| The cover story of the September issue of Harper’s magazine was the controversial screed "Against School." in which writer and schoolteacher John Taylor Gatto outlines a litany of reasons why the American public school system should be discarded for a new educational model.
It’s a brilliant essay that traces the history of the system and exposes it for what many of us already believed it was – 12 years of forced behaviour modification designed to divide individuals into socioeconomic classes at an early age, all while making us compliant with the different forms of authority we’re bound to encounter later in life. While the essay will inevitably raise the hackles of conformist educators across the continent, it’s worth considering whether public school actually provides children with the best education they could possibly have. The article is directed at the American system, but with fewer teaching positions and growing class sizes right here in Calgary, one wonders if there is a better way.
French director Nicholas Philibert’s documentary Etre et avoir (To Be and To Have, France, 2002) may not be the cinematic equivalent of Gatto’s article, but it does show a much more compassionate mode of education than I’ve ever seen. Chronicling approximately seven months of life in a one-room schoolhouse in the Auvergne region of France, To Be and To Have reveals that school can, in fact, be a rewarding experience for both students and teachers.
Of course, this is not your average school – it puts about a dozen kids between the ages of four and 10 into one room, under the tutelage of Monsieur Georges Lopez, whose patience, compassion and rational approach to discipline make him an uncommonly serene schoolmaster. Granted, Lopez doesn’t seem to be dealing with shrinking budgets or class sizes that grow faster than cancer, but perhaps that’s the point. Since his class is small, he’s able to give each of his students the individual attention they require, and the results are clear. The title of the film may conjure up images of simple verb conjugation, but Lopez is teaching his pupils much more than that.
Instructing them on how to get along in the world, Lopez helps his charges resolve their conflicts and teaches them personal responsibility in the process. For example, when two of the older boys have a schoolyard dispute, Lopez explains to them that such fights within a small class set bad examples for the younger children and disrupt the calm of the classroom. Then, with great patience and understanding, Lopez helps the boys break the fight down to its constituent elements until they can agree to put aside their differences and forgive one another.
This sequence is just one of many that showcase Philibert’s intimate documentary method – the film approaches the classic definition of cinema verité. There is no narration. There are no explanatory titles. Save for one interview with Lopez about halfway through, Philibert (who also shot and edited the film) simply captures his subjects in ordinary situations in their natural environment. The director’s access to all aspects of his subjects’ lives – even the most private discussions between teacher and student – are a testament to his respectful manner and reveal a humanist behind the camera to match the one in front.
We realize that no matter what problem any of these kids may face, Lopez is equipping them to cope with real life and to have respect and empathy for their fellow human beings. To Be and To Have documents not only the growth and development of real people, but also the passage of time and the traumatic inevitability of change. The children may be self-conscious at times, looking directly into the camera, but their precocious attitudes are often the source of much humour, too. As humour can be a source of strength, this is one strong argument for a different, more attentive and more compassionate approach to education. |
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