| View previous topic :: View next topic |
| Author |
Message |
Art78
Joined: 23 Dec 2014
Posts: 7
|
 Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 11:20 am Post subject: Asian-American EFL teachers in the Middle East |
 |
|
Hi Everyone,
I am an Asian American female with a CELTA and I'm interested in working in the Middle East from September 2015. I have five years pre-CELTA teaching experience and I'm currently working on my one year of post-CELTA experience. All of my TEFL experience has been in South Korea. While I like South Korea, consolidations in the Korean university market is prompting me for a change.
My two questions are:
1) Are Middle Eastern employers willing to hire non-white and non-black foreign TEFL instructors?
2) Friends have told me that it's better to be a married woman than a single woman in Saudi Arabia. Is that because women need a close male relative or a male escort to get around in Saudi? |
|
| Back to top |
|
 |
nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 12:28 pm Post subject: Re: Asian-American EFL teachers in the Middle East |
|
|
| Art78 wrote: |
| 1) Are Middle Eastern employers willing to hire non-white and non-black foreign TEFL instructors? |
Unlike some Asian countries, it's a non-issue in the Gulf---the Middle East is extremely diverse. When I was in KSA, I worked alongside teaching colleagues from just about every ethnic group and nationality. So rest assured, your US passport, along with your qualifications, will be what matters.
| and wrote: |
| 2) Friends have told me that it's better to be a married woman than a single woman in Saudi Arabia. Is that because women need a close male relative or a male escort to get around in Saudi? |
That's a common myth. Sure, it's easier for married women; having a husband or even an older male child is an advantage. However, male relatives are not required to act as chaperones for expat women. Besides, I'm a single female and managed Saudi Arabia with just a few hiccups. I essentially went out and about on my own or with female friends with no problems.
The majority of Saudi contracting companies hire single women anyway and generally provide housing specifically designated for female teachers. Take a look at the employment ads on the Cafe's job board to see what accommodation benefits female teachers receive.
Definitely do some research on expat women in KSA, especially since your qualifications apparently make the Kingdom your only option for employment in the region. A couple of excellent women-focused sites are http://www.blueabaya.com/ and http://americanbedu.com/ in addition to the half dozen or so Saudi expat forums on the Internet (do a search on expat saudi forum for links). |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
Art78
Joined: 23 Dec 2014
Posts: 7
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 12:49 pm Post subject: Thank you, nomad soul |
|
|
| Thank you, Nomad Soul. I'll check out those links that you posted. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lcanupp1964
Joined: 12 Dec 2009
Posts: 381
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 1:43 pm Post subject: |
|
|
While in the JET program in Japan, I experienced for the first time what it felt like to be a minority. Living in my very small Japanese town, I was reminded daily that I was the nail that stuck out and everyone around me kept tying to "hammer me down" in order to get me to act (conform) like a Japanese man.
It was a challenge, but I feel it will be like that for you in some ways living in KSA as an Asian American. Yes, the only color that really matters is the dark blue that covers your passport, but you may run into people, including some fellow teachers and members of staff that will quickly glance at you and assume that you are from a third-world country. Some may even be so "blind" to treat you in a negative way. I'm speaking mostly in places off campus like at a large supermarket. A Saudi may try cutting in line (which they do to everyone) because they will think you are not important, or you are not going to say anything.
No matter the color of one's skin, this places demands that the skin only be thick. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 3:15 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| lcanupp1964 wrote: |
While in the JET program in Japan, I experienced for the first time what it felt like to be a minority. Living in my very small Japanese town, I was reminded daily that I was the nail that stuck out and everyone around me kept tying to "hammer me down" in order to get me to act (conform) like a Japanese man.
It was a challenge, but I feel it will be like that for you in some ways living in KSA as an Asian American. |
Ha! I'm a mutt (mixed) and have been mistaken as an emigrant from various developing countries when I'm abroad, as well as from my US countrymen when I'm stateside.
Frankly, having a life-long experience as a "minority" in one's home country actually makes it easier to adapt to new cultures and environments overseas. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
psychedelicacy
Joined: 05 Oct 2013
Posts: 180
Location: Beijing
|
| Posted: Fri Jan 09, 2015 10:37 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Arab students expect their English teacher to be a white person. You will definitely be asked questions about your heritage. They don't mean to be offensive, but the assumption that you are Chinese and English is not your native language could become tiresome. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
veiledsentiments
Joined: 20 Feb 2003
Posts: 17644
Location: USA
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 1:47 am Post subject: |
|
|
Lots of things become tiresome in the Gulf... like the British teachers repetitious comment about how you (me... him/her over there - who happen to be American) can't possibly teach English since they don't speak it. (while the speaker pretends that this is great humor) Not to mention that as a female, one spends a lifetime hearing about things that one supposedly can't do because one was born female.
Same old, same old Art78... 
