Today, almost four months after completing my last teaching contract, I begin a new assignment. Having running into problems with several of the offers I seriously pursued over the past months, I decided to return to Oman – but it is a very different Oman from the one where I was previously.
The first difference is the climate. I am now stationed in Salalah, which is subtropical, as opposed to the arid desert climate of Rustaq. Salalah is unique in the Arabian peninsula, because as the most brutal summer heat descends on the Gulf, this area catches the tail-end of the South Asian monsoon rains. Tourists from the region and beyond flock here for the cool, natural beauty of the Khareef (monsoon rain) festival each year, making people far more patient with foreigners and foreign ways.
The second difference is the number of educational institutions. In addition to the usual primary and secondary education, Salalah is home to three tertiary institutions: the privately owned Dhofar University, the Ministry of Higher Education’s Salalah College of Applied Science and the Ministry of Manpower’s Salalah College of Technology. This means the town’s professional resources extend beyond any one institution. SCT will be my new taskmaster. Of course, every institution has its challenges, but that remains for later posts.
These first two factors also imply that there is a healthy circulation of people – regional and international visitors, as well as a mix of local and foreign residents who do not all work and live in the same small social pond. It is still a relatively small community in a relatively small town, but the options are far wider than in most Omani college towns.
Another difference is that I am living on the coast, which has always been a dream of mine. I always find it heartening to dip a toe in the ocean and remember that this same body of water extends all across the globe.
Finally, on a rather materialistic note, but one that should not be ignored, I have been placed in the best accommodation I have ever lived in. Ever. I opted for furnished accommodation rather than a generous cash allowance, but it seems I chose well. The landlord has been dealing with expats and tourists for several years, and is responsive to the unique needs of this market. The place is well-maintained, fitted out with quality equipment and positively vast. The spare bedroom alone could house a ballroom dancing class, a martial arts dojo or a sleepover for the entire population of Liechtenstein. And I’m not entirely sure what one human being does with three bathrooms. What is certain, though, is that I finally have a home where I can be shamelessly hospitable. And that is an invitation.
Before I ramble too much more, there is one thing I really want to put down on digital ink in a very public way. I have been living and teaching abroad for almost a decade, and have learnt that the greatest pitfall of expatriation is negativity. I have no illusions that my euphoria at my new posting is a heady concoction of culture shock phase one, travel fatigue and sheer ignorance. Yet I am fiercely determined that the ten short months of this contract will be a time of deep contentment and unparalleled productivity. That is not a matter left over to fate, but a disciplined decision. If I ever go back on my word, please hyperlink me back to this page. Or better yet, come and stay over. If we kick out the ballroom dancers and apprentice ninjas, there’s room a-plenty.
Saturday, September 26, 2009
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Sounding a Personal Note in a Professional World
Since raising a professional/teaching/study blog from the ashes of my more random, prehistoric personal blog, I have often wondered where the parameters of professional blogging should lie. This blog does have a theme, after all, and the entries should reflect that theme – at least for the most part.
Yet professional blogs, particularly in the field of education, are common. The better ones contain frequent nuggets of solid gold information… but more than that, they have a unique quality. They portray personality as well as professionalism. This has reminded me that every professional is, at heart, still a person. In fact, it is a unique personal history that brings us each to our field, and that personal history may, on occasion, justify a blog post. This, I have decided, is one of those occasions.
As a teacher I have an unwavering belief that learning should be supported by a broad base of meaningful activity. Those I have specifically investigated include technology and the arts. Creative endeavour has always been close to my heart: today it is embodied in my educational philosophy, but it has been integral to my approach to life. Today’s post is about a creative endeavour that has been following me around the globe for almost two decades.
