School Theatre Goes all Shakespearean

PROLOGUE.

Great tensions produce great art. 1606, the year the Gunpowder Plot produced, besides Macbeth (an allegory of the Descent into hell), also King Lear (sacrificial, all-forgiving death) and Antony and Cleopatra (an allegory of the Resurrection). The transition from the Roman Catholic Church to Protestant Reformation profoundly influenced Shakespeare’s work. By the time he began writing plays himself, dramatization organized by the gilds was dead and buried...

ACT I

[Enter School teacher]

SCHOOL TEACHER. Shakespeare was a protest playwright who portrayed the world with expressiveness and dignity and the size of the plays in the biggest possible terms and pictures. Now, can I paint two little pictures for you? And you promise not to snigger. Can we do that? I am going to be very monosyllabic indeed. OK…

CHORUS I. Shakespeare was perfectly aware where the revolution ended / Inducing paranoia and suspicions / To an unparalleled degree / – In hell, / Where the ghost of Hamlet’s father came from. (Fig. 1)

CHORUS II. To be or not to be: / Is it better to live or die? / In  a world that feels so 'weary, state, and unprofitable'. (Fig. 2)

SCHOOL TEACHER. But while great art can mirror great tensions, it cannot disperse them: from this time English society became increasingly polarized between Catholics and Protestants, loyalists and revolutionaries, old feudal ways and new bourgeois ambitions.

ACT II

[Enter King, Queen, Polonious, School teacher]

SCHOOL TEACHER. We may suppose that Shakespeare felt the tug of revolutionary tendencies and to some extent sympathized with them. Thus there is real passion in Hamlet’s attempt to cast the light on the false King Claudius. And so the scene was set for the English revolution:

HAMLET. What, frighted with false fire!

QUEEN. How fares my lord?

POLONIOUS. Give o’er the play.

KING. Give me some light. Away.

POLONIOUS. Lights, lights, lights!

CHORUS 1, CHORUS 2.

  But man, proud man,

  Dress’d in a little brief authority.

  Most ignorant of what he’s most assur’d –

  His glassy essence – like an angry ape

  Plays such fantastic tricks before high heaven

  As makes the angles weep:

  Who, with our spleens.

  Would all themselves laugh mortal.

EPILOGUE

Shakespeare was not alive to witness the final closing down of the theatre in 1642. The whole of this solid Globe came to great crisis of morals, religion and government and the sprawling of the egalitarian and liberal bawdy culture in the modern world.

Home Sweet Home

Наше село

 

   Из всих можных мест постојaнного пребывaнјa, нaјпријемнејше јaви ми се мaло село дaлеко од грaдского шумa, мaло суседство, без многокомнaтных домов в преполньеных блокaх, aле с мaлыми древенными, сельскыми домикaми; просто, неописујемо жилишче, с обывaтельaми, чије лицa сут нaм рaвно знaне кaко цветы в нaшем сaду; мaлы, особны свет зa нaс сaмых, тесно сјединьены и зaтворьены кaко мрaвкы в мрaвјеј копе, или пчелы в ульи, или овце в овчaрньи, или мнишкы в конвенту, или морьaки нa корaбју; кде мы знaјемо всих и јесмо знaјеми од всих, кде интересујемо се всими и можемо имети нaдеју, же вси интересујут се нaми. Кaко мило было бы зaнурити се в тых истинных срдечных чутјaх милого, неведомого вплывa привычaјa и познaти и польубити льудиј около нaс, с всими јихными особливостaми! Тaко сaмо, кaко познaјемо и польубимо все зaкуткы и поврaты тенкых уличек и солнечных луков, кторе мы проходимо всaкы день. Мaло сполеченство, кторым јест сельскa обчинa, јест тaкоже сaмо добро в својеј трезвој ствaрности, кaко в поезији или прозе, долгa, рaзпрострaньенa, мотaјучa се улицa у подножјa крaсивој возвышености, с широкоју дрaгоју попрек, всекдa зaполньеноју возaми и конникaми. Не хочете ли походити со мноју по нaшем селу, льубезны читaтельу? Пут не буде долгы. Мы почнемо нa дольном концу и одтуд будемо шли в врх...

  So, welcome very much to my village! If you ask me, "What lingo do you use here? What is your tribal code?" My answer will be, “I have quite a few though the Междуславjанскы Language is among my favourite linguistic encounters. Its phraseology is wonderful though at times it is slightly subversive and slightly rebellious of itself. Its sound clusters alone are particular areas of life with their own identity, their own banner”. But more importantly, if I were being dismissive now, if we got into an argument, if I didn’t agree, then I might sound a bit more Orthodox and Slavic -- simply because I’m shifting to a more ‘me-voice’ but not a half-way point, for purely pastoral reasons, of  course.

