Job Discussion Forums

[Fullman]

I am considering teaching in the Middle East and whilst I have the usual concerns I imagine many women moving to the area might have, in my case there may be additional complicating factors.
I hold a UK passport, I am a native speaker and all of my degrees were obtained in the UK. However, I was not born in the UK, I have a 'brown face' and an obviously Muslim name. I'm wondering if anyone has any thoughts about how this is likely to impact on my experience of working in the ME and on expectations of me.
In particular, I am concerned about the sorts of constraints a female teacher of apparently Muslim faith might face compared to her non-Muslim counterparts.
I say apparently because I am a 'non-practising' Muslim.
In your opinion, how is this likely to influence expectations regarding my behaviour and tolerance towards any obvious differences in my behaviour compared to local norms?
Are people less likely to be accepting of my adopting a more 'Western' dress code for example? I�m not talking about walking around the local market in shorts and t-shirt, rather not necessarily covering my hair even if that's the norm locally but not among 'Western' women.
Are there likely to be expectations that I will conform strictly to local/Muslim codes of conduct? Am I likely to be expected to pray or fast, for example, and what is likely to be the reaction if I don't?
Are employers likely to discriminate in terms of the offers I might receive simply because I might not be perceived to be English despite being British.
Are there any other issues I haven't anticipated that might be problematic? Are other foreign teachers likely to make assumptions, for instance that I am not a native-speaker or not qualified.
Conversely, are there likely to be any advantages?
Or am I simply blowing this out of all proportion?
I realise these probably are difficult questions to respond to since as far as I can tell there are no other female teachers of a similar �profile� posting on these forums. Nonetheless, any relevant suggestions or thoughts would be most welcome.
I imagine there are probably vast differences between countries. As part of this is trying to work out which might be the most comfortable (by which I mean the least intrusive) to live in, I�d be grateful, too, for any thoughts about cross-country differences, assuming people feel about to comment.
Thanks very much!
(I did try a search, but couldn't find much that was directly relevant to my questions, except for some, sometimes contradictory, references to the dis/advantages of being a Muslim and/or being 'non-White' with a British or American passport.)

[Sheikh Inal Ovar]

In the UAE, there is no standard attire for female muslims .. the ladies dress pretty much as they would in their own (muslim) countries ... some in the abbaya, headscarf & veil ... some in loose clothes and a headscarf ... some in tight fitting clothes and a headscarf ... and some in whatever they fancy .. be it a blouse and slacks, or just jeans and a t-shirt - the only difference being that they might not wear the racier outfits they would feel comfortable in back home ..

My wife, a muslim, is working at a high-school where many of the other teachers have a more conservative understanding of the faith than she possesses, and they all get on fine .. of course, she's not invited to Koran reading parties and her soul is prayed for from time to time .. but she receives no pressure or hostility from her (mainly Egyptian & Lebanese) colleagues ...

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[Sheikh Inal Ovar]

[mishmumkin]

There are 'religious' schools in the UAE that will require the Muslim women on staff to veil...School of Research Science comes to mind first. They expect a high level of modesty from all teachers, but Muslim teachers, regardless of where they're from, are required to veil. This does happen in other K-12 schools like Research Science, though I wouldn't say it's commonplace.