26 mei 2011
INVESTIGATION: THE DIFFERENCES IN THE
RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PUPILS AND
TEACHERS IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOL IN
PORTUGAL (ESCOLA SECUNDÁRIA DANIEL
SAMPAIO) COMPARED WITH BELGIUM
(SINT-THERESIA COLLEGE).
Joke Rasker, 5LMT and Candice Delzenne, 5EWI
Content
Introduction p.3
Interaction between Portuguese pupils and teachers in
Escola Secundária Daniel Sampaio and experiences in p.4
the Belgian classes.
Interaction between the Belgian pupils and teachers in
Sint-Theresia college and experiences in the Portuguese classes. p. 5-6
The conclusions of the sub questions p. 7-8
The conclusion of the main question p. 9
2
Introduction
For this investigation, we had to choose between different subjects that had to do with
Portugal, like school, economy, politics, etc. We chose for the subject school, particular the
differences in the relationship between pupils and teachers in the secondary school in
Portugal (Escola Secundária Daniel Sampaio) compared with Belgium (Sint-Theresia college).
We’ve chosen this question because we had already heard some things from ex-pupils who
went there last year. That’s how we got curious about the Portuguese education. First we
wanted to investigate the relation in general. But this subject was too broad. So we limited
the subject to the relationship between pupils and teachers.
Hypothesis :
According to us, pupils and teachers in Portugal interact in a smoother way. They consider
each other almost as friends. At first acquaintance they directly have a band with each other.
They both talk about everything in confidence and they know that they can trust each other.
Here, in Flanders (Belgium), we’ve to respect the teacher and the teacher has to teach us
new things. We have a more polite relation. Students pay attention to what they say to their
professors, the connection isn’t so deep that both sides tell things to each other. Portuguese
pupils feel more comfortable to say what they want.
Approach :
We’ve thought about all the possibilities to get some information. We put all these different
things on a paper and looked how we could get the information we need. One of these
possibilities was the internet, but after a few trials, we discovered that there wasn’t useful
information about our question. So after a brainstorm we agreed to contact the Portuguese
and we asked them for some information. We did the same with the Belgians. After that we
had to compare both sides and we made a conclusion.
Our sub questions :
The way of teaching
The interaction outside the classes
The salutation when they meet or say goodbye
The respect from the students towards the teacher
3
Interaction between Portuguese pupils and
teachers in Escola Secundária Daniel Sampaio
and experiences in the Belgian classes
We asked the Portuguese people what they think about the different way of teaching. They
answered us these texts:
Sofia Bernardino : The class that I saw was pretty much the same...But sometimes in
Portugal we talk too much, the teachers in Portugal aren't that strict like yours. It really
depends on the people, but yeah I don't know how it is in Belgium but here the teachers
care like a lot for us, if they see that we have a problem they always ask what's wrong (at
least my teachers) and with relationships they are like: whatever. If we pay attention to the
lesson with can give the hands during the classes of course we can't kiss! But a little bit of
affection is okay. But there are some teachers that are just stupid and we can't do anything
like that.
João Pires : I hug some of my teachers, with no problems, and I really get along well with
them, but there are others I wouldn’t hug even if they paid me.
There in Belgium, it is like a boot camp, no one talks, and the teachers are more annoying,
the class is shorter and it’s working nonstop. Here we take 20 minutes just to start, then
everybody talks and it’s like a circus, you have much more discipline and rules, we don’t, but
you’ll get jobs, and I won’t.
Joao Morais : Our relationships with teachers depends on how cool they are. I just have one
teacher that I like so I can talk to her, ask her questions when I need, hug her if I want to
make jokes with her, talk to her without having the fear of being sent out of the class etc.
if we don’t like the teachers we make jokes about them and basically here in Portugal if you
are a teacher and you are a cunt, you are going to be through some hell.
Conclusion
The conclusion about the Portuguese is that they are very close with their teachers and
sometimes they can consider their teachers as a friend, because most of the teachers are
always prepared to listen to their problems and will try to help them. Another thing is that
they can have fun with them, like joking and laughing together. Some teachers even hug
their students! In Belgium, this totally isn’t the case.
4
Interaction between the Belgian pupils and
teachers in Sint-Theresia college and experiences
in the Portuguese classes.
Sarah Opdenacker:
In general, the classes are quiet in Belgium. We have to, otherwise we'll get punished. It's also
important for us to follow classes, because we need the information for tests or exams. The
relationship with teachers mostly is kind of superficial. The talks are about 'stupid things' . In
Portugal, I was shocked. They had 90 minutes of class, but they only worked for about 15 minutes.
The pupils talk very loudly to each other. The teachers tell them to stop talking, but they don't listen.
So what do the teachers do? They yell over the noise of the pupils. You could definitely see that the
whole 'school' thing was obligated. It looks like the teachers don't even care about the grades of the
pupils. They just teach because they have to teach. Same with the students, they go to school
because they have to. The pupils almost fall asleep, come too late (just like me, but they don't get
punished), bully each other in class,... The difference was so big. In Belgium this would never happen.
We have 50 minutes of class. And we work 50 minutes
Milo De Decker:
I didn't join the lessons in Portugal so I'm not able to compare the Portuguese and the
Belgian lessons but I know the lessons in Belgium are a lot stricter.
