ABSTRACT
Who is most responsible for the death of the baroness? And what has she got to do with Teachers Behaving Badly? But let’s begin at the beginning . . .
Using stories is just one of the approaches that are helpful when dealing with sensitive and controversial issues. The storytelling example of the baroness involves several characters and a degree of
ambiguity that can generate non-threatening but highly relevant discussion in groups. Having used this particular story on several occasions with groups of teachers including groups of heads, I believe that it is a powerful instigator of debate and thinking which can go on beyond the activity. For example, after one professional development session in which it was told, a participating headteacher wrote:
There are strong parallels between the position of the gatekeeper in the story and our position as heads (there are many references to heads as gatekeepers in the educational literature). The baron, representing the political ruling classes, uses his power in an arbitrary way to maintain control and stifle societal change and empowerment. Schools, through their headteachers (gatekeepers), offer restricted, highly controlled environments (castles), having little contact with the real world (the forest), in which students (baronesses) are conditioned to accept the rules and the status quo. Teachers (the servant) warn against breaking the rules but ultimately are powerless to restrain the creative enthusiasm of students and their desire to discover the real world instead of the barren, sterile world of the school (castle) in which they spend their days imprisoned.
