Teacher Talk: What's it like to teach in the Middle East?

'Teacher Talk' is my new feature where I will blog about all things education related. I hope you find this interesting :)

Teaching in the Middle East - Oman

*1 month update*

Over the past few days, as a teacher I have been involved in teaching my children, planning with colleagues and preparing resources for my lessons. I have also been thinking a lot about the role of teachers here in Oman but across the Middle East.

A year ago, after teaching in London for two years I was yearning for a new challenge but also for the chance to teach and travel abroad. The Middle East stuck out immediately as I had visited a few countries as a tourist and also as a volunteer. I also favoured it because the culture is similar to mine not mention the halal food!

For those of you who read my blog I definitely had an experience in Kuwait. It wasn't so much with the children. They made my stay thoroughly enjoyable. It was members of management, a few teachers and HR. So after an interesting and at times shocking experience in Kuwait I decided to move to Oman.

I had visited Oman on vacation and fell in love with the people and the country. They had a real humbleness about them and were so friendly too. The country of Oman is just spectacular with their range of mountains and natural springs. It really is amazing.

Now back to the focus of this blogpost, teaching. So the negative attitudes of teachers and their shockingly low expectations of the kids really made me question what the role of teaching includes.

As a teacher my personal opinion is that we are there to teach every single child the curriculum we follow whether it is British, American or IB. This also means to differentiate, scaffold and ensure that every child can access the learning. I rarely saw this in Kuwait and teachers were astounded by having to differentiate in their class. They just didn't want to do it and consistently complained it was too much work! Curiously, it made me wonder how they taught back in their home countries and if all their children progressed well.

Having only been in Oman for almost 3 weeks now I have also noticed that these low expectations of the children are evident and this saddens me as a teacher. A few weeks ago I had a conversation regarding Literacy (now this is Y2 we are teaching), and was basically informed that independent story writing is taught towards the end of year. That in itself shocked me because as a teacher you have to teach them the skills and give them opportunities to develop their writing.

Yes we have to ensure that the children understand the fundamentals to learning but also if we don't give them these crucial opportunities like writing stories, practically constructing inventions or even allowing them to make mistakes and reassure them, they will never reach their potential but instead will just be coasting for the rest of their primary education.

I came to the Middle East with the mindset that I will not treat these children any different to how I treated the children back in the UK. I also said to myself that my expectations would remain high to ensure they make the required and if not more progress by the end of the year.

So have I stood by these promises or pledges since I started teaching here?

I am proud to say yes I have and I will continue to do so. Parents are investing their money knowing that us teachers will help provide an enriching education to their children. It is unfortunate that a lot of schools in the Middle East deliver a very poor to basic education to their children without the parents knowing. Sometimes I wish that parents knew exactly what happens inside the school but it is because they put their trust in the schools that they will never find out.

At times, yes I may be seen as a rebel  when I change some of the plans for the week but it is because I am ensuring that my children are learning the skills expected in Y2, being challenged and also working to high expectations and do they come out with the results. YES! This is because of the high expectations and positive attitude of the teacher. I am in now way berating myself. I am merely doing my job which I feel should be given 100% wherever you are in the world. I really wish I came across more teachers like myself who feel passionately about delivering an excellent education to children.

I will continue to update you all on my experience here in Oman. I can say that so far it is much better than Kuwait in terms of organisation, how we assess and the procedure of assessments. The days flows nicely and nothing is sprung upon you like in Kuwait and there is half the paperwork!

*2 month update *
I am enjoying having 20 children in my class and it honestly makes a difference than having 30. I can work with groups and set them off whilst extending others. I've become more creative with my teaching and I have a lovely rapport with the children, parents a d my colleagues. It's like we're a big family :)

I hope you enjoyed reading now off to enjoy my weekend in Doha!

Love & Blessings,
Sara xx