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| 22 jack-hammers busy digging to the centre of the earth |
I am travelling to Bahrain where I will meet Peter. After a couple of days in Bahrain - an island to the east of Saudi where many of us in days long gone, stopped to refuel on route to the UK - we fly to Amman, Jordan. We have about 4 days in Jordan, were will will travel to Petra and see the remnants of ancient cities built by the Nabataeans. (familiar to those who have watched the Indiana Jones movies). Everyone who I have spoken with who has done this trip says it is truly spectacular, so we are really looking forward to the visit. we also intend to visit the Dead Sea for a day - and perhaps partake in the ritual of covering ourselves in dead sea mud then bathing in the sea. It is supposed to be a wonderful sensation and be good for you, but stings badly if you have any cuts or abrasions. Following Jordan, we head back to Riyadh, where Peter will spend a couple of weeks before flying home. This should give him a taste of Saudi life and the wealth of the Kingdom - and a few visits to the huge Malls that provide every designer label known in the Western world.
School is busy a the moment as we progress through to the next phase of the leadership restructure in readiness for the next academic year. 40 positions for instructional leaders have been open for application and close tomorrow. These positions will have a strong role in coaching the classroom teacher along with a reduced teaching load for themselves. The role replaces positions of Supervisors. Supervisors were like faculty/subject heads. They didn't have a teaching component to their role, but had a role in maintaining their subject was taught in adherence to the curriculum. They also monitored teacher performance. If a teacher wasn't good, she/he was not employed the following year. If they deemed the teacher very poor they provided formal feedback that their performance was less than 90% satisfactory and this saw the teacher dismissed immediately. However this didn't mean that the school had a staff of excellent teachers. It the teacher's subject area was one that was difficult to recruit a teacher may receive a performance score of 90% so that they could remain until the end of the semester when the school would look to recruit at a more convenient time in the year. Supervisors saw themselves above principals, and some may have been in receipt of a salary that reinforced this thinking. Under the new structure we have principals, vice principals, instructional leaders and soon to be introduced expert teachers - then of course teachers. All teachers will receive a contract of between 3 - 5 years. Up until this change, all teachers have a yearly contract. Some have worked in the school for over 20 years and have never had job security, so this is a welcomed initiative. There has been up to 300% difference in pay at EACH level of employment. It just depended upon who you knew and who are your friends in positions of influence.
Trying to explain (and justify) merit based selection has been a challenge, but we are getting there.
A couple of weekends ago several of us went to the Riyadh Museum. It was fantastic and worth trying to find it with a driver who can't read a map! The museum has a number of permanent exhibitions along with temporary visiting exhibitions from around the middle east. One exhibition explored the history of civilisation in this area - including the Nabateaens. Made me recall Year 12 History of Western Civilisation. A timeline over 10 000 years included Abraham, Moses, Alexander (the great), the Romans, Jesus and the Prophet.
Another exhibition displayed the two mosques of critical importance to the Kingdom and the Islamic faith - the Mosque at Makkah and the Mosque at Medina. As non believers we can't visit either of these
cities, so being able to see huge models of both buildings was great. I have seen footage of them and photos, and they look amazing, but the scale must be truly inspiring. The mosque at Makkah includes the Ka'bah. This is the large black box structure in the courtyard of the mosque that the pilgrims making Hajj walk around as part of the ritual. This box contains a meteorite thought to have hit the earth tens of thousands of years ago. It has virtually being worshipped since. Abraham is said to have lived near this at one stage and also participated in the pilgrimage. Makkah has been an important city for thousands of years, being on the trade routes. It has been a strategic city for those in power and Mohammed returned to Makkah after living in Medina following his deportation 30 years previous. He wanted it to confirm his status as leader of the Muslim world. The photos are of the models in the Museum and some information explaining some of the features.
The jackhammers still progress on the site outside the compound and outside my bedroom window. I have only one day in the week that there is no work - Fridays. There are now 22 working from 6:00 - 4:00 daily. They have gone down about 10m and seem to be no end in sight. No sleep-in for me on thursdays (the first day of our weekend).
Hope you are finding this post of some interest and sharing it with anyone who you think may enjoy the ramble.
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| Ka'bah at Makkah Mosque in the 1930s |
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| The Prophet's Mosque - Medina |
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| Mosque at Makkah (you can see the Ka'bah in the courtyard) |
