I was one of those (rare at the time) teachers who never tried to bully pupils with an overbearing presence or look down on them. I always addressed all pupils, of both sexes, by their first names, never just their surnames. I almost never shouted at anyone and, unlike many of the others, never threw chalk or blackboard rubbers around or gave any “clips around the ears”.
But do I think that the punishments I meted out really did benefit the pupils and help to prepare them for the wider world they were soon to encounter? Well, this may not meet with the approval of everyone reading this, but, frankly, no.