No Quite Rooms for Primary Schools in Russia

Nationally we’re seeing in these years far more highly disruptive behaviour in younger children. All primary school teachers and special educators in Smolensk say they have disruptive children in their class. Those kids who behave well most of the time also have their lapses. Teachers say that dealing with bad behaviour fre­quently gets in the way with teaching. Bad children being verbally and physically aggressive regularly disrupt classes refus­ing to to do what the teacher says. But few teachers will talk openly about violence and disruption they face. If you do so, you will be quite clearly put around that you are a trouble maker.

It stands to reason that if these children with conduct disorders were taken away from the mainstream class, the mainstream class could function prop­erly. But, as I have already said, teachers feel they can’t actually talk openly, so such children are not excluded from school.

Although teachers report aggressive behaviour is more often a problem with boys, girls too can be hard to handle. I had a child in year 2. She would swear, she would punch and hit children next to her, kicking off so bad that chairs were being turned over. She was under tables, over tables, completely unpredictable. And sometimes when she was playing it wasn’t what we call ‘nice play’. Can you imagine a child like that being in the class and your child being in there frightened and scared of her?

Smolensk is one of Russia’s most western cities. With high levels of drug and alcohol misuse, violence and unemployment it’s perhaps not surprising that children are bringing issues to school that affect their behaviour.

The head of the educational area cannot alone reinforce good behaviour. But what special here is that the staff has no specific responsibilities for ‘key’ children needing particular help. In practice classroom teachers and schools in general are simply devoted to areas with dining tables where children get the attention they need to overcome the immediate problems and come down. Schools simply cannot afford pastoral care teams, family workers, behavioural support assistant, and the quite room or the ‘bib room’ - an empty space with bare walls and no furniture to throw or climb on for children identified as having special social and emotional needs.

Full school funding approach as well as early intervention funding are difficult politically because of their long term effectiveness. Bureaucrats do not look way beyond the child’s behaviour and they do not seek to address the root courses of moral degradation with the families and with the children. On the contrary, schools are in many cases facing funding crisis as local council authorities look for savings.

Yet there are proving strategies to address these problems. An investment of just few million roubles early on could make a big difference. But in reality what primary schools have is a bit of a post code lottery in terms of the provision that local authorities make available to them and it can be patchy across the country.

So it’s not surprising that some teachers leave the school due to increasingly disruptive pupils, leaving aside the constrains imposed by poverty and social injustice.

13 Vyazma Primary School

  

  It’s strange how memories of so long ago seem like only yesterday. Most schools in Russia have numbers, not names. Did any one, like myself, go to 13 Vyazma School in the 70's. I can remember a great number of fellow pupils in the same school year. My mum worked as a dinner lady at the infants for quite a few years. Anyone remember the fish tank in the hallway leading into the assembly hall/gym? I used to get to go back to the school to vote. How small everything looked! 

And then 40 years later everything changed. The government’s agenda for transforming primary education includes three main measures: instituting a ratings system (1); encouraging technological innovation(2) and competition (3). If the plan sounds familiar, it’s because they've played this tune before.

However, as the practice shows test-based teacher-evaluation has so far eluded any empirical justification. The best way to game social indicators, of course, remains cheating. In other words, it’s easier to change numbers than people. This came to be a well-worn chestnut in Russia.

Also of note, data-driven measures can distort school systems in more insidious ways. If the leading indicator for schools is graduation rate, it’s likely some fudging and manipulation will result.

Competition among schools and school districts has led some school leaders to find ways to increase instructional time. In many places this has meant less time for children, even very young children, to have time to just play and take a break from the rigours of the academic world. That said, primary schools today are much different than they were years ago.

Language School as a Cult

The Cyril & Methodius Language Gymnasium in Smolensk sometimes produces better-than-av­erage academic results, but it also selects students based on ability, whereas all-in­clusive compre­hensive schools accept poorer students in the first place.

All language schools, have juvenile subcultures. You have skaters, punks, goths, met­tallers, jock and a mix of other cliques in the western tradition. You will never be­lieve me, but it is consid­ered to be normal and to suppress it is unhealthy and impos­sible. I remember sitting in a meeting and someone from Cyril & Methodius would be making Halloween PowerPoint presentation. Cam­eras flashed and teachers ap­plauded ...

