Teaching in Birmingham has now begun for me, with 5 days of supply under my belt. I will first make a note of the fact that I use the term "teaching" very loosely, as there is not a ton of teaching that gets done when one does cover work. As much as I feel bad about the fact that I may have "low expectations" with regards to how much will get done when I am covering a class, I am trying to be honest about it with myself - every day I go in I simply hope for the best, but prepare for the worst. Let's face it, it hasn't been that long since I myself was in a high school classroom as a student, and I remember well the amount of work that got done with supply teachers. Even the "good students" tended to do very little work. At this point I am happy to have an incident free day.
The schools here are much different than at home. The system is different, the curriculum is different, the teacher's are different... and I have yet to do any real curriculum planning or marking. Where to start... So far, the two schools I have been to are quite big - something that I didn't have to experience at home. The youngest students in a secondary school can be as young as eleven - which is quite a few years younger than I what I am used to. To be honest, the little guys are so young and so small - they look to me like they should still be playing on school yard jungle gyms. I have found that I need to remind myself of their age while teaching, and adjust my expectations accordingly. The senior students in secondary are only 16 - which to me seems to young to be finishing high school (although many go on to 6th Form - sort of like CEGEP in Quebec, I guess).
I am well aware of the fact that relationships between students and teachers vary greatly, depending on the individual teacher as well as the school. However, what I was not prepared for, what I am not used, and what I will not get used to is the nature of the student-teacher interaction here.... speaking very generally, the differences seem stem from the focus on the tradition of formality and the ideas of manners and respect that surround that tradition. It is not something I am accustomed to, to say the least.
Different habits for different rabbits, as they say. I am excited to see how this teaching year progresses. I know I have much to see and learn and think about. But I will say this: in this situation, I will not be going along to get along... "When in Rome..." will not happen with regards to much of the teaching practice as I have seen it so far...
