A meeting with Devlin's Teachers

While we had originally requested a meeting to discuss the report card, Devlin's teachers decided to use the pre-arranged meeting to discuss his behaviour. They even asked that Devlin attend the meeting.  I wasn't particularly keen on having Devlin take part in the meeting, but acquiesced to the teachers' requests.
First off, the music teacher wanted it known that Devlin continued to misbehave in his class, but that he was open to any suggestions for improving Devlin's behaviour. Which led me to question exactly what was the nature of the "misbehaviour". Mostly, it was Devlin (and others) who acted silly, or stood up at the inappropriate times, or shouted out answers. Sometimes, when the teacher's back was turned, there would be funny faces. Okay, not the most serious of crimes. In fact, I distinctly recall engaging in similar acts when I was in grade school. My parents were NOT called in. But I digress.
One of difficulties is the timing of the music class. It's scheduled after recess and it's the last period of the day. Of a long day. And the students are seated on the floor. And sometimes Devlin isn't able to partake in a full recess to get rid of his extra energy because he's gotten a detention for some other inappropriate action in the school yard. So, we can't change the scheduling of the class. What next?
The music teacher offered an incentive to Devlin to behave. Perhaps Devlin could perform a song on the piano for his classmates if he behaved for four classes.
"No," Devlin said clearly in a tone that indicated there would be no re-visiting of this suggestion.
Shot down, the music appealed to us, his parents, for any ideas. We suggested the three strikes and a time-out in the back of classroom. We use that method at home, and it works, 7 out of 10 times. Of course, we didn't mention the success, or lack of success, rate.
What bothered me was the admission that Devlin was not the only culprit. When I inquired as to how the other troublesome students were being addressed (for ideas on how to deal with ours), we were rebuffed.
When delving into the issue of his behaviour, it became clear to us that the main problem was Devlin's inability to heed a warning once issued. That was not a surprise. So he's been told not to run around, or to remain seated during lunch, or stop yelling, but he continues. We have the same problem at home, where we need to repeat directives two or three times before it's heeded. In other words, a problem with his listening. There's clearly nothing wrong with his ability to process the information. That was clearly demonstrated when in the middle of the meeting, Devlin raised his hand to be heard.
When we adults turned our attention to him, he asked very innocently, "Is there a listening class at this school?"
Knowing where he was headed, both my husband and I were unsuccessful in masking our snickers.
"Because, if there was a listening class, maybe I could take it and learn how to listen better," Devlin continued earnestly.
Yeah, well, I'd hate to see his marks if there was indeed a listening class.
What was also clear was the majority of behaviours being frowned upon were occurring in a non-class setting. Like lunch time, when the classroom of six year olds are supervised for the part of time but expected to eat and remain seated at their desks. The desks they've been sitting at all morning. Or when he's out in the school yard, running around. Clearly, he's also testing his limits. Like the time he repeated a line he heard from a classmate to another. A phrase not used in our home, and when I advised the teacher that it was not language he had picked up at home, she was surprised. Which then got me thinking, "Does this teacher not understand that children learn from their peers on the playground?"
A few other uncharitable thoughts also popped into my head as the meeting went on, but this is not the forum for that.
While I know that my kid is not a perfect angel, I do think that the expectations being laid out for six year old boys is a tad unreasonable. Even adults can't sit still for long stretches of time. Will we continue to work with our son to modify his behaviour. Of course, but it's a work in progress, for like eighteen years.
At the end of the meeting, I got the distinct impression that we parents shouldn't be satisfied with Devlin's current display of behaviour. But that we should be satisfied with his current level of academic success since he's average. When we asked about ways we could work with Devlin to help surpass the provincial standard to achieve the unrealistic A standard, the teacher was at a loss to provide concrete, constructive suggestions.
Is this really the state of our publicly funded education system?