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Sept. 2, 8.30 am: Delfina starts her first day of school at the Verdala International School in Pembroke.
The nice, old (a little austere, may be) building was actually a British fort dominating one of the hills over Malta's eastern coast. The school is part of the IBO system, highly recommended and known as a very open and progressive institution. Learning through projects, experiencing knowledge through pleasantness and warm, individual support. An ideal place for a young expatriate far away from her comfort zone!
“Were you also nervous on your first day of school, daddy?” Asks Delfina stepping out of the car. “Of course, sweety. We are even a little nervous now as well. Don't worry, it's normal and everything will be lovely.” We readly reassure our treasure while entering the yard, stepping into a complete new world.
The teacher Mrs. G. arrives shortly after to greet us with her British accent, slightly showing her South African years and her long time on the island. “Oh, yes, she will be perfectly all right. We will have lots of fun in my class!” Announces Mrs. G., firmly holding our little girl under her arm.
Personally, I do not really appreciate people wearing dark glasses at a first meeting. At any meeting, actually. You can't see their eyes and something in the signals they give doesn't come through as it should.
“OK, come on! don't be such an old fashion guy! Relax! The lady said that they will have lots of fun and that your daughter will be perfectly all right!” Says that voice inside, sorting out the semantics of the encounter. Ok, I'll be fair and just think that the slight overcast gives the sky a glare which can disturb the sensitive northern eyes of the fine educator we have just met.
A couple of hours pass quite easily. We quickly come back to bring Delfina some water we had forgotten to give her for lunchtime. The door is open and while quickly putting the bottle on the desk, I can see Mrs. G. and her assistant comfortably sitting at their chairs explaining something to a class of 18 children who are quietly looking up at them while sitting on the floor. ”Hmmm: chairs/floor. Up and down. Interesting placement of levels. Semantics again?“ I noticed with myself.
The first day goes by. Our little treasure comes out of school, but, as she does at times, she's quite thin with comments. We are eager to know, “How was it, dear? What did you do? Was it nice?” But we get the pragmatical “Hmm, it was OK, it was just the first day of school, we didn't do anything special, how can I say anything about it?”.
Next day the early morning ceremony repeats itself as the day before. We then return at 15.10 as expected. This time our dear one is crying her heart out running into our arms.
“Mrs. G. has thrown away my picture! She will not give it back to me! She throw it in the bin and doesn't let me have it! It's a dinosaur I made... and I really like it! Daddy, please, can I have it?” Cries loudly Delfina, as she has rarely done before.
“There must be a misunderstanding, dear. Let's go and talk with Mrs. G. and see what happened.“ We say, trying to calm her down.
So, here I am. A crying child in my arms, stepping into the class of Mrs. G. I'm not able to say a word when I get immediately addressed by the excited fine educator of the previous day. No sunglasses, fortunately: the semantics are all there in full bloom.
”AH! Now SHE returns with HER daddy, thinking that SHE can win over the situation! NO! she canNOT have her drawing!“
”Hmm, sorry... there must be a misunderstanding... I would like to find out what happened... My daughter would just like to bring home a drawing she has made... I can't understand...“
“AH! I told her to make the dinosaur as full body picture and she continued doing it as a close-up! I told her that if she continued I would throw it away! She didn't do it immediately and so I HAD to throw it away! You see! ... And NOW! SHE EVEN COMES BACK WITH HER DADDY THINKING THAT SHE CAN WIN OVER ME! NO! SHE CANNOT HAVE THE DRAWING! Even if after she has done it again as I asked!”
”Hmm, I understand...“ I reply trying to make some sense out of what it was just said to me. ”Well, as you see, Delfina is very distressed about her drawing. You say that at the end she has actually done what you had asked and she just would like to keep a drawing she likes... May be... we could try to work around this...“
”OH NO! NEVER! You see, if I now give her her drawing, I will loose all my authority in front of the child! Then, she will think that SHE can do anything SHE likes because then HER daddy comes and let HER be as she pleases! You see, I surely cannot loose my authority with a child! I will surely not give her that drawing!“
”I see... thank you very much for today Mrs. G.“ I replied while walking out of the temple of purity and wisdom which should mold the minds of the future of our countries.
Now, looking back at any recent pedagogical method (let's say since early 1900) you cannot really find any mentioning of this way of acquiring authority with children in primary school. Specially, on their first days of school, if you like. Definitely the IBO Primary School Curriculum does not comply with this kind of practice and, actually, even dog-trainers have not so recently realized the value of reward as a learning incentive in contrast to the old punishment-based teaching methods.
Let's say that if somebody needs this way to assess his/her position with a child, she/he is not worth the paper of her teacher's degree and definitely will not be allowed to treat our daughter in this way again.
It's a pity, the Verdala school seems to be a very nice institution: highly recommended, with very fine teachers and a high standards. We truly looked forward having Delfina at this school.
Well, not this year, for sure.
Back to square one, again. The good thing is that all the other schools in Malta start at the end of September and Delfina will get almost an extra month Summer holidays! :-)
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