Some years ago, I was evaluating an education program in The Gambia (read the evaluation here), soon after the government had outlawed corporal punishment in schools. We included a question about it in the evaluation and learned that there was a gap between legislation and practice, which the government then sought to resolve.
Of course, controversy over corporal punishment in schools isn’t new, but I was surprised to see it debated in Noli me tangere, the 1887 novel by Filipino writer José Rizal. A frustrated schoolteacher recounts that after reading several books, his views changed:
Lashings, for example, which since time immemorial had been the province of schools and which before I had seen as the only effective way to make children learn (that is how they have accustomed us to believe), began to seem far removed from contributing to a child’s progress, completely useless. I became convinced that when one keeps the switch or the rod in view reasoning is impossible… I began to think that the best thing I could do for these children was to develop confidence, security, and self-esteem.
So he eliminates corporal punishment.
Little by little I held back the switch. I took the whips home and replaced them with emulation and belief in oneself.
Like any good experimenter, he evaluated short and medium run impacts.
In the beginning it seemed as though my method was impractical: a lot of them stopped studying altogether. But I pressed on, and I noticed that little by little their spirits rose. More students attended class, and more often. And when one day one was praised in front of everyone, the following day he learned twice as much.
But the local priest and the parents didn’t buy it and demanded he return to the traditional system.
I had to renounce a system that after a great deal of effort had begun to bear fruit.
Poor guy, but I imagine there are a number of reformers today who can feel his pain.
The quotes are from Harold Augenbraum’s translation of the book.
David Evans' personal blog 
This is such a wonderful book. One of the few books from college that’s made it through several household cleaning purges. Thanks for reminding me of it.