Quotidian 1 (December 2009)Linda Duits: Between skipping rope and Eid ul-Fitr: Everyday youth culture in 8th form
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Routines and rituals

The pupils of 8th form of primary school the Kantlijn kept going to the toilets together. Being out of class was an excellent opportunity to escape teacher’s supervision. Teacher Luck repeatedly forbade this and announced that if two or more of the same sex were caught together in the toilets, the other sex was to make a childish hat for the others. Although the pupils took this warning seriously, in the end two girls got caught. After extensive deliberation, the boys decided to make a long, conical hat out of pink cardboard. On the side were strings of toilet paper. On top was a cut out pink pig with the text ‘I am Miss Piggy’, a brown turd and the text ‘I am a toilet princess’. When the boys were making the hat, the girls felt awful about the prospect of wearing it, saying they definitely did not want to be seen in it. However, when the hat was finished, one girl volunteered to wear it. She showed it to her seven-year-old sister and made fun of herself. After that, the girls made a complete show out of wearing the hat to the toilets. One girl waited especially until right before school ended, so that the parents and pupils in the hallways could have, in her words, ‘the time of their life’.

In 8th form, pupils occupy an in-between position, between child and teenager. Their sentimentality about leaving primary school and their preparation for secondary school are incorporated in the routines and rituals of 8th form school life. This is addressed in the following description of a normal day.

Before school

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Both schools started at 8.30. At the Gunningschool, pupils of all years gathered in the schoolyard. The girls of the 8th form avoided being the first one in the yard, preferring to wait by the fence until they spotted a classmate. Boys’ behaviour was more straight-forward, as they would just start playing football. The girls never joined their male classmates, and social outsiders were avoided. They had to wait by themselves until an ally entered. Who stands with whom was important. Although most girls had three close friends in class, cliques existed. The Gunningschool knew a distinction between popular and non-popular. The popular girls bullied one particular girl in this form, because she – in their words – snitched to teacher Thomas. The before school rituals revealed the hierarchy between the girls. Standing alone was to be avoided, but when a ‘better’ classmate arrived, a girl swiftly moved across the yard to stand with her. Usually, the popular girls reigned the conversations, whereas the less popular girls kept an open face and nodded a lot. The girls stood closely together, almost on top of each other, but made room for newcomers to enter the circle. Two janitors supervised from the top of the stairs, and sometimes shouted instructions to pupils and parents. The pupils were not allowed in the yard before 8.15; early arrivals needed to wait outside the fence. The pupils could only enter the building when the bell rang. Most juniors were brought by their mothers or the occasional father. Seniors, and especially eight-formers, came alone or with their friends. Two bells signalled the start of school. The first was the cue for the juniors, the second for the seniors. As the pupils entered the class, Thomas stood by the door and welcomed them. Lessons then started straight away.

At the Kantlijn, the pupils immediately entered the building and waited in their classrooms. Most parents brought their children, even their eight-formers, inside the classroom. Some parents waited for Luck to arrive, to ask questions or give instructions. When they left, they kissed their offspring, who were greatly embarrassed about that. Before school, the Kantlijn-pupils took a seat or stood together talking. Girls often mixed with boys. As this class was more inclusive, no one was left out, although some had their preferences. Here too, the girls stood close and they often touched each other. Sometimes the pupils turned on music, or practiced a dance. The pupils kept several of their own mixed CDs in class. The music ranged from top-40 hits to pop classics (e.g. California love by Tupac feat. Dr.Dre). Luck was usually late, which the pupils happily remarked upon. He started the day with a class conversation of matters at hand, such as whose parents could drive to school football.

Working

At the Gunningschool, the curriculum mostly consisted of arithmetic and reading. Thomas usually gave a collective instruction, and the pupils worked individually or in small groups on their tasks as Thomas moved through the classroom to answer questions. The pupils were divided in A, B and C levels, where C level stood for an arithmetic level equal to 5th form. Only a few pupils were coded A, the arithmetic level equal to 8th form. Pupils were addressed by these labels, and they constantly nagged teacher Thomas to promote them to a higher level. A lesson lasted around twenty minutes, after which another subject was turned to. Through a weekly rotating schedule, two pupils functioned as classroom assistants (klasse-assistant), distributing books and notebooks for the next lesson. The pupils considered this to be break time and started chatting. Thomas aimed to keep the class quiet at all time, except during fun activities. He used an intricate punishment scheme where each incident landed the offender five minutes of detention. As verbal communication was hindered, pupils communicated through passing notes. This was a secretive and dangerous operation, although the messages were usually innocent (‘how are you?’).

