Thread by @StevePeers

This is a thoughtful read from DAG about the nature of rules. Let me add a few comments about humour, literature and education.

https://twitter.com/davidallengreen/status/1411380368616394760

First of all, as many literary characters (such as Mrs Malaprop) have taught us, it's inherently funny if someone uses the wrong bird.

Even more so, if the person concerned is demanding unquestioning obedience and advocating the strictest educational standards.

In this case, a particular children's classic sprung to mind: Matilda.

(Or, as some headmistresses might call it, Godzilla)

This gif expresses the same sentiment as a series of well known real tweets from the headmistress concerned, in which she argued that schools must always back teachers in the event of complaints by children.

Matilda is, of course, is only part of the tradition of an authoritarian approach to education being mocked and critiqued, sometimes savagely

This anger comes particularly from those who have experienced an authoritarian approach to education and believe strongly that it has damaged them, and/or their children. An appeal to expertise is not going to convince people who have had this experience.

If authority figures who abuse their power (including parents, in Matilda's case) aren't constrained, children are powerless against them - hence Dahl's power fantasy rings particularly true.

And abuse of power, along with arbitrary power, is the point of DAG's excellent post./