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Trouble with new Kuwaiti student in U.S. IEP- please respond

 
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Noelle



Joined: 26 Mar 2005
Posts: 361
Location: USA

PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 3:30 pm    Post subject: Trouble with new Kuwaiti student in U.S. IEP- please respond Reply with quote

Hi everyone,

I've not been to Kuwait and my only experience with Kuwaiti students has been here in the U.S. I have a young guy (maybe 18 - 2ish?) who has just started an intensive academic course in our program here in Southern CA and after just one day-- he's caused some issues with the other students, particularly Asians... more particularly females.

I think he has an outgoing personality and is quite confident and I don't think he seems like the type who would go out of his way to offend, but students are complaining and I have to deal with this in Week 1 before it goes any further.

My question is-- do male and female students study together at all after primary school in Kuwait? I worked in Oman, which I realize is quite different from most of the rest of the Gulf.

Second question-- many of our Kuwaitis (like the Saudis) come to the U.S. on scholarship. Do you know if there is any type of orientation or 'training' for students in Kuwait who are about to travel abroad for study? By training I mean just a bit of an intro. to expectations in Western university programs and maybe a bit of cultural awareness explanation (if such a thing exists...)

Would love some replies from people in Kuwait or who have more experience with these students than I do!
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Dr X



Joined: 04 Jul 2016
Posts: 84
Location: Everywhere

PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 4:30 pm    Post subject: Re: Trouble with new Kuwaiti student in U.S. IEP- please res Reply with quote

Noelle wrote:
My question is-- do male and female students study together at all after primary school in Kuwait? I worked in Oman, which I realize is quite different from most of the rest of the Gulf.


Kuwait Law: No More Segregation and Animals Now Have Rights
http://248am.com/fajer/law/kuwait-law-no-more-segregation-and-animals-have-rights/

Concerning your Kuwaiti student's behaviour, just warn him that you will contact the Kuwaiti Cultural Office in Washington DC if he do it again.
The Kuwaiti teenagers are used to Asian housemaids/housekeepers, that's why your Kuwaiti student is treating the other Asian female students as he treats his Asian housemaid.
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Noelle



Joined: 26 Mar 2005
Posts: 361
Location: USA

PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 5:40 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Thanks for the interesting link.

I've always viewed Kuwait as quite a bit more liberal than Saudi Arabia and even Oman. The offensive remarks made by this guy were not of that nature. I think he actually wants to get the attention of his classmates and become 'a class clown'. He was making gestures like a child would make-- stretching out his eyes with his fingers to show that they all had, in his words, 'the same eyes'.

I suspect this may be down to personality, immaturity and inexperience in multi-cultural classes-- and not so much his upbringing or background in Kuwait. Also-- Asian students (esp. girls) can become very sensitive about their faces, complexions and a whole host of other things.

Thank you again... N
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Dr X



Joined: 04 Jul 2016
Posts: 84
Location: Everywhere

PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 6:03 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Noelle wrote:
I think he actually wants to get the attention of his classmates and become 'a class clown'. He was making gestures like a child would make-- stretching out his eyes with his fingers to show that they all had, in his words, 'the same eyes'.

I suspect this may be down to personality, immaturity and inexperience in multi-cultural classes-- and not so much his upbringing or background in Kuwait. Also-- Asian students (esp. girls) can become very sensitive about their faces, complexions and a whole host of other things.

Thank you again... N

Yes, maybe you are right, it looks like a 'Personality Clashes' scenario in your classroom. In this case, as a teacher, you should not force friendship, but encourage teamwork. Do not ignore the problem, you should be the one who 'guide on the side'.
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nomad soul



Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world

PostPosted: Thu Sep 29, 2016 7:24 pm    Post subject: Reply with quote

Noelle wrote:
Many of our Kuwaitis (like the Saudis) come to the U.S. on scholarship. Do you know if there is any type of orientation or 'training' for students in Kuwait who are about to travel abroad for study? By training I mean just a bit of an intro. to expectations in Western university programs and maybe a bit of cultural awareness explanation (if such a thing exists...)

Would love some replies from people in Kuwait or who have more experience with these students than I do!

You're in a US IEP, which is a completely different cultural/learning environment. You should connect with other IEP teachers in the US via the North American discussion forum. Additionally, prep year teachers in Kuwait wouldn't be responsible for these students' orientation to universities abroad. That very likely would be handled by the Kuwaiti Ministry of Education and presented completely in Arabic.
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