School Daze Part II

I decided to divide this entry into two sections because I feel I am dealing with two separate, though interrelated, educational systems. The first is the bilingual program, and the second is public high school. In the first section, I tried to give you a sense of the bilingual program. But what has piqued my interest even more are the differences between how the high school itself runs here as compared high schools in the U.S. I am so interested, in fact, that I think I am changing my secondary project to focus on this comparative perspective instead of the role of religion in public education. The church/state relationship is still something that constitutes a 'difference' between the Spanish and US educational systems, but I would rather look at it as one comparative aspect instead of focusing on it exclusively.

Before I get into my little 'list' of differences that have stuck out to me so far, I want to present another 'list', this one containing some qualifying factors to what I have observed;

1) I am not expert in educational policy, teaching, or pedagogy. I didn't study these things as an undergrad, and I haven't yet studied them yet in grad school. I have also never taught in an American high school. My knowledge of the US system comes from my own experience as a student, my work as a college admissions counselor, some background reading, and conversations with people more familiar with the system and issues than myself. So at this point, my observations are based on limited experience and I may have impressions that are uninformed or misinformed. I hope to become better educated (no pun intended) as I go along.

2) My experience with public education in Madrid is limited to one specific school in one specific area. Alcorcón is a former industrial area that is now a bedroom community south of Madrid. It is developing rapidly as people are moving out of the city due to rising costs of living. My coordinator (who is also a teacher at the school) describes the socio-economic composition of the students as "working and middle class". Unlike many more urban schools, this school has not yet experienced a large influx of immigrants, and I'm sure this factor accounts for alot of variation between public schools in different areas. So, my experience is not reflective of all public schools in Madrid, and certainly not of all public schools in Spain.

3) I am not exposed to the "mainstream" school system because I am involved solely in the bilingual program. However, the structure of school (daily schedule, student-teacher interactions, the role of the teacher, classroom mores, student behavior, etc) seems to me to be essentially the same as in the non-bilingual section.

So, with all this in mind, here are some major differences I have encountered so far. I hope to explore each one in more depth, tease out what they reflect about the different educational philosophies and cultural influences at work;

1) Students do not switch classrooms throughout the day. They stay with the same group, in the same classroom, for every period--teachers come to them. It would be like having every class with your homeroom classmates, in your homeroom (sort of like elementary school in the U.S, except even then you physically move to different rooms a few times). This means that teachers do not have their own classrooms. Between bells, the teachers lounge is buzzing as everyone comes by to collect their materials, chat, and double check what room they're heading to next.

I always thought of the classroom as the domain of the teacher, where he/she can decorate as they like, put up their students' work, have a desk, have a "space" that is theirs. That really doesn't exist here--classrooms are the domain of the student. As a result, most rooms have little on the walls, because it is not used for just one subject. Personally, I think this results in cabin fever among the students, but also more familiarity (and annoyance with each other) because they're around the same people all day every day.

2) When talking about this difference with one of the teachers, I stumbled upon a related aspect of this sedentary system; there are no differentiated levels within subjects. In fact, I was told, it is prohibited by law for public schools to separate students by ability level. That means there is no such thing as "advanced biology" or "honors English" or the equivalent of AP classes. That also means there isn't remedial help for students who are struggling. Everyone is taught the same (national) curriculum in every subject.

I'm not sure how I feel about this. On the one hand, I guess it is a more "equal" system, but on the other hand, it encourages teachers to teach to the middle range of ability, which inevitably neglects the needs of both low and high achieving students. Perhaps this is also related to the fact that after 4 years of high school (age 12-16, there is no middle school), there is an optional 2 years called "Bachillerato" which prepares college-bound students for their entrance exams (sort of like the A-level system in Britain). These final two years, which are not mandatory, are, I suppose, where the high-achievers receive more advanced instruction, but it doesn't seem fair that there isn't really an option for everyone else.