Yet few today in Smolensk are aware that this holiday originated in paganism, not Christian­ity, and that it is the most dangerous "holiday" in the year. For long ages, Hal­loween has been a night especially dedicated to satanic agencies. How can it be that teachers of the Orthodox Lan­guage Gymnasium in the name of saints brothers Cyril and Method­ius think that worshiping west­ern cults can brush up your Eng­lish? How can any­one be Christian if they believe in pagan­ism? St John the Apos­tle gives the answer to that (in verses 24-25), “I know thy works, that thou hast a name that thou livest, and art dead”. 

To have language schools where everyone is part of the same cult or group, or are taught a particular western ideology, leads to a complete separation between those who at­tend the language school to those that don't.

When these English speaking people come to mix with others with other views, the ideologi­cal conflicts are very much amplified.

Anyone for England?

Consciously or otherwise, I do remember that there is such thing as Englishness that cut across champion racehorses, fashionable shops, seedy pubs, flirting rather than fighting night-clubs, congenial street corners, leather-clad bikers, Friday dress-down, double-decker buses, maverick royal family members… you name it.
     The more salubrious aspects in the macho field of indoor plumbing England comparing human and primate development include a rather wimpish aversion and a sort of unease to the primitive sanitation and ghastly food that characterise the mud-hut societies of the Eastern European landmass and Russia in particular.

     I am clearly not suggesting that the search for inferiority in the natives’ behaviour becomes almost a reflex or a pathological compulsion of the True Brit. My claim is only that the degree of surprise or outrage provoked by the deviation from English culture provides an indication of premature post-mortems on countries other than Britain. At the same time, I am conscious of the wider danger of blindness to the similarities or cross-cultural universals between the English and other post-Christian cultures.

     Half a century ago England was a Christian country (albeit of the Anglican variety, mostly). It was at one time taken for granted that people were Christians there. Not only that, but it was understood – because it did not have to be stated – that this was a country whose culture, morals and outlook had been formed by the Christian faith.
     This country bent over backwards to be welcoming and tolerant towards those who came here from the 'swingin sixties' onwards who were not Christian, and, indeed, for the most part, Moslem. At the same time, we saw a growth in secularism, materialism, modernism, and the dilution of the Christian foundations of the British society. Only recently has it become apparent that the Christian faith here needs defending, but such has been the progress of those elements in society which oppose it that views which were the norm only thirty or forty years ago are now condemned as rabidly reactionary.
     Good Old England has been rushing along a godless road to destruction for the past fifty years. Britain legalised sodomy, some drugs ('the morning after pill' is among them), pornography, pre-marital sex (Rock N' Roll), murdering unborn children (Latin: abortio), feotal craniotomy (crushing the baby's head with forceps while still alive in the mother's womb). Today Britain is described as brutal and broken even by leading politicians. Most of the towns and cities up and down the country are dealing with the yob culture, with multitudes of young people pouring out of pubs and clubs and vomiting and fighting in the streets, due to excessive binge drinking and supermarkets opening 24/7.
     I hope and pray that mud-hut nations will stand together to tell Britain at the end of the world a few home truths about basic morality and ‘cause the arrogancy of the proud to cease.’ – Isiah 13:11, winning few souls up and down the nation.

     With this new focus, Englishness is often feels rather like you try to admire a brigade of cavalry which charged in the wrong direction.

The Importance of Learning English

I think secondary education authorities walked into a cult. There crime? They had declared “Wake up the English exam is coming!” pioneering modern methods of psychological torture for the young Russians.

Their aim is to build a new national English speaking identity here in Russia similar to cheap English speaking African or Indian labour under the British Empire. And this is not so very surprising since at every opportunity particularly through the presentation of the notorious Federal State Educations Standard as the only method of school teaching, efforts are made to indoctrinate the spiritual and cultural descendants of Saint Kirill and Methodius into thinking this is the case.

The national education system has been most effectively shaped and moulded to teach children the English language. Ordinary people may have seen this as a noble objective, but the global elite was clear its concern was to fight to hold on to as much as possible of the massive chunk of the global labour market they already owned and controlled by destroying national identities and cultures. Yet, so successfully have ESL teachers been indoctrinated into the mythology of the Federal State Educations Standard that most of them refuse to entertain any alternative possibilities.

Following this approach clear economic and personnel decisions are being made to disregard the explicit use of the Russian language. There is instead informal English which is relaxed and friendly without being restricted by rules – just enough to organise the workforce at their foreign masters’ commands. Technically, it is achieved by bringing to English classes the so-called Communicative Approach – an influential idea dominating 21st –century linguistics in this country and notorious universal educational activities.

On a brighter note, it is possible that most Russians will speak English when travelling abroad in the nearest future. (Fr: Eh bien, chapeau bas à vos compagnes, mais je ne vais pas construire ça!)