Part of the series: Investigating International Edtech Issues (UAE)
Disclaimer: This piece is based exclusively on my own experiences in teaching English in the UAE, I know that there are several institutions (albeit more likely in the private sector) that are much further ahead in the use of technology in education. It’s also obvious that there are great initiatives to improve the standards and the development is obvious. This post aims at trying to find ways of engaging teachers.
Teaching is a TOUGH profession
Teaching English is a VERY TOUGH profession
Teaching English in a public school in the United Arab Emirates is THE EASIEST job in the world.
Unless…..
- you have principles and beliefs about teaching that you would like to implement
- you have questions you want answered
- you refuse to believe that one person can come up with an idea that cannot be improved by collaboration
- you hold it self-evident that students come to school to use what they know in ways they never thought of
- you want to help other teachers become better teachers
- you desire knowledge that you want to discover and not just be told what is good and what is bad, what is right and what is wrong
The last few months in a public secondary school in the UAE taught me to understand a few things:
- Students come to school without any expectation of it being of any use to them
- Teachers come to school without expecting anything from the students
- Students can sit for 165 minutes without knowing what is going on around them
- Teachers can attend 25 hours of professional development without knowing what is going on around them
- Students can stay at home if it rains
- Teachers are happy that students stay at home if it rains
This is a pretty exciting situation. So I can sit back and watch the system malfunction and do disservice to every single participant but most importantly the students, or try to do something about it.
There is no risk involved in the first option: this is what I’m expected to do.
Therefore, this is NOT what I’m going to do.
My aim for this year is to ‘convert’ one teacher.
You might say that this is a minimalist plan, and a few months ago I would have agreed with you. Now, I am not even convinced that I can achieve this.
There are three things that make the situation promising:
- As teachers in a new initiative, every English teacher has a pretty good HP tablet notebook and they have become quite comfortable with it.
- There are 6 hours a week allocated to professional development in our schedule.
- There is wireless internet, which is a bit like a Hungarian Orange: “a bit yellow and bit sour but Hungarian” – it’s slow and unreliable but much more than nothing. (You want to know what a Hungarian orange is, watch this short excerpt from one of the best ever satires of the late communist era Hungary: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h4wjQrV5A1c)
Let’s see some of the things a colleague of mine would say about the job:
- Teachers are underpaid
- Students are disinterested
- Professional development is a waste of time
- I can use a computer; I don’t need anybody to help me
- Lesson planning is a waste of time
- I’m paid to teach but not paid to attend meetings
Trying to bring the two together we can perhaps start a little grassroots movement:
- Make a bit of money on the side: teach Arabic/English on one of the Online course providers
- Get ideas from other teachers through Twitter, get your students on Twitter and see magic happen
- Spend an hour a day on Twitter and make a list of the most interesting things you learnt– present these at the next PD
- Having learnt to scavenge the net, add something to it. Create, organise your own content and you’ll learn new ways you can use the net
- See different lesson plans. Choose a topic and create a lesson plan you might be able to share with others
- Let’s meet when you have a question or something you want to share with the other teachers. Let’s meet online and talk about whatever you want to talk about.
I know that 4 months ago I would not have been able to come up with these suggestions. I know many other teachers have the same problems. Maybe some of these answers will help us become better teachers and colleagues.
Perhaps, if this model works, it may grow into something bigger and become Web 2.0 in the UAE.
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Tamas Lorincz is an English teacher who believes that a hedonistic search for pleasure in everything you do is a key to success.
After a brief and unsuccessful foray into mining engineering he found his real calling in being a teacher of English. He has worked in Hungary as a teacher, in Britain as a marketing executive and teacher trainer for a publishing company, in Iraqi Kurdistan as a dogsbody, presently trying to help teachers and students in the UAE (most of the time despite them).
He passionately searches for things that make teachers and students tick. This is how he discovered Web 2.0 and became a devoted advocate of using technology to motivate teachers and engage students.
His blog (http://tamaslorincz.edublogs.org) is hoping to develop into a source for sharing thoughts, information and materials with teachers. You can also find him on Twitter @tamaslorincz.
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This is a tremendous post, Tamas. I will be sending it to the staff at the school I taught at in Japan where many of the negative attitudes you describe are alive and flourishing. I really hope you keep us posted on how you get on. No doubt there will be challenges and setbacks but you don’t seem to be one to accept a status quo that does a disservice to students. If there is anything I can do to help from a remote Celtic maritime location, please let me know. I have a feeling good things are going to happen and fast. atb, PJ
Dear Patrick
Thanks for the encouragement.
