How does Willy Russell present differences between Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay

How does Willy Russell present differences between Mr Briggs and Mrs Kay in “Our day Out”?

Willy Russell contrasts two teachers in the play “Our Day Out” in order to present different teaching attitudes. The play is set in 1970’s Liverpool, which was poverty-stricken and had high levels of unemployment. By having this setting Russell gives the teachers difficult children to teach and the play seems to test who will deal with the children best. Russell doesn’t make either of the teachers perfect but exposes their true feelings to show what attributes a good teacher should have. Mr Briggs is strict but willing to teach whereas Mrs Kay is fun and sympathetic but has lost hope in teaching the students. In my opinion Russell seems more approving of Mr Briggs, especially by the end of the play.

Mrs Kay and Mr Briggs have very different relationships and attitudes to the children in the Progress Class. The differences are between the teachers are revealed through the handling of and treatment of the children. They have different characteristics but neither of them can be said to be entirely positive or negative in the eyes of the audience and also the children. Mrs Kay is relaxed and gentle with children whereas Mr Briggs is far stricter and more demanding of the Progress Class. This is apparent as soon as the play starts so the audience admire Mrs Kay over Mr Briggs at the beginning.

The audience can see straight away that the children feel intimidated by Mr Briggs. When the boys “rush to the safety of Mrs Kay’s group” it seems as if Mr Briggs poses some sort of threat to the children. This contrasts with Mrs Kay, who the children feel safe with. This is because Mrs Kay cherishes them, even to the extent that she would make excuses or tell lies to defend her class. An example of this is when she lies to the bus driver that, “the kids with me today don’t know what it is to look at a bar of chocolate”, and “Lemonade never touches their lips”. Her lies are emphasised by the layout of the stage: the audience watches the Driver and Mrs Kay talking, but at the same time they see the children “stuffing themselves stupid with sweets, chocolate and lemonade” behind them. This becomes very ironical and comical when the Driver looks “grief-stricken” and the children quickly hide the junk food when he turns around to look at them. It is obvious from this that the Progress Class enjoy being with Mrs Kay and the audience does not think too negatively of her.

Mr Briggs, on the other hand, is not really attached to the Progress Class and is quite critical of them. At one point he says ironically: “You’ve got some real bright sparks here Mrs Kay. A right bunch”. This clearly shows that he does not understand the circumstances of the Progress Class – he does not understand poverty or its effects. He is also less patient and less sympathetic than Mrs Kay, “I said sit lad, no move”, “Well find one boy, find one!” and “What you doing lad, what you doing?” This makes it easy to understand why the children prefer Mrs Kay to Mr Briggs. Mr Briggs’ negative attitude is reinforced when he says, “There is a few of them I could sling off right now”. It is reinforced further when he is compared to a dog, as the stage directions say that he is “barking”. This dehumanises him and makes him look like a aggressive animal.

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Mr Briggs is quite prejudiced towards the children because he expects them to behave badly even before they set off for the outing. For example, he sings “I do not want to see two fingers raised to passing motorists”. Although the children do behave badly, it seems a bit unfair that he lectures them before they set off: “We do not wander up and down the aisles/ We do not use obscenities/ Or throw each other sweets”. However, it shows him as a much more responsible teacher than Mrs Kay, and the children do need to be reminded of what is expected of them. The word “we” implies that Mr Briggs is lowering himself down to the childrens’ level so that he looks more welcoming, but he is quite severe in the way he tells them what to do. Maybe this is why the children don’t like him much.

Mr Briggs is shown as much more responsible than Mrs Kay again when he says “To be quite honest, Mrs Kay, I think we should be in there, looking after them”. He knows that the children cannot be trusted by themselves and need to have someone supervising them or they will cause trouble. Mrs Kay is less responsible because she

feels that it is “quite nice to get away from them for a few minutes”. This not only shows her as less responsible but also shows that the children really are trouble makers and difficult to handle. When Mr Briggs gives into Mrs Kay and he gives them a bit of trust, the Progress Class spoil it by misbehaving to the extent of stealing pets from the zoo.