In Belgium you have to be quiet, otherwise you can be punished. But every teacher is
different of course, some teachers don't have so much authority and then, there is mostly a
lot of noise during the lessons. With teachers with more authority, everybody is quiet and
follows the lessons. The Belgian teachers always wants to do as much as possible during one
lesson (50minutes).
A remarkable difference, in my opinion, is that the relationship between the Portuguese
teachers and pupils is a lot more familiar compared to the Belgians, the relationship
between the teachers and the pupils is very superficial.
In general, I also think that the Portuguese schools are a lot easier than the Belgian ones.
5
Joke Rasker and Candice Delzenne: When we enter the classes the teachers expect that
we’re quiet and we sit down to listen to their lessons, that’s how we show our respect to the
teachers. We all know that sometimes we can’t keep to it and that can have some
consequences if you have a strict teacher. If we have some problems, I think some teachers
will be able to listen to you and help you, but it depends on the personality of the teacher.
The relationship between teacher and pupil will never be so close, we can’t really consider
them as our friends, the most as a confidential person. Another thing here in Sint-Theresia
college is that during the breaks you can’t be very close with the opposite sex, as soon as you
hug your love our the opposite sex a teacher will come in between and they will have
comments about it. When we meet a teacher outside the classes, we just ignore them
sometimes, but if it’s a teacher we like, we will say hello or smile to them out of politeness.
Our experiences in the Portuguese classes at Escola Secundária Daniel Sampaio. We both sat
in a different class. Candice has seen all the noise they can make during the lessons, they can
talk a lot with each other and if they are shouting the teacher doesn’t say a lot, after some
time she just says: “Pupils come on.” But the pupils don’t listen to her, they just continue.
When the teacher says something they are allowed to contradict. The pupils are allowed to
listen to their music, iPod and some of them even use their phones. It was a nice experience,
but sometimes I thought ‘oh my god’.
Joke’s experience is pretty much the same. The teacher is trying to explain something, but
the pupils just keep talking until they are fed up with it. I can remember that the person,
who was teaching, didn’t really start to shout so I would think he really is used to all the
noise.
6
Conclusions sub questions
1. The way of teaching: In Belgium the teachers really spend a lot of attention to their
way of teaching. They expect that the pupils are quiet and respect the teachers. We
are allowed to talk, but we must know our limits. When the teacher asks to pay
attention, we’ve to stop talking and listen to the teacher’s lesson. In Portugal the
teachers don’t really care who listens to them or not… The pupils can do what they
want during the lessons; they can talk and use their phones. Sometimes the teacher
gives a comment, but they don’t really expect that the pupils are quiet after their
comment.
2. The interaction outside the classes: We all know there’s a different between teachers
and pupils; we can’t see teachers as our friends, because it would be a little bit
strange. Some of the pupils will have a good relationship with the teacher and that
wouldn’t be fair for the others. Because it could benefit the pupil. That’s why when
we, in Belgium, meet a teacher outside the classes we just say hello or sometimes we
ignore the teacher, it depends on the teacher. We’ve seen that in Portugal they
spend a lot of attention to the interaction outside the classes. They just see their
teachers as their friends. When they meet a teacher outside the classes they give
them a kiss or a hug… This wouldn’t be accepted in Sint-Theresia college.
3. The salutation when they meet or say goodbye: In Sint-Theresia college, we enter the
classes, sometimes say hello to the teacher, go to our places and sit down. We take
our books and start the lessons. When the lesson is finished we just leave the classes
and sometimes say: “see you tomorrow”. That’s it. This is the normal way in Belgium.
In Escola Secundária Daniel Sampaio we’ve seen that when they enter the class,
some of the pupils go to their teacher, start a conversation or give a kiss/hug. That’s
the way they salute their teachers when they meet or say goodbye, it’s a normal
thing there, but it all depends of the teacher of course. Even we as they were
surprised to see those differences.
7
4. The respect from the students towards the teacher: Sint-Theresia college has some
rules, and we’ve to respect them. If we don’t respect them, we can have penalties.
One of the rules we’ve to respect is the respect from the students towards the
teachers. It’s one of the most important rules in our school. We can’t treat them like
animals, of course we can’t. We have to be friendly and respectful against them. If
we do something wrong they will send you to the director or coordinator and there
we have to experience the consequences. Escola Secundaria Daniel Sampaio will be
mostly the same, every school has rules and every school expects respect from the
students towards the teacher. There’s just one difference, they are less strict there
then here in Belgium.
8
Conclusion Main Question
Main question: What are the differences and the similarities in the relationship
between pupils and teachers in the secondary school in Portugal (Escola
Secundária Daniel Sampaio) compared to Belgium (Sint-Theresia college)?
So from all our work and our sources we can tell you a main conclusion: we can
conclude that there are lots of differences between the student-teacher relationship
in Portugal and in Belgium and there are no obvious similarities. The one big main
difference is that the student-teacher relationship in Portugal is a lot more casual and
friend-like than it is in Belgium. We can notice this from the respect from the
Portuguese students towards their teachers, from the salutation when they meet or
say goodbye and from the style of teaching in Portugal. But we can assume that not
all Portuguese students have this connection with their teachers and those students
have the same, more superficial relationship like we have it in Belgium.
9