Abstract:
In this paper we are interested in how students’ swearing in class is construed and managed as a moral problem, and why the classroom setting demands higher standards in this regard than broader society might. By swearing, we are referring to lexical choices that are conventionally designated as ‘offensive’, ‘rude’, or ‘bad’ language despite their common usage and historical persistence. Focussing on Anglophone sources and settings, our first section reviews sociolinguistic literature regarding what constitutes swearing or ‘bad’ language, different types and degrees of swearing, the distribution of swearing as a language choice across social groups, trends over time, and the pragmatics behind why, when, and with/to whom people swear. We then consider the treatment and regulation of swearing and offensive language in contemporary Australian society to trace a growing tolerance towards swearing in public spaces and media. Next we review the limited research literature regarding the treatment and regulation of swearing in schools. We then develop a theoretical frame from Douglas’ (1966) theory of purity, hygiene, danger, pollution, taboos and moral boundaries to understand schools as strongly demarcated, ‘purified’ sites for the moral work of imbuing socially valued standards and conventions in the future citizen. Under this lens, swearing in class is understood to ‘offend against order’ (p.2), while punishing such transgressions is necessary to ‘impose system on an inherently untidy experience’ (p.4). Students’ choices to continue swearing in class despite teachers’ repeated corrections can thus be understood as much more than inappropriate lexical choices. Rather, continued transgressions seek to dissolve the exaggerated symbolic boundaries and challenge the reified moral rules that create and order the sanitised institution of schooling. The paper then draws from an empirical study of prevocational classes catering for 16-17 year olds in schools and TAFE settings, created under Australia’s ‘earning or learning till 17’ policy. These sites of extended compulsory schooling were typically flavoured by students’ frequent swearing in class and teachers’ repeated efforts to curb this behaviour. Episodes where students and teachers swear in class are presented and analysed to exemplify a variety of responses to, and conditional accommodations of swearing in class. The conclusion reflects on the tension between a society that is increasingly tolerant of swearing, and the purified moral climate in schools, to consider what the practice of swearing in class achieves in these classrooms.