ABSTRACT
Reports from the popular newspapers, television and radio might well lead the man in the street to suppose that the behaviours which trouble teachers most in school are those associated with insubordination and opposition and that many are of a violent nature. The impression we get is that if you are not mugged on your way into school you almost certainly will be on the way out. For example, a recent release from the NAS/UWT following a questionnaire sent to all its members covering the period September 1984 to February 1985 highlights phrases such as ‘Pupil violence and serious disorder in schools’ and ‘Off duty but not out of danger’. It includes an account by a teacher which reminds one of a tale by Gerard Hoffnung, being a veritable catalogue of harassment over a period of some years.
During the last fourteen years I have been assaulted seven times, once with a knife, once with a stiletto, once with an air rifle (I was shot in the chest), once when a pupil fed gas into my classroom when I was teaching, twice when pupils have attempted to attack me with their fists and once when an ex-pupil tried twice to run me over with a car. (NAS/UWT, 1986, p. 5)
