Tristan Davis

Dr Mann

FL-111E

16 September 2018

The Class

1. It seems that the integration is definitely taking place but there is also some resistance.

Some of the students aren’t proud to be french and also think some of the french language

is antiquated. Despite some friction, all the students are knowledgeable enough in the

french language. Their behavior is pretty poor at times, often only being able to give

Francois their attention for a couple seconds before having an outburst. With a little

work, Francois succeeds in getting the students to participate in their autoportrait project,

even the especially difficult Souleymane. This indicates to me that Marin is succeeding in

making the students more productive and therefore helping them be able to integrate into

society and be productive. There are definitely some students that will have a much

harder time than others. Souleymane, Esmeralda, and Khoumba are the main

troublemakers in the film. For these students to integrate smoothly into society they must

lose some of their ego and learn to be more willing to take in information and then decide

whether they want to keep it or not. Overall, I believe that each student has a fair chance

at becoming a affluent member of French society.

3. I think that overall Francois is a good teacher because for the most part he balances being

firm and keeping the students in line, but also being relatable and having the ability to come
down to the students level. He wants all of his students to succeed and be respectful to one

another. Overall he is rather patient, even when some of the more rowdy students are digging

into him. Even when Souleymane questions his sexuality in front of the whole class, he turns it

into a light hearted affair rather than reacting in anger over an inappropriate question. However

there are moments where Francois goes a little to far. His insisting of Khoumba to give him a

sincere apology seemed to be a bit harsh, and I don’t think solved any problems as far as getting

her to be more respectful towards him. And of course the scene where he calls Esmeralda and

Louise skanks was an inappropriate thing for him to do. Francois has his students best interests at

heart. He defends students when they are being picked on by others, and he doesn’t lash out in

anger, rather he then shines a spotlight on them usually making them look silly. Some may think

that that is bullying but I believe that it’s an effective technique to discourage students from

making fun of others because it gives them a taste of their own medicine. The only thing I could

think to tell him is to learn how to keep his anger at bay even when things are getting out of hand

and to be cautious before he says too much.

4. Based off of the article I had an idea of french classrooms being all big lecture halls and very

cold environments. The Class showed me kind of a mix of I guess my own experience in the

american classroom and my conception of the french classroom. On one hand Marin’s class

looked a lot like that of an american one. It was rather intimate, the mood didn’t seem too strict,

and Marin was responsive to student questions. In the article there was a section saying that the

professor expected all the students to have a certain level of knowledge and were typically

unwilling to explain themselves twice or wait up for anyone. In Marin’s class, I felt as though he
welcomed questions and would be happy to help anyone willing to receive it. Clearly the grading

system is different from ours. It seemed as well that this school didn’t quite have it figured out on

how they were to punish kids acting out. I think that at least for Marin’s class, the school system

is sufficient in imparting knowledge and encouraging students to learn. Despite what the article

says, I don’t find M. Marin’s behavior to be disturbing. I think that US schools could actually use

strategies like his to discourage bad behavior without just suspending students.