Context and Vexed

Time for some background.

As I alluded to earlier, I was once content in education and there was a moment (albeit a fairly drawn out one) where that changed.

When a voluntary-aided school I was working at was forced to close (through lack of voluntary aid, unfortunately), many of the students and I ended up at a neighbouring school. Everyone there was well-intentioned but on the whole it was disorganised and the farthest from an inspiring environment that I had worked in to date.

In addition to that, a colleague lent me a book by John Taylor Gatto. I've since met people who despise this book but, for me, a great deal of what was written made a lot of sense. I realised that the societal but non-school based ideal he was describing was largely impractical in London 2007, but for the first time I felt that state education was a con:
its aims were not based around the genuine enlightenment of children;
its means were designed to subjugate rather than to facilitate;
its content was far from objective and led to total ignorance of areas of knowledge that are essential for children to grow up with the unconditional willingness to understand and respect others.

Irrespective of reservations about the system, a teacher should strive to inspire and make what (s)he can of the situation, and once again I hold my hands up and say that my teaching performance started to decline badly at this point. Where a better person would have tried to improve all around them, I allowed myself to be consumed by the inadequacy of all around me.

I don't mean that I didn't teach properly, or that I had no concern for my students, or anything like that - just that I lost the spark and the energy I'd had before, and took my foot off the gas.

I couldn't imagine staying in that school beyond that academic year, so I was interested when my brother-in-law (also a teacher) told me about a job working as an education advisor in the Middle East. This opportunity had some apparent advantages:
he and his family were already there so we'd know people already;
a safe environment for my family;
the opportunity to learn Arabic (so I hoped) which for me, as a Muslim, is extremely important;
a chance to move away from class teaching, which I had decided was the main factor in my apathy towards all matters educational. This point was crucial; I convinced myself that it wasn't education I was washing my hands with - it was being a class teacher.
Really I was deluding myself so that I could take the job with a clear conscience ; the truth is that I was a good class teacher and it was my feeling about the bigger picture that was destroying my enthusiasm for teaching.
On the positive side, it meant that I began to thoroughly analyse everything I was required to teach. In other words I developed, 13 years after leaving school, the automatic tendency to search for an alternative angle on what others took as truths and accepted unquestioningly.
On the negative side, I became obsessed with looking for faults in those above me who seemed to be those unquestioning practitioners. I started to resent their obedience and restlessly complain to myself about their inability or lack of inclination to challenge what they were being told to present as gospel.

Anyone who's worked on the UAE project as an advisor (as opposed to those very few who have the opportunity to steer policy) will read the previous paragraph and know that I could never have been content in the job I took next.

There are layers of control that are shared between competing institutions in the UAE and the providers it has hired to advise its schools, and, nine months after starting here, I am really none the wiser as to who genuinely has a coherent vision and/or realistic roadmap of how to get to it. I'm not sure any of them do either.

If you've read 1984, well, on a less sinister level, working for an advisory company in the UAE is like being at war with Eurasia. When, suddenly, one of the unconvincing educational principles that you've been told to promote and defend to the sceptical teachers (who basically hold the same opinion as you, only you're not allowed to say so)... when one of those principles changes: you were never at war with Eurasia. You were always at war with Eastasia, and Eurasia have always been your allies!
So, this year I've always been able to plan subject-specific lessons with my teachers, because the thematically planned and practical style of teaching and learning has always been a step beyond what one could realistically expect from teachers who previously taught only one subject (two in some cases) from a textbook, day in, day out.
This is just one example; if I continued with others, I'd be writing for the rest of this week and would have nothing left for the rest of the year, so I'll resist for the time being.

The problem is, working in the UAE, these deliberate distortions of memory are de riguer anyway. That's why a child who has applied himself less than 1% in class all year, and had a family member or maid complete his homework, can take satisfaction from his end-of-year pass mark when it arrives soon after an exam he barely remembers taking. The mark is there, therefore his application has been sufficient.
Likewise, the teacher has passed the majority of her students, therefore her teaching has been up to scratch.
Similarly, the advisory provider's school has seen most its students pass, so the advice has been of a good quality.

I have been a witness to, and where possible a conscientious objector against, the adjustment and fabrication of assessment marks, both by the school and the company I work for. As recently as yesterday one of the teachers showed me a relatively genuine results spreadsheet and asked,
"The principal says all the boys must pass. What to do?"

As an advice to all human beings, with myself at the top of the list in terms of those most in need of it,
Be honest with yourself.
Be honest with yourself, and move on.

