British Classroom Culture

British elementary schools are fairly structured in their day-to-day activities, which is similar to that of the US. But, students are constantly moving in-and-out of the classroom. They have piano lessons, choir rehearsal, are being taken out to work with another teacher, etc. It is rare for every student to be in the class at once. And this is normal to the classroom. The teacher thinks nothing of it when a student walks out of the classroom. It is a bizarre system to me and I have stopped trying to understand what is going on at all times. Another interesting British classroom culture quirk that I have found is the way they share scores (marks). It is typical for students to yell out their scores for the teacher to record it. In general, they are very open about who is higher and who is lower in the class. That would not be the case in the US. Each student would be responsible for only his/her work and scores. Should the students be competing against the other students in the class or should they be competing with only themselves to make improvements?

Differences Between Education in the U.S. and Senegal

Walking into the classroom in Dakar, you are immediately aware that education in Senegal is different than in the US. There are 50 students in my 5^th grade class and only one teacher. In the US a 50:1 student to teacher ratio would be unthinkable, but here it is all too often common. Students sit two to a desk with their backpack and other belongings stuffed in between them. Students do not speak unless called on, and have to stand in order to respond to questions. The walls are decorated with education posters from the 80’s and the occasional poster of Obama.

One of the largest differences I have noticed during my time at Ecole Primaire Sainte Bernadette is the lack of resources. The whole day is designed around the resources that are available. Students do all their work on individual chalkboards to avoid spending money on notebooks and paper. If they run out of chalk they are expected to sit silently and wait for the lesson to be over. The teacher does not have extra materials, and the students have to rely solely on what their family can provide for them. That means that if a student cannot afford chalk, they show up everyday and sit silently in the classroom while their classmates do work.

My CT copies all her lessons and tests on to the chalkboard, which takes up a considerable amount of time. She rarely is able to fit the whole test on the board at one time so she writes the test up the board in sections, then waits for the entire 50 students to recopy and complete the section in their notebooks, and then erases and starts writing the next section. My classroom spent a whole day completing a math test that would have taken no longer than an hour in the US. It makes me think about how much the students are missing, while they are spending time copying.

Another difference I have noticed is the lack of group work among the students, which may be a reflection of the French Education System that Senegal has adapted. During the day, the students only leave their seat to complete a problem on the board or to stand to answer a question. Students are not given any time to discuss with partners or think for themselves. The curriculum is all based around memorizing, reciting, and copying, with little room for anything else.

Catholic School in Dakar, Senegal

I am completing my international pre-practicum at Ecole Primaire Sainte Bernadette in Dakar, Senegal, a large private Catholic school. Senegal is a Muslim country so many children are placed in Quranic schools, or stay home to study the Quran and work with their parents. If parents do decide to send their children to school they have two options: public school or private Catholic school. Over the past year there has been little to no political stability and many teachers have joined the union, demanding better pay or they wont work. As a result, many public schools have not been in session for months and parents are left scrambling to make enough money to put their children in private Catholic school.

Attending a Catholic school in Senegal has been an overwhelming experience. More than 95% of the population at Ecole Primaire Sainte Bernadette is Muslim, and yet I have seen no sign of religious tension at any point during my time at the school. In the morning, after the students have filed in and taken their seats, they recite as a class: “Seigneur, donner nous la force et la courage de bien travailler. Merci, Seigneur pour cette journée qui commence” (Lord, give us the strength and courage to work well. Thank you, Lord for this day that begins). When I asked why everyone has to recite this prayer, even though the majority of the class was Muslim my teacher replied that no matter what religion you practice, you believe in a higher power that gives you strength and courage and lets you live another day. She explained that she had chosen this prayer specifically so that the whole class could participate.

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning my teacher holds mass in her classroom for both 5^th grade classrooms. Out of over 100 students, there are only twelve Christian students that attend each week. The Muslim students wait in the other 5^th grade classroom until mass is over. Other than the poster of Jesus hanging over the blackboard, religion does not seem to be imposed on the education of the students. Both religions seem to be accepting and understanding of the other, which is a reflection of Senegalese culture in general. For example, Christian neighbors bring their Muslim neighbors dessert during Easter, and Muslim neighbors bring their Christian neighbors part of their dinner during Tabaski.  It has been an amazing experience to see how two completely different ways of living can co-exist.

A Typical Day at the Jes in Galway, Ireland

      A typical day at the Jes begins at 9:00am and commences at 3:20. The students have two classes and then a break from 11:15 to 11:30. These first two classes that Mr. O’Flatharta teaches are on the Irish track, so although they are both History classes they are carried out in Gaelic. After the break, Mr. O’Flatharta teaches a double block of Modern Irish History for the 6^th years who are preparing for their Leaving Certificate exams. This double block goes from 11:30 to 12:55. Then the students have their lunch break until 2pm. The upperclassmen, the 5^th and 6^th years, are allowed to leave campus too. Afterwards the students have another class, sometimes a double block like on Wednesdays. Then the students have one more class and the school day ends at 3:20pm. At the start of each of his lessons by taking attendance and then usually goes over the homework. It rarely is an official homework check but he’ll ask certain students to share their answers to the questions. Their homework usually includes written responses to specific questions. The kids will then read their written work out loud and Mr. O’Flatharta will occasionally add some more information or write the key points, names and dates on the board.  
      Lately, for the 6^th years, they have been working on practice and sample essay questions for the Leaving Certificate. There is a separate part of the Leaving Certificate exam that is an oral section that all of the kids must complete as well. Everyone has a scheduled date and time and these have already started actually. For the written portion however, the students all have practice essay booklets for the exam which they bring to class with them. These have sample questions as well as questions from exams from years past. For example, the other day the students reviewed an essay question from 2008 which was “to what extent was the Anglo-Irish Treaty (1921) responsible for the Irish Civil War?”. The class would discuss the question overall and then Mr. O’Flatharta gave them five to ten minutes to write out a general plan for their paragraphs and to bullet point their points as if they were answering the question.

English Importance...

Throughout working with various levels of primary school classes in Florence and encountering people throughout Italy and in my travels, I cease to be amazed at the amount of English I hear. Recently, on a trip to London, a man from Brazil working at a market asked us if we spoke Italian since we were studying in Italy. We commented that we were learning it but we're definitely no experts. As English being his second language, he noted how lucky we are to speak English because there are so many places now that put an emphasis on learning and being able to speak English. 

I feel I can get by most places in Italy with my Italian, but the truth is, in a bind there is almost always someone who speaks English that is able to understand and help me. If Italians study in America, England, Ireland, as many do, and can not speak and understand English conversationally, they can not simply walk into a store and have someone assist them in Italian. I realize why it is so important to my CT to have us as "English natives" to talk in English with and to the students, starting from first grade! It is her job to prepare these students to be able to speak English, quite a big task considering she only sees the upper primary classes at most two or three hours a week! She aspires for them to be able to travel and have the opportunities to study elsewhere. This begins with studying English in first grade to fifth grade when the students are taken on a trip to Ireland where they are expected to converse in English and see the practicality of the work they have been doing in class. 

The difference was apparent when I was working with the third graders on -ing verbs. We were going over how when you use an -ing verb it must be paired with a to be verb, mostly am, is, and are. I.e.: The children are playing. She is eating. I am   singing. After a basic explanation of these verbs, a boy realizes and exclaims, "Ohh, il gerundio!" I laughed to myself thinking on how I had a quiz later that day in my Italian class on "il gerundio." It seemed almost comical to me that I am living in their country and learning the level of grammar in Italian that they learn of English in primary school. Also, it helped me realize how much this "teaching English" experience has been a "learning Italian" experience as well.