The Judge and The Teacher

I came downstairs this week to see my parents watching a French movie. My mom described the movie as a documentary type movie - but with acting. A documentary in French with English sub-titles did not at first appeal to me. I sat down planning to watch five minutes, but ended up watching the movie for over an hour.   The movie, The Class, is based on an auto-biographical novel written by a teacher. The teacher who wrote the novel is cast in the movie as the teacher in a French class (like our English class). The movie was filmed with a group of students aged about 15, who improvised and acted, but in such a way that it seems like a documentary. The school was located in a poor, multi-ethnic neighborhood in Paris. Although there were some similarities in the way the students behaved, there were many contrasts between this poor Parisian school and New Trier, and it kept my attention.  For a more complete description of the movie click <a href=http://rogerebert.suntimes.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20090204/REVIEWS/902049991/1023> Here </a>. 

A central theme in this movie was the power struggle within the classroom between the students and the teachers. The teacher would talk, followed by students talking out and challenging what he said, often showing disrespect. Often, arguments would erupt between the teacher and the class. The students talked out because they did not fear the punishment, unlike New Trier students. In a less competitive school, the kids cared about their grades significantly less than New Trier students care about their grades. Therefore, the teacher threatening to take points off their grades for speaking out is a less successful form of punishment. Many students would swear in class and disrespect their teacher, regardless of what effect it has on their grade. When a student's behavior became extremely disruptive he could be sent to a disciplinary committee to see if he should be expelled from the school. 

The way the students stood up to their teachers, and did not fear consequences, made me think about how different this was from our school. At New Trier, for the most part, students fear punishment and do not swear to their teachers or classmates, or show disrespect for their teachers in general. At New Trier, we can be punished for significantly more minor incidents. For example, just openly disagreeing with the teacher can easily get a student sent to the hallway or adviser chair. The teachers also control the students' grades. Since the teachers control the students' grades, students will suck up to their teachers in order to have a better grade. Students will do extra credit assignments, and tell their teachers that they are good students and do their homework and try hard, so they can get a better grade. Performing for grades is directly connected to our ultimate goal of being accepted at the best college possible. In the French school, students didn't seem to have that motivation.

In The Crucible, the judges' power over the townspeople is very similar. In Salem not many people speak out against the court in fear of retribution. Since the judges hold so much power, and can condemn someone to death for behaving like a witch, people want to be on the good side of the judge. One will claim that they are a good religious person, and have gone to church in the past, just so the judges can see them as a good person who could not be considered a witch. 

Both the teacher and the judge hold so much power over their class, or townspeople, that they receive respect. The class and the town want to be on the good side of the person in power, so they suck up to their judge or teacher in order to save themselves. But is this really respect?