Clocks, calendars and cell phones: An ethnography on time in a high school

Abstract

Considering that time is an important dimension in anthropological discourse and a key element of the "hidden curriculum" of school, this paper presents the results of an ethnography on time in a high school in João Pessoa, Paraíba, Brazil. We discuss how teaching/learning processes are organized and experienced in time, paying close attention to the limitations and possibilities revealed by interactions between teachers and students. We first identify the pedagogical temporal units that compose the dimension of structural time at the school, and then identify aspects of time in practice (experiences and strategies). We argue that school time is both a constraint and an opportunity, unfolding in a series of metaphors ("save time," "waste time," "kill time", "fill time", "pass the time"), which enable ways of thinking about the conflicts present in daily school life. ResumoConsiderando que o tempo é uma importante dimensão para a reflexão antropológica, e um elemento fundamental no "currículo oculto" da ins- Mónica Franch and Josilene P. de Souza aprendizagem são organizados e vivenciados temporalmente, dando atenção aos limites e possibilidades que se revelam nas interações entre professores e alunos. Para isso, identificamos, em primeiro lugar, as unidades temporais pedagógicas, que compõem a dimensão do tempo estrutural da escola pesquisada para em seguida identificar aspectos do tempo na prática (experiên-cias e estratégias). Defendemos que o tempo escolar emerge simultaneamente como constrangimento e como oportunidade, se desdobrando em uma série de metáforas ("ganhar tempo", "perder tempo", "matar o tempo", "preencher o tempo", "passar o tempo"), que permitem pensar alguns impasses presentes no cotidiano escolar.

Teaching temporal reflexivity through a vehicle: Experiential-existential time around the wood fire stove of a mobile shepherd's hut

“…However, the field work continuously confirmed that the in-betweenness of the hut sessions was perceived with curiosity and respect by staff within the School of Education. This confirmed what Franch and Souza have suggested, namely that ‘other temporalities can be constructed, often in the gaps between institutional temporalities’ (2015: 420). During the initial onset of the global pandemic in 2020, some participants of my research continued the subjective-reflective mapping that had started in the shepherd's hut.…”

“…One can question the prevailing assumption that teacher education has to prepare pre-service teachers how to function in ‘clock time’ (Franch and Souza, 2015) in order to nurture aptitude for the later job. The dominant temporal and spatial order legitimises a tangible type of educational trajectory: ‘Temporality in schooling is grounded in concepts like development, progress, outcomes, and improvement, all of which serve to move particular bodies forward, while removing others in their path’ (Springgay and Truman, 2019: 551).…”

Introduction: Teaching time

“…There is extensive work which unpacks the traditional temporalities of education itself (e.g. Duncheon and Tierney, 2013; Franch and De Souza, 2015; Hohti, 2016), as well as the time pressures of teaching and how they affect pedagogy (e.g. Gravesen and Ringskou, 2017).…”