ABSTRACT
Schoolteachers operate in loco parentis. Their rights and duties are taken to be the same as that of a parent to his/her child and, in this sense, the law sanctions the exercise of discipline within tolerable bounds (Barrell, 1975). Indeed, in some respects such as matters of pupil safety, it places upon the teachers a clear obligation to restrain aspects of pupil behaviour and control their behaviour ‘as any parent might expect to do’. For example, as a result of the Health and Safety at Work Act 1974, classrooms, laboratories, workshops, corridors, playgrounds and even official outside visits have come under the auspices of safety legislation, and action could be taken against a teacher if an accident could be attributed to negligence in exercising control. Clearly then, the law places upon the teacher an obligation to control the pupils in his/her charge and provides what can be seen as an official mandate for control. As Stenhouse puts it,
The teacher is sent into the classroom with a legitimate power and authority, vested in him by society through legislation and through custom. This authority carries with it a responsibility to exercise some control over the life of the class.
(Stenhouse, 1967, p.47)