The challenges of the situation make it all the more intriguing. There are great opportunities and I can’t wait to start stirring things up here. I’m sure your help will be very useful and I will take you up on your generous offer.
It’s interesting to hear that even in Japan, a country admired for its education, you had similar challenges.
I’m starting to believe that the problem is an intrinsic feature of public education. It is scary to see that parents the world over leave their kids in the less than capable hands of educators who are demoralised to the extent that they forget the amazing opportunities their profession has to offer.
I know that my enthusiasm, and the support of people like you and my PLN will be strong enough to overcome the challenges.
Thanks again, and keep in touch.
Tamas
Dear Tamas,
I loved your post and feel so much for you as I have gone through similar hoops myself. Those were the times when I worked exclusively for the teaching staff of one language school (100 teachers) with many teachers who had been firmly entrenched in their own ways and could not see any reason for change.
Do not think that the attitudes you describe are exclusive to state education – quite the opposite – and they replicate themselves over and over and over. Selection criteria on who can become an educator are sadly missing from many countries and systems.
What is encouraging though in your case and of other keen and committed aducators such as yourself, is the fact that now you have so much more available to you, through your PLN and through the fact that educators like you are not tucked away somewhere where no one can see them.
It’s all so public and easily available to us nowadays, and so much easier to use in order to raise awareness in reluctant or indifferent educators, that I think the chances of getting someone to engage are much higher.
I wish you great success in your endeavours and know that you have the best possible chances because I firmly believe that the best educators are not those who teach but those who model what they wish to teach. and you are such an excellent role model of what you hope for your teachers that I think it is inevitable that some of it will inevitable rub off!!!
Marisa
@Marisa Constantinides,
I’m so glad you liked the post.
You are absolutely right, having almost exclusively worked in public schools, I tend to think that teachers in the private sector are different. It is true that teachers in private schools and language schools can end up being just as demotivated.
I also agree with what you say about how public and accessible Professional Development has become. I’ve just submitted an IATEFL speaker proposal in which I claim that it has never been easier to develop professionally and that every teacher has a great array of tools at their disposal. I try to argue that the new discourse demands new ways of dealing with PD from a teacher educator perspective.
Thanks for your great support and encouragement.
This is a brilliant and uplifting post. I love the idea of a mission like the one you are undertaking. Let us know how you get on. If one person at each school makes a similar promise imagine how much better things would become.
It reminds me of the 10:10 project in the UK, a grassroots movement that is quickly spreading around the country. http://www.1010uk.org/
Good luck with it!
@Lindsay Clandfield,
Thanks Linday. Interesting idea 1010uk, I like it. I know it’s not rocket science, it just took me perhaps a bit too long to realise.
I’m ever so grateful to Shelly for encouraging me to write this post. It taught me a lot and it was such great help when I had to stick to my guns at a meeting on Thursday.
It’s perhaps not so glamorous to remove one brick than to blow up the Berlin Wall but perhaps you can plant the dynamite in that one tiny hole….
I bet you noticed that (almost) every list consisted of six items in this post. That wasn’t a coincidence….
Thanks for the encouragement, wisdom and friendship – it’s a great support.
Tamas
I’m sure the teachers you come into contact with will really appreciate your sentiment and effort as it is clear that you want it to be better for everyone – Ts and Ss alike. And I think starting with a goal of influencing one person in your teaching team realistic for all of us. My experience is that quite often once teachers have had a chance to get a few things off their chest, the person they might have carried on being (before they got a bit disillusioned with their job) starts to re-emerge and engage in lots of cases. Ts also need to be listened to – they don’t get enough of that. I see this as a really important role I play in my team and one that provides a chance to think aloud and move ahead. Although I have a bit of a sticking point on the money issue (not always possible in all contexts for T’s to improve their lot), I think that the idea of trying to keep connected with your teaching team is really important as long as any blocks either institutionally or personally are taken into account. Each case can be different and recognising that is part of building trust amongst colleagues. And as you said, if people can’t come in for meetings, you can move them on line (technology allowing) which doesn’t need to take up a lot of time. Building in this approach of simple questioning and reflection can make all the difference to job satisfaction. One last question – what do you think is the reason why teachers feel happy when students stay home because it rains? Can you expand on that. Thanks!
@sjhannam,
Dear Sara
Thanks for this insightful and encouraging comment.
Let me start with the easiest: the rain.
There is no problem with school, many teachers say, as long as there are no students. In this country, you get rain once or twice a year, but then it can be pretty tough. Students like to use heavy rain as an excuse for not going to school – and teachers don’t mind that at all.
Now for the heavier stuff.
