Teaching Kidneys

Whenever we were inspected we always behaved as we usually behaved. There would be a community clean-up, and even a special meeting before the inspection and maybe someone might say something about swearing but when the time came we would be ourselves. This would sometimes cause problems. For me more than a few times.

I was teaching the kidneys, using a dynamic model of ultrafiltration, with water squirting into a see through plastic bag with holes and various plastic balls, we also had some kidneys to look at and microscope slides, and models of proteins and salts... It was one of those multi-sensory lessons that enthusiastic science teachers love to do.

At the end of the lesson, the Inspector came up to me and asked me if I was aware of what I had done? I had used the word piss and pee throughout the lesson instead of urine and excretion. I explained that my purpose was to teach how pee was made, which is quite a conceptual task and to focus on the names of the structures and processes. He corrected me, this was not what he was taking me to task over. I paused, oh! Yes I had told a boy to 'take part in the lesson or fuck off'. He had been messy about, a rare thing in a Summerhill lesson.

The inspector looked at me expectantly. There was a pause. I was obviously expected to make some form of explanation. This is Summerhill I said. Another silence. Well you can swear at Summerhill. He proceeded to tell me that he would normally report my behaviour to the headteacher and would expect me to get a written warning. I smiled and said that this was Summerhill, and then explained that I would not have said it downtown, that was against the school rules, and in theory I should not have said it in front of a visitor.

Both my errorful ways were mentioned in the report, the failure of teachers to encourage the correct use of words and of using swear words. I must admit, at the time, when Cliff Gould HMI took me to task I was quite proud of my little act of rebellion. Though my boss, Zoe Readhead, would have seen it as deliberate rebellion, I felt it had been a very natural act!