I think that Mr Briggs’ responsible attitude is better as it ensures of the pupils’ safety and the children are less likely to misbehave. It also shows him as a much more responsible teacher than Mrs Kay. He seems prejudiced, but all this turns out to be true. The setting is of Liverpool with is poverty and vandalism shows that Mr Briggs realises that the poor students may have habits of stealing and may misbehave.

Mrs Kay and Mr Briggs have contrasting relationships with the children, and they both argue with each other about the right way to teach. When Mr Briggs argues with Mrs Kay, he takes advantage of his position because he knows that he has more authority than the other teachers do on the school outing. He dislikes Mrs Kay’s teaching methods and this is made clear in the conversation with the headmaster: “The school would be better off without her”. Mr Briggs does not seem to like Mrs Kay but the audience disapproves of this because Mrs Kay hasn’t actually done anything to deserve it so far in the play. She just wants her students a good time because she knows that they are unlikely to have a good future.

However, even the headmaster is fed up with these school trips. He says, “After the last trip of hers I said ‘no more’, absolutely no more. Look, just look. Complaints from the residents of Derbyshire.” The complaints show that the children always seem to be poorly behaved and Mr Briggs is not being severe for no reason.

Russell reveals Mrs Kay’s bad teaching methods through Mr Briggs’ dialogue. Mr. Briggs criticises Mrs Kay’s teaching methods to another teacher called Colin. He says that Mrs Kay’s “philosophy is all over the place” and that he views her as being the “champion of non-academics”. By saying this Mr. Briggs implies that he feels that she is not fit to be a teacher. When Mr Briggs is complaining about Mrs Kay’s organisational skills, she suddenly changes plans from going to Conway Castle to going to the zoo first. It is very ironical that Mr Briggs finds this out just as he is complaining about her.

The teaching methods of Mr. Briggs and Mrs Kay shows that both the teachers are at extremes and at opposite ends. It is good to be patient and generous but Mrs Kay is too generous and laid back. It is also necessary to be firm and be responsible but Mr Briggs is far too strict. He needs to be slightly more sympathetic to the children while Mrs Kay needs to be firm and take responsibility.

Using songs in the play is a technique used by Russell to give important ideas. Many of the songs are sung by the children; these songs tell us something about the children. For example in the first song, “We’re Goin’ Out”, the line, “Goin’ off somewhere far away”, hints to the audience that the children are not very bright as they are not aware of where they are going or if its the right direction to go in. The reason for this may be as it is the first time they are travelling out of Liverpool. “Me mam says I can go … if it’s free” reveals the poverty and high unemployment of the area at the time. It shows that the children’s parents cannot usually afford school trips.

The poverty is reinforced in song six, “Look at the dogs”, which gives the audience an idea of what 1970s Liverpool was really like. The song refers to the vandalism at the time which emphasises the poverty and the poor environment. “A broken window in Tesco’s, Look at the empty Corpy flats, Look at the streets, Look at the houses.” These few lines hint that the children do not enjoy being in Liverpool and dream of being in a wealthier and safer place.

These songs are important in telling us why Mr Briggs feels the way he does about the children. He knows of the conditions that the children live in, but that does not mean he understands them or sympathises with them like Mrs Kay does. It just shows him what he is to expect from the children as the song “Instructions on Enjoyment” shows. Through knowing the Liverpool environment, he expects them to “use obscenities”, “raise our voices, feet or fists” and put “two fingers raised to passing motorists.” This is why he specifically orders them not to do it. This perhaps shows that Mr Briggs

does not think much of the children and this creates a very negative impression on the audience. However, it could also be informing the audience of the kind of atmosphere in such a poverty stricken environment.