At the Kantlijn, Luck hardly ever taught the group collectively, and instead, pupils who were at the same level sat in groups and helped each other. Luck introduced tasks by connecting them to the pupils’ lived experiences. For instance, a reading comprehension assignment about gusts of wind was introduced by asking who had ever encountered such a gust. The pupils often worked on dissimilar topics, almost as in the Montessori Method. Luck set out the tasks for the week, and the pupils decided for themselves which task they did first, with Luck available for questions and corrections. Whilst working, the class was noisy and instead of collaborating, the pupils often just chatted. Moreover, Luck often left the class. At these times, the pupils were loud for a bit, but settled to their work after a few minutes. Punishment was rare at the Kantlijn, and Luck preferred either talking to the violator or a frivolous solution instead.

Opening of the week

The Christian Gunningschool opened the week with a bible story. Each Monday, after they had worked for about half an hour, principal Wouda summoned the teacher to bring his pupils to ‘the space’. The pupils of the 6th, 7th and 8th forms had to wait and enter separately. Wouda, or one of the teachers, read a story from a children’s bible, after which the pupils sang up to three biblical songs, accompanied by Wouda on the piano. The teachers of the three forms stood at the side to police the event. The pupils misbehaved in every way they could, from purposely choosing the wrong seat to kicking the seat in front. On an occasion when lip-synching was punished, the pupils reverted to singing very loudly. Wouda’s response was: ‘enthusiasm is nice, but it cannot get too disorderly’. The teachers had a hard time keeping order, which resulted in sending pupils back to class as punishment. Often, the opening of the week resulted in the collective punishment of shortened playtime.

The week was ritually opened at the Kantlijn by discussing the weekend. Luck asked the class if anyone ‘had been up to something’ over the weekend. The pupils volunteered their stories and the others listened intently. A typical discussion about the weekend lasted over half an hour. The stories often connected and seemed to have been thought up associatively: when one mentioned redecorating her bedroom, others volunteered comparable stories. Below is a summary of the stories told on Monday 6 March 2006:

Break/playtime

At 9.30 at the Gunningschool, and 10.15 at the Kantlijn, it was time for break. Before they went outside to play, the pupils enjoyed food (e.g. cookies or a sandwich) and a drink (e.g. a carton of juice). During the break inside, the pupils formed little groups. Again, at the Kantlijn these groups were mostly mixed, whereas at the Gunningschool the four cliques formed. Food was often shared as a token of affection or friendship. After ten minutes, the pupils went outside to play. At the Gunningschool this was clear-cut: the boys played football and the girls skipped. The unpopular girls rarely joined in with the skipping. Although they claimed they did not want to when I asked them about it, the decision was never theirs. Instead, they were forced to stand by themselves or play with the 7th formers. At the Kantlijn, the playground was small and most pupils flocked together. They played catch, shot marbles, or just stood and talked. Some games were popular for a while, such as the movie title crossing game. The person designated as ‘it’ provided a letter of the alphabet, to which the other participants had to shout out a movie title starting with that letter before being allowed to cross. When year 8 was outside at the same time as the small children, the pupils often played with them, pushing them around on their small bikes. However, here too only outsiders played with the 7th formers.

Morning breaks were also the times when birthdays were celebrated. Birthday celebrations had been ritualised since kindergarten and consisted of treating the classmates and teachers. The birthday boy or girl chose two friends and they went round the other years together. At the Gunningschool, teachers stuck a sticker on a card provided by the principal. At the Kantlijn, teachers gave a small present, like a hair clip or a notebook. In class, the other pupils sang a birthday song before they enjoyed their treat. In my eight months at the Gunningschool, only two pupils from year 8 celebrated their birthday. At the Kantlijn, everybody celebrated his/her birthday in class.

