Abstract:
The first section of the paper sets out the rules and procedures governing discipline in NSW schools during the first half of this century and examines educational and social comment on the subject.
The second section draws on some 100 oral history interviews to examine what oral history can contribute to our knowledge of what actually happened in classrooms, and to provide some insight into how pupils made sense of teachers' methods for controlling the class and how they felt about, and reacted to, such forms of control. An analysis of the interview transcripts reveals that teachers were perceived as falling into distinct categories based on the way they controlled their classes, indeed, their methods of control were very central to the way children summed them up and reacted toward them generally. From thetranscripts it also becomes clear that a significant number of teachers were not guided by regulations about corporal punishment and sometimes ignored them in spectacular fashion. Such behaviour was certainly not visible in public statements on education, but it is clear that officials were concerned about the practice. The paper also examines how children perceived their parents' response to teacher discipline.
The second section draws on some 100 oral history interviews to examine what oral history can contribute to our knowledge of what actually happened in classrooms, and to provide some insight into how pupils made sense of teachers' methods for controlling the class and how they felt about, and reacted to, such forms of control. An analysis of the interview transcripts reveals that teachers were perceived as falling into distinct categories based on the way they controlled their classes, indeed, their methods of control were very central to the way children summed them up and reacted toward them generally. From thetranscripts it also becomes clear that a significant number of teachers were not guided by regulations about corporal punishment and sometimes ignored them in spectacular fashion. Such behaviour was certainly not visible in public statements on education, but it is clear that officials were concerned about the practice. The paper also examines how children perceived their parents' response to teacher discipline.