Snapedom

In the thread of my previous post there were several arguments and questions about the behaviour and discipline in British schools.

Well, in my younger days (ahem!), I followed the Bristish series 'To serve them all my days' (adaptation of the Deldefield novel of the same name, broadcast 1980, when JKR was in her early twenties).

It's about the 21 year old David Powlet-Jones, the educated son of poor Welsh mineworkers who, after serving three years in the trenches of WW I, gets dismissed (shellshock) and offered a job at a British public boarding school. David has a bit of a chip on his shoulders for not being of the right 'class' as the rest of the teachers and the students, and he still struggles with the aftermath of the war, but settles in quickly. We follow him through his career during the interbellum of the twenties and thirties.

His first headmaster is the wonderful genial Algy Herries (I'm sure that JKR thought to model her Dumbledore on him, but she sadly failed as Herries is a truly good an great man), but in later years he clashes with Algy's successor, a truly petty man (if you want to understand the word 'petty', watch out for Headmaster Alcock). Through all the ups and downs of his life, David has, at least, the love and support of Algy and Mrs Herries, most of his collegues, his wife (wives) and most, if not all, the boys in his House.
David reminds me of Snape in many ways -  a man who came to teaching shellshocked by tragic events, who discovers that he can, indeed, teach and that he enjoys doing so, whose life is spun around an age old school - but alas for Snape, David has love and support, whilst Snape has not. *looks sad*

For those who want to see the series, if only to understand and see the way teachers and students related to eachother in British boarding schools, you can see the entire series on Youtube, starting from here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sYgV55Uhq4U

But you can, of course, also buy the series on Amazon.

Happy watching!