Costs of not Being Proactive? (Review of "Entre les murs")

Last Sunday, I went with two co-workers to the movies after out shifts ended. One suggested we go see a movie which translates to "The Class" because she thought it was recently recommended to her. What we saw was a what seemed like a documentary of a French high school.

My friends, who attended high school together, were both uncomfortably reminded of their experiences. One commented that it was scary how alike schools are across national and language borders. I was thinking of the first high school that I would have attended, which looked like a prison from the outside - and most of the kids who came out looked like they belonged. Now, only a few of the kids I saw triggered that thought, but I was struck by how few acted like they cared about making something of themselves.

Aside from affirming that I will never be a high school teacher, this film made me think further on what might lead to actively learning. Some key points I found re-enforced:

• Teaching must be modified to the student; one kid - who got expelled - seemed to need a different learning environment.
• Schools are not necessarily the best place for encouraging kids to become responsible.
• Parental involvement and (loving) encouragement makes a huge difference.
• Teachers cannot count on students listening or respecting them unless the parents have taught them to at least pay lip service toward following the rules.
• Teachers have too much to deal with academically already, and they don't need to endure what amounts to temper tantrums (aka, emotional growing pains).
  

Things looked so bad that I was actually surprised that the kids reported learning anything educational at the end of the year. Which demonstrates that you have to do some creative planing and thinking to get them interested in learning. For example, if a kid is completely fascinated by dinosaurs, then you can probably encourage them to learn about how we know what we know about them. (That was me around ages 5-8.)

I hope anyone who watched this film thinks harder about what is happening in their schools, and where the money is already going, before their elected representatives approve any new spending. We have a long way to go, but maybe a seemingly bleak picture can inspire new ideas and determined parents and teachers to break the mold.