ABSTRACT
Education does not take place in a vacuum. The wider culture permeates the classroom and the course through the kind of language used, the patterns of communication, the relationships between those involved, and the norms and expectations of both students and staff. However, the most important aspect of this community influence is the prevailing attitude to education and the value placed upon it. When education is valued, students are encouraged to enrol or attend, to work hard and achieve what they can. Staff likewise feel supported and respected. Where, by contrast, the community is apathetic about, dismissive of or even hostile to education, the job of both students and staff becomes much harder. In addition to the intrinsic difficulties of learning and teaching, staff have to cope with low esteem, lack of respect, persistent disruption and sometimes outright abuse and aggression.
