A typical school day
First, there is not corporeal punishment here, other schools, local schools, I think that there is, but not here. We do have some students who come from these other schools, not many, but you can tell.
Generally there is a great deal of respect for teachers/gurus, but it is not all encompassing, it has to be earned. Compared to the urban schools I've been in America, there are no serious disciplinary problems. That does not mean that there is total acquiesence either. The students are fairly naive, and less sophisticated than American children. They are also very wealthy. Their parents are very interested in them to the point of being doting.
In the morning we have a mentor period. I have a class that is like a homeroom, then classes begin. The students stay in this class all day and teachers go from room to room. I have a about 5 or 6 classes a day and when the school day ends, I monitor my mentor class for an hour of study hall. Those who need it have a tutorial in subjects for another hour and then an hour of CCA's which are extracurricular activities (I lead basketball). That brings us to about 5:15pm at which point one has to balance waiting another hour for a school driver to bring you home or taking a cab and paying a small price. Usually, the urge to get out of here makes the latter option pretty appealing. Traffic at that hour is something to see, once.
There are not many obese children, if any. That sort of thing is shamed and discouraged to the point where it is out of hand. There is a rigidity in the culture of the school and the empahasis is often superficial, or narrow minded. Many have noted, not just Westerners that in this culture (which is NOT Indonesian) that there is a concrete belief in a black and white reality with little spillover. Add to that a respect for power and those with influence, add to that a very pro-capitalist government, and you have a fairly superficially, rigid and uncritical worldview. The textbooks for history suggest that in a true civilisation there is a hierarchy of occupations with some necessarily more respected than others. More on that later.
Generally there is a great deal of respect for teachers/gurus, but it is not all encompassing, it has to be earned. Compared to the urban schools I've been in America, there are no serious disciplinary problems. That does not mean that there is total acquiesence either. The students are fairly naive, and less sophisticated than American children. They are also very wealthy. Their parents are very interested in them to the point of being doting.
In the morning we have a mentor period. I have a class that is like a homeroom, then classes begin. The students stay in this class all day and teachers go from room to room. I have a about 5 or 6 classes a day and when the school day ends, I monitor my mentor class for an hour of study hall. Those who need it have a tutorial in subjects for another hour and then an hour of CCA's which are extracurricular activities (I lead basketball). That brings us to about 5:15pm at which point one has to balance waiting another hour for a school driver to bring you home or taking a cab and paying a small price. Usually, the urge to get out of here makes the latter option pretty appealing. Traffic at that hour is something to see, once.
There are not many obese children, if any. That sort of thing is shamed and discouraged to the point where it is out of hand. There is a rigidity in the culture of the school and the empahasis is often superficial, or narrow minded. Many have noted, not just Westerners that in this culture (which is NOT Indonesian) that there is a concrete belief in a black and white reality with little spillover. Add to that a respect for power and those with influence, add to that a very pro-capitalist government, and you have a fairly superficially, rigid and uncritical worldview. The textbooks for history suggest that in a true civilisation there is a hierarchy of occupations with some necessarily more respected than others. More on that later.
posted by athensinternational at 5:17 PM
2 Comments:
This is so informative and answers many of our questions. Thanks. So happy to hear you are doing well. We're fine here and enjoying the Smiths.
Hi
obervations always feel out of control. Many administrators choose odd days or times. I am glad you are doing so well. Have a great weekend.
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