We all heard about the recent education riots in France. The things they complain about, leaks in the ceiling, missing teachers, underfunded schools, were all true about Belgian and British schools in the 1990s and early 2000s. So, why didn’t that generation react as violently?
In the UK, students did walk into the town council buildings, and hold peaceful marches throughout the country, to protest the introduction of tuition fees. Teachers did go on strike on occasion, as did university professors.
I remember walking through Manchester, hearing a firefighter talking at a strike for university staff. He spoke of being working class, like the university staff were. This was an idea of working class solidarity. This same solidarity stopped them from fighting against police, or security staff
His complaints, on behalf of the education staff, were very different to what the French are complaining about. He said they had so much money for university and school buildings, why none for salaries. So, there was discontent at paying a lot to rennovate schools and universities. Yes, when they finally fixed the leaks in the ceiling, it seems that is what led to the strike.
But, that still doesn’t explain what is happening in France. For that, we need to see the French idea of what a school is, and compare that to Harry Potter, the works of Enid Blighten, and Roald Dahl. It is the literature that
pre-cinema Ecole des Femmes
A play by Moliere written much earlier than the invention of cinema, this pushes humor at the hypocrisy. A Arnolphe tries to teach a young woman maxims, in the hopes of turning her into a perfect wife. Arnolphe says so many self help Maxims, that one thinks that he must have appeared on Brand Minds.
1976 L’argent de Poche
One of the most commercially successful films by Francois Truffaut, this film explores school from a child’s point of view. Unlike Harry Potter, these children don’t develop well at school.
The main characters, as usual, don’t do that well at school. But home life is part of the reason for that, a big part. It seems to have influenced Kindergarten Cop in a way.
1978 Passe ton Bac d’Abord
A depressing look at how lost France became after the revolutions of May 1968. Teenagers look forward to a bleak future, and to grown ups who are just crazy and weird. Yet, despite everything, they don’t burn anything.
The director of this film is also famous.
1985 Le Thé au Harem d’Archimède
Based on a French book of the same name, this follows immigrant youngsters who supposedly don’t fit in to France. The title alone tells you a lot, it is based on taunting of a teacher who distorts “Le Theorum de Archimed” to make a joke about the students. Probably the first of the angry stories.
I had to read this at university. You know how some people who teach languages always end up picking books that criticise the culture they teach about? Yeah, I hated the professor who picked this book, he was a real Canard.
Still, the book was okay, if you want to understand the banlieux and know nothing about it. The book it is based on is extremely hopeful, even if it excuses underachievement, it does so in a way that makes you understand life from the point of view of its author.
2002 Etre et Avoir
A man who teaches a schoool of all ages in Rural France. The children have no problems at all, they get on with their work when he attends to another child of another age. I guess they haven’t been brainwashed to hate authorities and cause division by the resentful doctrines by the far right France 24 and far right DW.
People who want to teach love this movie.
2004 Les Choristes
A man goes to a school for orphans. Of course they are troubled. One ends up burning down the school. He should have been put in jail, not simply kicked out of school.
But anyway, as troubled as the boys are, most of them improve. Two of them meet each other as old men, to recount the story of the dedicated teacher and musician. He sacrifices his entire life for boys who start out not respecting him.
If anything is wrong with this movie it’s that it gives an unrealistic idea of what a teacher should be.
I saw this at Cinema Victoria. Oh, I had some complaints about the subtitles, but the sound and projection seemed good, the chairs didn’t fall apart, and it was an overall good screening. There are so many Romanians who speak fluent French, why were the subtitles based on English subtitles? (And why were the English subtitles so poor?)
2008 La Classe
A teacher in a troubled neighbourhood in France tries to discipline children who do not want to learn. They seem out of control when one slaps another. And he fears losing his job because of a little gossip. However, as grimey as the film tries to be, and as much as it tries to paint a picture of how much education is in trouble, no one is seriously hurt. Wow, how innocent things were back then. I can’t believe this actually scared people away from teaching.
2013 Les Profs
Based on a comic book series. the tagline is, “at this school the kids are bad, but the teachers are even worse.”
It looks like it is supposed to be funny. I suppose a lot of people loved it, because they made two sequels. I guess the French were sick of making films where the teachers were dedicated saints, and wanted to tell the story about the teachers they wish they had instead.