October 10, 2010

culturally speaking...

The following are things I heard in the UAE news, stories from fellow teachers' blogs, or tales from friends currently teaching in Abu Dhabi... I've changed all friends' names to either John or Jane to protect identities. It sounds strange to say that, but it's probably the reality that frightened me most-- that the UAE government seems to be able to do whatever it wants. It is most unsettling. As Nate says, even though here in the States the government upsets us on a regular basis, at least we have the "ideals" as a foundation... you know like free speech, innocent-until-proven-guilty, and all that. And so, here we go...

**John gets in a car accident (not his fault). The police say he has two choices... He can accept blame and pay a huge fine, or he can deny fault and spend a few nights in jail while they investigate.

**Jane gets hit, spit on, bitten, and her hair pulled during her regular work day. And the crazy thing is that this happens to other Janes too.

**John is asked to remove student work from the walls, because the principal finds it ugly.

**One day, a student accused John of hitting him in the eye. Luckily, another student knew enough English to say it wasn't true. The Arabic teacher told John, "God saved you today." The Arabic teacher said that if the police had come, they would have believed the lying student.

**A couple of Janes walked out of their school the other day because they have had no support. In this school kids have ganged up on other students, a student's eye was stabbed with a pencil and gushed blood, students climbed up dangerous shelving, and the Janes work together to cover classrooms because no one wants to be left alone with the students. They are afraid for their safety and the students' safety.

**John had a 45 minute meeting with his principal. The principal told him that he cannot use "discipline" or "consequences" in his classroom... CANNOT.

**A journalist spoke out about the practices of a newspaper (sexual favors in exchange for work, etc.)... He, the journalist, is being charged with "disparaging over the internet an English-language newspaper and accusing its management of being unethical and immoral."

**An Emirati man is sentenced to three months in jail for having consensual sex. He was accused of kidnapping and raping a Tunisian woman, but the courts evidently did not believe her.

(There are sooo many stories like the final one, even regarding young boys/girls being raped and then being blamed. Quite eye-opening, since the UAE is a very "progressive" middle-eastern country. I recommend keeping up on the crime section at www.gulfnews.com, simply because it can be both fascinating and frightening.)

3 comments:

Mom said...

A real eye-opener for sure. And appalling. Very sad especially in a country that is pushing for
"reform" in education! Awful.

Linda Brytak said...

The same is true when teaching in Korea. They don't fail students. it is up to the teacher to provide the answers for questions to exams so that the student appears to be learning.
The Korean student does not hit or punch. They do however effectively practice selective hearing. Listening only to what they want to hear. As a Caucasian woman walking through the streets one gets insults, refusal to do business (even when you are willing to spend money in the store)and angry citizens feel compelled to tell you that you are not wanted in their country teaching American standards. There has also been an occasion where there was hair pulling. All this has been told to me by a young lady who, like you was ready for the international experience through the eyes of another country. It makes one pause. If this is the type of welcome our young people are getting, perhaps it is time to re evaluate why we would encourage our children to seek beyond their borders.

teach English abroad said...

Well, looking at the scenario in UAE it sounds as if Teaching Job in UAE is as frightening as going out on a war field. I feel sorry to hear this kind of things wherein people are dealing with such a noble profession like teaching.

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Steve Brown