As with any class, the various members of World Studies have a wide variety of opinions on the class. In this class, however, students' opinions seem to be strikingly in line with how they act in class, that is to say, those who are most disruptive love the class, those who are quiet but don't complete many of their assignments say that it's ok, but a joke, and those who want to learn are extremely frustrated. Additionally, those who are in the cliques are unaware of their existence, while those who are frustrated with the constant disruptions from certain groups are constantly irritated by the presence of cliques.
Alejandro is a Black student in World Studies who seems quite intelligent, and often says interesting things about race in conversations with his peers, but has continual behavioral problems, particularly with Brandon. When I asked him if he liked the class, he said yes, and that there really was nothing that he didn't like about it. He liked Mr. Tree's style of allowing students to reason through the material and hint at things until the class comes up with answers for itself, rather than simply being fed information. In addition to this, he said he doesn't feel it's any more cliquey than other classes. Given that, Alejandro is a member one of the main cliques of in the class, though, made up of some of the Black male students.
Jenny, one of the numerous students in the class who is quiet and respectful, but often fails to turn in assignments, has a different view of the class than Alejandro. "This class is kind of a joke," she said. "Mr. Tree gives us a lot of freedom and I think people take advantage of it," she continued, hinting at the preponderance of socializing in the class. She also commented directly on how the issue of seating charts fed into this. "We've had a lot of seating charts, but they never last, and Mr. Tree doesn't enforce them." This exemplifies one of the ways in which students have taken advantage of Mr. Tree's laxness. Jenny did not have any particular grievance, with the class however, though she thought it was silly. Amaya, a student in a similar position to Jenny, but perhaps slightly more talkative and with a definite clique of friends in the class comprised of a couple of others who play sports and appear to be popular, said that no, she didn't think the class was that cliquey, and that everyone was friends. On the subject matter of the class itself, however, she felt academic rigor was missing, but did not appear to particularly miss it. "Mr. Tree doesn't really make us do anything, or stay in our seats," she offered.
More invested members of the class did have grievances though, and strong ones. Katie, a student who is extremely smart and dedicated to her education, but opinionated and sometimes disrespectful, wants much more out of the class, and offered this comment: "This class is stupid. I feel like I'm not learning anything...The seating charts never work...I wish it was more boring and strict like my other classes." This surprising comment to come from a 16-year-old was not alone, wither. Amanda, another dedicated student, said in frustration, "I can't deal with this class. I'm thinking about switching out. I'm just not learning anything. Mr. Tree won't control the class. Everyone is friends and don't know how to be quiet." When I asked her to comment further on the the class's friendships and cliquey-ness, she rolled her eyes saying "yes," its very cliquey. Amanda's desire to switch out at the next trimester was not along. Katie mentioned at another time that she wanted to switch out, but ultimately decided against it, because in one of her later hours there was a boy she had a crush on, and if she switched this class, the later class would likely change. Katie's priorities were perhaps not entirely out of the ordinary, then.
These examples show a couple of things. First, the existence of cliques was most noticeable to those who were not in them. Alejandro and Amaya, who both had a solid contingent of friends that they sat with and talked with during class, did not feel that cliques were prevalent in the class. Dedicated students like Amanda and Katie were extremely frustrated with the cliques, and Mr. Tree was acutely aware of them as well. Satisfaction with the class seemed to be negatively correlated with one's awareness of cliques. This who felt the class was just a large group of friends had something of "clique privilege," and did not have to see the the presence of cloistering groups of friends who were often disruptive felt the class was just fine, while those were aware of it, who were also often the best students, were greatly irritated by it. This points to the need for teachers to be responsive to what's going on in their classrooms. Maintaining a relaxed atmosphere in which students are not shut out by rigid discipline policies is important, but shutting out the whole class from being able to learn by letting discipline, and with it, content, go completely out the window denies those who do want to learn the right to.
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