Teachers, we need to do better.
For the past ten days, I have been on tour
with Xara Choral Theatre, bringing a show called Fatty Legs (based on the book
by the same name) to schools and communities around the Maritime Provinces.
The show deals with the reality of the
Residential School System in Canada, which is something that we are just
starting to teach about in schools. For a long time, this practice of removing
Aboriginal children from their homes, and placing them in schools with the aim
of erasing their culture (“Kill the Indian to save the child” was the official
wording), was not acknowledged – even given the fact that the last school of
this type closed in 1996. I only learned about this part of Canadian history
when we first did the show in 2011 for the Truth and Reconciliation Commission
event in Halifax. Since then, I’ve made sure to teach at least my homeroom
about it each year, by reading and discussing the book Fatty Legs.
I was thrilled that we were finally able to
remount the show and tour it to schools. We performed for over 4000 students
during our ten days of touring.
 |
| Performing in front of a rapt audience of students in grade 2 through 6 |
Most schools were very receptive,
particularly at the elementary and middle school levels. We were prepared for
students to have questions about the performance, and about the residential
schools. We were prepared for people to express anger, sadness, confusion – and
those reactions were present when we did our Q&A sessions after each show.
Opening honest and constructive dialogue was one of the main goals of this
show.
However, we had some very negative
experiences in the last two days of touring. In two separate high schools,
students exhibited a complete lack of respect for both the subject matter and
the fact that 15 people were attempting to perform in front of them.
In one of the schools, students openly
mocked the dancer by mimicking her movements. They were spoken to by a teacher
after about 20 minutes of this behaviour. Other students were making jokes
(either about the show, or about something else entirely) and laughing loudly.
Several of them were eventually asked to leave by another teacher. I am
grateful to those teachers who took action to stop the disrespectful behaviour,
although I wish it hadn’t happened in the first place.
In the final school, a student THREW A ROCK
onto the stage during the performance. As the saying goes, the show must go
on. One of the singers took it upon herself to move the rock out of the
way so that nobody would be injured (the show is performed in sock feet). To my
knowledge, no action was taken by teachers in response. One minute before the
show ended, the bell rang to signal the start of the next class. Approximately
40 students, scattered throughout the audience, stood up and left. When I asked
them if they could stay for the last minute of the show, they told me they had
to leave because they had a test. According to the students, their teachers (two different teachers, from what I understand) told them that if they arrived late for the test, because of “the play
thing” (students' words), they shouldn’t bother coming at all and they would receive a grade of 0
on the test.
TEACHERS instructed students that they were
to get up while a performance was in progress in order to be on time for a
test.
Teachers devalued a show about a terrible
part of Canadian history that has been shrouded in silence for over 100 years.
Teachers, we need to do better.
We need to explicitly teach our students
about respectful behaviour during performances, and model that behaviour ourselves.
We need to intervene when students engage
in disrespectful behaviours.
We need to take a step back and realize
that the test students are writing in our course may not be the most important
part of their day. Or, at the very least, we should not use threats to indicate
to students that it is acceptable to behave disrespectfully.
Teachers, we need to do better.
We need to prepare our students before we
take them to see a show that deals with serious subject matter. How (or if) we
pre-teach our students sets them up for success. It also instills in them an
understanding that there are behaviours that are appropriate in certain
situations that are not acceptable in others.
I am so honoured to have been part of
telling this story, of bringing this show to so many students. I burst with
pride when I think about how our dancer, narrator, and singers persevered in
the face of adversity to always give their all on stage.
But teachers, we need to do better.
