Friday 9 November
Finally another update from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia!
Since I last prepared a post the Team has run a 2 day workshop for Principals and Vice Principals at the school and a second 2 day workshop for the Supervisors. The Supervisors are really the ones who work in the classrooms with the teachers. They are soon to be known as Instructional Leaders. The added complication of holding workshops apart from the language - that requires a 'sometime' interpreter' is that a screen has to be erected between the male participants and the female participants. As presenters, we moved between the two sections and they could see the presentation on overhead screens, but the women stayed veiled throughout. Additionally a record of the workshop was taken but only filmed on the 'mens side' as the women can't be photographed. I had to argue the day before for a separate room for the women to eat lunch - or else they would have had to eat their lunch discretely lifting their veil to eat. They were grateful for the lunch room as it allowed them to take off the veils and chat and eat in comfort. Importantly the content was received well. It was complex and much completely new - the Sergiovanni Leadership model, performance plans that aren't punitive as is the current practice, feedback and professional conversations that don't led to teacher evaluation and determine the next contract.
Following the 2 days (which included one day of the holiday) we had a day with Boston Consulting Group - who have instigated the work here in the school and identified 31 major pieces of work from HR to student assessment schedules. We each have a project around this report to lead and commence the implementation in the school. The purpose of this day was to present the progress on our projects and outline the work that is planned over the next 3 months.
Then we were on holidays. This was the Eid holiday when people across the whole of the Middle East travel home to celebrate the time with family. This is also the time when Muslims from across the world travel to Mecca to undertake the Hajj. As non-Muslims were are not permitted to travel to Mecca even outside of major religious periods.
Most of the Team headed off to neighbouring countries to relax and see what the region has to offer. I went to Oman and stayed with an old friend who has been living and working in Muscat for 5 years. Liza has been working at Sultan Qaboos University for the Language Centre where she works with the students to improve their academic English. English is the language of teaching at the university. Liza certainly showed me the wonderful sites in and around Muscat.
One of the highlights was visiting the beautiful Sultan Qaboos Mosque. The size was enormous and though built in the last 10 years (opened in 2005) the building was graceful and the art was stunning. Set in gorgeous gardens with the smell of frangipani, the whole area had a sense of calmness. We also visited nearby wadis, towns, beaches and ancient buildings (generally forts). Great time and very relaxing - as well as a place where I had my first beer in 5 weeks!
The inside of the Mosque is truly huge - rivals the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. The carpet is made as one piece! The patterns are stunning throughout and the carpet is just mind blowing. In recent years they had a hurricane and the protection of the carpet was the 1st priority.
It seems that the Sultan is quite the modern progressive ruler. He is the son of the previous Sultan who kept Oman in the past. However he did send his son to England to study from the age of 12. He was boarded with a vicar and his family. On completing his education with university he returned to Oman and 40 years ago led a bloodless coup. At that time Oman had 10km of made roads, 2 schools (for boys only) and no secondary eduction. They now have schools for all and a quality university. They have modern highways and freeways, international airports at numerous cities and a vibrant, modern commercial centre with most of the major international companies present. Oil is a powerful thing to bring a country from poverty to great wealth. Muscat saw the opening of its Opera House last year.
We are now working with our teachers in a coaching model. They are excited and enthusiastic about their involvement with us. We often are approached with the query as to when we will take on more teachers (by teachers keen to become involved). There are many challenges for us and for the teachers to move to a new paradigm - but the premise of improving the outcomes for the students drives their commitment. The difficulties lie in meeting times (school is 7:00am - 1:30pm and work outside of these hours is rare). The teachers have a relatively low load - generally 20 periods each week from a 40 period week. Most periods are 45 minutes but maybe 40 minutes or 50 minutes. The Kindergarten has a rigid timetable of 30 minute periods and the children's week includes daily lessons in Arabic, Qur'an, English, Structured Play and weekly lessons for Songs, Drawing, Physical Activity and Computer. The Kindergarten Principal is keen to change this and is leading our work in enabling a program that is child centred. She is brilliant and we are hoping to get to Reggio Emilia (Italy) next year with a couple of her staff to support the transition to a stronger program.
Enough for this post. Thank you for your emails, comments and messages. They are very warmly received. It is difficult living so far away, but the team from Australia is fantastic and the school is so embracing of our work. It is important to also say here that the Saudi people are warm, polite and considerate of us - except in queues, but then the Chinese can't queue either! This is not a scary place! Yes we wear abayas when out - and we have been picked up by the Religious Police and next time we will ignore them as they have no jurisdiction over us (and we were each given a copy of the Qur'an in English!) - and we are living in a Compound guarded by armed soldiers (with machine guns), but we haven't seen any anger or conflict since our arrival. Perhaps the fact that there is no alcohol for the young men is a good thing.
