Job Discussion Forums

[haopengyou]

I am interacting now with a couple of firms re: teaching in a public school in the UAE. On their website they mention that the students in the UAE tend to be more disciplined and well mannered than students in the western schools. Is this true? Are they comparing the UAE students to student in inner city Los Angeles?

[Zoot]

Can you direct me to the website where you read that please?

I'd like to know who they're recruiting for because it indicates they're desperate as a recruiter.

Behaviour management specialists have been brought into the UAE to assist with management practices in the classrooms - not because it's so good they need to be challenged, but because it's so bad. No work ethic, no desire to concentrate, raised by housemaids who are being paid a pittance, parents who bring one after another into the world so quickly, they've barely had time to recover from the birth of the last before another one appears, and the bad behaviour isn't confined to boys - if anything the girls are worse, but just not prone to throwing large objects at the teachers as the boys do!

[kiefer]

I suppose the lack of the occasional shooting spree is an argument for better behaved students.

[Iamherebecause]

Even at tertiary level there are classes with the sort of behavioural problems which I would associate with 14 - 15 year olds stuck in education against their will. Not all classes by any means but enough to make your life interesting.

[SD BOY]

Someone fed me that line too when I first went out to the Gulf. "Oh, you will find that Arab students have tremendous respect for their elders and teachers." They neglected to say that this "respect" included; students throwing firecrackers at the teacher while his back was turned, attempts at electrocution using wires from a dismantled air conditioner, intense male/male sexual harassment, and gross insolence and insubordination.
Happily, most of the "students" quit showing up after 2 months or so...at least in Sharjah. There are severe social problems in all the Gulf States, but as this is "Islamic Paradise" few of these are ever acknowledged.
I've taught in the San Diego school system..never encountered anything like this.
Try HCT, the universities or one of the better military programs...assuming any still exist.

[helenl]

I'm sure there are exceptions to what others have said previously, but I haven't heard of any significant numbers of respectful, work minded, get the job done students.

In some areas, mainly places like RAK and UAQ (among others) the parents are worse than the students. There have been cases where parents have physically assaulted teachers (no Westerners that I recall, mostly other Arabs) because little Johnny complained about something.

That being said, some of the Arab teachers also have physically assaulted students (not middle or high school students either, grammar school kids) for disobedience or insolence. Then all hell breaks loose.

Are any of the above daily occurences in every school - probably not. But enough get reported in the local papers to make me believe that it happens enough to not want to even attempt to go there.

[veiledsentiments]

[Zoot]

keifer - shooting spree! Hmmm .... now there's a thought. Electrocution is less painless and less obvious isn't it? Isn't that why the western world has the electric chair instead of firing squads?

[johnslat]

Dear Zoot,
If, by the "western world," you mean the USA (I don't believe capital punishment is practiced in too many, if any, other industrialized western nations, the electric chair has lost much of its appeal:
Hanging. This method is one of the oldest used in the United States, and involves dropping the accused into a hole with a noose tied around his neck. This method is thought �cruel and unusual� by many since instantaneous death is extremely rare. Four U.S. states allow this method of legal execution.

Firing Squad. This method involves five executioners who stand a specified distance from the accused and fire several rounds of ammunition into the heart. Three U.S. states allow this method of legal execution.

Lethal Gas. This method involves sealing the accused in an enclosed chamber an admitting a cloud of cyanide gas, which causes death by hindering oxygen to the brain, called hypoxia. Four U.S. states allow this method of legal execution.

Electrocution. This method involves sitting the accused in a chair which is wired for 500 � 2,000 volts of electricity. The electricity is administered for 30-45 seconds, which continues until execution occurs. Ten U.S. states

Lethal Injection: By far the most widely accepted form of lethal execution, a death my lethal injection involves the administration of several different drugs that cause the death of the accused by cardiac arrest. Thirty-seven U.S. states allow this method of legal execution.

Regards,
John

[johnkg]

I think kiefer was talking about students shooting each other and their teachers, rather than state-administered capital punishment.

[Zoot]

johnkg, I would never have guessed if you hadn't explained that for me. Thank you.

[johnkg]

You're welcome zoot. I don't mind explaining things to people who don't understand.

[Neil McBeath]

Haopengyou,

There's a lot of stereotyping going on in this thread, which probably isn't very helpful.

Just as most American High Schools do not feature Columbine High attacks as part of the general school year, so not all public schools in the Gulf are rife with dreadful behaviour problems.

If you log on to the Times Educational Supplement's website, you can find weekly moans from British teachers, deploring the way their students behave - sometimes with justification, sometimes not.

Here, however, is one example. In Saudi I worked with a man who got so fed up with the behaviour of the RSAF Cadets he was teaching that he packed up and went back to teach in a secondary school in Scotland.

He lasted ONE DAY.

He is now back in KSA, teaching the same, formerly despised, cadets.

Go figger, as they say.

[umzakaria]

From my experience of teaching in the UAE and Qatar (at 2 schools which catered for the 'elite' families) the behaviour was an issue.The 'naughty' children were untouchable,their parents had so much wasta that the school overlooked their childrens' misdemeanours.It also depends on the school, failing schools or schools with high staff turnover and inappropriate smt's tend to be those that have behaviour problems; the school then gets caught up in a catch 22 situation. As individuals I found the students very pleasant, however,in the class a 'pack mentality' can exist and everyone will go along with the poor behaviour, rather than lose face or let their colleagues down.

[Zoot]

I think it's a 'tribal' mentality rather than 'pack' though, don't you? And this extends right through to the teachers - one is unhappy, the rest catch the same unhappiness and if they don't, the tribal mentality of ostrasizing must be the result. The principals are terrified of it.