Liberty, equality and fraternity. Myth?

When you think of France, images of a relatively egalitarian world comes to mind, a society in which people of all ethnicities - White, Black, Arab, Asian, etc - have more or less the same standard of living, in which everybody has cheap healthcare, good unemployment benefits, paid vacations and freshly baked baguettes whose soft insides seem to melt in your mouth. On a superficial level, that's what I thought. It turns out this is not the case.

In the course of the next seven months, I will be teaching English to little French kids between the ages of 6 to 10. I have been assigned to three schools, where for the past week I have been shadowing current English teachers in their respective classes. One school, called Michel de la Fourniere, is quite pleasant. I would say it'll be the 'easiest' out of the three. The students are disciplined to a degree that I can tolerate and the atmosphere makes me feel welcomed, not just by the students but by the faculty as well.

The other two, however, are another story. Recently at one of these schools, often referred to as 'ecoles difficils', there was an incident where three classrooms were set on fire, resulting in a situation in which classroom sizes had to increase due to a lack of space. Books, important documents containing information on students, equipment were lost. To my surprise, I found the school's ambiance quite pleasant and didn't seem like the students - comprised mostly of Arabs, Blacks, Asians and a small White minority - were affected by the fire. They seemed very enthusiastic about learning English, which makes me feel better. All in all, good vibes from this school despite its reputation and recent controversies.

Ecole Gutenberg. When that name comes out of my mouth, I receive the same reaction from everybody. People role their eyes and look at me in a way that makes me feel pitied. I went to observe a class for the first time at Gutenberg and it's safe to say that the school definitely lived up to its reputation. While the students were rowdy and loud,the teachers seemed aloof and not wanting to be there. The director of the school was making phone calls concerning business for a vineyard he owns, clearly not attentive to his surroundings. But that's only my impression. In any case, during class the instructor must've yelled 'je demande du silence absolu !' at least 10 times to no avail. All in all, I just didn't feel good about this school. The neighborhood in which it's located didn't help either. I felt as though I was in a foreign country based on the demographics of the people walking in the street.

I guess it's good that I saw an aspect of France that people don't really have in mind. The dark aspect. Upon seeing it, the expression 'liberty, equality, and fraternity' started to have a different meaning to me. I start teaching at a full capacity starting this Thursday. My exploration continues...