Love and Law
It’s easy to quickly see two kids rough-housing and draw conclusions that their “values education” is not seeping in. Loraine is the first to admit that the kids are naughty, but not malicious, which is certainly the case.They will often talk during class, and generally push the limits, but their sincere respect for teachers and each other is also tangible. The easiest way toshow them the proper respect, but when push comes to shove our love is evident. Si explain this is that they are like a family. If my parents were teaching us we might keep talking and not milarly, during a ninth grade class I became frustrated as the teachers, who dedicate their whole lives to the kids, were having to speak over kids, some reading comics under the table, others just goofing with their neighbors. In public school though, I often saw similar behavior, but coupled with a deliberate attempt to annoy the teacher – here there is none of that. Also take on many responsibilities that aren’t immediately monitored – -washing their own dishes, making sure the little ones get to class on time, even attending prayers and flag ceremony – no one takes attendance (these by the way are activities that you’d expect them to want to miss, the flag ceremony is upwards of 45 minutes standing on a basketball court, singing national songs, raising the flag, listening to announcements etc. The prayers, which I’ve described earlier are more enjoyable, but come on, they start at 5:45. Today I decided to stay in our room and “pray with Ladoo” (our rabbit) which turned into me going back to sleep until the luxurious hour of 6:30).
The other day I was walking back to the main campus from where grades 1-3 had had a two day camp out experience (unlike campfires in the US, this one involved a big sound system and loud group songs and dances until late in the nigh). Anyway the kids walked back unattended and a number of them ran up to me and excitedly pointed to a 2nd grade girl whom I knew to be a bit of a ring leader. She was tugging on the shirt-collar of one of the 1st grade boys, and roughhousing a bit.
“Teachuh!!” they exclaimed, “Love!” and then, getting their pronouns a bit mixed up, said “I love you” but were pointing to the boy and girl to show me that they “loved” each other. I think thought they were telling on them for a big offense, but since I didn’t really respond, they felt the need to clarify, so they wrapped their arms around themselves and turned around to give the impression of someone else’s arms sensuallu hugging them. I laughed and said I understood, but I thought they were just friends. So, i guess this story taught me both just how innocent and not these kids are at the same time. On the one hand, the gesture was pretty suggestive and surprised me coming from kids in such a sheltered environment. On the other, they showed their innocence by expecting me to scold the kid for tugging on another’s clothes.
So, what’s the point here? Im not really sure, just that I’m trying to sort out what’s real and what’s not, how much “better” (in terms of behaviour, they keep drilling into our heads that all kids are good, only behaviour differs, oh look at that British spelling im adopting) than kids in normal schools. I don’t know. I think back to my best teachers — Mrs. Putre in 5th grade, Mr. Ledderman in 7th, and realize that while they showed tremendous respect and love for the students, they had a few, clear rules of discipline, like disallowing students to talk in class, which I believe are crucial to academic and personal success. Here the emphasis is about inspiring the students, and even “entertaining them.” I’ve never taught for a long period, and can’t really draw conclusions yet, but I’ve been thinking about the balance of “love and Law” innocence and exposure.
Tags: Thailand, Travel
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