We talk about discipline in the classroom

BarcelonaTalking about discipline in the classroom still opens a debate charged with emotions and often opposing perspectives. Just ask Mar Hurtado, president of the Rosa Sensat Teachers Association, after her remarks against discipline on the program. The Jungle on Catalan public television. Some associate it with memories of rigid authority, imposed silences, and severe punishments, while others claim it as an essential condition for learning. The truth is that, throughout the 20th and early 21st centuries, the concept of discipline in school has evolved as clearly as modern societies have.

At the beginning of the 20th century, the teacher was perceived almost as a figure of undisputed authority, with a social prestige that often equated their word to that of a priest or a judge. Discipline was based on obedience: students listened, repeated, and remained silent. Order was maintained by maintaining distance between teacher and student, and the community supported this unwavering hierarchy. Docility was valued more than creativity, and silence in class was a symbol of normality and "good manners."

With the arrival of democracy and the modernization of the educational system, discipline began to be reinterpreted. Emphasis was placed on dialogue, active student participation, and the need to build a climate of mutual trust. Corporal punishment was—fortunately—abandoned, extreme rigidity was challenged, and the door was opened to more flexible and motivating methodologies. However, this change, positive in many ways, has also brought unintended consequences: a certain ongoing delegitimization of teaching authority over time.

Loss of prestige

In the 21st century, the challenge is clear: maintaining a balance between discipline that doesn't oppress and a learning environment that doesn't devolve into chaos. Today's society, marked by a fast-paced world, new technologies, and a more horizontal view of relationships, has blurred the boundaries of authority. However, this has coincided with a worrying phenomenon: the loss of prestige in teaching. What was once a respected and almost revered profession is now often questioned and belittled, which, in the worst cases, affects teachers' physical safety or mental health.

This shift in social perception is key to understanding current debates. When society doesn't fully trust its teachers, the message students receive is that rules and authority can be ignored without consequences. It's no surprise, then, that many teachers express the feeling of struggling against the current, trying to transmit knowledge in an environment where order and respect are not always guaranteed, or that, according to USTEC data, one in three teachers is considering leaving the profession.

Despite the transformations, there is one truth we cannot ignore: without discipline, there is no possible education. In this sense, psychologists like Lev Vygotsky already underscored the importance of the mediating role of adults and shared rules for achieving meaningful learning. Discipline, understood as a framework for coexistence and guidance, is the condition that allows students to develop their full potential. This is not about returning to the authoritarianism of the past, but about recognizing that limits, norms, and order are necessary to create a space where knowledge can flourish. Discipline is not synonymous with repression; it is the basis for learning to coexist, respect others, and develop personal autonomy.

We could agree that a student who grows up without rules will hardly be a citizen capable of assuming responsibilities in the future. We cannot aspire to educate responsible, critical, and competent people if they do not understand that freedom is always accompanied by responsibility. It is necessary for society to regain respect for the task of teaching and understand that the teacher is not an enemy or a simple "knowledge manager," but an essential guide in the construction of citizenship.

In a world where everything changes rapidly, discipline should be recovered as an irreplaceable pillar. Not to keep classrooms silent, but to ensure that this silence, when necessary, serves to listen, think, unleash the imagination, and grow.