School discipline is the tool not the craftsman
The
education pages have been filled this week with stories drawn
from the latest Ofsted
report: the transformation of schools through
‘back-to-basics’
discipline and targeted
exclusions. While discipline will help, what really matters is
the headteachers.
Formal discipline does have a role to play in turning round
schools. It establishes that the school does not operate by the
rules of the street; and that everyone is equal, subject to the
same rules properly enforced. Children at the Robert Clack school
agreed, saying the school was a success “because the rules were
enforced”. Targeted exclusions are also necessary, both as a
consequence of clear rules being applied consistently, but also
because they remove unruly children from situations which profit
neither them nor their classmates.
