Adaptation In The Movie The Class

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Liberty, Equality and Fraternity are the motto of the French Republic. But is equality still present in this education system? Adaptation is key for learning and sharing your knowledge with others. From the movie The Class, Mr. François Marin is a young French teacher trying to help his student get the knowledge they need to graduate; in a way he is sharing his own wisdom. We can see he is using different pedagogy to make his hour a more interesting and lively experience for his student to remember. However, François is facing strong problems with his multicultural class, which have in common a type of language barrier. For instance, the students may understand the French language but not its subtlety. The readings he gave them are not representative …show more content…

Marin and his multicultural class. Indeed, during the film he adopts different attitudes and behaviors toward his students. At an instant he can be portrayed as an encouraging professor. For instance, despite the struggle of some students to understand the lesson, François helps, supports and encourages them to continue in this specific path, to help them persevere. The example of a student, Wei who has a lot of difficulties to understand the French language can be quoted, as well as Souleymane when he is doing his self-portrait. The teacher is cheering them up by giving them good feedbacks and emphasizing their progress. Moreover, François is willing to build and maintain an equal relationship with his class; meaning, if he is asking the students for something, he will also do it to show a mutual respect, but also because he is here to show the model. For example, he wrote his name on the blackboard like the students did on their papers when they were asked to. François can also be teasing at some moments. He often repeats the students’ mistakes, either to evacuate some self-tension or exasperation, or to play the student’s game in order to build a mutual trust. Sometimes his mocking is leading to reprimand from the students; they have difficulties understanding their teacher who doesn’t use the same language as they do. For instance, …show more content…

The professor ha a high position by nature, as the adult he is seen as the knowledgeable person who has the skills and they acquire him the power over the classroom. He is also responsible for the children’s intellectual schooling or training, as well as their education as future French citizens. In France, you have to learn some social codes when you go to school. For instance, it is considered as a form of respect and a fact of being polite to stand up when your teacher enters the classroom. We also talk and behave in a certain way toward our teacher that differs from our friends. For example, we cannot use “tu”, and have to use “vous”, which in English are the same “you” pronoun but in French there is one for elderly people as a sign of respect, and another one for our friends and relatives. Moreover, a good in class behavior also implies asking permission to leave the class or simply ask or answer a question; you cannot just say it out loud. These rules are passed by the school code and the social group life. The communication between the teacher and the student is not hierarchical. There has to be a place for dialogue and mutual respect. When this relation slips to a ratio power, it all goes in a downward spiral, a “ game of powers” of who is going

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