With close reference to a few incidents from the story, show how the class, slowly but surely gets rid of their prejudice against their new teacher
The class did not accept the teacher, Mr. Braithwaite's
authority initially, because of no
particular feeling of
antipathy but merely
to maintain a
kind of established convention
of resistance to
a new teacher.
The children came from a very low socio-economic class of society and were a group of rebellious teenagers. They were not very sharp and lacked sustained
interest in academics. The principal had advised Braithwaite that punishment was unlikely
to bring the best out of them. Mr.
Braithwaite did not
adopt the traditional
method of punishment
and scolding. Instead, he treated
them as equals
and made them
understand the meaning of
respect and dignity.
He made education fun
for them as he started relating it
to everyday things
so that understanding
became easier. He involved them in discussions and debates about history so that it became an enriching experience. He clearly won the respect
of the class when he defeated Denham in a boxing match.
Defeating Denham was definitely very important because he had the reputation of boxing champion in the
class. He also took the class for a visit to the museum. This was very
important for the class to get close to him. It was easy for
them to shake off their prejudice against the teacher as it was just the
resistance of a group of rebellious teenage students against a new teacher and nothing more than that. Mr. Bratthwaite
was successful in winning over the confidence and love of his students just by
following the principle of equality
The class did not accept the teacher, Mr. Braithwaite's authority initially, because of no particular feeling of antipathy but merely to maintain a kind of established convention of resistance to a new teacher. The children came from a very low socio-economic class of society and were a group of rebellious teenagers. They were not very sharp and lacked sustained interest in academics. The principal had advised Braithwaite that punishment was unlikely to bring the best out of them. Mr. Braithwaite did not adopt the traditional method of punishment and scolding. Instead, he treated them as equals and made them understand the meaning of respect and dignity. He made education fun for them as he started relating it to everyday things so that understanding became easier. He involved them in discussions and debates about history so that it became an enriching experience. He clearly won the respect of the class when he defeated Denham in a boxing match. Defeating Denham was definitely very important because he had the reputation of boxing champion in the class. He also took the class for a visit to the museum. This was very important for the class to get close to him. It was easy for them to shake off their prejudice against the teacher as it was just the resistance of a group of rebellious teenage students against a new teacher and nothing more than that. Mr. Bratthwaite was successful in winning over the confidence and love of his students just by following the principle of equality
