Job Discussion Forums

musaafira · Joined: 27 Jan 2012 Posts: 44

Hi all,

I didn't want to ask this but some things led me to asking it anyway. This has been bugging me for a long time. Many people think that ESL jobs are only attained by Caucasians... Meaning, if you have the same qualifications, have the same accent, same passport, same everything, except for the fact that you are not white (you are East or South Asian for example), then you won't get anything and ESL ain't for you.

Please share your stories to show the world that this is false. I myself don't have much to share since I haven't worked in the ME yet...

fledex · Joined: 05 Jun 2011 Posts: 342

My experience in ME is that you might actually be treated better if you are of African descent. Certainly better than in Europe or North America.

veiledsentiments · Joined: 20 Feb 2003 Posts: 17644 Location: USA

Did you mean to ask this on the Saudi branch? Or are you asking about the Gulf in general? or the Middle East in general? I assume that this is on the wrong branch since you are posting on other branches.

Everywhere that I have worked there were both non-native speakers and native speaker non "Caucasians" teaching EFL.

Hiring is done based on your education, experience, and interview at the best of the employers... and too many of the worst of them hire anyone that can manage to apply.

VS

johnslat · Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 1:50 am Post subject:

Dear musaafira,

In Saudi, I had numerous "non-Caucasian" colleagues. Some were from Arab countries, others were from Africa, and I also had an Iranian and a black American colleague.

Regards,
John

JerkyBoy · Joined: 12 Jan 2012 Posts: 485

desert_traveller · Joined: 28 Nov 2006 Posts: 335

musaafira · Joined: 27 Jan 2012 Posts: 44

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

Grendal · Posted: Sun Mar 18, 2012 6:05 pm Post subject:

CamTam · Joined: 05 Jan 2012 Posts: 32

I am, uh, clearly not white ... if you were to see me. I can tell you from experience in the Gulf that I am still something of an anomaly in the faces one finds here among teaching staff. It's okay. The students are generally very blase and don't care too much what the face looks like as long as the accent is comprehensible. Believe me, some of the native speakers from the UK are not comprehensible to my Arab students.

Your desire to promote a more understanding world is commendable, but there are lots of different nationalities in TEFL.

posh · Joined: 22 Oct 2010 Posts: 430

KSA is as racist as the next country.

At Aramco I worked with a black guy from London and he got it all the time. Once he came into my class to ask me something and the students roared with laughter and shouted "Look teacher - it's a n****r!" He was also a convert to Islam. That didn't help either.

johnslat · Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 6:04 pm Post subject:

Dear posh,

That's sad - my colleague (who's now working in the UAE) had no such problems when he was teaching at the IPA in Riyadh.

There were two other black teachers also there at that time (from Africa), and I never heard (and I'm pretty sure I would have) of their having that sort of thing happen, either.

Regards,
John

nomad soul · Joined: 31 Jan 2010 Posts: 11454 Location: The real world

johnslat · Posted: Fri Mar 23, 2012 6:15 pm Post subject:

Dear nomad soul,

Good question - if something like that had happened in one of my classes, those jerks would have been VERY sorry afterwards.

I'll certainly agree, though, that racism is as prevalent in Saudi as anywhere else.

Regards,
John

posh · Joined: 22 Oct 2010 Posts: 430

[/quote]Since it was your class, what did you say to your students?[/quote]

Something along the lines of 'with that attitude, don't even start talking to me about religion.'