Killer and English Guy · Fri Mar 31, 21:04 by Eleri Straker
I was sixteen years old and walking down the corridor behind two of my teachers. They weren’t aware of my presence, as they were deeply engrossed in a fairly acrimonious argument, so naturally, I listened in.
Killer was a teacher universally feared for his loud voice, his dramatic outbursts of anger and his metal-tipped shoes that gave his terrified classes forewarning of his approach. His partner in this ‘debate’ was my English teacher, mild-mannered, gentle and the object of my fleeting schoolgirl crush. The argument centred on whether or not one could control a class without instilling fear into them. Killer of course, advocated the use of terror, “You can’t get their respect unless you instil the fear of God into them,” he stated. English Guy was quiet for a moment and I risked detection by creeping closer to hear his reply. Eventually he replied that if a class feared you, then they did, in fact, not respect you at all. That fear and respect were not compatible. You earned the class’ respect, not by making them fear you, but by treating them with the kind of respect you yourself wanted. Of course Killer laughed at this idea saying that it was that kind of namby-pamby, liberal thinking that caused class disruption and that way lay ruin. At that point they disappeared into the staffroom and realising that following them in would have been a bit stupid, I never actually heard what English Guy’s reply was.
Looking back over the years I remember that English Guy’s lessons were perfectly controlled, never disrupted and that we were never afraid. This man controlled through respect. Like Music Man, he showed us through his example the kind of respect he wanted. And he got it. In spades. As for Killer, yes, his lessons were perfectly controlled, but what I remember of them is not the content, the subject, but the fear. Years later, the sound of metal-tipped shoes clattering on tiled floors still brings me out in a cold sweat.
