A teacher working with elementary students

In any personal service business, setting goals and objectives with the clients is of utmost importance.  Sometimes clients are not on the “same page” as the tutor.  It’s important to agree on goals and objectives, or any program heads “south” quickly.

I recently tutored a child who it became evident very quickly had a major reading problem. The child’s spoken English was pretty good (English being the child’s third language, but the only language she has been educated in up to this point), which was helpful.

Current expected reading level in the child's class at school.

The child is currently really stuggling with this reading level (but is learning).

She had been passed up by the school to the next early elementary grade, and was totally unable to do the work, because she could not read any of the books.  The parents objective was to turn their child’s F’s into A’s within one or two weeks of the start of tutoring.

In all my years of teaching, and of helping struggling readers, all of my professional experience has borne out the advice given by reading professionals, which is you need to go ALL THE WAY DOWN TO THE READER’S CURRENT LEVEL and START THERE–not to keep pushing and pushing at a level which is FAR too high for them to understand.

The child's handwriting at the start of tutoring

The child had trouble not only in reading, but in writing anything legibly (clearly had not been taught proper formations and directions of the pencil by previous teachers at school), math (mixing up addition and subtraction), spelling (not interested in doing the work to remember spelling words).

Handwriting improvement after three tutoring sessions of twenty minutes each

All this was greatly complicated by my having no language in common with the mother, and having to use intermediaries to translate (the father, when present, my daughter, or other tutoring students who happened to be present in the house at the time).  The mother had never been to school herself, and so could not understand why two weeks of tutoring was not producing “A” grades (even though the child was making very good progress).  I explained the situation to the father, who was able to understand.  I proposed that with vacation coming up, if we worked intensively on READING, I might be able to improve the child’s reading level by two-three months by the time he got back to school.

When the parents came to me, very insistent that I tutor their child because they wanted ME, I told them I was completely full and had no more time.  I suggested other tutors and even gave the parents phone numbers, but they were very insistent on having me.  I pointed out my schedule, which was clearly posted on the wall, and said that even if I did want to tutor their child, the only possible time would be after 8:30 pm.  The mother jumped in and said, “No problem!  No problem!”  I was surprised since the child is in the early elementary grades.  Often we did not finish until 10 pm!  (This was of course after a full day of school.)  The parents indicated weekends were out because “they like to travel” on the weekends.

On top of everything else, the child had a lot of behavior problems.  The child was intelligent, and I developed a good relationship with the child, but she had trouble staying in her chair for more than 5-10 minutes, and every minute or two would try to get off-topic not wanting to do the work we were there to do.  This is most likely why the school “passed” her into the next grade — perhaps the teacher couldn’t face having her another year, in spite of her not having mastered ANY of the material of her grade.  The other possible reason is that if she should have been held back, it’s quite possible that these particular parents went in and threw a fit, and the school just let her pass.  (This happens often in most of the schools in this country.)

I also had trouble communicating with the current teacher to find out what lessons (such as spelling tests) that we should be doing in a given week.  I explained that to the mother.  The mother brought me a photocopy of the spelling book, and the page she told me to study with the child for the next test did not turn out to be the proper lesson after all.  So of course the child received another “F.”  The classroom teacher sent me one email during this time, but I could not reach him on the phone, and other times he did not respond.  (To be fair he really has his hands full with this year’s class.)

The child hasn’t come for a week.  Her father called last week to say she was sick, but other people have told me they have asked someone else to tutor her at an earlier hour (much better solution).  The last time he called, I said if they had found someone else to tutor her, it was perfectly fine.  The father thinks the hour is late, and the child is getting quite tired at night.  Last night he called again, and said they’d like to pick up the photocopied books.

I’m not sure what will become of this child, but I am not at all unhappy to lose her as a client.  The parents were showing up at all hours of the day and night, even on Saturdays and Sundays (always without calling) and coming in “to talk.”  They are also extremely demanding, and the mother shouts constantly and is clearly in the habit of bullying everyone.

