We can probably all remember our parents telling us stories about how school was different "back in their day." My parents' stories of strict discipline and stone-hearted teachers in 1960s New Jersey made me glad that I was a child of the 90s and thus not subject to shrieking teachers or corporal punishment. Sure, I remember my teachers getting upset (I may have been responsible once or twice...) but I don't remember many yelling teachers and there certainly were no episodes of teachers hitting students. In fact, I don't remember teachers ever touching students at all. It had been 13 years since I had set foot in a elementary school, but I assumed I would find a similar atmosphere here in France.
Well, I received a bit of a surprise on my first day here at school back in October. Two hours into my teaching experience in France I was standing outside with my new collegues at recess (yes, they have two recesses here - morning and afternoon) when a fourth grader came over complaining that one of the boys - lets call him "Pierre" - had pushed her to the ground. The teacher calmly called Pierre over...and then proceeded to yell at the top of her lungs about 6 inches from his face, completely furious. Unfortunately, I had no idea what she was saying, but I got the feeling she was going for style, not content. I didn't need to know what she was saying to get the message. After a good minute or two of this tongue-lashing, she grabbed Pierre by the shoulder and, with a snarl, gave him a shove of her own toward the fence where all the kids who are punished have to stand. Then she returned to the little circle of teachers sipping coffee and, with a smile, cracked a joke. I was taken aback because I could not imagine this episode playing out in the US. Kids would be crying, parents would be up in arms...it just wouldn't fly. But here it's par for the course. Teachers yell to get students' attention, to express their anger, to punish. But they also yell over seemingly trivial mistakes - a student wrote in blue what he should have written in black. If the student still doesn't respond, they give them a push. Literally.
Now I want to be clear that I've never seen teachers being violent by any means. But, from what I've observed in 3 schools and from what I've heard from other assistants and my French friends, yelling at and grabbing students is part of the school culture here. The question is, Is it a good thing or not?
After 4 months, the jury is still out for me. I see pros and cons. The negatives spring to mind first; it seems a little demeaning to yell at kids in school. And frankly, I'm not sure it works. The teachers who yell the most don't have the best-behaved classes. Their students hear screaming so much they just tune it out after a while. I'm not sure it creates the best atmosphere for learning, either. Discipline is most certainly necessary, and I'm not proposing that schools should be like summer camp - all fun and games and no work or responsibility - but I think kids learn best when they are comfortable and encouraged, not yelled at for making a mistake.
On the other hand, there are some advantages to the meaner, less warm-and-cuddly French school system. Kids develop a thick skin. I don't see a lot of crying at school. Kids just take it when they're getting yelled at. If they start to weep, they receive no compassion. There's no turning on the tear ducts to win some sympathy. At first I was a little taken aback, but then I thought of the other extreme at home, where kids are coddled. I think it's better to develop a thick skin early than to grow up expecting everything to go your way and for no one to ever hurt your feelings or get upset with you. In the States we pretend that "everybody's a winner" and try not to hurt anyone's feelings. In France, not so much.
No comments:
Post a Comment