M6 broadcast a reality show in four episodes, immersing around ten teenagers in the school of their ancestors.
We laugh a lot, we take a step back and above all, we understand the flaws in our current system.
Down with school!
Those around me know: I hated school, from kindergarten to university. If I could have set fire to it, as well as to National Education – without legal risk – I probably would have done so. More precisely, I hated National Education, which also explains why I am reluctant to follow the work of the Committee on Cultural Affairs and Education. By mutual agreement with my neighbor, I never discuss school with her children, she knows that I am going to turn them into anarchists.
Not only do I consider that the school is a factory for idiots, which is based on a usurped dictatorial system, but in addition, I consider it mistreating, leveling down and having the sole objective of formatting minds. Paradoxically, I still love learning. It’s lucky for me that I’m childless: at least I’m saving myself years of wars with this institution.
As for reality TV, if you read me regularly, you know that it doesn’t interest me. M6 managed the feat of making me watch and appreciate its show “school to go back in time”.
Take a dozen kids and take them back in time to 1880, 1930, 1950 and 1980. It’s funny, endearing and ultimately revealing.
Discovering IT
The last episode was dedicated to 1980. The children were able to discover computing, the real one, with the first computers. For this generation accustomed to smartphones and simplified design devices, the culture shock was quite amusing. But it wasn’t just for the students.
The teacher had to delve back into the documentation, not only to operate the computer, but also to explain to the students how to use it. He confessed that it took him a little time to process everything.
Of the four episodes, it was perhaps the one about 1980 that was the most interesting. In geography class, the students had to place countries, including Yugoslavia, which no longer exists, but also the GDR, the FRG and give the currencies of these countries, before the euro. Between computer science and geography lessons, they became aware of how far they have come, both politically and technically, in just 40 years.
However, compared to the other episodes, we do not perceive such a big difference. The students did not see any big differences between 1880 and 1930: neither in terms of clothing, nor in social terms, nor in terms of teaching. In fact, with this experience, the children took a quite interesting lesson in the history of France and the world.
The flaws in our system
Of course, we’re talking about a reality TV show, so there’s a script, there’s a casting, there’s direction. We should not take this program for what it is not, namely a political program on education.
However, one point is revealing: the children were in small groups, barely ten. So, even on certain teachings which seemed daunting to them, they had material space to express themselves, to exist. As for the teachers, he had time to take an interest in each student.
However, today, all classes are overcrowded. As for teachers, in addition to teaching itself and tasks relating to teaching, such as preparing lessons or correcting papers, they are overloaded with administrative nonsense. We will also not mention the poor general conditions of the profession: salaries barely higher than what they could earn by working in a fast-food restaurant, dilapidated buildings, geographical distance, aggressive parents, etc. It’s not for nothing that there are classes without half a teacher. School is doing badly in France.
The other lesson – the word is appropriate – is that children like the practical aspects of teaching. If we put them in concrete situations, they learn better and faster. However, putting lessons into practice requires time and small classroom numbers. You don’t give a lecture to children, in a class of 35. Obviously, some will say that they experienced this at school and that they are no worse off. But, the objective is to move towards improvement. If we have to go back to the days when we lit the streets with candles, that is of no interest.
Children’s pearls, teachers’ giggles
In the episode dedicated to 1950, the children must be oriented at the end of their studies, which are necessarily very short. The principal, who had more or less managed to keep his seriousness during the previous episodes, had an uncontrollable laugh and to be honest, it’s a safe bet that the viewer did too.
He tells one of the children that he will be directed to work at the PTT. Obviously, he asks what it is, and the principal explains it to him. And there emerges the crestfallen and slightly disgusted look of the child: “Am I going to be a postman? “. The child’s face is so comical that the principal can no longer hold back.
Another child arrives and he is told that he will be a lawyer. This monument to defense rights arrives “too good!” I want to defend bandits! “. The moment is all the funnier as the student is small, scrawny and oddly reminiscent of Lucky Luciano.
“School Going Back in Time” is a really cute show, which is fun to watch and which promises a few laughs. It’s also a little history lesson about school in France. Perhaps the most important thing is our view of children. They will surprise you and even if they are cast, they show us that their voices matter. They are far from being as disconnected from reality as one might think. “School goes back in time” is available in replay on M6.