Teaching In America - Critical Pedagogy

     In my own « tiny » experience in education I realized that what made the difference in a classroom is the hidden curriculum. Last year, I worked simultaneously for two male teachers during the last month of school and had the chance to enter their world, analyze and eventually compare the two ways of teaching.

   They both had a class of ten year-old. The first teacher had what we would call a « standardized way to teach ». He had his schedule extremely organized, knew the lessons he was to give and the homework he would ask for. He had much responsibility as two children in his class had important health issues and had tangibly conveyed the important value of respect. Everyone had to be quiet and had to listen to one another.

  The students did not really like their teacher and were mostly bored since their attention and enthusiasm were not stimulated enough. Yet what was interesting to me is that this feeling generated a sense of solidarity and friendship among the students. They overlooked their differences and worked together because they felt in the same boat.

   Now, the other teacher had an « informal way to teach ». He had created his own rules, though based on numerous theories, and tried new things all the time. The students worked most of the time in groups and they almost never sat. The atmosphere in the classroom was very lively and joyful. The bound between the teacher and the children was much stronger but maybe was it too familiar…

   Indeed, at the end of the year those children were too confident and relaxed to properly pay attention to what was said and ended considering the classroom as a playground. A great number of them, therefore, lost the benefit of what they had learned and regressed in their behavior. They lacked of responsibility, tolerance, concentration, and understanding. Though the teachers' ideas may have been good and worth trying, he did not anticipate the consequences of his decisions and actions. However, in the other classroom, the less enjoyable atmosphere did not prevent the students from improving in every field and not only did it bring them self-esteem but the relationship they built was so strong, to me, it was worth anything in the world.

Frankly, I don't think either teachers reflected on the consequences of their choices and I do regret that the success and failure of these children were determined so randomly.