A man who beats his son black and blue and then pays a small fortune for a dermatologist to pass comment on abnormal skin discolouration, is wasting his money.

A country who call outsiders to redesign her education system and then, when it comes to assessment, is party to a greater work of fiction than she could currently hope for one of her students to produce in creative writing, is wasting her money.

I wanted to talk about facing up to truths here, but I checked myself for arrogance and I thank God for allowing me the presence of mind to remember that what I am saying is only my opinion. Be both objective and critical as you read on.

So, in my opinion, I believe that there are some fundamental problems with the path that this country has chosen and, in mentioning them, I will detach myself from my personal reservations about the education system which, in terms of the idea of sending students to a place and implying that they should take all of their knowledge in that context alone, was already extremely similar to the western style, before any intervention.

(1) This is a Muslim country. There is no compulsion in the religion you choose to accept, and all are welcome here*, but the first principle of state actions must be to keep Islam as its determining influence. Whilst individuals I have worked with and observed are generally extremely respectful of religion and culture here, it is unreasonable to expect that non-Muslims will steer policy in a direction chosen according to Islamic principles. Similarly, were I asked to set the educational agenda in a Hinduism-based context, I am sure I would be found severely lacking in my ability to do this in the most suitable manner for Hindus.
Yet the curriculum comes from New South Wales and History is not taught in primary schools. Why? Is there not enough history in this part of the world? Well, that might be the impression I formed when I was at school (if I was actually even aware of where the Middle East was) but I know it not to be the case now.
I have seen enough to remind me of the generally high quality of teaching and learning styles of western-trained (or as a more accurate grouping: English-tongued) practitioners and I personally believe these styles do represent a potential for improvement on the quality of teaching and learning in the UAE. But I'm talking pedagogy here, not curriculum!
*Sadly some seem to be more welcome than others - but I'll save that one for another post.

(2) There is an obsession with English here. Perhaps this is a reflection of the wider obsession with the western world. But France is part of the western world and, the last time I checked, the French education system was not attempting to teach all subjects through the medium of English! Yet France, like the UAE, believes that English is a key language to master in the modern world, and I take no issue with that opinion.
I must confess total ignorance as to the general standard of French in France, but I would be surprised if it's lower than the level of modern standard Arabic in the UAE**. So why not obsess about improving the Arabic at least as well as the English?
**Please note that I say this not as anything more than a beginner in Arabic, but based on the feedback I have received from native Arabic speaking advisors in my company).

I appreciate that I said in (1) that I believe those who have come from English-speaking countries to improve teaching and learning, generally have the expertise to do so. Others I have sounded off to see this is a key argument for teaching all subjects through English, but I disagree. There are several alternative ways that the passing of teaching techniques could be passed from the English speaker to the Arab teacher. Two that spring to mind are:
*A huge exposure of designated Arab teachers to non-UAE classrooms where subjects like Science and Maths are taught effectively through English, so that they are in a position to observe and internalise lesson structure and specific activity ideas. They would then be best placed to impart knowledge to other teachers. (Trust me, I've delivered and watched training sessions to teachers and they don't understand half as much in English as you think/hope they do. They're far more likely to learn effectively from teachers speaking their first language, and watching those teachers model lessons for them in their own language). An ability to understand English well would be highly advantageous for these designated teachers but, if you think this is unrealistic, you need to remember again that the level of English spoken/understood by most teachers in schools at the moment, is not particularly high either! So how much are they understanding from the advisors?!
Now, where to find these strong teachers in English-speaking schools? How about England? (or Canada, USA, Australia, etc...) It's not as if the UAE doesn't have enough money to send the designated teachers there to see some good practice. And it's also not true that the UAE doesn't have any good teachers just because until recently they have taught in a different style. There are some very enthusiastic and potentially very creative ones, the resilience of whom has struck me as being far greater than my own.

*Subject-specific skills and knowledge can generally be taught in a proportion of English lessons, by shifting the emphasis towards vocabulary (e.g. re-covering Science and Mathematical concepts previously taught through Arabic, this time with a 'western' style of teaching and using relevant vocabulary). This allows consolidation for the student, and an opportunity for the teacher to witness the pedagogy. This is meaningful modelling by the advisor too, since (s)he can work within his/her specialist area but with a slightly greater focus on English which is, after all, his/her first language. The students' education doesn't hinge on the lesson because they began to learn it in Arabic already. Thus they have a headstart in terms of their chances of understanding, and are more likely to remain focused in the lesson.

