Interview with Sofiane Zibouche, Secondary 2 Mathematics teacher
Discreet, with a rather stocky stature, jet-colored hair and beard, sparkling black eyes behind his glasses, Sofiane Zibouche is not a person who imposes himself at first sight, but whose inner strength will quickly be recognized by a bit of finesse. Talking with him, one can see a deep knowledge of the students he is dealing with; a friendly, fraternal knowledge, yes that of an older brother.
He always knew he wanted to teach while focusing on human connections. After an easy schooling, he obtained a technician diploma in Ann, then a master in physics and chemistry. He taught science at a vocational school while simultaneously coaching sports. Then he taught for four years at a high school in Lausanne. This school was primarily focused on "performance", which he felt was to the detriment of the students. Then, three years ago, an advertisement from the Steiner school made him decide to apply. In our school, Sofiane found the style that corresponded to him: the concern for the student, the knowledge transmitted to serve the construction of the being. He immediately felt like a fish in water.
Sofiane, married and father of two young boys, comes from an Algerian family, where the father, an industrial worker, has always transmitted to his children the taste or the virtue of work well done. His brothers and sisters have also done solid studies and are in the teaching or legal professions. As a child, then as a young man, he has always lived in close proximity with people from all nations: Asia, Africa, other European countries, and he attributes his sense of being at home here and having somehow traveled the world while remaining in the region to this.
He has always been fascinated by manual and practical work and Sofiane Zibouche regrets not having had any in his own schooling. He notes that with the artistic disciplines - and especially theater - the fact of staying with the same class for several years,the young people in the Steiner school benefit from a much richer social and human situation than in other establishments. He finds them more aware of current events, with a sharper awareness than elsewhere.
The faculties of concentration, application and endurance seem to him to be sustained by practical disciplines, where the result often hides all the work that had to be done. Even he - judging himself not very artistic - sometimes finds that a mathematical result, the solution of a problem, theoutcome of a formula can have a certain beauty. This surprises his students...
Exchange written by François GAUTIER
