"Students have to maintain eye contact with the teacher whenever they are talking and cannot pick up a pen or ruler until a teacher gives them the OK. If a teacher says hello they should make sure their reply is 'upbeat.' Turning around 'even if you hear a noise' is forbidden, they must enter the classroom in single file, 'never forget to say Sir or Miss' and always sit up straight in class.... The rules appear to be inspired by the 'slant' technique, pioneered in schools in the US a decade ago, which has become popular in the UK in recent years. The acronym spells out the expectation that children sit up, listen, ask and answer questions, nod and track the teacher with their eyes...."
From "Smiles compulsory at super-strict John Ferneley College" (London Times). The college is in Melton Mowbray, Leicestershire. The students are 11 to 16 years old.
The idea is said to be to train students in the kind of behavior "expected in middle-class families" so that they can do well "in job and
university interviews." There's no punishment for not smiling, and the whistling is about "getting children to line up or ending break and lunch times."
I'd never heard of the "slant" technique, but I like it! Here's a video I found:
I can see how this could be condemned as systemic racism, because it adopts "middle class" behavior as the norm.
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Bruce writes:
"The slant technique might work if all of the students were white or Asian middle class females. Maybe even Hispanic females. But it essentially ignores problems with teaching males and Blacks. Which presumably means continuing to drug the males and ignore the Blacks. Likely the brain storm of white female teachers, and if only everyone were just like them, their job would be much easier. They aren’t."
My response: What if the parents had the option to pick a school that used this approach, so that everyone there would be there because their parents wanted it for them?
Temujin writes:
"Very interesting approach. When I read the written description from the London Times, I thought this was some kind of horrible joke. But watching the video better explained what it's purpose is and...I think it would be great to teach young people to give full attention, proper body posture, eye contact, head nodding (to show you're a part of the conversation), etc. Not sure if the London version is quite the same as the American version shown in the video, but either way, it's a good concept to try to teach.
"But one large question: Has anybody been to a mall recently? Have you watched and listened to 'middle class' kids these days? We're far afield from whistling to get in line, or making eye contact. Not sure any of them can do that. I think we must have skipped over SLANT and went straight into something that more closely resembles Lord of the Flies."
Let me say: This is a good defense against criticism that it's white privilege. If no one is learning this behavior at home, then the students are on a level playing field.
Bart writes:
"I can't fully speak for the school environment, but as a substitute teacher I regularly used one form of whistle to indicate "Too much chatting and farting around: now get back to work." Also another to indicate "Stop what you're doing and listen to me." In one very tough school the kids really liked it because, they said, it was much better than having a sub yell at them.
"Out here on the farm I have three different whistle 'commands' for my 10 yo daughter -- "Indicate where you are.", "Head back to the house in a little while.", and "Come to the house immediately.". Especially over long distances outdoors it's way better and more understandable than hollering. I've not yet taught her to herd sheep."
Just noticing that I've got a 2-day streak of posts about whistling.
Dave Begley writes:
"Isn’t that really a Socratic dialogue? Weren’t your students doing it; maybe intuitively.
"At the now low-rated Creighton Law School, I know that if I wasn’t paying attention that I would have failed."
To answer your question: I never noticed a problem with students making eye contact. I certainly didn't expect them to smile at me while participating in a law school discussion. Frankly, that would have been weird!
Denever writes:
""Attention is the rarest and purest form of generosity." -- Simone Weil
"I'm with Simone, and I wish someone would teach attentive, respectful listening to the multi-tasking, iPhone-distracted adults all around me."
JamesL writes:
"“ … and learn a series of whistle commands from teachers … The idea is said to be to train students in the kind of behavior … expected in middle class families … “
"Reminds me of training dogs for field trials or sheep herding."
Bart writes:
""What if the parents had the option to pick a school that used this approach, so that everyone there would be there because their parents wanted it for them?"
"Parents in (quite liberal) Québec have had this option for over half a century. Universal full voucher system, including private, trade, and religious schools. The money follows the student. It works tremendously well, and partly as a result, the Canadian education system is vastly superior to that here in the States. ALL schools, of whatever sort, have to do a good job or the students go elsewhere, and the tendency is towards places which are more challenging, rather than less."
m stone writes:
For most people, listening is a learned behavior. I guess respect is as well. They work well together.
Listening used to be taught in some secondary schools and is now in university communication courses, depending on the professor. You'll find other listening/respect techniques in interpersonal communication and argumentation courses. Body language is helpful and key to SLANT.
One traditional action method is to engage in dialogue, but require the second speaker to repeat what the first has said in their own words and to the first speaker's satisfaction BEFORE he or she can respond. And so it goes, back and forth. The method has been known on rare occasions to bring democrats and republicans to agreement.
As to nodding, the old standard is one nod shows acknowledgment, two nods agreement, and three means speed it up. "You're too slow."
Linda writes:
"That would be pretty hard on autistic children, especially those for whom eye contact is threatening."
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