On a British Education in Bahrain...and Before

Mr. Cox:  a smily principal/politician who let teachers do what they wanted to do.  He believed in them, and they worked miracles.  Mr. DeFina and Mr. DeMonaco collaborated on countless operas and musicals.  Mrs. Collins did stop-motion videos with her students not long after the Betamax days.    Mr. Ford created a Mathletes  program that was so big there had to be five classes worth of teams.  Mrs. Gold hatched chicks.  Mrs. Schroth was the poet.  Mr. Vanni had the Learning Center.    Teachers modeled their passions.  He allowed it to happen in my elementary school, dear Stewart School.

Mr. Prusan:  a risky principal who knew students didn't all need the same thing.  I still have the letter Mr. Fritz wrote him when I begged to do an independent study instead of AP English.  "While you were out hobnobbing with the elite, Miss Emily of near-Dickinsonian fame and I dropped by to request an adventure.  Please advise anon."  I still have the proposal Fritz wrote in his purple inked scrawl.  Mr. Prusan let it happen, incurring the wrath of Dr. Boring, the English teacher who wasn't too thrilled to lose that year's valedictorian from his elite.  I didn't need college credit;  I needed time with Christina Rossetti, Elizabeth Barrett Browning, Jane Austen and the Bronte sisters.

Mrs. Moffat:  a protective principal who lets me follow my bliss. If I propose a debate, she checks that I am not overextending myself and then gives me her go-ahead.  If I propose an extra talent show or a student written drama, she smiles and knows that I'm going to give the students my best.  If I suggest a Model UN or a Future City competition or even a birthday celebration for Shakespeare, she marvels at my madness, keeps me reasonable (ever a challenge), and lets me give the kids what they need.

I am lucky.  There IS in place a system in the United States and it has become increasingly conflicted.  More and more, the system in the US dictates what is taught.  I love the 21st Century Standards of Creativity, Teamwork, Problem Solving and more.  I like the idea of a core curriculum where students who move from state to state will not have wild gaps.  But the testing has gotten out of hand and contradicts some of these goals.   I met those goals in Mr. Cox's building and Mr. Prusan's building.  In Mrs. Moffat's building, now, my colleagues and I want our students to be ready for the future and we do the best we can. I am lucky to be where I am, but I know the system is still working out major glitches.

Consequently, it is intriguing to me to be in a country with a totally different education system.

Everyone I have met in Bahrain talks about the kingdom's 2030 Economic Goals.  Basically, the King worked with key stakeholders and developed this plan, back about seven years ago, for Bahrain to be the "number one choice" for employers and employees everywhere.  To do so, the country aims to improve sustainability, competitiveness and fairness.    There are many attempts to get out publicity for the country, but there is a belief here that "Humans are Bahrain's Number One Resource" (a phrase I have heard repeatedly).  Consequently, education is at the forefront of this campaign and of so much in Bahrain's culture.

Bahrain is a surprisingly open society in a prime location: an island in the Persian Gulf.  For five thousand years, there has been civilization here and just about every empire has invaded it over the years.  Consequently there is a lot of diversity and there is a cosmopolitan understanding of the world.  Also, there are many expats.  Less than half of the population is Bahraini.  More than half of the population comes from other countries.

The government does have government sponsored schools, and they are free to citizens of Bahrain.  You cannot get citizenship if you are not born in Bahrain.

The businesses, which are very often very closely allied with the government (more on that in a later blog post), often will include private school tuition in the contracts of employees, especially of expats who want to continue education in the format of their home country, to enable ease of movement back and forth.

Note:  if you are going to a private school funded by your parents' job, you had better behave.  Your parents don't want to be called down to their boss to be told that you are not doing well.  Your parents don't want to have their contract rescinded because you are naughty.

Consequently, there are American schools, Indian schools, British schools, government schools....and there is mobility from one school to the next.

Today, I visited a British Curriculum School.  St. Christopher's School is named that because it began as a schooling group for expat families, and they met in St. Christopher's Church.  Over time, they expanded to have about 2500 students in grades K-12.  It is a highly awarded school, and I can see why.

