Spare the rod?

[Maggie Jarvis]

I agree with Derek when he says:

I definitely believe that staff sticking together is absolutely vital.

If staff do stick together to develop and sustain a holistic approach to maintaining good order within a school it makes a huge difference. The students know what to expect, they feel secure within a structured environment, and teaching can be the primary activity rather than crowd control. Of course it is never perfect but that is no reason not to keep trying!

If only certain parents could be persuaded to work with schools instead of being so ready to complain and side with their unruly offspring! If they could, this would also make a huge difference to the environment both inside school and within their own home as well. In my experience it is often the parents who complain most loudly and frequently about the treatment meted out to their loutish children who eventually admit that they themselves have little control over them!

[David Richardson]

I think both Derek and Maggie have hit the nail on the head.

I think it depends whether you see schools as being filled with atomised individuals, each of whom has total control over their own behaviour (and can thus be rewarded or punished for individual acts) or whether you see schools as being communities fulfilling a social role, where the individuals within the schools are all contributing to that social role - for better or for worse! And of course these 'individuals' are teachers, parents, ancillary staff, pupils and 'members of the public'.

If you have the former point of view, then the way out of bad behaviour is carrots and sticks. If the latter, then you have to start acting as a community to make the community work.

For myself, I see plenty of anecdotal evidence for the latter point of view … but the UK has had over two decades of propaganda for the former!