Both of these ideas should be employed with a compatible university/college training system for new teachers. The beginnings of this appear to be in place, based on what I have witnessed of, and been told by, a newly qualified teacher whose practice is far closer to the western classroom than most of her colleagues.

(3) Returning to an earlier point: honesty and humility.
Some of this needs to be levelled at the advisory companies too.

The UAE has asked for outside agencies to improve their education system. On the face of it, this is a humble admission of want. Were this to be present in tandem with a message to its teachers (and potentials) along the lines of "We want you to excel and believe that, with the right support, you will", this would seem to be a good starting point for inviting carefully selected assistance in the right areas (as discussed).
Yet in general terms the education ruling bodies oversee a system that it continues to judge the success of through meaningless assessment tasks, and does nothing in the way of providing effective barriers to fabricating/doctoring the results of those assessments. Notwithstanding the blatant cheating that takes place in exams (at least in my school!), the stated weighting of examination relative to "continuous assessment" in the primary schools is a green light to pluck scores out of thin air to counter-balance poor scores in exams. And for those of you who don't like the constant assessment of children tied to consequences (join my club), we're talking about a country where you can find 15 year olds in primary school because they haven't cleared the end-of-year test four years running, and historically some children have always 'had to fail'. Now there seems to be a bizarre situation emerging where two competing bodies within the country's education system (the exact remit and power of each is as clear as mud) are on either side of the argument that no children should be held back according to performance. Therefore there are end-of-year tests and some children must fail them, but not too many, or none at all... no wonder the principals are confused!

So, what messages do the different characters in the play take from all this?
The teacher learns that progress need not be genuine because the word 'genuine' is not synonymous with fabrication and misrepresentation. This removes the need to improve standards in real terms, which takes the pressure away from them. Anyway many of the teachers have a sneaking feeling that most of those above them on the ladder secretly loathe any pedagogical styles different to the traditional textbook method. This further erodes any desire to take the advisors seriously.
The student learns much the same regarding progress, and this is reinforced by the fact that his teacher switches between styles according to whether or not there's an advisor in the room. His effort levels remain unchanged or deteriorate further. Anyway he has already learned that wealth is a safeguard against stupidity because if you have enough of it*** someone else will sort out your problems for you.
*** Feel free to decide for yourself whether 'it' is a pronoun for 'wealth' or 'stupidity' in this sentence.
The advisor learns that nothing (s)he tries to do to improve things need be genuine because real improvements will not be measured. For example, if (s)he works with an honest teacher, (s)he can be pretty sure that genuine progress will be offset by honesty in assessment procedures. Thus the children will appear to have made the same progress as all of the other students anyway.

Speaking for my own (anonymous!) company, misrepresentation of the truth is an institutionalised practice. Perhaps it is the amount of spin that takes place within the company that might explain why I often feel dizzy trying to make sense of what's going on. Thus the company is never culpable (although curiously its advisors often are). When my school's teachers tried to offset rather unfortunate exam marks in the first semester this year with some creative continuous assessment marks, members of my company were complicit. The main concern of the teachers was that parents would be furious, which certainly wouldn't look good for the company who were supposed to be raising standards. Thus report cards needed to be completed with a new set of marks. After the reports had been sent out, the teachers became aware that the figures to be sent to the Ministry of Education did not match those on the report cards.
'Luckily' a middle management colleague in the company suggested that the mark on the report card could be reproduced in the Ministry figures by raising other figures so that the average would be identical. One small problem: this would have meant raising certain other figures beyond their maximum, e.g. scoring 110 out of 100!
Incredibly, when the morality of the teachers kicked in and they made arrangements to collect and correct the fabricated scores on the reports, the same company figure was heard to laugh mockingly and pass comment on the dishonesty of the teachers/school/system in general.

Notwithstanding the general respect for culture that I mentioned earlier, my company and many of the advisors in it have failed to connect the cultural differences that they are aware of, with the implications of those differences. Thus they are well intentioned in trying not to pass judgement on female teachers whose ten-strong family began when she married at fifteen, but simultaneously believe that it is reasonable to expect primary teachers to plan for and teach nearly all subjects in the school day where currently they teach only English, Maths and Science. My opinion on this particular issue is unimportant; the salient point is that this represents almost double the work and is a dramatic change from what they are used to. Eventually the advisor's own socialisation and personal beliefs may be communicated in other ways; indeed, I have heard an advisor telling teachers that their families are "too big" as if that person thought she had been hired to advise on family planning as well as educational practice.

I really have no idea how coherent what I have written is, and I have writing fatigue, so I'll leave you to ponder on and respond to it!