First, a full disclosure: I am strongly in favor of the British model of education.  Mr. DeFina, my mentor, modeled his multi-disciplinary approach on the British model, and I have taken so many elements of it into my teaching. I think it is because of this model that I am a great student and an unusual (and hopefully effective) teacher.

Second, a few truths about this trip:  I'm surprised that we aren't visiting a Bahraini public school, but there are only so many hours in a day (twenty-four to be exact).  I'm intrigued about going to a traditional Bahraini Islamic school tomorrow, but I know it will be a private school.  AND I am glad to have been able to set my foot into a school with British curriculum.  After spending time in England with my friends, the Hodsons, this summer, I was more stoked than ever about the British way of teaching.

The day started with an assembly for the 11th Year students (the age of NJ sophomores).  The students had been on a trekking trip in Cyprus and their Head of Year led an assembly celebrating the trip (which included three days of long walking).  He made a list of what he had learned from the students:

"Never Trust a Student with Your Phone."

"What do you get on a trip? Blisters, Blisters, Blisters."

"Not All Students Like Puppies".

"A Head of Year is Never Off Duty."

"Teenagers Have a Strange Passion for Beef Jerky."

"You are Respectful and Caring as a Group."

"From Now On, Never Think You Can't Do It, because You've Already Proven to Yourself that You Can."

Each of these was accompanied by a brief video snippet from the trip.  The students were engaged and respectful...and most welcoming of us.  I wasn't able to take a photo in this segment, and that disappoints me, but I also understand the privacy restrictions.

Next, we had a chat with some teachers.

We learned that 40% of the students in this school are British, 25% of them are Arab Nationals (as per a contract with the government), and the rest are from 65 other nationalities. 

We asked how you create a supportive community while balancing it with competition.  The answer was a common vision, a school where it is cool to learn.  I try to create that in my class; I had that in Fritz's sessions and in my childhood with Mr. D.   "We come here for a purpose", the head teacher said.  "Teaching community is what happens constantly as we work with the students. We have so many special events, 26 trips that students can take part in each year, and many events every weekend which involve students:  Charity Football, Think Pink, Debating Tournament, Rock and Pop Concert, the musical, Grease.  Students can shine in a whole range of activities."

A English teacher added that they "celebrate all kinds of achievements: sports, academics, fundraising, kindness and more.  It is not special needs that determine if a student can succeed. It is whether or not they are willing to put in the extra work.  We will provide scribes or whatever a student needs, but they need to be devoted to learning."

Take a look at these Pillars of Learning and goals for Autonomous Learning and Global Citizens.

Need I say more?   (And yet I will...I got to visit two classes, too!)

Our delegation had the opportunity to visit two classes, also. I chose to visit Drama and History.  Again, I couldn't take photos in the drama class but these are some things I noticed:

a) There are two drama teachers, and they joined up after a few days to have their students demonstrate for one another.

b) Students wrote their own small-group plays on deep themes.  The groups I saw were on Stockholm Syndrome and Phobias.  I think the students were the age of my eighth graders, but the intensity would have been borderline inappropriate in our school system.

c) Students changed out of their school uniform and into a theater uniform (leggings and black t-shirt) for drama.

d)  Students gave one another feedback on their plays-in-progress.  The teachers modeled suggestions and analysis, and told me the students would eventually need to write critiques of performances and dramatic literature, too.

e)  The level of maturity and focus was unbelievable...as was the general camaraderie in the room.

f) It was so nice to have a stage to rehearse on!

Next, I went to the history class.  I love that the class was taught as a simulation:.  Students were studying the Maroons' Slave Revolt in Jamaica from the 1700s, and they had to make choices of how they would handle different edicts from British governors.  The lesson was also differentiated and students could choose at what level they wanted to answer the question.  Everyone was so animated!

I asked one of the girls in the photo above if I could look at her notebook.  Take a look at these bits:

Feedback and illustration

Concept Maps

Use of poetry in History

I left the school energized, wanting to learn more about British education, happy for these Bahrain children (both natives and expats), and aiming to be as good a teacher as Mr. D and Mr. Fritz hoped I would be.