Lunchtime

In the Netherlands, most primary schools close for lunch. For children who cannot go home, schools arrange a special lunch programme, known as overblijven (stay on). This programme, carried out by volunteers, exists outside school regulation but nevertheless takes place at school.[8] At the Gunningschool, only two or three 8th form pupils stayed on. Most mothers (and some fathers) stayed at home and had lunch with their children, other pupils spent lunch by themselves. At the Kantlijn, the majority of pupils stayed on at school during lunch. When school ended at twelve, Luck left the pupils in the care of two, semi-permanent overblijfkrachten (stay-on workers). The pupils had their brought in lunch, after which the group went outside. At the renovated school, the pupils used the school’s playground during lunch. In the temporary building, the junior pupils used the schoolyard, and years 7 and 8 usually went to a nearby public playground with a street-football field and playground equipment. During the walk over there, the girls usually hopped, singing either a pop song or a nursery rhyme. Often some pupils refused to go outside, wanting to stay in the classroom to listen to music or hang out. Playing sometimes got out of hand and accidents happened, for instance, one girl broke her arm when she was pushed off the merry-go-round.

Afternoons

The Gunningschool resumed at 13.15, the Kantlijn at 13.00. Waiting for school to start in the afternoon functioned similarly as the above reading of waiting in the morning, with the exception that the Kantlijn-pupils who had stayed-on, entered together. Afternoons had no formal breaks and the two hours were a long time for the pupils. Thomas solved this problem with a fun activity, like drawing or crafts. Luck often let the pupils go outside for extra playtime. Afternoons were generally more relaxed than mornings, with fewer tasks and hence more opportunities for talk and fun. Many afternoons at the Kantlijn were filled with changing the ways the pupils sat in class, a time-consuming activity the pupils loved (exactly for that reason).

School ended at 15.15 at the Gunningschool with a bell. Classroom assistants stayed behind to clean the room, whilst pupils with detention stayed in class to read. Outside, the janitor sent lingering pupils home. The Kantlijn stopped at 15.00, which was announced by the noise coming out of other classes. Detention and class duties did not exist and the pupils left the classroom, although some hung around to ask Luck questions.

Special activities

Pupils had physical education twice a week at The Gunningschool and once a week at the Kantlijn. It is nowadays compulsory in the Netherlands that a separate teacher teaches physical education. At the Kantlijn, special teachers also taught handicrafts and English, and a special music teacher taught for several weeks, as part of a music project. This school also participated in a photography project of a local youth theatre. All Amsterdam primary schools participate in Museumles (museum lessons). The municipality organises weekly visits to the city’s diverse museums, where a guide shows pupils around. The Gunningschool only participated once every two years and clustered 7 and 8 years. The years always went by bus, accompanied by volunteer parents and teachers to keep the groups in check.

As the Kantlijn was located closer to the city centre, we often walked to the museum without extra supervision. Furthermore, both schools participated in the yearly Kunstschooldag (Art school day), when concert halls, theatres and museums have a special programme for children.

The end of primary school is celebrated in most Dutch schools by play or musical.[9] The Gunningschool brought a musical called Chewing gum gangsters. Thomas started practice in March, but cancelled the musical in May because the pupils continuously misbehaved during rehearsals. Instead, the boys and the girls practised a dance they performed for their classmates and the other teachers. The girls chose Buttons, a song by the then popular The Pussycat Dolls. They had about six practice sessions without Thomas’ supervision, which they considered a privilege. Practice was a constant struggle over who was allowed to speak and who was allowed to show the moves, particularly between Consolacion, leader of the popular girls, and Aliye, the most experienced dancer. The girls copied all the sensual and sexually provocative moves, from opening and crossing legs to running hands over their breasts. Nonetheless, the dancing was shy, awkward and unfinished.

The Kantlijn (i.e. Luck with much input from the pupils) invented their own play, entitled School of the future. A face on a monitor had replaced the traditional teacher, and the pupils were sucked into this, ending up in a computer game. They had to play levels in order to escape. The play featured many dances and winked at the idea of the Brede School. Preparations for the Kantlijn’s final play started in June and took up most of the school hours until the end of year. This meant rehearsals that lasted all with pupils receiving very little education (in the strict sense).