Behaviour in Schools
A question for the teachers in Qatar. Could you give me an impression of the general behaviour of primary school children in class? I have taught in several countries and the 'general' behaviour has ranged from sitting rigidly still and refusing to utter even one syllable (I'm sure that I could have stood on my head and blown bubbles and there still wouldn't have been a reaction), to running around the classroom screaming because the pervading believe wass that 'the little dears will come round when they're ready' (Which, of course, they never do!)Years ago, I taught a lot of Middle Eastern children in Birmingham, and loved it. Hard work, but they were some of the best teaching years I've ever had. Of course, migrant children sometimes behave quite differently outside their country of origen....
Vanhornstern, you say - "if nothing is done they are removed from the school" ...... that is a bygone era. Schools these days are money making business centres - that is truth put bluntly.
There is a strong similarity between the implementation of the traffic rules and the school rules. Most people can afford to pay the fines, and most of the violations go unaccounted for. In schools, rules are not implemented either. A student caught with a mobile phone in class, for example, makes his father call the school. In 99% of the cases the school does not dare to keep the phone confiscated. Especially not, when the child is a Qatari. You never know, but the school may loose its license if the father is "influential". Therefore, mobiles are not allowed in schools as per an edict of the Ministry of Education, but everybody uses a mobile, and that includes the F****** teachers, too. They are "role models", ha ha ha. What do you expect?
but why should they HAVE to discipline? (The teachers) May be a warning and then if its a real problem, call the parents in and they do something. If nothing is done they are removed from the school. Since when should a kid trample over his/her society?
No wonder you hear the "I remember when I was young.."
My teachers loved me - always a goody goody. Remember a boy sitting next to me who was asked to open his fist. The teacher had a scale and hit hard on his palms - at the same time his knickers came down. I noticed his shoelaces were open too. At that time I thought it was the impact of hitting him. He gave out such a loud howl, the class never dared to raise voice in that teacher's class.
Times are different now. Teachers have to be very tactful.
Man when i was in school we had books thrown at us, canes on our butts and hands, once i even remember a teacher whacking a student with his belt!! I think teachers should be strict when it comes to discipline. Kids should know how to behave in schools and be taught how to behave in society as well. Even parents now a days are being too lenient with their children.
Good Fortune always comes knocking at your door...when you are sh*tting in the toilet!! :)
_[]~SMoKE~[]_
I have certain grievances about the so called 'modern teaching'. I guess there is a lot of parent interference (primary school children)these days unlike old times and the school admin. supports it. Whereas children in senior classes are completely neglected by most parents !!
Infact a 'pat' or a 'shout' is considered physologically traumatic!! How will these 'delicate darlings' compete in the times to come if they have such inflated egos?.
I had wondered whether that was the case. It's a common problem in quite a few countries. Thanks for the insight.
A general problem is that some parents think they "buy" the certificates for their children. They also consider schools as a "drop-off" location to get "rid" of their offspring for a certain number of hours. It is these children who normally corrupt any school in Doha, because most of them are Qataris and the schools are run by Non-Qataris, and they don't dare to open their mouths to complain.
Ah. So it's like where I'm teaching at the moment. Is this 'zoo' behaviour the same for both language academies and private schools alike? By 'private', I mean both international schools as well as private primary and secondary schools run by either ex-pats and locals?
Basically it's like in the zoo.