Humfryskolan seemed like the perfect school to me. Incorporating media and art in lessons. Having a strong emphasis on using the right part of your brain when learning. Seemed like a place I would seek to my own children..... Now I am really not sure....
In Sweden this kind of school can be run with public funds and they are obliged to take all who applie into the classes - and Humfryskolan has...
The classes are a mix of children. There are pupils with creative skills, who are there because they want to work creativly now and maybe in the future. They are there because they are kinaesthetic learners and need another kind of teaching to absorbe knowledge.
But....also children who need another kind of teaching than what is usually supplied by the national schools are also accepted at Humfryskolan. Children who should attend some kind of special education are also in the classes - and that is a pitty.
The latter are to an extremely wide extend disturbing during classes. At Engelsborgskolen I had 4 pupils with various diagnoses in my 7th grade and it was no problem including them and making the learning environment a nice place to be. But at Humfryskolan it's really a problem - it's really not a nice place to be, neither for the pupils nor for the teacher (in this case me).
I'm in a 6th grade and I was warned by their teacher that they were 24 pupils who didn't like eachother. She had been using the time since they started in August 2010 to work with social interaction in class....and my impression is that she hasn't come far...
The girls are more or less okay, some are more popular than others (but that's how it's always going to be) and some are more eager to learn than others.
But the boys are absolutely rude. They swear, shout sexually abusing words, talk when they want to, leave the room when they want to and they have no respect what so ever for the teachers authority. If I were to have that class as my own (which I luckily am not - ever) I would have to change my style of teaching drastically....and I'm not prepared for that. Teaching should be done in an atmosphere of mutual respect - and no way I will trade that for authoritative teaching. I have the responsibility for the classroom as a nice place to be, and I will not change myself to be the "evil" teacher to gain the respect I belive everyone deserves.
But not only the pupils bears a responsibility here...the school lacks structure, dynamic and engagement. It's too loose for my liking and there is absolutely no structure as regards to teacher students in placement.
Well - can I really blame the children here? Isn't it when there is something wrong with the leader it shows on the floor?
But I only have one day left at Humfryskolan - so.....
That is a really interesting and challenging teaching problem! What do you do if the pupils are jeopardizing your project as a teacher? Can you use Gilliam for your reflection? And again, systemic theory would be useful.
ReplyDeleteIt takes time to change the atmosphere in a classroom and it's not easy. I remember a teacher who wrote to me after 1½ years with a similar class and what she wrote was: NOW they're just about working the way I would like them to. So 1½ years is not uncommon for changing things round....