First Day of Teaching English

As you may have guessed from the lack of entries lately, I began teaching English this past week. I started on Friday by teaching the three lessons I mentioned previously with my “contact teacher” or “Betreuungslehrerin”. This teacher is the closest thing I have to a supervisor; essentially, she is my "go-to" person for any questions and concerns I may have.

In three of the eight classes I've taught so far, I have played Tracy Chapman's "Across the Lines". After working through vocabulary and context, we establish that the song is primarily about racism in America and also briefly mentions the American Dream. I then ask the students two questions:

1. What do you think of when you hear the words "race" and "racism"?

2. What is the American Dream?

The 7th and 8th grade classes answered similarly, but there were large differences in answers from the 5th and 7th grade classes. According to the 5th grade class, racism does not exist in Austria. It only exists in America. When I questioned them on this point, they said that there aren't enough black people in Austria for racism to exist; there are many more blacks in America, so it must be a bigger problem there. They're partially correct; there aren't many blacks in Austria, nor in Germany. I vividly remember the first time I visited Germany and never saw a single person of color during my entire two-week stay. It was extremely unsettling to see only white faces everywhere I looked.

That, however, does not mean that racism does not exist in Austria. It is just expressed in different ways.

The 8th-graders were quick to point out the institutionalized racism in form of the FPÖ (Freedom Party of Austria, formerly led by the Nazi-rooted Jörg Haider, now Governor of Kärnten in Austria). Yet they still insisted that racism was confined to the “ghettos”. When I asked where the ghettos were, I received answers ranging from the 5th to 23rd district. Vienna only has 23 districts, so are the ghettos spread throughout the city or are they just where these students are not?

Only one person out of all three classes mentioned Hitler and the Nazis as a group that practiced racism. One person. Most students with whom I spoke considered racism to exist only between blacks and whites. Since (most) Jews in the Nazi Era were not black, then they were not victims of racism (according to the students' logic). That is more than a little disturbing.

When asked to cite examples of racism in Austria, two Turkish girls, one in the 7th and one in the 8th grade, looked at me knowingly, but did not offer any examples even after I encouraged them. Turks are indeed the fastest growing “minority” in Austria and, depending on location and the situation, often endure daily discrimination. At this point, the discussion of Viennese ghettos ensued.

In response to the question: "What is the American Dream?", the 5th-graders answered:
-peace on earth
-peace between neighbors
-equality
-money
-democracy
-bringing democracy to other countries
-freedom to do what you want

The 8th-graders answered:
-freedom
-democracy
-peace
-equality
-education
-good job
-happy family with kids
-Land of Opportunity

True to their position between the 5th- and 8th-graders, the 7th-graders generated a list that combined elements of both lists above. Every list mentioned equality and peace. I find this very interesting. Is the American Dream portrayed as a dream of peace and equality or is this a reaction against the relatively violent times in which we live? Has the American Dream changed? Has the perception of the American Dream changed? (After all, the perception of America has certainly changed.) I mentioned my surprise to the teachers (aged mid-30s to late-50s) and they had the same reaction I did. Their perception of the American Dream included educational and economic opportunity, increase in standard of living, house, family with 2.5 children, car, successful career, etc. Of course, these English teachers have also had formal training in American and British Studies, so they have repeatedly discussed the idea of the American Dream and perhaps are biased in this manner.

I wonder how non-European students in Africa, Asia, and South America would answer the same questions.