As an ex-lecturer, used to teaching robust 16-19 year olds, I was keen to see the French film ‘The Class’, (Entre les murs – between the walls). The film is set in a secondary school in a poor district of Paris with a high immigrant population. The pupils are aged around fourteen. I was fooled by the documentary style and it was only about half way through the film before I realised it was not.
The film opens with the teachers assembling for another year. There is a funny scene where one of the veterans is reviewing the class list of a new teacher. He summarises the students as ‘Nice … Nice … Not nice … Nice’. There were not many nice ones in the class. The experienced teachers look on the coming year with a mixture of humour, cynicism and resignation. Of interest to me was that there was only one non-white teacher on the staff.
The film revolves around form teacher François Marin and his class. He tries hard to interact with class. Asking them challenging questions and trying to engage them in conversation. Although there were a few good students, such as the Chinese boy, Wu, the majority were already ground down the system. Their aspirations were low and some, though intelligent, could see a dismal future for themselves.
Though François thought he was a good teacher I became increasingly annoyed with him. He allowed the class to manipulate him, which meant that the better children were being held back by the cunning. As a lecturer I occasionally allowed a class to move the lesson off subject, but I was aware what was going on and pull back when I wanted. François was too nice, too concerned and was not as aware as he should have been to be a good teacher.
The last third of the film shows a situation developing from a couple of girls behaving stupidly, François losing his temper, which in turn provoked an awkward student to confront François. This in turn leads to the formal disciplinary process that could lead to the expulsion of the student. I was impressed by the formality of the process, but felt for the student and his mother, who could not speak French.
I ended leaving the film angry and moved – a good result. There were some interesting insights into the French educational system, such as the small class sizes and the smallness of the school itself. The discipline. When a whole class stands up in this country it is not with respect – rather the teacher is checking the distance to the nearest escape routes. There were also quite a few interesting interplays within the class and between the teachers.
All in all a good film to go and see.