Weather in UB

Friday, November 16, 2007

Don't hit your students!

I found this picture that tells teachers not to hit their pupils. I echo this sentiment and favor other types of punishment, and/or positive reinforcements.
There are a few cultural points to this picture that I'm certain anyone who has ever taught or attended school in Mongolia, Russia, or Central Asia can immediately identify. First is the "pot holder" looking thing hanging on the left side of the chalk board. This is used to erase the board, and/or to put water on the board. Sometimes the chalk has to be wet in order for it to write on the board. The second notable thing is the students uniforms. The girl has on the "french maid" uniform with large bows in her hair and the boy a suit. This is how students dress for school on special occasions, or if the class director tells them to do so.
Bottom line, don't hit kids!

5 comments:

Meg said...

Annie,

excellent interpretation of the cultural components in the picture - particularly the potholder. Ah, memories of Central Asia.

I also agree that hitting students is wrong (and frankly, lacks creativity)

Love, Meg

Anonymous said...

I went to schools in Uzbekistan (Central Asia) and in Moscow (Russia). Uniforms were different in each school. If I went to school during the Soviet era, I would wear the French-maid uniforms. I actually wore those uniforms until the second grade. Since the Soviet Union collapsed, schools adapted new rules regarding uniforms and other school principles. However, some school pupils still wear these uniforms in certain areas. So, generalizing this element including a wet chalk wouldn’t be realistic to apply to an entire post Soviet culture.

Ulaana said...

Dilnoza, You make a great point. Post Soviet Russia and Central Asia was very different from what things are like now. However, all I was trying to say was that anyone who ever attended schools in these areas would be familiar with these things...and I was right, you were. Mongolian secondary schools, in the countryside, still very much adhere to the "Soviet era" school principles.

mongirl said...

That's me standing there in front of the sambar with my freshly ironed (every single nite) French-maid formiin xybtsas.
yeah...pot holders were very important back those days and still we use them!!!
Cheers,
iho

Ulaana said...

Iho, that isn't you! I bet you never got in trouble :P You probably looked very cute in your uniform with yer big white bows!