I doubt you can run a school without some form of
discipline but there have been exceptions. Summerhill which was founded in 1921
by A.S. Neil, in Leiston, Suffolk, is a progressive school that believes that
children should be taught without force. The school's basic principle was to
replace authority with freedom. Children at the school are not forced to attend
lessons and they have a say in the running of the school on democratic lines.
The British government have tried to close it down on a number of occasions and
there have been a number of investigations and scandals.
At my secondary modern school in the 1960s, there was plenty of discipline but not much teaching or education. My primary school was much better and the teachers were dedicated and very good and I had respect for many of them because they took an interest in you. The discipline at secondary school didn't teach me respect because I had no respect for many of those teachers at all because they didn't teach. Many were a waste of taxpayers' money. I've always believed that you earn respect and are not entitled to it. What was knocked into me at secondary school, was an intense dislike of teachers and intense dislike of authority.
Corporal punishment was banned in state schools in 1987 and in private schools in England and Wales in 1998. Many people thought that was a bad decision that would've serious consequences and I think they've been proven right. Nowadays, the English state schools seem to turn out foul-mouthed uneducated louts who know neither discipline or respect. Many of them act like wannabe gangsters who mimic the accents of the Gallagher brothers, Bez and Sean Ryder.
I remember talking to man from Afghanistan who was with his children in a public park during the COVID lockdown. We were talking about the way in which some addlepated malcontents want to nihilistically vandalize property in public parks. He said to me that he thought the problem arose because the English don't teach their children discipline and respect. Pointing to his little children, he told me, "These don't mess me about because they know who the boss is." When I was growing up, we knew who the boss was in our house and you didn't mess him about.
You’re right . I went to my grandson’s school last year. I noticed how in the playground the teachers seemed to tiptoe round the pupils, like anxious waiters at a five star hotel.
ReplyDeleteOur Lee always says that you have to set standards. Set them low and kids will match them, set them high and they will do the same. The first serious he took when he became the head at his current school, was in response to being informed that children were being placed on detention for swearing at the teachers. He called a staff meeting and announced to the staff that if any child swore at a teacher they would be expelled. He informed them that they had his full backing. The following morning he made the same announcement in the assembly. No excuses, no second chances, immediate expulsion. He cited that he wanted mutual respect between both parties. Since then- 12 years ago- he has excluded one child for swearing.
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