The Practices of Discipline in Everyday Life of a School. 2nd Edition

The practices of discipline operate in manifest as well as latent ways within the observed school. They are often conveyed through the body language of the teachers and by the use of humiliating remarks. The emphasis is on adherence to 'correct behavior' by students in the school. Students are given mechanical, repetitive and boring pedagogic tasks and are physically segregated when they do not behave according to the predefined school norms. The students resist the teacher's authority in the class by engaging in an argument, by not complying with the given task, by complaining to the higher authority and getting the support of the parents in articulating resentment. The study concludes that children are not passive and docile beings on which discipline can be imposed and regimented. They are rationally thinking individuals who observe, question and resist the disciplinary practices of the school.