Yes, a constructive discussion of the reasons for their disillusionment, demotivation can be very useful. We often discuss this with my colleague, Jon, who also believes that letting them reflect on why they feel the way they do might be the first step to finding ways of overcoming them.
This I only partly agree with.
Of course, it is important to know the reasons but you can get entangled in the convoluted and complex web of reasons and start feeling that you have no right to impose and the situatrion is beyond repair.
Finding the middle of the road between arrogance and helpless compassion is a major challenge for me. I find it very difficult to handle because everyone have a different threshold. Sometimes it’s just a bit easier to be a bit arrogant. They know why I’m there and I just get on with my job. They too, find it easier to accept even the most outrageous suggestions, comments if they come from an ‘outsider”. On the whole, I do think that understanding the reasons and finding individual solutions is a key to a successful relationship with the trainees.
Thanks for this great comment, I really enjoyed it.
Tamas
@Tamas Lorincz, glad this was helpful. As you point out, we all have to find our own balance in how we engage with people and build trust. Going into more depth is all about the way conversations are navigated I think and the skill is not to allow them to spiral downwards into too much detail – but to demonstrate understanding of exactly those different toleration levels you describe. It reminds me of a quote from a novel I read (but I cannot remember for the life of me which one) where the narrator says “the mistake human beings make is to think that other people’s subjective experience is not as rich or interesting as their own”. I think there is a real lesson in that – we all need to try to get inside someone else’s world and then try to encourage change within what each person is capable of and within their understanding of the world. We also need to be open to them changing us or at finding out we are not the only one who is thinking about these things! Otherwise, as you said, we risk coming across as a little bit over-knowing. I would like to hear more about how things are going later down the line, so please come back and tell us and as I said, it will no doubt be clear to all those around you, as it was to us, that you come with the very best of intentions to improve things for everyone. Rain…well yes in Greece where I live any deviation in weather is usually a reason for students not to come to the university where I work (rain, snow, etc). TBH I kinda feel that is OK – they deserve an impromptu day off now and then. A teacher feeling happy about this does not indicate a flaw in their character or a propensity towards shirking work (well it might in some cases). We are all still children in our own little way, and the simple pleasure of knowing you have a day to yourself in an otherwise hectic life is often a nice suprise. So…I confess that I have felt happy before when this happens. But I don’t think that discounts the other days of the year where I work really hard for my students to make their educational experience better.
@sjhannam,
I think you’re right. As Neal also points it out below. There’s no problem with the occassional long meeting, business trip, rain, snow, whatever….
I promise to keep an account of how this idea works out and will share my experiences.
Loved the quote, would be interested to know where it is from.
Thanks again
Tamas
Tamas,
Excellent article. I think we all face similar challenges to this. I’m actually jealous of the fact that you have wireless internet regardless of the fact that is unreliable, it’s still there which is more than what others can say.
I can also relate to sometimes feeling happy when it rains and the students don’t come to class. For me it’s business trips and meetings that run long. But, I try to put myself in the shoes of the learner and try to relate to them as much as I can. I try to believe in the philosophy that nobody is truly evil, just misguided or uninformed. It’s our duty as teachers to try to get through to them and present the information in way that makes them ‘see the light.’ That’s a challenge I set for myself. That and not everyone is a tech fanatic (It’s hard to believe, but I’m reminded of it every time I go to a conference.) I seemed to always forget this when explaining things to people. I sometimes have to stop and tell myself that not everyone knows what Twitter, social media, or even what a blog is.
Thanks for a great article!
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Tamas,
Will really try to dig out that quote – I love it too. Get back to you on that. Sara
Tamas,
I love the post and video comment! Thank you for sharing your goal of integrating educational technology at your school. I think all educators can make this goal. If everyone in our PLN made this goal then we would really see a difference!
Thank you for everyone for your comments! Tamas’ post is inspirational which is well reflected in your meaningful comments! Remember to check out his blog at http://tamaslorincz.edublogs.org/!
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How disheartening to hear that things are no better in the education sector of a country that has so much money vs the U.S.
Dear Paige
Thanks for this comment. You are right, and this is exactly what I find most unsettling and upsetting.
I have worked and lived in poor countries and I was happy to put up with major faults and gaps in the education system. But I find it very difficult to live and work for a country that has all the resources to create a 21st century education system, and still does disservice to its future generations (at least from my perspective). The latest post on my blog describes how the situation seems to be deteriorating further as the school-year is about to start.
Thanks for the comment and congratulations on your blog. I really enjoy the way to discuss that are close to you. The design and layout is also very pleasing to the eye.
Thanks again.
BTW: was trying to fin out: are you on Twitter by any chance. Was trying to find you.
Cheers
Tamas