Dear Dr.
Spilchuk
I find it interesting that the issue of an American teacher
in Kuwait had so much coverage recently with ISR yet I can
see no comment yet about the British teacher in Khartoum,
Sudan. Why?
The issue of calling a teddy bear Mohammad when half of the
arabic population of the world is called Mohammad seems to
be a contradiction - either the name is sacred and not used
or it is used, as the name Jesus is, when and where appropriate.
Is this yet another aggressive reaction against teachers
who are willing to place their lives in danger by working
in such places for the benefit of children. Perhaps as educators
the time is right for teachers to withdraw from working in
these countries.
Regards,
Concerned
**********
Dear Concerned,
In fact, I emailed the Editor of ISR immediately the
situation of the British teacher became public knowledge.
While I absolutely agree with your position, I must
also support my editor's contention that the two situations,
that is, the one in Kuwait and the one in Sudan are
not parallel. The Katherine Phillips' situation was
not religion bound, but rather school policy situated.
This latest situation appears to be, at least from
the outside, religion bound for that portion of the
Muslim population in Sudan who are now persecuting
this international teacher.
While I understand,
having spent time in a Muslim country, that a majority
of the boys in a Muslim school
may be called Mohammed after the prophet, my first
and continued reaction is that from a primary child's
point of view, the children calling a bear 'Muhammed'
as a favored name is a natural childhood response.
Piaget clearly indicates that the stages of cognitive
development of primary school children are, in order,
first 'self', then family, then school and finally,
others in their own community. As such, it was not
a religious but likely a childhood
developmental stage that prompted the children in Sudan
who are in Primary school to name the teddy bear by
this name. The teacher responded to the children's
need to validate their input into the naming of the
bear by following through on their choice. It is
a terrible situation when this type of innocent and
natural childhood
developmental teacher response is seen as anything
other than a validation of the children's choice.
I have asked the
Editor ISR to print my response as well as your letter
to me. I have also asked him to
put a strong warning to international teachers on our
site that the situation in Sudan suggests that
radical religious beliefs will precede solid childhood
developmental
research into good teaching beliefs/practice in that
location, thereby putting Western primary/elementary
teachers in jeopardy.
It is not right to use religion to persecute another
human being in such an innocent setting as a school,
particularly when local people in a country have
actively encouraged Westerners with different religions,
thoughts and beliefs to come to their location to
teach their children. There must be some compassion
demonstrated for those invited into the community,
some caring and consideration for their differences
and some tolerance for their responses which may
not be exact in the local religious context. Otherwise,
I'm afraid it is just not acceptable to continue
to invite Western teachers to come into your country
to provide a teaching service to local students who
want an international education.
I am further asking the editor ISR to place a Travel
Warning to all international teachers already in
the Sudan area and those contemplating working there
that they need to rethink their present/future work
contracts in that area. I am asking the editor ISR
to publish this Travel Warning continuously in newsletters
to our membership and on our web site.
I am praying for the British teacher who is your
country woman, and would dearly love to become involved
in ensuring her safe return to her family.
Sincerely
Barbara
_____________________________________________
To top and complete
article
Is there is a conspiracy of silence in the international
school community about the volatility of the Islamic world
and what that means for teachers? With my heavy teaching
load, I haven't made a lot of progress with Arabic language
study, but one doesn't need fluency to register the angry
hostility of ranting and raving that is broadcast from
loudspeakers at the mosque at every Friday sermon. Our
teacher housing is right next door to a mosque, and it
is absolutely horrifying to me. At the same time there
is a facade of modernization and casual attitudes that
can lull one into relaxing one's behavior. Incidents like
the current affair in Sudan should be a wake-up call. I
just don't understand the absence of protest and response.
Robert Bolous, the director of Unity School where this
all took place, has refused to appeal the sentence. What
message does that leave?
________
There were a number of teachers from
Gillian's school in Sudan on a TES forum yesterday but
they do not seem
to be on there today. Am wondering if they have all left
the country for their own safety. Yesterday they reported
that it was a secretary at their school who pressed charges
against Gillian and started this whole thing. The teachers
were very angry. This woman allegedly was the witness against
Gillian at the trial yesterday. It was for revenge for
something quite trivial and her fellow teachers all stated
Gillian is a wonderful teacher and person and would never
do anything to hurt anyone. Let's hope they get this straightened
out post haste. Wish they would just deport her right now........which
they may have already done. Who knows?
_____________________________________________
Readers Responses
Dear Dr. Spilchuk:
In Dubai, we were all appalled to hear of the controversy
surrounding the extremely harsh sentenced meted out to
the British teacher whose class called its teddy bear
Mohammed. While many of my colleagues felt that it was
a shame, many of us also felt that she ought to have
known better.
But wait a minute: what kind of cultural sensitivity
training do most schools in the Arab world offer? I had
about a one hour session in my current school here in
Dubai and perhaps two hours in my previous school in
another Gulf state. When the name Mohammed is, hands
down, the most popular named in the region, how is a
newly recruited teacher to know that it would be inappropriate
to name an animal after the Prophet? I learned these
sorts of things only through a decade (and more!) of
trial and error, angry explanations, confused apologies
and red faces.
Teachers who come to teach in the Arab world must realize
that they really are coming to a different world. However,
the onus for cultural sensitivity training lies firmly
with the school. An hour or two session really is insufficient.
Schools need to organize more lectures, language lessons
and opportunities to learn more about the local culture
rather than leaving new teachers to flounder in a morass
of ignorance.
If you find it appropriate,
I hope you would consider adding this letter to your
ISR web site (where I am a
grateful and paid up member!).
Kind regards,
Teacher in Dubai
**********
Dear Teacher in Dubai
Well put! I have given you a pseudonym to protect you
in this correspondence as one never knows where it will
fly. The world is sometimes upside down and this is certainly
an
upside-down situation.
