Responsibilisation and acceptable verbal behaviour in schools: Teachers and leaders arbitrating the boundaries of swearing

Abstract The prevalence of swearing and the varied approaches to its acceptability in society are reflected in student usage of swearing and institutional responses at schools. Data suggest that student suspension on the grounds of verbal misconduct is increasing in schools. The study reported here was undertaken in Queensland, Australia and reveals teachers and school leaders are surrounded by an increasing amount of swearing by students, with considerable impact on teacher subjectivity and practice. Nineteen teachers and school leaders from 14 secondary schools shared accounts on their views and responses to student swearing. The interview data were analysed using Fairclough's linguistically-orientated Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA 1 ) and the Foucaultian notions of power and governmentality. The findings indicate that teachers and school leaders, in constituting themselves in response to school-based student swearing, are demonstrating aspects of responsibilisation. One conclusion is that the institution of schooling is using ‘governing at a distance’ in order to make teachers and school leaders feel responsible for student verbal confrontations.