HIC Research - Interview with a Teacher

I spoke with a teacher within my school to get their opinion on what the present standard for discipline in schools and what the future holds for students and discipline. Their strong belief was that children have been the same throughout time, they will always find a way to cause disruption and they are always smart enough to know when a teacher isn't in control. Teachers didn't have as many restrictions to what they could do to discipline a child in the past, they could grab a child and throw them out of their room if they felt it was needed. however this wasn't necessarily a good thing. They believed that for good discipline there needs to be a good relationship between the teacher and student. This good relationship requires a mutual respect from both teacher and child, however, the teacher must be in charge of their classroom but not show that they are in charge so the child feels included and respected in the classroom. The child also needs clear boundaries, consistency in rules and behavior from the teacher and fairness in their judgment. There needs to be constant communication with the students, especially the ones who tend to kick off, the way to respond to a child who is making a fuss is explain clearly what is going to happen if they don't stop then if they don't explain what you are going to do and why to them. The children need to 'see the teachers teeth' so to speak, the child must know that their teacher has the ability to be a threat to their comfortable lives, in the standard way (detentions, phone call home) but also showing them the bigger picture of requiring an education to help later on in life. The children need this as they might not get it at home, some parents rely on teachers to take over their role but a teacher can't take over completely, there are somethings a parent can get away with that a teacher can't. The parent-child relationship is different now to what it was years ago, it is more open and positive and so the relationship between teacher and student needs to mirror that. My interviewee believes that experience is key in responding to badly behaved children. They also felt that new teachers generally try to create this semi-friendship with their students, but this never works as the student then lacks the clear boundaries that they require. They find that male teachers generally find that a misbehaving child is a challenge to their masculinity and so the male teacher then retaliates in a way that just makes the situation a lot worse.

We then discussed what the future holds, they think that mental problems like anxiety and depression is going to play a big part in how students act around school and so teachers must be well equipped to deal with these issues. They believe that all teachers must be equipped to deal with mental issues now let alone later as students with particular problems, such as autism, react to things differently than most students and so need to be taught and dealt with in a different way. For instance a child with autism will replicate situations so if they are being shouted at they will shout back and the situation gets out of hand. One thing I did pick up on is the comment made that a good teacher is a good actor, when a teacher is at work and in front of a class they aren't being themselves, they put on this facade of a strong, level headed person, who knows what is best for them. A teacher doesn't really know what is good for them, they don't know what the future has in store for them, they can only prepare them for life by getting them the best possible grades that they are capable of and train them to hold as many personal qualities (ie. responsible, respectful, prepared, punctual etc.) that they can.

HIC Media idea

This picture gave me the idea to do a performance about how the media takes situations then present them in a way to twist what really happened to get a reaction from people. This topic would be a broad subject as we could do a range of incidents. We could do stories of (enter celebrity name) who had allegations from people that they touched them when they were younger. So the media runs their name through the dirt, then it turns out that the allegations weren't true but it is too late, the performers name is ruined by that time yet nothing is done to the person who falsely accused someone of touching them. We could also do a piece about the effects of fear mongering through the media, we could do a movement piece showing two people repeating the same motions of going through their daily activities. However one person ends his night watching TV and we could have head lines of bad stuff that is happening in the world and as the days go buy the guy watching the TV is more nervous and worried whereas the other guy is just fine. We could do a movement piece about how before the child washed up on the beach in Turkey the media was showing the refugees as a threat and calling them 'immigrants' but after that they completely change their stance and suddenly everyone has also changed their stance.

HIC Research - Strange Fruit Theatre Company O'Povo

After watching this artistic performance, I think there is a lot of elements my group could use in our own performance. Starting with their costume, I like how their costume fits with what they are doing to begin with but doesn't as the performance progresses. However I don't think a technique like that would work for my performance, it would be too obscure for our style of performance. I also liked there running moment followed by the post-it notes with personal stories with the sugar plantation. I feel we could do something like that to show the modern day teacher struggle, show that they are exhausted, tiered and frustrated with the situation that they are in. Then we could have stories about what particular teachers go through on a daily basis to then only get paid on average £29,446 a year (according to http://www.payscale.com/research/UK/Job=High_School_Teacher/Salary) so instead of doing a line like they did in the video we could mark out the number £29,446 in post-its'.

HIC Day 17 - Teacher Interview

Today we planned what we want to do after our next meeting scene and after some technical difficulties I suggested we go to the future rather than another flashback to the past. This was because we currently had no access to our research of the past so I thought the future might not rely on the research we had previously done. After we spent some time discussing how we think a future would look where nothing is changed, we had ideas of school being more of a prison ward with teachers behind safety barriers or a more wild idea of the students being like animals in a zoo or tribal with a form of hierarchy. However we then shared our ideas with our teacher and he advised we talk to other teachers and get their viewpoint on the matter. So we each are going to talk to a teacher and get some more info, anonymously so we get a truthful report.