Sensitivity aside, childhood development is the pillar
upon which I will stand in all of my responses. If we
want the world community to be a better place for children
to live in, then we must teach them that tolerance is
a virtue. If we want to ensure that the needs of children
come above those of state, politics and religion, then
we must fall back on theoretical masters in child development
such as Piaget and Vygotsky. Note the names. They are,
neither of them, British. Nor are they Sudanese. These
are masters long gone who simply spoke of what was good
childhood development and educational practice regardless
of where a child lives; their thoughts cross borders
to children everywhere.
This is the pillar upon which I will stand in support
of the British teacher. Please stand beside me. I believe
this is the only way to support children, their education
and their teachers, regardless of where they are located.
In the end, however, I am so terribly distraught, as
are international teachers around the world, that a teacher
who did nothing more than honor the children is being
persecuted in such an unreasonable and horrific way!
Sincerely,
Barbara
__________
Dear Dr. Spilchuk,
While I appreciate
that we are all up in arms about this event, myself included,
I must say as I always do...we are not in Kansas, or
Dorchester or Perth. We often make it sound like we are
doing some kind of a favor by teaching in their countries.
Khartoum is not Darfur. It is not Gaza. Such an attitude
is inherently condescending and patronizing. It is that
superiority that we often feel that gets us into trouble.
We teach for ourselves, for our own satisfaction, for
our own pockets. We are not doing any favors.
While I could
have stepped my foot into this same hot water, I would
have to say...oops! My mistake. We all
read. We know of the Mohammed cartoons. We know of Salmun
Rushdie. Don't mess with Mohammed! If I choose to accept
a job at KICS, Unity, or the American School in Khartoum,
I had best know the rules, norms and more's of the culture.
(I might here add that I was "detained" there
once for being alone in a car with someone who was not
my husband.)
Now, at the
risk or being arrested and thrown in Guantanamo, let
us look at this for a moment in a different context
-- a political one. Extremism begets extremism. If one
looks "Middle Eastern" in America, speaks in
support of this or that Muslim cause, questions the legality
of George Bush's actions, speaks openly about the atrocities
committed in Iraq, carries a Qu'ran on a public conveyance,
goes to the mosque too often, supports Muslim unity,
or attends a Muslim school, s/he had better look out.
Chances of losing a job, being arrested, being labeled "enemy
combatant" or "sleeper cell' member, being
jailed for "questioning" or even being deported
are significant.
In this period of aggression against any and every
thing or person Islamic, why wouldn't we expect retaliation
and over-reaction, right or wrong, when we cross the
line. Like begets like.
Thanks,
The Resource
**********
Dear The Resource
I appreciate your position; however, I think we must
look at who we are as teachers above all else. We are
not in this businees to promote any political or religious
conviction. We are certainly not in this business to
line our pockets. The wages of an international teacher
anywhere in the world are quite insignificant by comparison
to that of the corporate world. There has to be a love
of children and teaching at the root of why we do what
we do...else why stay in teaching? One can make significantly
more money in many other careers.
We are in this business to promote good, solid theory
into practice while crossing borders to children in other
places to share our knowledge. Compassion above all else
is what we should be teaching children, whether in Kansas,
London, Paris, Toronto or Khartoum. Children are the
future of this world, not pawns to be manouevered. The
'Bear' project crosses all borders of understanding to
children. I wonder what the world would be like if we
all saw the world in a gentler way.
Best
Barbara
__________
Dear ISR Readers
I am an educator. I will not get into political or religious
debates with ISR readers about the situation in Khartoum.
From an educational point of view, I stand solidly behind
and beside the British teacher. The classroom cannot
and should not be a place where hatred and difference
presides. It should be a place where caring and sharing
lives. It is a childhood place where gentleness and trust
are born and children's thoughts and ideas are validated.
Adults who cross into that caring place with messages
of intolerance and disdain violate the very core of education.
Dr. Barbara Spilchuk
Online Teacher Advisor
International Schools Review
__________
Dear Dr. Spilchuk
I echo the concern
that the Director of Unity doesn't seem to have made
a public
stand in support of Gillian Gibbons, although I realise
why - it might have cost him his job and put the school
in jeopardy. If this is the case then one has to ask
if Unity High School or any other international school
should be operating in Sudan at this point in time.
The teacher in Dubai
is quite right to point out that international schools
have a responsibility to make new staff aware of areas
of cultural sensitivity, however its way off the mark
to suggest cultural insensitivity by Gillian for allowing
the Teddy to be named Mohammed. Was she walking down
the street waving the Teddy around and calling it Mohammed
in public?
I fully agree with
a you, and those teachers who have declared their unequivocal
support for Gillian, that
bigotry and intolerance have no place in a classroom.
It is also quite absurd to suggest that all teachers
working internationally, particularly in places like
Sudan, do so for purely selfish reasons and to get rich.
Gillian Gibbons would have earned far more in the UK
and she would have enjoyed a much higher standard of
living had she stayed at home.
Thanks for your support and good work.
African Teacher
**********
Dear African Teacher
You make some excellent points. I absolutely agree that
its seems quite ridiculous that among International teaching
professionals, there would even be a discussion about
any form of culpability on Gillian's behalf.
I have also wondered about the role the school Director
appears to have taken. I have certainly considered that
his apparent lack of overt support for Gillian is necessary
given the rather extreme danger in the circumstances.
One has to wonder how safe it is in Khartoum for any
international teacher right now, particularly one who
speaks out in defense of Gillian.
Thanks for standing beside me in support of Ms. Gibbons.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if the international teaching
body could circle the globe through cyber communication
in a united stand on her behalf?
Barbara
__________
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