Compare and Contrast

Quite unbelievably it is only a few more weeks until my second year of teaching in the UAE is over.  This school year has flown by; a stark contrast to the first year.

This year I have taught grade 12 girls.  They are in their final year of high school and one would expect for 17 and 18 year old young women there would be a level of maturity beyond that of the younger members of the school - the ones who made my last year so challenging.  On the whole however, I'm yet to see it!  I thought teaching young women heading off to University, Colleges and for some, marriage, would somehow guarantee a greater dedication to study and a more mature approach to learning.

Of course, like most things I experience here, the opposite is the case!  You would think by now I would stop applying western expectations and beliefs to my teaching experiences...I guess I'm still a slow learner too.

There is no doubt that the girls are determined to get good grades; there is also no doubt that the girls want to do well and make their parents proud.  There is also no doubt that (many of) these girls want to do something in terms of a career.  The problem is that most do not have an in-built appreciation of the fact that THEY must play a role in attaining these things.  They have worked within an education system for many years that has afforded them the right to gain grades through compliance; turning up to class occasionally and completing work, irrespective of the effort involved.

This educational culture has given them their right of passage from one year to the next.  Most cannot see a correlation between hard work and earning grades as a result.  Most cannot fathom why they would need to be on time, behave, respect and complete work by themselves.  Indeed they do not see 'cheating' (as we might see it) as a problem, because it is in fact 'working together' or 'helping my friend'.


Where do they get this from?  Well, from parents who have either limited educational experience or who have passed through the very same system.  From local and ex-pat Arab teachers who have taught via a textbook the same information year after year, in the same manner year after year.  These are the teachers who have placated girls and parents by awarding 'extra' grades for turning up, and who have given answers to ensure good grades for their classes.  The students have also been taught how to memorise answers to guarantee good grades...that is why they need so much time off at the end of term to study for their exams.

To come to this place and try to impart thinking skills, differentiation, interpersonal skills and to participate in preparing these students to be global citizens is therefore a tough task.  Chipping at the deeply-rooted sense of entitlement that characterises the people of this land is a very slow, difficult and frustrating occupation.


So when I was teaching my students in term two the skills of comparing and contrasting, I began making connections to my own experiences since arriving in the UAE, and particularly those experiences in desert classrooms.  I began to question in the brief time I've been here, whether things had changed or remained static for me.  I taught the girls about using appropriate graphic organisers when comparing and contrasting ideas, people and events in history.  While I stood in front of them as they sat their exam testing this skill, I pictured my own graphic organiser and what it might look like to compare this year to last...

Miss Jacqui's compare and contrast chart: Last year and this year

Differences (2011/2012)	Similarities	Differences (2012/2013)
Most students late to class	Sense of entitlement	3-4 students late to class
Local teachers interrupt most lessons	Expectation of 100% in all exams and tests	1 interruption from local teachers in the week
Many students cheat and talk in exams	Lack of personal responsibility	Most students do not cheat and talk in exams
Many students lie and copy from others	Western teacher = second class and always to blame	Some lie and copy from others
Many students do not complete their work	Student needs are paramount; before a teacher's needs	Most students complete their work
Chaos reigns in the corridors	Teachers are responsible for failure	Chaos on some days in the corridors
There is no discipline system	Western teacher = paid less and works more hours	An emerging discipline system

On a positive note, there is a different feeling about the place this year.  There's more of a professional air among all teachers.  There is student work all over the school and indeed a celebration of student achievement is evident throughout.  More processes (computers, printers, photocopiers, teacher supplies) are in place compared to last year; these make for an easier teaching day.  The social workers at grade 12 support teachers more and while the consequences for poor student behaviour are minimal, there is some attempt to address it.

And more importantly, this year I feel I have formed better relationships with many of the girls I teach.  I guess this is a natural outcome of being in a place for a longer period of time and a growing understanding (on my part) of the culture of the place and of the girls.  Maybe it is because I'm more relaxed?  Maybe I have accepted and stepped back from stuff that might have seemed totally nuts to me last year?  Maybe I've become more immune to things?  Maybe parents, teachers and students are coming to terms with the 'new' systems and expectations imposed by ADEC?  Maybe change is happening in small, bite-size pieces because of the new school model and what is happening at all layers of the education system here?


It is probably of course a combination of all of the above.

I know one thing for sure in all of this.  I'm not the same person I was two years ago.  I've changed.  There are some things that have remained the same, but many things that are now different.  For the most part I think the differences are good.  I've grown a lot.  I now understand things in a different way to what I previously understood.  I can now appreciate things, accept things and tolerate things I never thought possible.  I'm a different person in many ways and that's not a bad thing.  I'm learning and growing and reflecting.

...Now if only I can get my girls to do that!