At this point in the semester I have been lucky enough to go
to Scoil Bride 8 times so far and it has really been eye-opening in terms of the
completely different atmosphere the classroom has compared to an American one.
My class is only made up of 12 children and more likely than not, at least one
is absent every time that I go to the school. This makes the class size
significantly smaller than the average American classroom, so it is not often
that the children will join together and act out during instruction. However,
my teacher does not take interrupting and disrespect lightly, so if one of the
students talks out or is somewhat rude, she immediately calls attention to it
and lightly scolds the child so that they understand their mistake. These 1st
grade students are between the ages of 6 and 7, but they are much better
behaved than the 4th grade students that I had this past semester
back in Boston. They are nowhere near perfect, but they seem to grasp the
concept of being accountable for their actions within the classroom. My 4th
grade students back in Boston were constantly on the lookout for someone to
take the blame for their actions. The phrase, “It’s not my fault!” was a common
exclamation if students forgot their homework or were asked to stop talking in
class. Instead of apologizing for disrupting class or not being
responsible for their own homework, these children looked for a way out every
single time. Here in Ireland, these young children are disciplined in a way
that they understand their mistake and understand that they were at fault. The
idea of something not being fair is not even in their mindset. It is refreshing
to be in a classroom where the students are conscious of their behavior and how
they should behave in a classroom. This method of discipline creates a
different atmosphere in the classroom and I think it proves to be beneficial
for the children as well. It makes me wonder if we should enforce this sort of
discipline in American schools to start creating an atmosphere where students
are held responsible for their actions in hopes they can learn how to be
accountable students.
I also think it is interesting that these young students
are able to be so responsible because a majority of them have disabilities that
can sometimes complicate their concentration during the school day. For
example, one student in my classroom, who I will call student A, very easily
can get off task, though he is very bright. He is aware of this slight difficulty he has so he makes sure that he has his special chair whenever he supposed to
be doing work. This chair is shaped in a way that keeps him in a completely upright
position instead of allowing him to slouch or sit sideways. This helps him stay
focused to the best of his ability and he knows that without this chair, the
school day could be much more frustrating for him. Overall, this is just one area of the
classroom that I have found to be surprisingly different from American schools.
It would be interesting to take a more serious discipline approach to the
children in American schools and see if it could work as well as it does here
in Ireland. The students have currently been on a two-week break for both spring
and Easter, but fortunately I will be able to get back into the classroom next
week!
Hi Casey,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed your insight into the differences in classroom management and student accountability between your placement at Scoil Bride and the American schools in which you have student taught. I, like you, am placed in a small Irish school. My third-class classroom only has 10 students - all girls. I also have noticed how well behaved these Irish girls are in my classroom. Classroom disruptions hardly ever seem to be an issue. I had accredited this difference in behavior between my Irish classroom and other American classrooms in which I have taught purely to the reduced class size and the fact that this Irish classroom was single gendered. However, I believe you are correct in noticing that it's not purely a result of classroom demographics, but also the methods which our Irish school systems use to discipline misbehavior. It wasn't until reading your blog post that I also noticed that my girls seem to have much more accountability for their behavior than other American students I have taught. I, like you, have never once heard one of my students as Scoil Mhuire deflect a punishment by blaming someone else or saying "It's not my fault". Rather, the students seem to recognize their guilt when they do misbehave, and view their scolding or punishment as retribution for their misbehavior. They have much more accountability for their misbehavior, recognize that it was their fault, apologize for their disruption, and accept the consequences, rather than attempting to deflect the punishment on to someone else. I agree that this sort of discipline creates a healthier, less disruptive, and more mature atmosphere and I agree that it may be beneficial for American schools to adopt a disciplinarian perspective that promotes accountability. Thank you again for your insight; I found it really interesting!
Katie