Job Discussion Forums

[MESL]

A few months before the end of my last semester, I was in the dean�s office. He asked me, �Are you coming back next year?� I said, �I don�t know. You tell me. Am I coming back next year?� He said, �Yes, we�ll be glad to work with you.� Apparently not. My contract was not renewed. The chairman told me the decision was made by the Ministry of Education. He went with me to the dean�s office to translate when I requested a letter of no objection. The dean said, �We�re not authorized to recommend or not recommend anyone.� I said, �No, no. Not a letter of recommendation, a letter of no objection.� I explained over and over that I could not work for another employer in Saudi Arabia without permission from my previous employer, that this was the policy for every foreign worker in the country. Then the chairman started pretending the dean didn�t understand. The dean has signed many letters of no objection. He knew exactly what I was talking about. The chairman had been the dean several years before. He had sat in that same office and signed many letters of no objection. How long did either of these guys think it would take for me to figure out what they were doing? About 5 minutes.

They never tell you the full story, but I was able to put enough pieces of the puzzle together. Turns out that several students in that infamous Diploma program wrote a letter to the Ministry. The chairman and the dean knew about this. Neither told me about it. When I discovered what happened, I asked my best students, Bachelor and Diploma, to talk to the chairman. Students in 3 classes signed letters to the chairman saying that I was one of the best teachers they ever had and that they benefited enormously from my methods. The students who wrote to the Ministry were in one of my reading classes. The Diploma students who wrote to the chairman were also in one of my reading classes. Several of the students who complained to the Ministry were not qualified to take the final exam because of too many absences. None of the students in the Diploma class that complimented me to the chairman had an attendance problem.

The English department�s nemesis was the director of the Diploma program. Let�s start with this quote: �If the students don�t learn, it�s the teacher�s fault.� He said this at an English department meeting. At this same meeting, he insisted that we cover at least 4 chapters each semester. This man does not have a degree in education, English, communication, or even a liberal arts or humanities subject. As far as I know, he�s never been a teacher. He doesn�t even speak English.

Seldom have I met anyone who could display such wicked behavior yet appear to be such a genuinely nice guy. He had a reputation for calling teachers into his office and verbally abusing them. He said to one of them, �All of the teachers are bad, and you�re the worst.� Of all the Muslims I met in the Kingdom and in my Middle East travels, this teacher had the most genuine faith. By contrast, I was extremely unimpressed with the director�s faith. Or rather completely unimpressed.

During my first semester, every time I went into this man�s office, he tried to talk to me about Islam. Obviously, all of my Arab friends in Saudi Arabia were Muslim. Most of them were welcome to share their faith with me, and many did. Meanwhile, the Arab News and the Saudi Gazette devote a full page every day to Islam, and I frequently read these pages. I also spent considerable time and money in the bookstores. I even attended several classed taught by the chairman, who happened to work at the Da�wa Center. But the Diploma program director, I�m not interested in hearing about Islam from him.

On one occasion, he told me, �Our policy is to pay at the end of the term. But we�re going to give you half of your pay midterm because we want to make a good impression on your about Islam.� Keep your money. Islam has already made a mixed but generally good impression on me. If you want to make a good impression on me, stop prostituting academics: stop selling diplomas.

He told one of the teachers, �The other teachers don�t� have a problem with the Diploma program. Why do you have a problem with it?� He specifically mentioned me. Wrong. Most of the English department staff wanted to sever the tie.

