ABSTRACT
The capacity for concentration, contemplation and attentiveness is something that can be cultivated deliberately by the teacher. Silence in school is not usually associated with personal liberty for the pupil. It is more often associated with formal, didactic teaching, with the imposition of adult authority, and sometimes with punishment. But only a generation ago silence was extensively imposed within schools. Pupil talk, when invited, often took the form of chanting and repetition.
