plus de pensées

after spending a now substantial amount of time in the french schools (well, three of them) i've been able to note some more observations and idiosyncracies. maybe this just comes from spending quite a bit of time in american schools, but i find it rather fascinating.

the schools themselves are what i would consider small. each of my three schools has one class in each level (the equivalent of 1st-5th grade) and no more than 25 or 28 students per class. the other teachers seemed a little shocked when i told them we might have five or six classes in one grade. the schools are physically small as well. the library (if there is a library) often doubles as the teachers' lounge. the 'playground' is little more than a small blacktop that may or may not have two soccer goals/basketball hoops. there are no separate rooms for music or art.

as it turns out, this is because the general classroom teachers are responsible for teaching every part of the curriculum, including music, art plastique, and even p.e. (evidently all teachers have to be able to pass a swimming test.). oh, and incidentally, the only things french students seem to do for p.e. are things that american students likely never would: biking, swimming, and judo.

with all this extra work you would think french teachers would be even more burnt out than american teachers. not so. lunch, which i remember as being a blur of 15 minutes to make copies and scarf down a sandwich, is a relaxed affair. (obviously this has something to do with the two hours break they have.) teachers discuss complaints about students, problems with parents but overall don't seem too troubled by the demands of their job.

this is quite a contrast from the teachers' behavior in the classroom. routine disciplinary actions consist of shouting and shaming. teachers have no qualms about expressing their annoyance and calling students names ('baby' is quite common). this doesn't seem to be effective, as the loudest teachers tend to have the most boisterous classes. even the directeur (principal) often has trouble controlling his/her class. i was intrigued by the fact that the principals actually teach a class in addition to handling the burden of administrative details. it's a bit like the head of a department at a university. i'm not sure how effective it is, but it certainly makes for a different teacher-principal dynamic in the teachers' lounge.

well, that's all for now. perhaps this energy would have been better spent working on my grad school applications...