ISR and Kuwait
No Texian, the opposite is actually true in my experience. Parents are DELIGHTED to see you in hijab. The bias comes when the 'visiting' western teachers in PORs takea dislike to it.....I know of two times when ladies went for interviews for PORs- each time the lady with MORE experience and MORE qualifications was overlooked fr the British woman without hijab. Interviewers at both times were western expat women.
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TexianTravel
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:35 pm
- Location: Egypt
Hmmm. Perhaps Kuwaitis have the wisdom to place less emphasis on appearances than Egyptians.
Most of the western teachers in my school respected the decision to wear the hijab. We all agreed it was something WE could not do, but we respected the committment it took to voluntarily adopt something we perceived as a hardship. (In Egypt about 20% of women choose not to adopt the hijab. I have heard passionate arguments on both sides, and I really am not trying to start a discussion about should or shouldn't, or voluntary or not.)
But please don't think that all western teachers are going to downgrade a woman because she wears one. To me at least, and I don't think I am alone in this, it was an outward statement of an inner faith. How can someone not respect that?
Most of the western teachers in my school respected the decision to wear the hijab. We all agreed it was something WE could not do, but we respected the committment it took to voluntarily adopt something we perceived as a hardship. (In Egypt about 20% of women choose not to adopt the hijab. I have heard passionate arguments on both sides, and I really am not trying to start a discussion about should or shouldn't, or voluntary or not.)
But please don't think that all western teachers are going to downgrade a woman because she wears one. To me at least, and I don't think I am alone in this, it was an outward statement of an inner faith. How can someone not respect that?
At the school I worked in Kuwait only the Arabic staff was allowed to wear hijab. A teacher was hired from the states, so she was overseas hired, to teach second grade. At that time she had been practising Islam for about 13 years. She gets to Kuwait and wanted to wear a hijab, well the owner and director told her no. I was quite surprised at that one which made me want to cover my head just to spite them.
She should have gone public and reported them to the newspaper or some other - what school was that Daboyz, I would LOVE to know who the hypocrites were. Why not go post that on
www.kuwaitrocks.wordress.com
www.kuwaitrocks.wordress.com
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mishmumkin
- Posts: 16
- Joined: Thu Aug 23, 2007 7:25 pm
[b]TexianTravel said: [/b]
[quote]Because I don't think many parents understand educational processes enough to distinguish between them. At least, that was my experience in Egypt. The parents placed their child in our American school because they thought the American process was easier or because they knew the Egyptian schools were something they didn't want. Very few placed their child in our school because they understood the American approach to education and valued it.
So if we had a lot of women in hijabs teaching, many parents would have looked at us and said, "An Egyptian school" and placed their child somewhere else. Unfortunate, but true[/quote]
I think parents in Egypt don't often place their kids in the American school because they think it's easier, but really because many of them are buying into an image that if their child goes to ABC School, they'll be held in higher social regard or perhaps thinkg that their child will go to a better university because of ABC School's curriculum. "American" and "British" are often thought to be "better" when it comes to education. Whether true or not, it's the perception that makes them send their kids to certain schools-almost no research goes into curriculum. This is where the image of the teachers comes into play. A mother of a boy who was in my class the previous year asked me one day about his new teacher and his sister's new teacher. A British-raised Egyptian woman (unveiled and pretty liberal) taught her daughter and a veiled American convert taught her son. Her question to me, "Where the westerner?" She was joking, to a degree, but the reality is that certain parts of the population want someone who looks and sounds western.
[quote]Because I don't think many parents understand educational processes enough to distinguish between them. At least, that was my experience in Egypt. The parents placed their child in our American school because they thought the American process was easier or because they knew the Egyptian schools were something they didn't want. Very few placed their child in our school because they understood the American approach to education and valued it.
So if we had a lot of women in hijabs teaching, many parents would have looked at us and said, "An Egyptian school" and placed their child somewhere else. Unfortunate, but true[/quote]
I think parents in Egypt don't often place their kids in the American school because they think it's easier, but really because many of them are buying into an image that if their child goes to ABC School, they'll be held in higher social regard or perhaps thinkg that their child will go to a better university because of ABC School's curriculum. "American" and "British" are often thought to be "better" when it comes to education. Whether true or not, it's the perception that makes them send their kids to certain schools-almost no research goes into curriculum. This is where the image of the teachers comes into play. A mother of a boy who was in my class the previous year asked me one day about his new teacher and his sister's new teacher. A British-raised Egyptian woman (unveiled and pretty liberal) taught her daughter and a veiled American convert taught her son. Her question to me, "Where the westerner?" She was joking, to a degree, but the reality is that certain parts of the population want someone who looks and sounds western.
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TexianTravel
- Posts: 44
- Joined: Thu Nov 30, 2006 11:35 pm
- Location: Egypt