ABSTRACT
Rules are usually imposed on children by adults. The idea of negotiating rules with them is not as widespread as one might believe. Yet in much of school, and indeed most of adult life, we have to take responsibility for discipline ourselves, in the light of society’s established order, without some superordinate telling us what to do every few minutes. Most people agree that self-discipline is important and that pupils in school should master it, but this belief is not always translated into practices which would secure it. There are many ways in which pupils themselves can take more responsibility for their own and their colleagues’ behaviour and progress, without the teacher abdicating responsibility.
