I would be lying to all of you and myself if I didnt say that I hated my job for the first week I was here. It was the final week of a 7week cycle and it was revision week before the students (and staff )went on a 2week holiday. I wasn't sure of anything and I think the students were tired and in that universal pre-holiday mood.
After a paid 2 week holiday, I returned to work on Saturday the 3rd of November. Remember we work Saturday to Wednesday. There were 2 days of revion and then the students wrote exams. Frantic marking and moderating ensued and last Saturday we began with our new schedules, with most of our students progressing to level 2.
Let me contextualise this all for you. I work at the University of Ha'il's Prep Year College. We have about 4000 girls on campus. They are divided in to the College of Medicine, College of Arts and College of Science. Education is free in Saudi Arabia and the students are paid to be on campus. They receive a monthly allowance from the government and are all issued with atm cards. The only requirement is that they attend classes, so an important part of an ESL teacher's job is to take attendance. If they miss too many classes they are kicked out, however they can fail courses and repeat their subjects.
A moment on the history of education for women in Saudi Arabia. This country is only a little over 70 years old. Education for girls only began in 1960 and until 2002, womens education fell under the Department of Religious Guidance and not the Ministry of Education. This was done to ensure that
their was no deviation from the purpose of female education, which was to make them good wives and mothers. Now I can hear all my feminist friends sighing in despair, but please go to this link and read the article, which gives a very clear explanation and description of the challenges and avances in female education in this incredibly interesting country.
http://ehlt.flinders.edu.au/education/iej/articles/v6n1/hamdan/paper.pdf
Stats from 2010 state that only 50.3% of women over the age of 25 have a secondary education. the UNDP report of 2003, claims that the Saudi literacy rate is 62% overall, with males having a 72% literacy rate and females, 50%.
Anyway, if you really want to be informed, read the article. Its far too easy to sit in the West and just judge and speak of what should or shouldnt be. I look at the world as it is and can say with clarity that the West certainly doesnt seem to be getting it right. I am grateful for my training as a clinical social worker in the people-centred approach, which demands that we step into the shoes of our clients and never assume their desires or where their pain stems from, but to rather to hear them with with empathy, unconditional postive regard (not the same as approval) and personal power.
My students arrive on campus fully covered with an abaya (black full cloak), hijab (head scarf) and niqab (face cover). They take these off and have to wear a long black skirt and then they wear whatever tops they want and wear alot of make-up. I remember someone saying to me before I came here, "under every abaya and thobe, is just another human being". Such true words, my students are lovely. They have different mannerisms etc to what I am used to, but like anyone respond well to being respected, listened to and taught with passion. They are very protected from external influences and so are a lot "younger" than my students back home, and there is a beauty in their naivety.
One of the things that I have had to get used to very quickly is how isolated from the rest of the world, the girls (and boys, I am told) are. I was teaching nationalities and was asking students different questions about the countries to improve their conversation skills. So, I said USA, about half the class knew that was America. I asked the girls to give me the names of any big cities from there, less than 5 knew of New York and 2 of them had heard of Washington. In the same class (26 students), 3 knew that Obama was president and the rest had never heard of him. This is not an indictment on their cleverness, but rather highlights just how isolated they are.
This means a complete re-think about teaching styles, I cannot use the usual examples and contexts I could before and as music is haram (forbidden), I some times feel stifled in getting creative in the classroom. Relationships between boys and girls is also haram, so that (never mind sex), politics and religion is completely forbidden in the classroom. Yesterday I was shocked to find out that the girls are not allowed to play any form of sport at all and never have been. They didn't even have PE (physical education) at school.
BUT they are a delight to teach, they make me laugh alot and they laugh at me alot. I am trying to learn each girl's name in each of my classes. (26+26+46). They have very different names to ours, so it is difficult and they crack up at my pronunciation. They also love my short white hair. They stare and point as I walk around campus, and run up to me and say, "I love your hair teacher" and then run away giggling again. They are childlike in so many ways but I love it because I get to "play" with them every day while teaching them English. From Saturday I will be teaching 6 x 50minute sessions a day, what a gift.
I am loving them and am so blessed to have found my way here, to this place in this time!
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