December 9, 2012
Tara (the other English teacher) and I had grade ten and eleven exams today for our girls. I was
mortified by the ones I graded. But what
could anyone expect when the principal has allowed the girls to be pulled out
of class the past two weeks to prepare for National Day preparations, 8th and 9th
periods were consistently canceled because the teachers and students don't want
to stay that late, and the principal canceled school periodically so she could throw luncheons? Plus the high school girls are so far below the expectations of ADEC, and it's not the fault of my students. I am the first Western teacher my tenth graders have ever had. My students don't use prepositions, do not use articles ("the", "a", "an"..), do not use pronouns, and use verbs in the wrong tense every time. And ADEC gives my students a written essay as a test of their English usage abilities? They would have been better served, and given a clearer overview of students' abilities, by testing English vocabulary ONLY. My students can't write an essay, for God's sake.
And today the principal wanted Tara to find out what the
12th grade exam prompt is going to be for tomorrow's test, and then wanted Tara
to coach the students on how to write an essay geared towards the prompt. In
the states this would be called "cheating" and that principal would
never work another day in her life in the education field. Here? "No
problem, Miss".
There is no accountability. No sense of
responsibility. No planning. I have bitched and complained about that very issue in dealing
with the internet company, bank, and ADEC since I arrived. Now I see that it
is endemic to the culture. As long as that mentality exists the Western
education pedagogies will never take hold. The Western education system (in
theory at least) is built upon accountability, planning, professionalism, best practices. These aspects are totally outside the range of the Emiratis who are in charge of implementing education policies for ADEC.
Five days until I board the plane for home and I am getting
anxious. Anxious that something doesn't happen to dad in the next few
days. Anxious to see my husband. Anxious to get the hell out of the Middle
East. What a ride it has been, but I'm getting off the Merry-Go-Round. Good
money or not, it's not worth what all I
have had to sacrifice. Blessings
and good thoughts to the teachers who are staying. They have balls of gold. Mine are only
aluminum. But each case is vastly
different depending upon which school you are placed in, which city/region you are
placed in, what grade you teach, whether you are accompanied by family or not,
and what is going on within the family that you left behind. So many factors. Seven
thousand miles is just too far for me to take a chance of not being there with
my dad when he dies. If I received a phone call and he passed away before I
could get home, I'd never forgive myself.
I'm going to be one broke ass former teacher for awhile.,
But, it'll all work out somehow. I could always start a defensive driving
school for Americans moving to the Middle East.
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