Then he started sending someone into the classrooms to see if the teachers were there. If they were absent, the chairman got a note, which we were expected to sign. The first time he accused me of being absent, the note came a month after the alleged absence. I signed the note, checked my lesson notebook, and discovered that we were on a field trip to the ESL bookstore. So I sent a memo to the dean. Meanwhile, I protested to the chairman about the long delay between the alleged absence and the arrival of the note. The next time he accused me of being absent, he sent the note the same day. Turns out we were on a field trip to the Internet caf�. And I had one of the students leave a message on the board, in Arabic for late students. (When a teacher is absent or when a lesson is scheduled at another location, it�s common practice to leave an announcement on the board. Either the spy didn�t know this, or he didn�t bother to look.) I not only refused to sign the accusation, I finally decided to set the record straight. I wrote him a letter and had it translated: �Stop trying to hold the English department accountable and start holding yourself, your community center, and your students accountable.�

I also had to set the record straight about scores:

�After 3 semesters, it has become obvious that every one of your students who doesn't get a good score will challenge everything a teacher says and does. Responding to these challenges has consumed an enormous amount of my time. I can no longer justify spending time on scoring controversies. My time is better spent developing curriculum, preparing lessons, and finding good material. My time is also better spent advising other professors on usage and culture, helping enthusiastic students practice their English, and learning about Saudi, Arab, and Muslim culture. Furthermore, your students do not follow my instructions, plagiarize homework, and cheat on exams. So it's not even possible for me to authentically evaluate them. I cannot be responsible for the moral, ethical, and intellectual condition of your students, or their behavior. I need to be a wise steward of my time. Until this situation changes, I will not take attendance or fail any of your students.�

The situation with the diploma students was bad, very bad, and exceedingly bad. I finally told the chairman:

�I cannot teach Diploma students. They act like zombies, drug addicts, lobotomy patients, refusing to participate in classroom discussion. They can't speak a complete, correct sentence in English. They don't understand even the simplest questions in English. They can't follow even the most basic instructions. They are chronically absent or late. They don't bring their textbooks and handouts to class. Even in their 3rd and 4th semesters, they haven't memorized their student number. I was told last semester I would not have any diploma students this semester, but I have 3 diploma classes this semester.�

The chairman initially made a good impression on me. But after he repeated compromised with the Diploma program director, and after he let enough students stab me in the back, my respect for him dwindled to almost none. The final blow came when my job was in danger and he refused to intervene.

The chairman allowed the students to turn his office into a complaint center. If they didn�t attend class, if they didn�t bring their textbooks, if they didn�t pay attention to the lecture, if they don�t participate in classroom activities, if they didn�t follow instructions, if they didn�t do their homework, if they didn�t study, if they cheated on an exam, if they plagiarized homework, no problem: just go into the chairman�s office and make an excuse, a complaint, a challenge, an accusation. If I went into the dean�s office and cried wolf about the chairman, how soon would one of them clamp down on me? After once or twice. But the students could do it perpetually. And I was forced to respond to everything they said. So I finally wrote this to the chairman:

�It's good to have an open door policy. It's good to treat students with respect. But it's not good to allow them to abuse the system. And they have abused the system many times, and this has been going on for a long time.

Here is a good example of students talking nonsense to you: Some of my vocabulary students said on the survey you gave them, "He doesn't use the textbook." I explained to them at the first of the semester that there is no textbook. Jarir bookstore doesn't have it. Sa'awy bookstore doesn't have it. Mamoun bookstore doesn't have it. The only textbook available is the intermediate edition, and we used the intermediate edition last semester. So I told them I would write the curriculum for the course.

They also said on the survey, "We didn't learn much vocabulary this semester. But the course plan clearly says:

"Whereas in Vocabulary One, the teacher provided the vocabulary or the students submitted vocabulary they already knew, in Vocabulary Two, the teacher will provide much less vocabulary and the students will study vocabulary before submitting it. Whereas in Vocabulary One, most homework was handouts provided by the teacher, in Vocabulary Two, the homework will be student research. Whereas in Vocabulary One, the curriculum emphasized everyday vocabulary, in Vocabulary Two, the curriculum will emphasize usage, as well as word formation, nonstandard vocabulary, and abbreviations. Whereas in Vocabulary One, students were exposed to 1500-2000 words, in Vocabulary Two, students will be exposed to a few hundred words. Whereas in Vocabulary One, most vocabulary was almost self explanatory, in Vocabulary Two, students will learn to distinguish between similar vocabulary and aim for the most precise and correct usage."