HIC Day 16 - Research + Script

Today we split into two groups again, one to do research and the other to script the next meeting scene. I did some research and found some information about the Tripartite System of education.

Wikipedia (The Tripartite System of Education):

The Tripartite System was the arrangement of state-funded secondary education between 1945 and the 1970's in England and Wales, and from 1947 to 2009 in Northern Ireland. It was an administrative implementation of the Education Act 1944 and the Education Act (Northern Ireland) 1947.

State funded secondary education was to be arranged into a structure containing three types of school, namely: grammar school, secondary technical school (sometimes described as "Technical Grammar" schools) and secondary modern school. Not all education authorities implemented the tripartite system. Many authorities maintained only two types of secondary school, the grammar and the secondary modern.

Pupils were allocated to their respective types of school according to their performance in the Eleven Plus examination. It was the prevalent system under the Conservative governments of the 1951 to 1964 period, but was actively discouraged by the Labour government after 1965. It was formally abolished in England and Wales in 1976, giving way to the Comprehensive System. However, elements of similar systems persist in several English counties such as Kent which maintains the grammar school system alongside comprehensive schools. The system's merits and demerits, in particular the need and selection for grammar schools, were contentious issue at the time and remain so.

Wikipedia (Opposition to the Tripartite System):

In 1958 the sociologist Michael Young published a book entitled The Rise of the Meritocracy. A mock-historical account of British education viewed from the year 2033, it satirised the beliefs of those who supported the Tripartite System. Young argued that grammar schools were instituting a new elite, the meritocracy, and building an underclass to match. If allowed to continue, selective education would lead to renewed inequality and eventually revolution.

This reflected a growing dissatisfaction on the left with the results of the Tripartite System. Whereas the previous generation of Labour politicians had focused on the social mobility afforded to those who passed their eleven plus, now concern became focused upon those who were sent to secondary moderns. Once the Tripartite System had been implemented, the middle classes were found to be much more likely to win places at grammar schools. It was feared that society was being divided into a well-educated middle class elite and a working class trapped in the Modern schools, or "eggheads and serfs". To some on the left, such as Graham Savage of the LCC, it became an article of faith that the only way to bring about equality was by putting everyone through the same schools.

In July 1958 the Labour leader Hugh Gaitskell formally abandoned the Tripartite system, calling for "grammar-school education for all". The party's fiercest opponent of the Grammar school was Gaitskell's protégé, Anthony Crosland.

Experiments with comprehensive schools had begun in 1949, and had taken hold in a few places in the UK. Anglesey, London, Coventry, the West Riding and Leicestershire had all abolished the Tripartite System in the 50's and early 60's, for a variety of reasons. They offered an alternative to the existing system which was seized upon by its opponents. Comprehensives were held up as less divisive, and pupils were said to benefit from the abolition of selection.

Paradoxically, at the same time as Labour was attacking the Tripartite System for its inequalities, some in the middle class were increasingly upset at the social mobility it fostered. As educational testing became more exact and subject to less class bias, an increasing proportion of middle class children were being sent to secondary moderns. The Tripartite System fell victim to its own elitism, as the traditional supporters of the grammar schools began to worry about their own children's educational future.


From this research I thought we could do a monologue led piece, where we have a couple of monologues to show the unfairness of the system. We could do a few made up scenario's of how each of us was brought up and how the system worked/didn't work for us. We could do some from a child's point of view, i.e. Starting school knowing ABC's and how to count + not a lot of help from home, knowing nothing + no help, knowing nothing + the best help money could buy, we could also do some from a parents point of view. Like a parent who gave them everything they could and they are successful children or not successful as some cases were or a parent who left it solely to the school and gave no additional help.

The other group from today attempted to start a script for the next scene, however they were struggling on where to go with the scene because we haven't planned on where we want our performance to go yet, so I think that until we have an idea of the parts we want to happen between the meeting scenes we can't properly write them as we lack a direction for the scenes to travel. For next lesson I think we need to have ideas on where to go next and start work on one of them. I feel that since we went to the past before I feel we should go to the future next and show what could happen if nothing is changed.

Link to my other Tripartite System research (here)

HIC Day 15 - Victorian/caning

Today we created our Victorian caning scene. We wanted to go into the past and show what education/discipline was like back in a stricter time, a time with strong rules and when students feared their teachers. We used a Victorian era because we all felt that was a time when this form of teaching was at its peek. We also wanted to use the soundscape idea we used before and have that lead us into this scene, so we have an effective transition and a clear difference between a modern class and a Victorian class. We created the simple repetitive movement to reflect the way teaching was done, copy what your teacher wrote then rub it off and start again, everyone doing the same thing, working in the same way, at the same speed regardless of who you are. We also threw in some other historical facts (everyone had to be right handed, everyone had to have good posture, only boys went to higher education) we used a whipping sound for the actual caning because it sounds more painful and in the silence of the room, the whip has a clear ring to it that we found suiting for our piece.

After this lesson I feel that our next stage is running what we have got with the desks and possibly costumes.

