Job Discussion Forums

[Paris teacher]

I have heard that classroom management is very difficult in KSA, even for very experienced teachers. Is teaching males at university similar to teaching early adolescents in an American high school or junior high school?

[2buckets]

"Is teaching males at university similar to teaching early adolescents in an American high school or junior high school?"

Could be worse. You rarely get support from management, who are usually from other Arab countries and don't want to jeopardise their jobs by supporting you against the students. You are on your own.

Oh, I suggest you get a mobile phone "blocker" to eliminate the constant distraction of phone use.

[plumpy nut]

The males I taught in Abha were on the same level as Thai high school students. I would rather teach Thai high school students.

[cnthaiksarok]

Concur. It is (generally) QUITE the ordeal, indeed!

[EnglishLanguageOne]

[plumpy nut]

There are three different types of students when you teach at government run organizations. Students who are there because they get a nice government stipend with which they can use to buy a car or something else. Students that are there to learn how to speak English, those students average about 4 out of a classroom of 24 students. Last but not least, the students that want whatever certificate is given because they advance just from the certificate alone. There are places, very rare, where all of the students are professional, very rare indeed, I taught at one of those places.