The students also said on the survey, "We didn't learn any vocabulary at Sa'awy." The vocabulary is in the simplified novels, which are arranged by vocabulary level. I spent an entire lesson explaining why we were going to the bookstore, and what we would do and not do while we were there. Furthermore, the course plan clearly says:

"Because learning vocabulary from context is an important part of increasing vocabulary and acquiring vocabulary skill, the class will visit Sa�awy bookstore, where they will survey the largest selection of English reading material in Jeddah."

Everything these vocabulary students said directly contradicts the course plan.

After each point in each lesson, I stop and say, "Does everybody understand?" After each lesson, I say, 'Does anyone have any questions?" After each lesson, I devote ten minutes to discussion. I get the fluent students to translate important procedures. I have the students find key words in the dictionary. I explain verbally. I explain from the textbook. I explain on the board. I explain through handouts. But the students still pretend they don't understand or don't remember. I have even resorted to bringing a camera into the classroom to take a picture of the instructions I write on the board.

The students have cried wolf a thousand times. You need to stop listening to them. And if you insist on listening to them, at least don't relay their comments to me any more. I'm tired of answering nonsense.�

I had a similar problem with the Diploma program coordinator. I told him in response to a controversy over writing a book report:

�I gave these textbook assignments to the Diploma reading students the first or second week. We could have finished the fiction and started the textbook a long time ago. I have given my Bachelor reading students two exams. I have given my Diploma reading students no exams. They have not progressed because they have not participated. I talked to you about his. I also put a memo on your desk. I put a memo on the chairman�s desk as well. The students lost even more time because they went to the bookstore but didn't buy a book.

These complaints are the same as other Diploma student complaints: bunk. I'm tired of debunking complaints from students, especially Diploma students. The textbook is not the issue. The issue is the attitude of the students. Instead of relaying these complaints to me, why don't you and the Diploma program director talk to the students about their participation.�

But he persisted. So I finally said:

�I have already given the students a course plan, syllabus, textbook reading assignments, sample book reports, sample homework. I have already explained evaluation procedures, bookstore procedures, book report procedures, homework procedures. I have covered all this diligently and thoroughly. I go into the classroom every day well prepared to teach my Diploma reading students plenty of skills. Don't talk to me any more about culture, course plans, textbooks, skills, standards, objectives, evaluations, exams, or anything else. Do not relay any more complaints, comments, suggestions, or requests from the students. Just tell them to participate. Once they start participating, everything will be fine.�

The chairman and the Diploma program coordinator harped a lot about the textbooks. Ironically, so did the students, including the ones who complained to the Ministry. They went to the Diploma program coordinator and complained, �We haven�t started using the textbook yet.� (See my memo to the coordinator above.) They didn�t strike me as being sophisticated enough to write to the Ministry, so I suspect he incited them. Indeed, he probably told them to write a letter to him, then sent a copy to the Ministry. But the textbook controversy was like every other controversy:

For a final exam, I offered those same students a choice of 3 exams. One was based on an Arab News article. One was based on a book report I wrote. One was based on a textbook article. The Arab News article was the most popular handout among my students. The book report was about a novel they had already read, namely the one I assigned at the beginning of the semester. When I told them to chose another novel and write a book report about it, I gave them this book report as an example. They read the book report a few weeks into the semester. The textbook article was one we had discussed in the classroom only a couple of weeks before the exam. Which exam did most of the students choose? That�s right, most of them chose the exam based on the book report. Several chose the exam based on the textbook, only one chose the exam based on the Arab News article.

So by their own actions, the students themselves debunked the myth that they were uncomfortable with the outside material I gave them.

