As I write Fuck Pedagogy, I’ve had to go through my reports from middle and high school, which has had an odd effect on remembering who I was in their eyes.
In Grade 4, I was placed in “the superior range of ability.” In Grade 5, words such as “very good”, “first class” & “hard-working” were prevalent.
In Grades 6 & 7, words such as “disappointing”, “weak” & “carelessness” became the thing. I was sent to a boarding school for Grades 8 & 9, where the language improved again: “very good”, “excellent” & “extremely capable.”
That said, I hated boarding school and returned to Upper Canada, the initial place of my malaise and, while I didn’t start off terribly – “tried hard”, “applied himself” & “prepared & organized” – I quickly spiraled in my last three years to “allowing himself to drift”, “displayed no interest” & “a year of bumps”.
My overall final grade was barely 60% due to the fact that I was forced to take a class – Physics – which wasn’t required for graduation. I rarely attended the classes – opting to skate on the school rink instead – and ended up with a final of 26%.
There was a lot of talk about my attitude for this, but more than anything, it just made me realize how stupid adults really were..
