Ditch this flawed school ethos

IT is reported that teachers at Bannerman High School, Glasgow, are threatening to go on strike over violent and disruptive pupil behaviour. They have my sympathy. They should refuse to tolerate routine abuse and violence from pupils, taking strike action if necessary.

Sadly, the Scottish educational establishment seems utterly incapable of addressing the issue of deteriorating behaviour. The Scottish Government, Education Scotland, the General Teaching Council for Scotland, the teaching unions and, unfortunately, much of the teaching profession, are in the thrall of “restorative approaches”. Under this utopian ideology, punishment is deemed ineffective, unnecessary, and counter-productive. Mini counselling sessions are all that is required to keep even the most recalcitrant miscreant in check. As chaos engulfs one classroom after another as a direct result of this delusional project, all that the “experts” can prescribe is more of the same. Teachers need to rebel against the idealistic strategies imposed from above by people who read about the latest educational fashions rather than teach children.

In the Scottish Parliament, opposition parties willingly describe the problem, but offer no solution. Vital and fundamental questions of educational philosophy are entirely neglected by a whole establishment marinated in a stifling monoculture. Attempts to open up discussions of foundational presuppositions are usually met with bemused incomprehension – it’s like speaking a foreign language.

We are sacrificing a generation on the altar of a flawed and failing ideology. It’s got to stop.

Richard Lucas, Leader, Scottish Family Party, Glasgow.