In 1990, an old Afrikaans poem on a friend’s wall sprung into song as I looked at it. Soon I was performing it with my lifelong comrade and collaborator, Krisjan Fourie, who today is an iconic entrepreneur. As my ventures abroad and forays into my on cultural identity began, the poem set to music evolved into an investigation of exile, particularly among young South Africans, one million of whom are estimated to be living abroad. Many of those unaccounted for in the statistics are teaching English. Dis Al ii combines the adapted lyrics with photographs I have taken within South Africa and beyond. It is no masterpiece, but it is an important reminder of my heritage, the questions it raises, and perhaps most significantly that every professional is, at heart, a person with a unique tale to tell.
It is, I believe, justification to sound a personal note in the professional realm.
Yet professional blogs, particularly in the field of education, are common. The better ones contain frequent nuggets of solid gold information… but more than that, they have a unique quality. They portray personality as well as professionalism. This has reminded me that every professional is, at heart, still a person. In fact, it is a unique personal history that brings us each to our field, and that personal history may, on occasion, justify a blog post. This, I have decided, is one of those occasions.
As a teacher I have an unwavering belief that learning should be supported by a broad base of meaningful activity. Those I have specifically investigated include technology and the arts. Creative endeavour has always been close to my heart: today it is embodied in my educational philosophy, but it has been integral to my approach to life. Today’s post is about a creative endeavour that has been following me around the globe for almost two decades.
In 1990, an old Afrikaans poem on a friend’s wall sprung into song as I looked at it. Soon I was performing it with my lifelong comrade and collaborator, Krisjan Fourie, who today is an iconic entrepreneur. As my ventures abroad and forays into my on cultural identity began, the poem set to music evolved into an investigation of exile, particularly among young South Africans, one million of whom are estimated to be living abroad. Many of those unaccounted for in the statistics are teaching English. Dis Al ii combines the adapted lyrics with photographs I have taken within South Africa and beyond. It is no masterpiece, but it is an important reminder of my heritage, the questions it raises, and perhaps most significantly that every professional is, at heart, a person with a unique tale to tell.
It is, I believe, justification to sound a personal note in the professional realm.
Wednesday, September 2, 2009
Educational Technology as a Foreign Language
While pondering the analogy of technology as a foreign language, the idea of educational technology as a foreign language evolved in my mind. I have developed it into an article, which I have just submitted for publication. Unfortunately this limits my distribution rights of the full article for the moment, but the abstract is included here. (Watch this space for info on the publication itself).
My favourite quote from the article is:
"...teachers have long advocated learner autonomy, learning-centredness and ownership. Yet when learners step up as captains of their fate and masters of their souls, we fear mutiny"(p. 10). What qualifies a teacher to navigate ahead in these uncharted waters, is having mastered the process oneself.
Abstract
This article explores a disturbing irony of contemporary education: students are often more equipped than their teachers for the technological demands of life and the classroom. The need for effective in-service teacher training in educational technologies is both urgent and problematic, since educators are often not equipped to grasp the full significance of these tools. Guided by the analogy of educational technology as a foreign language, it is suggested that TESOL educators apply certain principles of learning and Second Language Acquisition theory to developing their skills in using educational technologies. By reflective, experiential learning of – and through – technology, teachers stand to develop not only professionally, but also personally.
My favourite quote from the article is:
"...teachers have long advocated learner autonomy, learning-centredness and ownership. Yet when learners step up as captains of their fate and masters of their souls, we fear mutiny"(p. 10). What qualifies a teacher to navigate ahead in these uncharted waters, is having mastered the process oneself.
Abstract
This article explores a disturbing irony of contemporary education: students are often more equipped than their teachers for the technological demands of life and the classroom. The need for effective in-service teacher training in educational technologies is both urgent and problematic, since educators are often not equipped to grasp the full significance of these tools. Guided by the analogy of educational technology as a foreign language, it is suggested that TESOL educators apply certain principles of learning and Second Language Acquisition theory to developing their skills in using educational technologies. By reflective, experiential learning of – and through – technology, teachers stand to develop not only professionally, but also personally.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)