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| Women: The Perfect Mistress http://www.the-cbb.co.uk/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=5121 |
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| Author: | Róisín [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 2:14 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Women: The Perfect Mistress |
The Perfect Mistress: How would you describe the Chalet School’s personification of a perfect mistress? Which mistress do you think most exemplified these traits? Is this a realistic description for staff in a real school? Are there any other roles these women played in which they strove to be 'perfect', and how did they go about that? Please add anything you like to the discussion below 
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| Author: | Tor [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 8:15 pm ] |
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Surely it has to be Hilda? But I think it is very interesting that Madge, who was so perfect and loved a teacher, and had to be EBD's original epitome of teacherdom, is a very different creature indeed to Miss Annersely. When did the Margaret Roper School fail again? Wondering if that painful learning experience made EBD get real about the true qualities needed in a teacher? |
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| Author: | Nightwing [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 8:36 pm ] |
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I think there are three qualities that are seen as particularly ideal for mistresses - compassion, fairness, and a genuine love of teaching. Compassion is seen right from when Madge begins the school, in her dealings with Grizel and Juliet. While Madge shows less experience in her dealings with them than Mlle Lepattre and Miss Annersley will show in dealing with other problem students later, I think it's clear that she does her best to understand and help them, as far as she can. The idea of "fairness" is probably even more important. Take for example Miss Everett - she is shown to have a hasty temper, and even to jump to conclusions, but when she realises she is wrong she is quick to apologise to those who she has blamed unfairly, and I think this is shown as a positive. Teachers who have close relationships with one or two of their pupils generally don't favour them, and praise girls who try hard rather than those who are naturally good at something but don't put in a lot of effort. Contrast this with Miss Slater, who is known to have 'favourites' based on ability alone, and who I think ultimately is seen as not really Chalet School material. The 'genuine love of teaching' is a little harder to pin down - but I think Biddy, for example, has this. She's passionate about her subject, and genuinely capable of holding her pupils' interest when she teaches. I was going to say that Miss Annersley is the ideal Mistress - but I think she is more the ideal Headmistress. To me there's something of a distinction - does anyone else agree? |
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| Author: | Alison H [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 8:39 pm ] |
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I think that Madge was well suited to running a small school at which a lot of the girls had no particular career plans, whereas she would perhaps have struggled to run the institution that the school later became. Hilda was, as Tor said, a totally different creature. Madge was probably the least qualified and least experienced permanent staff member that the school ever had, thinking about it! Many of the mistresses were young, given that a lot of them left in their 20s or 30s to get married, but to some extent they had to play a maternal role, as boarding school mistresses. Thay had to be able to cope with all sorts of crises! Interestingly, their role in terms of actual teaching is downplayed: only Biddy O'Ryan and Nancy Wilmot are really praised in terms of conveying information to pupils and getting them to understand it. Miss Bubb, who places a lot of emphasis on learning and exam results, gets nothing but criticism! And, of course - Miss Bubb fell down again here! - the perfect mistress had to fit in with all the CS's ways. To be fair, a lot of organisations are like that - don't want to listen to new ideas even if they're good ones. Maybe that's why they were so keen on employing Old Girls. The perfect mistress also had to be heavily involved in extra-curricular activities - Kathie Ferrars got a big gold star there - , able to keep discipline without being too strict, and popular with pupils. Hilda was probably the headmistress that EBD would have liked to've been but wasn't - aren't there all sorts of weird tales about her getting her mum to take lessons at the Margaret Roper School because she was too busy writing  . In terms of mistresses more involved in day-to-day teaching, maybe (am I being a biased historian here  ?) Biddy fitted the bill best, or perhaps Nancy.
There are a lot of staff who fade into the background, even those who were there a long time ... |
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| Author: | Lesley [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 8:47 pm ] |
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Ah...yes...obviously my mind is in the gutter here as my immediate thought was a different type of mistress altogether.... 
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| Author: | Pat [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:03 pm ] |
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Lesley wrote: Ah...yes...obviously my mind is in the gutter here as my immediate thought was a different type of mistress altogether....
*Splutters!* Mine too!!!
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| Author: | abbeybufo [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:13 pm ] |
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Pat wrote: Lesley wrote: Ah...yes...obviously my mind is in the gutter here as my immediate thought was a different type of mistress altogether.... *Splutters!* Mine too!!! *Joins Lesley & Pat in the gutter* - that's exactly what I thought at first!! |
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| Author: | Sunglass [ Thu Oct 16, 2008 9:14 pm ] |
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Given how much stick Miss Browne at St Scholastika and Miss Bubb get for being older, plain and tweedy, with rather harsh voices, the Perfect CS mistress clearly needs to be pretty and 'trig', preferably with gleaming, well-brushed hair and a smart jumper and skirt, and an attractive speaking voice. The favourite term of approbation among the girls seems to be 'poppet', usually referring to Miss Ferrars, who also seems to get kudos for being strict in lesson time - which I remember finding odd when I first read the CS. (My own least loathed teacher was an elderly woman who drank and used to do song and dance routines from musicals when the mood took her. I can barely remember what she was supposed to teach...) |
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| Author: | Tor [ Fri Oct 17, 2008 1:42 pm ] |
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Quote: Ah...yes...obviously my mind is in the gutter here as my immediate thought was a different type of mistress altogether....
