The entire culture here is based on shame, and as a result, the discipline system is shame based, as well as relying almost entirely on corporal punishment. Teachers are allowed to cane students, smack them on the cheek or the back of the head, hit them on the top of the head or the shoulder, make them kneel on the floor, pinch their cheeks, ears, or the bridge of their nose, etc, and some of them do it quite liberally.
It's not just for misbehaving, either. A student who doesn't know an answer that they "ought" to, or who gives a wrong answer, can be smacked repeatedly until they get the question right. The punishment is never harsh enough to actually harm the child. The intent is simply to shame them into working harder.
Needless to say, I did a lot of tongue biting in the process of watching classes. There is something gut twistingly wrong (at least from my Western worldview) about watching a child who obviously struggles with numerical dyslexia have his ear pulled until the teacher gives up on getting the right answer out of him -- an answer that he is incapable of giving even if he wanted to.
They love their teachers, (I don't want to give the impression that these people are monsters. They are simply teaching the way that they have been taught to teach.) but it is really hard to sit there and watch the kids throw up their arm and flinch away from the expected blow -- especially because you know that many of them are beaten far worse by their parents when they are at home.
A few of the teachers are absolutely amazing, though. One of the male teachers in particular is careful never to put down the kids, hit them, or shame them in any way. It is an amazing relief to watch him teach, and, guess what? Even when he doesn't shame them, there is better order kept in his classes* than those of just about any other teacher.
*Each grade has their own classroom, but the teachers from grades four through eight rotate so that they have a different teacher for each 45min period.
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