The position of girls was particularly complicated. From the 1950s onwards, mixed secondary schools increasingly appointed female deputies or...
Some surviving punishment books contain another intriguing feature — a column for the initials of a manager, clerk or...
Many punishment books disappeared when schools closed. Others found their way into local archives, education authority collections or private...
It would be easy to regard punishment books simply as curiosities from a harsher age. They deserve rather more...
Perhaps that is what makes these battered old registers so fascinating. Behind every carefully ruled column was a real...
By the 1970s the old disciplinary system was already being questioned. Teachers, parents and educationalists were debating whether corporal...
There is an argument one comes across again and again when the subject of corporal punishment is discussed: that...
Much of the disagreement surrounding corporal punishment may actually come down to the meaning of the word “respect”. When...
One particularly touching recollection comes from a former pupil whose father was a schoolteacher. His father did occasionally use...
Another former pupil recalled a wonderful history teacher who was strongly opposed to corporal punishment. He had taught his...
Perhaps the most reasonable argument in favour of corporal punishment is also the simplest. It was a deterrent. There...
When people look back at childhood, they often remember the atmosphere of an era as much as the details...