The two different attitudes of the teachers towards the Progress Class is fully revealed by Russell’s intentional setting up of the characters. He does this so that the audience are made aware of the true feelings of the teachers towards the Progress Class. The first example of this is shown in Act 2, in Conway Castle. Mrs Kay angrily reveals what she really thinks of the Progress Class and the teaching profession, “It’s too late for them. Most of these kids were rejects the day they came into the world.” The audience will see this as though Mrs Kay has quit her job as she knows that the children will not be successful. She feels that if the children have no future no matter how much they try and learn, they should not waste their time and may as well have fun at school. The audience will have mixed feelings about this. Some may think she is making the correct choice and agree that the Progress Class have no hope. However, others would see this as absurd as the goal of a teacher is to teach his/her pupils as best they can, and if ‘fun’ becomes involved it should be educational. Mrs Kay is shown in her true emotions – she doesn’t not have any hope for the children, which is not the right attitude for a teacher, and although she sympathises with the Progress Class and wants them to have fun, she sacrifices their education. This attitude is repeated many times during the scene as she insists: “you’re in a job that’s designed and funded to fail!” She feels that the children were “born for factory fodder.” We finally see that it is Mrs Kay that has a negative attitude rather than Mr Briggs.

Mr Briggs’ response to Mrs Kay shows his own true feelings about the children. He criticises Mrs Kay for having such “ a fine attitude for a member of the teaching profession.” This implies that although the children are not very intelligent, he still has some hope that the children could learn something and may have some use for their education in the future. I completely agree with Mr Briggs; teaching is what teachers are paid to do. Teaching is also not just about making children learns maths etc but a teacher should also teach his/her students the proper way behave.

The scene in which Mr Briggs shows his feelings further is the cliff scene with Carol.

Although Mr Briggs thinks he has authority over everyone, he realises in this scene that he doesn’t actually have power over everyone and that he can be manipulated.

When he asks Carol to come away from the cliff edge, he uses the word “please” for the first time in the play. The audience realises that Mr Briggs really is not that powerful and just a child can take power over him. The stage layout emphasises this as Carol would be standing higher than him, which symbolises how the hierarchy of power has been turned. Carol’s language also shows that she has the upper hand in the scene: “Don’t you come near me!”, “I’m not coming” and “I’ll jump.” Carol seems in control of the scene. Mr Briggs now realises that sometimes being demanding and severe is not always the best way. He has to change from being demanding – “I’m not putting with a pile of silliness from the likes of you. Now come on!” – to pleading: “Carol, please come away from there”. The change in Mr Briggs character in this scene shows that he realises how difficult life must be for the children living in a poverty-stricken, vandalised and jobless city. He changes from being a teacher that enforces strict rules in order to teach his pupils, to a teacher who is slightly more laid back and still hopes that the children will learn something. At first the pupils try to touch Mr Briggs but he does not like it: “Girl1 and Girl 2 go to link arms with Briggs. He shrugs them off” this shows that he does not wish to associate with the children but after his character change on the cliff scene, “ He stands with his arms wrapped around [Carol].”

The audience also learn something about the teachers from the children themselves. Despite the Progress Class seeing Mr Briggs as a strict and constantly moaning teacher, many times in the play is it implied that the children want to learn something from the teacher. The Castle Song, Song 12, shows this: “Tell us, Sir go on, we want to learn from you sir” and “We’d be really brainy, Sir, if all the teachers were like you”. This shows that Mr Briggs is the only one of the teachers that will teach and has any hope for them. This shows Mr Briggs in a positive light and Mrs Kay in a negative light as the Progress Class do not seem to believe that they can learn from Mrs Kay.

Willy Russell seems to criticising teachers of the time because of their negative attitudes towards poor students and the lack of hope teachers have for these students. Russell compares the two different teachers at two extremes to show what a good teacher should be like. In conclusion it seems that Mr Briggs has a better attitude towards the teaching profession because he is responsible and always has hope for his students, although some of Mrs Kay’s attributes, such as her kindness and generosity, should be taken into account.

Grade – B/A