's Rights in the History of Education

Journal: History of Education Review

Publisher: Emerald Publishing

Abstract Submission Deadline: 28 February 2026

Full Paper Submission Opens: 1 August 2026

Full Paper Submission Deadline: 31 December 2026

Introduction

Corporal punishment in schools has been among the most prevalent forms of ritualized violence against children and youth in the modern era. While today most states formally prohibit the practice, the custom of striking or 'chastising' pupils for alleged disciplinary infractions is still common around the globe.

In recent decades, neuroscientists and child psychologists have demonstrated that the physical punishment of children has adverse consequences on brain development and mental health into adulthood. Contemporary children's rights advocates have drawn attention to these studies and invoked international instruments such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child to argue for the abolition of caning, strapping, and other forms of physical punishment in the classroom.

Even as the physical punishment of children and youth has been the object of growing study within the health sciences and law, its historical dimensions have been relatively unexamined. While there is a large body of historical literature on corporal punishment of adults, historians have done little empirical work on the school as a site of violence. As a result, the socio-legal structures, discursive features, and historically contingent aspects of corporal punishment in schools have remained understudied.

Scope & Significance

This workshop and Special Issue — the first dedicated specially to the history of corporal punishment in schools — invites contributions that investigate the social, legal, and political aspects of corporal punishment in schools in historical perspective, as well as campaigns to abolish the practice within humanitarian and rights-based frameworks.

The Special Issue adopts a unique comparative and transnational perspective that integrates several methodologies heretofore applied in isolation.

The aims are:

To create a transnational and comparative forum where national and regional case studies in the history of education can be brought into productive dialogue
To bring into conversation scholars across a range of disciplines — including history, educational research and policy, law, and psychology — while arguing for the unique contribution of a historical approach
To deepen understanding of how historical practices and attitudes to physical punishment have influenced contemporary policy and legislation

List of Topic Areas

Manuscripts are invited on themes including, but not limited to:

History of corporal punishment in schools — national, regional, and comparative perspectives
Physical punishment of children and youth — socio-legal structures and discursive features
School discipline — historical practices, rituals, and institutional cultures
Children's rights — historical campaigns and humanitarian frameworks for abolition
The UN Convention on the Rights of the Child and its historical context
Transnational and cross-cultural comparisons of school punishment practices
Gender, race, class, and corporal punishment in educational history
Legal and legislative history of school corporal punishment
The role of psychology and medical knowledge in shifting attitudes toward physical punishment
Colonial and postcolonial dimensions of school discipline and corporal punishment
Teacher authority, professional identity, and disciplinary practices in historical perspective
Contemporary policy and legislation shaped by historical practices

Guest Editors

Prof. Marco Duranti University of Sydney, Australia 📧 marco.duranti@sydney.edu.au

Dr. Isobelle Barrett Meyering 📧 (contact via journal submission platform)

Prof. Chris Hilliard 📧 (contact via journal submission platform)

Key Dates & Timeline

📝 Abstract Submission Deadline: 28 February 2026 (300–350 words + brief research CV)

📧 Submit Abstracts to: marco.duranti@sydney.edu.au (Subject line: 'special issue abstract')

🏛️ Workshop Date: 6 July 2026 — University of Sydney (Hybrid format)

📅 Full Paper Submission Opens: 1 August 2026

⏰ Full Paper Submission Deadline: 31 December 2026 📖 Expected Special Issue Publication: 2027

⚠️ Please note that not all workshop papers may be published.

Submission Guidelines

Submissions are made through ScholarOne Manuscripts, the official submission platform of Emerald Publishing. Authors must strictly follow the journal's author guidelines.

When submitting, select "Corporal Punishment, School Discipline, and Children's Rights in the History of Education" from the special issue drop-down menu at the appropriate step in the submission process.

⚠️ Submitted articles must not have been previously published, nor should they be under consideration for publication elsewhere while under review for this journal.

🌐 Submission Portal: https://mc.manuscriptcentral.com/herv

🌐 Author Guidelines: https://www.emeraldgrouppublishing.com/journal/her

About the Journal

The History of Education Review (HER), published by Emerald Publishing, is a leading peer-reviewed journal dedicated to advancing historical research in education. It provides an international platform for scholars exploring the social, political, cultural, and institutional dimensions of educational history across diverse national, regional, and transnational contexts.

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