266
The explanations given so far go only a part of the way to clarifying
what SSl feels about her position as a woman teacher. SS2 is quite
clear about
the way she sees it - whilst there are possibilities
for a woman as a teacher her theoretical stance and practical experi-
ence
inside
and outside education suggest that they face sometimes
intractable problems.
School B 2.3.82 P8∕9 ni P9 nii niii
SS2
One of the good things about not being able
to resort
that
!sanction is that
you have
to abandon all those - the awful
things that go with
maintaining control and
authority that a lot
of
male
teachers have
because you can’t do
it - you know authori-
tarian or whatever you might like to call
Il
anifest
itself in various forms
of exhibitions of physical strength or whatever
- it does mean that because you haven’t got
acess to all that you actually do have to
rely on building relationships, real relation-
ships with kids and all the rest of it and
presumably we would say that that is a better
way of teaching - being a teacher.
D Head
The
way
- although I wouldn't say
that that' s how
I wanted it to be all the
time I mean part
of it from the kids* point
of view I actually believe that they should
be able to accept and talk about feelings
SS2
..... but in theory you see it’s actually
good that we have to rely on developing those
'kind of relationships' and all the things
that go with that - how you’re going to teach
and everything but in practice I mean we’re
living in a sexist society -
even mixed schools are sexist
institutions .
They are actually based
ing and male ways of
all the rest of it - I
on male ways of teach-
Controlling kids and
think that again we've
just been working our way round to saying,
well this is actually good that we've got
to rely on female ways of doing it and not
actually recognising the total problems that