3) The classroom dynamic between teachers and students is, in general, much less formal. For one thing, I wear jeans to work every day; there is no teacher dress code. Students call teachers by their first names, when they don't call them 'Profe'. Teachers routinely arrive to class 5 or 10 minutes late. I mentioned before how much I liked the informality of the professional environment (the relationships between faculty members), and I can see advantages to how it appears to apply to the student-teacher relationship as well. Student-teacher interactions seem much more human and warm.

However, one downside seems to be that students don't respect the teachers' authority as much. Of course, teachers have different temperaments, different styles, and varying degrees of control over their classes--I think that's to be expected anywhere. But in most of my classes, a good chunk of time and energy is spent telling people to be quiet and pay attention. Granted, the worst classes are those with 27 students--I know overcrowding is a problem in many public schools at home, and now I can really see how detrimental that is to the learning environment. Of course they're going to start talking when there are so many people and only one teacher who can't possibly include everyone in what's going on.

Still, I'm amazed at how much time is wasted during class. My school is considered a decent public school (my coordinator said it's somewhere in the middle relative to others in Madrid); it does not have the kind of problems with discipline or violence that I know exist elsewhere in the city. For instance, I know another TA in a really difficult school, who has experienced problems that make this blog entry seem very indulgent (physical violence, racism against students by teachers, you name it). Knowing how comparatively mild this school is, then, makes me think that there is some kind of difference other than crowded classrooms that makes it so difficult to hold students' attention.

I want to emphasize that these are not bad kids at all, they are sweet and intelligent and they have a range of personalities just like any group of people. Considering the problem other schools have, teachers consider being placed at this school a blessing (see point 5 for what I mean by ´placement´). It just seems like students aren´t socialized to classroom etiquette with the same emphasis as in American elementary schools. My coordinator said a few things about it (paraphrased below) to me that I would like to look into further;

a) "You will find, Talia, that Spanish children are alot less disciplined. They are very spoiled by their parents at home; children rule the household, so they bring the same sense of entitlement to school as well. You will find they are alot more rowdy than what you're used to." This seems like a huge generalization to me, but maybe there's something to it. . .

b) "Under Franco, Spain was a very strict society. Everything was regimented and disciplinarian. After Franco died, society went to the other extreme, and this generation of school children is a product of this backlash against authority." To me, this makes more intuitive sense. It's easy to forget that Spain is such a young democracy, really less than 30 years old. My friend Caitlin told me Spain is often referred to as "la tierra de no hablar" (roughly, "the land of not speaking"). You would never guess how recent Spain's dictatorial past is from talking to people because it rarely comes up in conversation, but when you scratch the surface there is actually alot about contemporary Spanish culture that is related to Franco.

4) Students have to buy their own books. There isn't a "class set" that the teacher distributes at the beginning of the year. The books are ordered over the summer and then the students have to buy them at a specific place, like in in college in the States. And, like in college, sometimes the books are late in arriving, so nobody can buy them. Sometimes, they don't order enough and some kids have to wait until new ones come in. And sometimes, students are not exactly on the ball about getting their books--in this, the 4th week, some still haven´t picked up their books for various subjects. There are a few that just don't bring their materials to class, ever. And, relating to the issue mentioned above, the teachers don't seem to be able to enforce being prepared as a basic condition of being in their class. I´m sure indifference on the part of some students is a universal problem, though.

5) Public school teachers are civil servants. There apparently is a teacher's union, but it is very weak (in the U.S. it is one of the most powerful). New teachers have no choice in where they are placed in the city, and can be reassigned from year to year until they rack up enough seniority "points" to have more of a say over their placement. After 10 years or so, they earn a permanent placement at a school, which means they can stay there as long as they want. I hope I can identify other ways in which being a government employee effects the teachers and school system.

There are more differences, both obvious and subtle, but so far these have been the most striking. Besides, this entry has gone on long enough already. From now on, I'll try for a more even balance of curricular and extra-curricular experiences within these writings, but thanks for bearing with me up to this point. If you have any suggestions or thoughts on any of these topics, I'd love to hear them!