VS |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 1:49 am Post subject: |
|
|
| psychedelicacy wrote: |
| Arab students expect their English teacher to be a white person. |
Not so, especially given the region's and even some of the students' diversity. What they expect is an EFL teacher with a high command of English and the ability to teach it. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
psychedelicacy
Joined: 05 Oct 2013
Posts: 180
Location: Beijing
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 9:58 am Post subject: |
|
|
| This is the Middle East we're talking about. People have conservative attitudes, and standards of education are, frankly, not very good. When Arab students (especially Gulf Arabs) sit down for their first English class and a nonwhite teacher strolls in, it's at best a bit of a surprise and in extreme cases a disappointment. It may be different for a female teacher (although, having met and taught quite a few Arab females, I doubt it), but a class of thick, 18 year-old Saudi or Qatari males would certainly behave this way towards an Asian teacher. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 4:31 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| psychedelicacy wrote: |
| This is the Middle East we're talking about. People have conservative attitudes, and standards of education are, frankly, not very good. When Arab students (especially Gulf Arabs) sit down for their first English class and a nonwhite teacher strolls in, it's at best a bit of a surprise and in extreme cases a disappointment. It may be different for a female teacher (although, having met and taught quite a few Arab females, I doubt it), but a class of thick, 18 year-old Saudi or Qatari males would certainly behave this way towards an Asian teacher. |
I'm familiar with the Middle East; I've lived in four countries in the region so far. I've always built and maintained rapport with my students from day one and have never had any issues with them. So it seems we'll have to agree to disagree. Besides, if your generalizations were correct, we wouldn't see posts from white teachers lamenting about how they can't manage their classrooms. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
psychedelicacy
Joined: 05 Oct 2013
Posts: 180
Location: Beijing
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 5:23 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| I'm not referring to teaching (classroom management, rapport with learners, etc.) - simply that Arab learners expect/assume English teachers to be white. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 5:36 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| psychedelicacy wrote: |
| I'm not referring to teaching (classroom management, rapport with learners, etc.) - simply that Arab learners expect/assume English teachers to be white. |
But why would they? What are you basing this assumption on? They know the world is diverse.
Frankly, my students were never disappointed when I walked in the room and gave them a big, friendly hello in my perfect English. They smiled back and said hello as well. They're more concerned that their teacher be a native speaker rather than focusing on skin color.
Anyway... |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
lcanupp1964
Joined: 12 Dec 2009
Posts: 381
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 6:09 pm Post subject: |
|
|
I think the two of you are both right and both wrong. One is writing of students that assume in an ignorant way, which is a more of a comment on the real world, while the other writes about the results of hard working teachers fighting the good flight regardless of the color of their skin, which is steeped in what we all would want in a more perfect world. In other words, this kind of debate has been raging on for many, many years and will keep on burning long after we all stop teaching. I think we can meet in the middle of the debate. (?)
Trying less sarcasm as per suggested.  |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
psychedelicacy
Joined: 05 Oct 2013
Posts: 180
Location: Beijing
|
| Posted: Sat Jan 10, 2015 6:19 pm Post subject: |
|
|
| Quote: |
| But why would they? What are you basing this assumption on? |
For the same reason you would be surprised if you were taking a Japanese class and a white teacher came in. We associate the Japanese language with oriental-looking people. Arabs, and frankly most people, associate the English language with white people. It's an incorrect but not entirely unreasonable assumption.
| Quote: |
| They know the world is diverse. |
They do not tend to be very well educated, actually - in extreme cases functionally illiterate in their L1. Overlook Gulf Arabs' technology and infrastructure and it's the Middle Ages.
| Quote: |
| Frankly, my students were never disappointed when I walked in the room and gave them a big, friendly hello in my perfect English. |
Yes, that's the second time you've made such an observation. However, my actual words (with added emphasis) were "When Arab students (especially Gulf Arabs) sit down for their first English class and a nonwhite teacher strolls in, it's at best a bit of a surprise and in extreme cases a disappointment."
How much of a surprise it is depends on the teacher. You said you were "mixed", what ever that means. However, in the case of a black teacher - and even more so in the case of an ethnically East Asian teacher - Arab students will be surprised at first. In the case of the OP, on her very first class with Arab learners, they would ask her if she's Chinese. It's inevitable. When she explains that she was born in the US, they will grasp that she's a native speaker and that will probably be the end of the matter. Having worked with ethnically East Asian native speaker English teachers, it happens, and for some it causes mild irritation.
| Quote: |
They're more concerned that their teacher be a native speaker rather than focusing on skin color.
|
Arab learners would assume that an ethnically East Asian teacher is not a native speaker. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
nomad soul
Joined: 31 Jan 2010
Posts: 11454
Location: The real world
|
| Posted: Sun Jan 11, 2015 2:26 am Post subject: |
|
|
| lcanupp1964 wrote: |
| I think the two of you are both right and both wrong. One is writing of students that assume in an ignorant way, which is a more of a comment on the real world, while the other writes about the results of hard working teachers fighting the good flight regardless of the color of their skin, which is steeped in what we all would want in a more perfect world. |
This isn't so much about right or wrong; it's about individual perceptions based on what's heard, observed, and/or experienced. Moreover, there is no perfect world---I'm the last person to believe that considering my background and overseas experiences. I questioned psychedelicacy's statement that 1) "Arabs, and frankly most people, associate the English language with white people" and may be disappointed when the teacher is anything but white; and 2) the implication that it's something the OP needs to be aware of, as if she's never encountered this perception before. |
|
| Back to top |
|
|
|
FAQ
Search
Memberlist
Usergroups
Register
Profile
Log in to check your private messages
Log in
