I was a new teacher, already discovering that I had much to learn about classroom management, when I first read DH Lawrence’s 1915 novel The Rainbow, and encountered his graphic description of the young Ursula Brangwen’s struggles with her class.
Ursula, in search of independence from home, becomes a teacher, determined to win over her pupils, spread happiness and have a lovely party in the classroom at Christmas.
But she finds herself running Standard 5 – 55 children of around 11 or 12 – in a rough elementary school led by the ruthless Mr Harby, whose favoured mentoring technique is to humiliate Ursula by berating and disciplining her class in front of her (“...worst-behaved and dirtiest class in the school!”).
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