HIC Day 14 - Script Read Through (Sir)

For today Kyle had typed up our script and printed off enough copies for each of us. we spent the lesson running through our script with Sir watching and afterwards he gave his suggestions and helped adjust some lines so it sounds better.

Next lesson we are going to create the Victorian school scene with a caning.

HIC Day 13 - Run Through Script + Adjust

Today we ran through what the other group created and afterwards we adjusted the script to what the research group felt.

After running the scene I felt that as Ashley's character is late that he shouldn't come in until the next meeting scene. I felt we could open that scene with his entrance and the group seemed to agree with me. So that was pretty much the main change we made but it was a big one as we had to readjust the last 8 lines to cut Ashley from the scene.

HIC Day 12 - Script and Research

Today we split into two groups one group continued writing the script from last lesson, the other group (which I was in) done some research in the history of caning and got some stories people put on the internet of times they we caned. So that for next lesson or once we have finished the scripted scene we could quickly create a piece about caning. We also discussed as a group and agreed that this meeting could be the center point of our piece and that we always revert back to this meeting and further discuss education. We also agreed that this scene could be good as an opening rather than have the soundscape as an opening.

Link to my research of caning (here)

Rent Day 8 - Tango Maureen + Staging ideas

Today we went over Tango Maureen and polished it. I feel that we just need to run it with Maureen then it is done and looking good. We then spent the remaining lesson in groups planning an idea of how to have the stage look. My group wanted to extend the apron but have stairs embedded in the extension.

We also talked about having a table constantly on stage (Though it probably won't work with Tango Maureen) but have the table at an angle.

This could work well for La Vie Boheme as we would just add more tables on either side. However we would have to reorganize where we all sit as it would get cramped on stage if I stay where I am, so I would be moved to the other side of the stage. I still think Mark should be across stage from Benny so Ashley would be moved to the other end of the table. I would also move a few people around so that it better suits their characters. As it stands from left to right we have Benny, Waiter, Mimi, Rodger, Angel, Joanne, Maureen, Dom, Collins then Mark, but that is just because that is how we sat when we first tried the song without our characters. Now that we have our characters and with the new staging idea of the table at an angle, I would reorder it to be from left to right Mark, Mimi, Rodger, Angel, Collins, Dom, Maureen, Joanne, Waiter then Benny. I would keep Rodger next to Angle because during the start of the dance they do something together, but I moved all the couples so they are sitting together. I put Dom in the middle because as he doesn't have a named character at this point he will blend in the group better there than if he was just left on the end. I put the waiter right at the end so he can easily get up from where he is (same goes for Joanne)

Rent Day 7 - Tango Maureen + Christmas Bells

Today we split into groups to work on different things, Tom and Meg worked on "Another Day" and got that looking really cool. Freya, Ashley and Dan worked on "Tango Maureen", while Toby, Dom, Dan and I started to work on "Christmas Bells are Ringing". We found it hard when we didn't know what was next, so we didn't know how in needs to end with who needs to be on stage and who off. However we did have some ideas on what could happen to start, from where we are at the end of "Rent" Benny is on the floor on one side of the stage, Collins is on the stairs at the other end of the stage and Dan and Meg are separated on stage. We thought that we could all move together around the fire we made during Rent and just sing it while trying to keep warm. The simplicity of it could work with whoever can be in it so it doesn't necessarily matter what comes next as it is simple to move from that position. However I feel this song could have a bit more to it, I feel it would be better to have Benny, Collins, Dom and Dan slowly walk to the front of the stage but be spread out across it and sing the song directly at the audience in a snarky sort of "somewhere else ... not here". While that is happening we have some flats come down behind us and block the stage apart from where the table is and we get the apartment kind of framed by these flats and the stage could be cleared behind the flats for the next scene. Its a lot for a small moment but I kind of like the way I think it will draw the audiences attention to the singers and not the whole stage. After brainstorming some ideas for this song we were then needed to take part in "Tango Maureen" and for the rest of the lesson we were learning the steps for it. Our next step is to finish Tango Maureen and get that looking good.

Rent Day 6 - Will I + Life Support

Today we learnt and staged Will I and the Life support scene. We thought we would put Mimi in the life support scene as we don't have enough actors to play all the people in the scene so we replaced Sue with Mimi and tried it out to see if it still fits, which I think it did. We're also putting the life support scene off the stage and on the ground floor with the audience to get them closer and personal with the scene. We had also left a table in the "apartment" (the stage) for Tom (Roger) to sit on for this scene. We also ran through "Another Day" but quickly and didn't spend much time on it as to let Tom and Meg work on it together in more detail on their own, but it was sung well in my opinion. This led to "Will I" in which we staged it so there is no movement as to allow the vulnerability of the song to come through and also so we're not distracted while trying to sing in time. (something I struggled with) I think the simplicity of the staging works really nicely with the song and our next stage is just to learn the lyrics. Tom and Meg however need to set their song together, which I think they will do next lesson.