The ponderings of a teacher aide...

Before I start writing; YES I have an exam in four days, YES I am lacking sleep, YES I am procrastinating, and finally YES this will be another rant about the education system. I thought it best to warn you before you start reading just what you are getting into :)

Today I worked at the Vincent primary school as a teacher aide. I was with the same grade 4/5 class and had the same lovely teacher (who, as in turns out, actually goes to the Baptist church!) so it was a good day. And I have to say, it is certainly a nice change to be paid by Education Queensland rather than the other way around. Although the best part of the day was that once again I came away having learnt a tonne of new things. Firstly, I learnt that there is a WWE wrestler called "The Great Khali". Secondly, I learnt that if your name is Carly, and therefore sounds quite like Khali, this is a great way for a group of grade 4/5 boys to think that you are super cool, even if you have never heard of "The Great Khali" before. So yes, I am now "The Great Khali". Sure beats being called Mr Laird. Although unfortunately being associated with a wrestler did nothing to stifle the number of fights that occured whilst I was on duty. You always know when a fight is going down because all of the kids in the surrounding area start yelling "Fight! Fight! Fight! Fight!". This goes for in class fights as well. So that is certainly helpful. I'm beginning to realise that fights/brawls are just a given in some schools. It's a sad reality but it becomes less shocking each time.

Anyway, I wanted to share something that I was pretty taken aback by today. As a teacher aide, you go with the students to their specialist classes when the teacher has non-contact time. This means that I got to go to HPE and music lessons, which was a lot of fun. Although I use the term 'music lesson' pretty loosely here, it was hardly a lesson and there was very little that I would actually classify as 'music'. Basically the extent of the 'lesson' was sitting on the carpet and singing three secular songs from sheets of lyrics. Now call me old fashioned.. it's probably true and I am completely ok with that.. but the lyrics of these songs were not in any way appropriate for grade 4/5 children. Granted most of the kids already knew these songs, but that isn't the point. They should not be promoted and encouraged in the school environment. The attitude that the lyrics fostered, not merely the content of the lyrics, is not something that this class needs. Most of the students are on the brink of puberty and do not need an excuse to give lip. Some of the lyrics in these songs included: "Tonight is the night, to join me in the middle of ecstasy" and "Cause we've only got one night double your pleasure, double your fun". There was another song by a chick that was just overflowing with attitude, that typical American "I answer to nobody and defy anything that resembles authority" attitude. I say American, but it's probably just as common here. Although it wasn't just the lyrics of the songs that were a problem, but the songs themselves. The only reason that I begrudgingly call these pieces 'music' is because the singing/moaning did follow a rhythm and a tune. However just throwing on a CD of computer generated sound is doing nothing to teach children an appreciation of music. I am so excited to be learning the guitar because this will be such a fantastic tool in the classroom. Anyway, I guess the point I am making is that we need to be careful about what we endorse in our classrooms. We are already fighting a losing battle with society in terms of what children are exposed to, and are thus becoming more and more desensitised to. Songs with explicit lyrics bombard children daily and I realise that in many ways this is unavoidable, but surely we can draw the line when it comes to what enters the curriculum. I guess what is really needed is a change of values. Everytime we re-draw the line with issues such as these it closes the gap between what is right and what is wrong. This gap is quickly diminishing and it probably won't be long before society decides that to say something is 'wrong' is to impose your beliefs upon someone else, and because truth and therefore what is 'right' is entirely relative, morality is left up to individual interpretation (yes this is exaggerated but it's the direction that we're heading in).

The other thing that I found interesting today is the benefits of being a 'friend' to students. As education students we are constantly told that we are not to be a friend to students, but rather a teacher. And I agree with that up to a point.. I suppose it is different when you are a teacher aide.. but the friendships that I made with a few of the students today were definitely a positive thing. During outside time one of the girls said a combination of some pretty crude and offensive words to one of the students in pig latin whilst standing right next to me. She clearly thought that I wouldn't understand her, yet she had underestimated my ability to remember completely random and useless things. So I just rattled off a reply in pig latin saying that I didn't appreciate her language, and she was completely taken aback. She then asked if I could speak double dutch (stupid question, of course I could). This girl made it her business to tell all of her friends that I could speak double dutch, so I had a way of communicating with this group of girls who were quite the trouble makers. By the end of the day this group of girls were hugging me and chatting with me and wanting to sit by me. Obviously I had to be careful that I wasn't just talking in a secret language with these particular girls all the time and giving them special attention, but having this connection with them, small as it was, had a great effect on their behaviour, even if it was just for one day.

Well this blog is quite long enough... I have satisfied my need to ramble so I should probably get back to the books...