Finally another update from the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia!
Since I last prepared a post the Team has run a 2 day workshop for Principals and Vice Principals at the school and a second 2 day workshop for the Supervisors. The Supervisors are really the ones who work in the classrooms with the teachers. They are soon to be known as Instructional Leaders. The added complication of holding workshops apart from the language - that requires a 'sometime' interpreter' is that a screen has to be erected between the male participants and the female participants. As presenters, we moved between the two sections and they could see the presentation on overhead screens, but the women stayed veiled throughout. Additionally a record of the workshop was taken but only filmed on the 'mens side' as the women can't be photographed. I had to argue the day before for a separate room for the women to eat lunch - or else they would have had to eat their lunch discretely lifting their veil to eat. They were grateful for the lunch room as it allowed them to take off the veils and chat and eat in comfort. Importantly the content was received well. It was complex and much completely new - the Sergiovanni Leadership model, performance plans that aren't punitive as is the current practice, feedback and professional conversations that don't led to teacher evaluation and determine the next contract.
Following the 2 days (which included one day of the holiday) we had a day with Boston Consulting Group - who have instigated the work here in the school and identified 31 major pieces of work from HR to student assessment schedules. We each have a project around this report to lead and commence the implementation in the school. The purpose of this day was to present the progress on our projects and outline the work that is planned over the next 3 months.
Then we were on holidays. This was the Eid holiday when people across the whole of the Middle East travel home to celebrate the time with family. This is also the time when Muslims from across the world travel to Mecca to undertake the Hajj. As non-Muslims were are not permitted to travel to Mecca even outside of major religious periods.
Most of the Team headed off to neighbouring countries to relax and see what the region has to offer. I went to Oman and stayed with an old friend who has been living and working in Muscat for 5 years. Liza has been working at Sultan Qaboos University for the Language Centre where she works with the students to improve their academic English. English is the language of teaching at the university. Liza certainly showed me the wonderful sites in and around Muscat.
 |
| Muscat |
 |
| The Sultan's Palace & old Fort |
 |
| Inside the Grand Mosque |
 |
| Cloisters adjacent to the courtyards |
The inside of the Mosque is truly huge - rivals the Blue Mosque in Istanbul. The carpet is made as one piece! The patterns are stunning throughout and the carpet is just mind blowing. In recent years they had a hurricane and the protection of the carpet was the 1st priority.
It seems that the Sultan is quite the modern progressive ruler. He is the son of the previous Sultan who kept Oman in the past. However he did send his son to England to study from the age of 12. He was boarded with a vicar and his family. On completing his education with university he returned to Oman and 40 years ago led a bloodless coup. At that time Oman had 10km of made roads, 2 schools (for boys only) and no secondary eduction. They now have schools for all and a quality university. They have modern highways and freeways, international airports at numerous cities and a vibrant, modern commercial centre with most of the major international companies present. Oil is a powerful thing to bring a country from poverty to great wealth. Muscat saw the opening of its Opera House last year.
We are now working with our teachers in a coaching model. They are excited and enthusiastic about their involvement with us. We often are approached with the query as to when we will take on more teachers (by teachers keen to become involved). There are many challenges for us and for the teachers to move to a new paradigm - but the premise of improving the outcomes for the students drives their commitment. The difficulties lie in meeting times (school is 7:00am - 1:30pm and work outside of these hours is rare). The teachers have a relatively low load - generally 20 periods each week from a 40 period week. Most periods are 45 minutes but maybe 40 minutes or 50 minutes. The Kindergarten has a rigid timetable of 30 minute periods and the children's week includes daily lessons in Arabic, Qur'an, English, Structured Play and weekly lessons for Songs, Drawing, Physical Activity and Computer. The Kindergarten Principal is keen to change this and is leading our work in enabling a program that is child centred. She is brilliant and we are hoping to get to Reggio Emilia (Italy) next year with a couple of her staff to support the transition to a stronger program.
Enough for this post. Thank you for your emails, comments and messages. They are very warmly received. It is difficult living so far away, but the team from Australia is fantastic and the school is so embracing of our work. It is important to also say here that the Saudi people are warm, polite and considerate of us - except in queues, but then the Chinese can't queue either! This is not a scary place! Yes we wear abayas when out - and we have been picked up by the Religious Police and next time we will ignore them as they have no jurisdiction over us (and we were each given a copy of the Qur'an in English!) - and we are living in a Compound guarded by armed soldiers (with machine guns), but we haven't seen any anger or conflict since our arrival. Perhaps the fact that there is no alcohol for the young men is a good thing.
 |
| The Girls School Team Mary, Me, Sue, Julie and Lorraine |
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