Memoir explores complexities of discipline and bullying in UK schooling
L: Cover of A Physical Education (Credit: Goldsmiths Press) / R: Dr Jonathan Taylor (Credit: University of Leicester)
Memoirist and University of Leicester academic, Jonathan Taylor explores bullying and harassment in his new book, A Physical Education: On Bullying, Discipline & Other Lessons.
Dr Jonathan Taylor, an Associate Professor of Creative Writing at the University of Leicester, intertwines his experiences with well-known literary representations of bullying and school discipline, alongside sociological, psychological and philosophical theories of power.
The book also discusses the transition from corporal punishment to psychological forms of discipline that took place in the 1980s in the UK. Taylor examines power in the UK education system, how power can be used and abused, and how bullying and discipline differ and overlap. It also looks at how bullying transitions from the schoolyard into the workplace and other adult realms.
The book holds a mirror to the techniques, patterns and language of bullying reflecting not only tragedy and trauma but also absurdity and contradiction
It raises questions of what it means to be a bully as well as to be bullied.
Jonathan Taylor said: "I wanted to write a book about what bullying feels like from within. There are many books about bullying from a sociological or educational perspective. But I wanted to explore it from a personal, subjective view-point: what the experience of bullying or being bullied feels like for individuals involved. I believe one of the beauties of memoir is that it allows people to understand their own powerful emotions and experiences by reading about others’ apparently very different lives."
A Physical Education: On Bullying, Discipline and Other Lessons will be released on 24 September 2024. It will be published by Goldsmiths Press. The book is ready to pre-order here.