I think my biggest reverse-culture shock since coming back from Georgia is working in the schools. Just reading the rules for substitutes was shocking- literally every sentence of the 22 page handbook contrasted with my teaching experiences in Georgia (except both don’t want my handgun on the premises). Here are some of my fav examples:
U.S. versus Georgian public school systems
-Need I.D.: In Georgia, my students’ neighbor’s cousin’s uncle’s friend’s bread maker could identify me, on a moving vehicle, in a completely different region of the country. While I was there, for the first time the Ministry forced its employees to have a photo and license information on record.
-No smoking for anyone on campus: My gym coach in Gurjaani, also a local rugby player, smoked in the classrooms and hallways. I became notorious for personally plucking cigarettes from older boys’ mouths on the school grounds at my village school, because no one else cared to stop them, ever.
-Taking attendance: ya, they just didn’t do that.
-Parent visits: In the U.S., a parent can’t just show up at school and do what they want. Kids can’t have birthday balloons (latex allergies apparently are real), can’t have presents or food delivered, and can’t be picked up without proper I.D. and excuses.
In Georgia: My first grade class had parents standing outside the classroom for over 3 weeks after the first day of school, encouraging their kids to leave class to come have a 4th snack after 2 hours at school.
-“Students should not have access to the teacher’s files:” Does having random students carry around one book with every grade and attendance recorded (not much was; but still, the book existed) for 3 grades of students fall into this category? Especially since it was the only copy, written in pencil, and the upperclassmen in high school stole their book for a couple days?
-“General announcements are made on each campus in the morning:” We had no idea minute-to-minute when early releases would be due to soccer (I mean football) matches. It was unclear at 1:56 if a 2:00 concert was still scheduled that day.
-Existence of an “equipment used” paragraph in the job description: It was a big day if we had enough chalk for the day to write on the one third of the chalkboard that worked.
-Existence of “employee and student discrimination” paragraph: Calling the male students homosexuals in an effort to get them to behave isn’t acceptable in the U.S., it seems…
-No personal time on computers: In Georgia, our employer encouraged the opposite; if our schools had internet, it was often the only place in the area that had it at all.
-“Substitutes shall not form romantic or other inappropriate social relationships with students.”
In Georgia, I knew a guy who was my age that not only fell for his 11th grader, the principal’s daughter, but pursued marrying her for a couple months. To be fair to the majority of foreign teachers, this is also the same guy who likes sampling the red light district of every country he visits.
-No religion: celebrating Georgian Orthodox religious holidays, in class.
-No alcohol among students or consumed on premises: This was laughed at in Georgia, as none of the above is illegal or socially unacceptable. My third week of school was my birthday, and the 9th grade class along with some teachers and the principal busted out champagne for me instead of class in third period (everyone partook). School was let out early so the teachers could throw me a party, with more champagne, wine and cognac. My last day of school, the 5th graders gave me a bottle of wine and 8 traditional alcohol drinking vessels as gifts. I lived with my host sister, whose friends and families often invited me to get-togethers where moonshine flowed freely.
-Fire emergency drills: Students ran the fire in our wood-fueled heaters (if we were fortunate to have wood that day). Occasionally, students threw classroom supplies and curtains into the furnace, and weren’t disciplined. Not dangerous compared to the daily throwing of firecrackers in and out of the building and classrooms.
-Encouraging students who are struggling: telling slower students they cannot learn to their faces and behind their backs.
-Employee evaluation: my principal in Georgia forced my over-worked and under-paid co-teacher to do my evaluations for her, forging her documents.
-No profanity: In my first class period of my first day of teaching ever, in my village school in Georgia, an older boy welcomed me into the classroom by swearing at me and personally, explicitly, offering to broaden my sex life. It was in Georgian, which I didn’t know at the time, and no one (including my co-teacher) stopped him or stood up for me.
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