Reflections

I have arrived safely home. Now I just need to do my laundry and finish unpacking. It will happen. I arrived home to find flowers and balloons from my family - very nice!

Some overall thoughts on the trip. First, and most important was the time spent with Marwa and her family. As I have mentioned, I felt right at home and enjoyed my time with them. Best of all, I learned about Egyptian culture and lifestyle from the inside. Being with the family gave me a chance to observe customs, religion, and lifestyle while at ease asking questions. We felt open to ask questions about each others country. While at dinner one evening we discussed hospitality and what is considered rude and what is not. If you go to visit friend or family in Egypt, it is customary to bring a gift such as a pastry or cake. Food and drinks are offered more than once. Hosts put guests above family - even above elders or parents. I felt bad about this one - I kept wanting to hold the door or carry items for Marwa's mother and the offer was refused until late into the second week when when I had become family!

Education - The systems are different in many ways, but what I noticed more were the similarities. Students are students wherever you go - they don't like homework, the love cell phones, they dislike the clothing rules, they are sometimes late to school and they like to talk in class. Literature study is the same in English or Arabic. Teachers are the same; they have too much to do and never enough time.

I did like the way that I saw the teachers working together. They share an English office which is crowded and offers no privacy. One computer is present for the whole department and email is not used. They do collaborate often. The department head keeps a chart to track the progress of the classes in relation to the calendar developed by the group. They must record the page or problem numbers that they covered in order for the department chair to make sure progress is being made. Their summative assessments are also created together with teachers sharing the responsibility of creating the parts. I had to keep reminding myself that this was a second language as the content was high and the students were given challenging material.

The gov't regulations and and National curriculum are not popular. Teachers feel that there is so much material to cover (memorize) that there is no time to be creative or include new activities. However, in the classes that I visited, the teachers were using higher level questioning and were certainly going beyond rote memorization.

Private tutoring is a national obsession. Students' career choices are determined by their grades on the exams from their final two years, so many parents (most) hire private tutors in the main subjects in order for their students to score high. This puts even more pressure on the students and on the parents who often cannot afford the cost. The focus is so much on the test grades, that some students stay home from school to have more tutoring time.

more thoughts later...I am tired after a long day of travel. Happy to be home with my family.