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mateacher
Joined: 07 Sep 2013
Posts: 180
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 Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 12:50 am Post subject: KSA teachers not liked in UAE |
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I read on the Qatar board that teachers who have taught in KSA didn't like the conditions at unis in the UAE and Qatar. This was due to the holidays and having to be on campus from 8-5. Is there truth to this?
It was also stated that UAE unis look down on teachers who have taught in KSA. |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 2:02 am Post subject: |
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Both true... have been since I got there in the 80s.
That said, they are generalizations. Many ex-KSA teachers do fine in the rest of the Gulf... those who prefer the lifestyle outside of the college to the short hours and long vacations of many Saudi jobs.
VS |
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D. Merit
Joined: 02 May 2008
Posts: 203
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| Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 4:06 am Post subject: |
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| I've worked with a few ex-KSA teachers over the years here in Abu Dhabi. Not one of them has ever expressed any desire to return to Saudi. |
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Solar Strength
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 557
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
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| Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 10:59 am Post subject: |
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So do the employers like Higher Colleges of Technology in the UAE expect teachers to sit at their desks from 8:30am to 4:00pm every day, even if they're not teaching?
Or can teachers go home if they don't have any classes or meetings to attend?
I've worked at several universities that let teachers work from home when they're not teaching and a couple that expected teachers to come in at 9:00am and stay until 5:00pm, ideally and staff monitored teachers for this.
At one school, I even watched people sneak off campus and take the long way to get to the bus stop so that staff would not see them. It was ridiculous. |
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D. Merit
Joined: 02 May 2008
Posts: 203
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| Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 1:17 pm Post subject: |
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Well, lets's just say that some jackets and jumpers would need carbon dating to establish when they were first placed on a workstation chair and the corresponding laptop is invariably never turned off.  |
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veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
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| Posted: Wed Oct 02, 2013 1:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Solar Strength wrote: |
| So do the employers like Higher Colleges of Technology in the UAE expect teachers to sit at their desks from 8:30am to 4:00pm every day, even if they're not teaching? |
Yes... and this is pretty much standard in Gulf universities. How stringently it is enforced can vary, of course... even by department within an institution. But... you better not be seen at one of the clubs or doing serious shopping during teaching hours. When I was at HCT, if mgmt was looking for us, they knew which coffee shop nearby was doing brisk business.
It was always one of my pet peeves. I worked for 4 different tertiary institutions in the Gulf. They all required this. The only place that I worked that wasn't this way was in Egypt.
VS |
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Solar Strength
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 557
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
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| Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 2:47 pm Post subject: |
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| veiledsentiments wrote: |
| Solar Strength wrote: |
| So do the employers like Higher Colleges of Technology in the UAE expect teachers to sit at their desks from 8:30am to 4:00pm every day, even if they're not teaching? |
Yes... and this is pretty much standard in Gulf universities. How stringently it is enforced can vary, of course... even by department within an institution. But... you better not be seen at one of the clubs or doing serious shopping during teaching hours. When I was at HCT, if mgmt was looking for us, they knew which coffee shop nearby was doing brisk business.
It was always one of my pet peeves. I worked for 4 different tertiary institutions in the Gulf. They all required this. The only place that I worked that wasn't this way was in Egypt.
VS |
In Asia - Thailand, China, Korea - I've worked at some schools that wanted their teachers in their chair and at their desk throughout the day, even if they were not teaching.
Other schools, on the other hand, did not require any office hours or maybe only 2 - 4 office hours per-week in addition to our regular classes. After that, we were free to head off to teach part-time at another school or just go home.
At any rate, I had wondered about this sort of thing and was curious to see what the culture was like in the UAE with regards to desk warming, etc.
VS,
Would you say that Saudi has a similar culture with having instructors sit at their desks all day even when not teaching?
Thanks.
Last edited by Solar Strength on Mon Oct 07, 2013 2:52 pm; edited 1 time in total |
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johnslat
Joined: 21 Jan 2003
Posts: 13859
Location: Santa Fe, New Mexico, USA
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| Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 3:04 pm Post subject: |
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Dear Solar Strength,
I'm not VS (as you probably noticed), but if I may:
"Would you say that Saudi has a similar culture with having instructors sit at their desks all day even when not teaching?
In my experience, most definitely yes.
Regards,
John |
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Solar Strength
Joined: 12 Jul 2005
Posts: 557
Location: Bangkok, Thailand
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| Posted: Thu Oct 03, 2013 4:55 pm Post subject: |
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| I see. Thanks. |
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scot47
Joined: 10 Jan 2003
Posts: 15343
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| Posted: Mon Oct 07, 2013 2:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Only place in KSA where I did not have this problem was at KFUPM - and constituent community colleges. In other places I had to be "on seat" when not teaching. "Horsenuts," to quote my former colleague from Oklahoma. |
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