I'm intrigued to know which CS character(s) you had in mind, then
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| Author: | Sunglass [ Fri Oct 17, 2008 2:04 pm ] |
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The sexually precocious Joan Baker? Who knows what really went on with Vic Coles after the fish and chips...? |
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| Author: | Pat [ Fri Oct 17, 2008 6:28 pm ] |
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Tor wrote: Quote: Ah...yes...obviously my mind is in the gutter here as my immediate thought was a different type of mistress altogether.... I'm intrigued to know which CS character(s) you had in mind, then For me, it was more a question of whose mistress they would be!!!! The available males are fairly few. |
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| Author: | Pado [ Sat Oct 18, 2008 12:48 am ] |
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Trig. Trim. Beautiful voice. Capable of reasoning from cause to effect. Does not need glasses. On the spot. Quite fun out of hours. Sporty. Must appreciate nectar-like coffee and endless reminiscences of events that occurred in the past. Bonus points awarded for unusual skill such as being an alpiniste or ability to direct school plays, or for being former Head Girl. Optional: ability to attract handsome doctor during emergency, followed by immediate fertility. |
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| Author: | jennifer [ Sat Oct 18, 2008 3:40 am ] |
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It's interesting - more elderly mistresses can get away with being matronly and not pretty - like Mlle Lepattre, or Miss Denny, but for the younger mistresses they generally have to be pretty to be well liked. |
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| Author: | MJKB [ Wed Oct 22, 2008 7:37 pm ] |
| Post subject: | Staff. |
Sometimes, when the complexity of life hits me firmly in the solar plexis, I envy the Chalet School Staff, young and old. The older and/or unmarried ones seem genuinely contented with the almost exquisite simplicity of their lives. The younger, on-the verge-of - meeting - a-masterful-young doctor/husband, never have to go through the angst of rejection in their love lives, with the exception, that is, of Grizel a subject that is very sympathetically treated in 'Reunion', in my view. I've had my fair share of staff rooms throughout my twenty odd years as a teacher and the best compare pretty unfavourably with the Chalet School! That is not to say that I don't find my present staff room a haven at times, but I love the cosiness and the comaderie that is portrayed in staff room scenes of the books. |
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| Author: | Meg14 [ Wed Oct 22, 2008 9:21 pm ] |
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Following on from MJKB's point. I always love the scene (I think when Con has been sleepwalking) when one of the mistresses says 'we may not get paid much but we do see much'. Considering the gentleness of Chalet School life I think its a wonderful comment! 
As far as the perfect mistress is concerned I think real enthusiasm about Chalet School life and the girls they teach are important. There is a real feeling that the teachers have a vocation and that is bringing up the girls to be good strong members of society (even if I can't always understand the idea that being a wife/mother is what is most important) To me Biddy is the perfect Chalet School mistress because I always pick up on her enthusiasm but I also think Miss Wilson (when she is just a science teacher) is another example of someone who is passionate about what she does. |
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| Author: | JS [ Thu Oct 23, 2008 12:26 pm ] |
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I liked Miss Ferrars because we saw her from the larval stage, as it were. She was enthusiastic, loved teaching and it was nice seeing her learn on the job. And although she was 'trig' she was never described as pretty. Shame in a way that she didn't get her doctor because it might have suggested that looks weren't everything. Having said that, I'm remembering that neither Joey not Janie Lucy, two of the 'heroines' were pretty, but apart from them it does seem that EBD attaches more importance to good looks in a woman than a man. As, I fear, does society. Edited to say that quotes went funny, don't know why |
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| Author: | MJKB [ Sun Oct 26, 2008 8:55 pm ] |
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Was JS going to say ....get married? I rather hoped she would too. |
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| Author: | Dreaming Marianne [ Tue Oct 28, 2008 1:24 pm ] |
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abbeybufo wrote: Pat wrote: Lesley wrote: Ah...yes...obviously my mind is in the gutter here as my immediate thought was a different type of mistress altogether.... *Splutters!* Mine too!!! *Joins Lesley & Pat in the gutter* - that's exactly what I thought at first!! *Adds self to roll*! Whenever you read abou the MR school, it is always a bit hazy about the reasons why it failes. Usually the text says something (roughly, haven't got copy here) about EBD not having the same qualities as say, madge. So I wonder - was she too idealistic? Not practical enough? Had the same approach to running a school as she did to continuity? |
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| Author: | JS [ Tue Oct 28, 2008 1:29 pm ] |
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Quote: abbeybufo wrote:
Pat wrote: Lesley wrote: Ah...yes...obviously my mind is in the gutter here as my immediate thought was a different type of mistress altogether.... *Splutters!* Mine too!!! *Joins Lesley & Pat in the gutter* - that's exactly what I thought at first!! *Adds self to roll*! Anyone for that thread?? I nominate Rosalie: intelligent, attractive and resourceful, as well as being confident in herself. |
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| Author: | Mrs Redboots [ Sun Nov 02, 2008 3:53 pm ] |
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JS wrote: Quote: abbeybufo wrote: Pat wrote: Lesley wrote: Ah...yes...obviously my mind is in the gutter here as my immediate thought was a different type of mistress altogether.... *Splutters!* Mine too!!! *Joins Lesley & Pat in the gutter* - that's exactly what I thought at first!! *Adds self to roll*! Anyone for that thread?? I nominate Rosalie: intelligent, attractive and resourceful, as well as being confident in herself. Well, while your minds are all busy rolling around in the gutter, a friend once told me of his delight, attending a conference at a girls' school, when he saw a notice at the entrance to the dormitory (plywood cubicles, I believe) that said: "Should you require a mistress in the night, ring this bell." |
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| Author: | Liz K [ Sun Nov 02, 2008 8:25 pm ] |
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Lesley wrote: Ah...yes...obviously my mind is in the gutter here as my immediate thought was a different type of mistress altogether....
I thought the same for starters......................... 
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