Explore the differences in Mr. Briggs's and Mrs. Kay's view of education in Our Day Out. Write about how the author presents views and character and how far you sympathise with them.

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Essay title: Explore the differences in Mr. Briggs’s and Mrs. Kay’s view of education in Our Day Out. Write about how the author presents views and character and how far you sympathise with them.

The play, Our Day Out, written by Willy Russell is set in the inner city of Liverpool in the mid 1970’s.  Willy Russell chronicles a school outing to Conwy Castle with the school progress class. The progress class has a very bleak future and is underacheivers of their school. The title ‘Day Out’ reflects the poverty they are in, so a good day for them is more than they can expect. The two main characters in the play, Mrs. Kay and Mr. Briggs have opposing views on the childrens education and their future. Mrs. Kay, the motherly and caring teacher believes in liberalism- she is tolerant on the wide range of behaviour standards in the class.  Mr. Briggs, however, has a more traditional view on the childrens education. He is stricter and expects the pupils to respect authority, conform and work hard whatever their ability. In this essay I will discuss these points of view, I will do this by analysing what they say, the actions they do and the conversions they have with the pupils and other members of staff. In addition I will give my opinion.

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Mr. Briggs is an authoritarian; discipline and control is important in his working career. The quote that supports this point is, “sit down, now, come on move!” this shows that Briggs is very demanding as well as controlling to the children. This reveals that he has no respect for the children and lacks an amount of humility towards his pupils. In scene twenty, Mr. Briggs reminds Mrs. Kay his role on the day trip, “The Boss thought it might be a good idea if you had an extra member of staff.” this demonstrates that he is in a position ...

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