Furthermore, I told the chairman:

�I CAN'T USE THE TEXTBOOK IF THE BOOKSTORES DON'T CARRY THE TEXTBOOK.

I CAN'T USE THE TEXTBOOK IF I DON'T HAVE THE CASSETTES.

I CAN'T USE THE TEXTBOOK IF I DON'T HAVE A TEACHERS MANUAL

I CAN'T USE THE TEXTBOOK IF THE STUDENTS DON'T BRING THEIR TEXTBOOKS TO CLASS.

I CAN'T USE THE TEXTBOOKS IF THE STUDENTS DON'T STUDY THE TEXTBOOK.

I CAN'T USE THE TEXTBOOK IF IT CONTAINS MATERIAL UNFAMILIAR TO THE STUDENTS AND INAPPROPRIATE FOR THE CULTURE.

I CAN'T USE THE TEXTBOOK IF IT ASSUMES A FOUNDATION THE STUDENTS DON'T HAVE.�

[mli_vet]

Dude ! ! (as in comiseration)

MLI Vet
Over and Out

[Albulbul]

So where did you go ?

[MESL]

I'm back in China. See the post entitled, "Saudi Students versus Chinese Students."

[veiledsentiments]

Based on both of these posts I'd say that it is time you got on with your life. We get it... you didn't like your job in Saudi and you are now happy in China.

Great...

VS

[ghost]

[ootii]

[usool]

Hi

This is an interesting point about student power. I am teaching on a BA course here, not English, and the story is very different. In fact this issue of student power only exists, as far as I have seen and am aware, in the EFL classroom. I'm not sure why this is, and am trying to work it out. I think there are a couple of factors. In other department almost all of the teachers are PhDs and hence even the expats are treated with respect. In EFL you have some masters and many con-men. This fact can not have been lost on the managers and hence the EFL lecturers, most of whom are not even qualified to masters level in the field, are not not trusted and not respected. In other fields, say engineering, the lecturer is an Egyptian doctor say, has a conflict with a Saudi student, the doctor wins every time. This is what I have observed lecturing in a non-EFL setting and also what I have heard from Saudi friends. This issue then is the fact that EFL lecturers are not as qualified as their peers, and many if not most, are totally unqulaified. How does a masters in translation, or Arabic, qualify you to teach English? It doesn't. This is born out with discussion with faculty of EFL departments, many of whom are uneducated as to even the most basic fundamental theoretical undepinnings of teaching theory. Perhaps this is why EFL lecturers get treated the way they do.

Regards

[ootii]

[veiledsentiments]

[scot47]

Some of the worst teachers I have cme across are holders of Phd's. Some of the best have been those trained as primary school teachers.

[ootii]

[Albulbul]

And the holder of that doctorate vents his spleen here ?

[Bebsi]

Of course we all know a PhD is utterly necessary to teach English to, for example, elementary students!!!! I mean, if we cannot discuss Chomsky and Behaviourism at length, how can we teach the Past Simple, after all? The reality of the situation is that someone with a DELTA or equivalent, is as qualified as is necessary to teach ESL/ESOL. An MA is largely theory based, and some of the worst teachers I have ever met were holders of masters' degrees. They actually sit there in a classroom and speak to lower-level students as if they were fluent not just in English but in Educational theory. It is, in a sense, a bit like getting a mechanical engineer to fix your car, instead of a guy with a City and Guilds in mechanics. Give me the latter any day!

I know I am opening myself up here to serious bombardment from many quarters, but basically, how realistic is it to say that an MA, generally speaking, is a real teaching qualification? It is simply evidence of having acquired a larger body of information, not necessarily of having learned how to impart even a fraction of that information.

A body of myths has sprung up around Masters degrees. I will go further, and suggest that many institutions, by their insistence on an MA...ANY MA in some cases!!....over, let's say, a DELTA or similar, are seriously precluding themselves from acquiring the best teachers.

I totally agree with Scott 47.

[ootii]