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School teachers can be classified as three different types:
- Those for whom teaching is a true vocation,
- those for whom teaching is an occupation, and
- those for whom teaching is a means to feel powerful in a world where they would otherwise be psychologically impotent
Unfortunately, the first category is not common - 10-15% of the teacher population, I suspect. Unfortunately, the third category is perhaps a bit more common.
As the second category teachers grow older, they tend to shift into the first one, as a result of increasing experience and wisdom. Many, however, just burn out - and this is the general tendency of the third category - they eventually experience the impotence they feared. (Note to any such teachers reading this: it's impotence, not importance.)
Where does corporal punishment fit in?
- Those for whom teaching is a vocation are the ones who usually get to administer corporal punishment. They don't enjoy it, but realise it's for the good of their students.
- Those for whom teaching is an occupation are the ones who send the pupils for corporal punishment.
- Those for whom teaching is a power trip are the ones who enjoy administering corporal punishment.
I was lucky to have most of my class teachers fall into category 1. They helped shape where I am today. Category 2 teachers are not bad - there isn't anything wrong with having a job because you need to work, or because you enjoy it - but their ultimate purpose in life falls somewhere outside their workplace. They did a good job educating me. Category 3 teachers taught me pity. They are like people who become doctors because they like to see breasts, or people who become police because they like to shoot stray cats as kids.
I think people reading this will be able to identify which of their teachers belong in each category ... and if they are teachers themselves, they'll recognise - with pride, with content, or with externally projected self-loathing - which of the categories they belong to.