- As the petite, middle-aged teacher shouts desperately
for the 20th time for the out-of-control class to be quiet, a faint, childish
boy's voice can be heard, calling out above the deafening din: "Suck
me off, miss".
-
- The appalling scene of classroom disorder and disrespect
is just one of many captured on film for a channel Five documentary, to
be screened this week, which will reignite the debate on how to tackle
bad behaviour in schools.
-
- On returning to teaching after a 30-year absence, a supply
teacher using the pseudonym Sylvia Thomas secretly filmed shocking examples
of lessons ruined by large numbers of pupils over a three-month period.
-
- The documentary shows children aged from 12 to 15 completely
ignoring her and other staff while they shout, scream, fight, swear and
wander around the classroom at will.
-
- In one scene a full-scale fight breaks out and a 6ft
tall boy is seen wielding a rubber truncheon, as the terrified teacher
calls for help. In another, pupils throw books, pens and balls of paper
across the room for a full 15 minutes as the teacher protests, before they
declare that they "don't give a shit". In yet more disturbing
scenes, a boy in a computer class is filmed accessing hard-core porn sites
and then protesting his innocence, saying "I just typed in 'anal',
miss".
-
- The supply teacher was filming in 15 ordinary secondary
schools in London and the north of England - randomly chosen by the supply
agencies she contacted, and none of them considered to be failing by recent
inspection reports.
-
- Clearly shaken by her experiences, the teacher said she
could not comprehend the behaviour she filmed, using a tiny camera hidden
in a briefcase and a microphone disguised as a jacket button.
-
- "I could not believe what I saw. I could not describe
what I saw," she said. "The disruption that I experienced made
teaching virtually impossible. These were schools in middle-class areas,
not sink estates. We are not trying to single out the schools in the programme.
They could be schools in any part of the country as far as I am concerned,
this behaviour is so widespread."
-
- In almost every class, the teacher is seen repeatedly
trying to restore order - but her authoritative voice and friendly, no-nonsense
approach makes no apparent impact on pupils.
-
- She is ignored or challenged constantly. In one maths
class, a 12-year-old who was censured for saying, "Shite, miss!"
told her: "I've got just as much right as you to say what I want.
I've got a right to speak up for myself."
-
- "It was a constant battle," the teacher said.
"Some pupils have got the idea that they can threaten the teacher
with the police, with being summoned and sued. Teachers end up walking
on eggshells, and when you do that, you can not discipline a child. The
balance between the child and the teacher has swung too far in favour of
the former - and they know it. The whole way they walk down the corridor
says 'We are in control'."
-
- The documentary, Classroom Chaos, to be broadcast on
Wednesday, lays bare a growing tide of "low-level disruption"
identified earlier this year by school inspectors as a major concern. In
his annual report, David Bell, the chief inspector of schools, said that
nine per cent of secondaries suffered from "persistent and unsatisfactory"
behaviour - up from six per cent in 2000.
-
- Schools staff also report increasing levels of abuse
and violence. A recent survey by the Teacher Support Network, a charity
that runs a helpline for school staff, found that 98 per cent of respondents
had been verbally abused and 45 per cent threatened with violence. One
in five had been assaulted and 38 per cent said their personal property
had been damaged or defaced.
-
- At its conference last month, the National Union of Teachers,
the biggest teacher association, voted for a national charter of behaviour
- with sanctions for pupils who breach it - to be drawn up in an attempt
to stem the tide.
-
- All three main political parties have pledged to improve
school discipline. Ruth Kelly, the Education Secretary, has promised support
for teachers who apply zero tolerance in the classroom.
-
- The Government still insists that schools must take their
fair share of disruptive pupils, however. The Conservatives have promised
to abolish appeals against pupils exclusions and create "turnaround
schools" where poorly behaved pupils can be rehabilitated. Some 21,000
new teachers and smaller classes are pledged by the Liberal Democrats.
-
- According to Ms Thomas, however, the turnaround will
not be easy. "I thought maybe their behaviour was because I was bad
teacher, or because I was on supply," she said. "But I've shown
the video to teacher friends and they say the same things have happened
to them." She has now given up teaching for good.
-
- © Copyright of Telegraph Group Limited 2005.
-
- http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/main.
|