But the parents, especially the mother, weren’t understanding the most basic problem–that without addressing the child’s READING LEVEL, all the other tutoring will be money down the drain.  I don’t think the mother understands this.  This client was really beginning to affect my health, and by letting her go, I have time to take others who have called me, and who are less stressful.  The clients had already run though a string of tutors before coming to me.  It seems to me that this mother wants quick, short-term results (A’s on all tests within one or two weeks of tutoring) without wanting to consider that the child has much larger long-term problems (such as raising the reading level up to grade level) that need addressing.

I do worry about the child herself, however.

Do my readers have any thoughts about all this?

By: Natalie Beamer

If you are planning on making Spain your new permanent residence and your family has children – finding the right school is always one of the major priorities.

Spanish teachers and psychologists truly believe that learning a new language up to the age of 12 is not an enormous challenge. Being engulfed in a new culture allows children to feel open to trying new words and eventually adopting the language. It can prove to be more challenging for teenagers.

If you wish to expose your children to the Spanish schooling system you will be happy to hear that the Spanish Education System is very accommodating. For more information visit the Spanish Ministry of Education’s website.

To enroll your child at a school you will have to fill out a form at the town hall and they will place your kid in the best school for them – according to their application. The success of this process is often a question of who you know…

The Spanish Education System consists of state-funded schools that are supported by a comprehensive network of private schools. This ensures the highest level of education in both the private and public sector. Many of the supportive private schools are foreign and include a vast number of British institutions.

You will be happy to hear that public school in Spain is totally FREE all the way through to University. Free school is granted to international pupils. Parents are however expected to pay for school books (aprox. $120 per child) and uniforms.

Spanish Schooling Statistics:

Amazon's Global Kindle Reader

I heard that Amazon now has a global version of Kindle. I was disappointed to find this morning that the new version still will not work in my country.

Since I’ve wanted one for some time, but have been waiting until they got a version that would work in my country, I checked out their website this morning, only to be disappointed again. Apparently the new global version will only work in SOME countries.

In case you are thinking of purchasing the new Global Kindle for a Christmas gift this year, since the new version will only work in SOME countries, I thought it would be helpful to most expats to have a complete list of which countries it will, or will not work in.

STARRED (*) countries marked below indicate that Kindle needs to be ordered from a SPECIAL PAGE on the Amazon site.

The Global Kindle version DOES work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Aland Islands, Albania, American Samoa, Andorra, Angola, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Armenia, Aruba, Australia*, Austria, Bahamas, Barbados, Belarus, Belgium, Belize, Benin, Bermuda, Bhutan, Bolivia, Boznia and Herzegovina, Botswana, Brazil, Bulgaria, Burundi, Cambodia, Canada, Cape Verde, Cayman Islands, Central African Republic, Colombia, Comoros, Congo, Cook Islands, Costa Rica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Cote d’Ivoire, Democratic Republic of the Congo, Denmark, Dominica, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, El Salvador, Equatorial Guinea, Estonia, Ethiopia, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Federated States of Micronesia, Fiji, Finland, France, French Guiana, French Polynesia, Gabon, Georgia, Germany, Ghana, Gibraltar, Greece, Greenland, Grenada, Guadeloupe, Guam, Guatemala, Guernsey, Guinea-Bissau, Guyana, Haiti, Holy See, Honduras, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Italy, Jamaica, Japan, Jersey, Kenya, Kiribati, Lao People’s Democratic Republic, Latvia, Liberia, Leichtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macao, Macedonia, Madagascar, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mexico, Moldovia, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Montserrat, Mozembique, Myanmar, Namibia, Nauru, Nepal, Netherlands, New Caledonia, Nicaragua, Niue, Norfolk Island, Northern Mariana Islands, Norway, Palau, Panama, Papua New Guinea, Paraguay, Peru, Philippines, Poland, Puerto Rico, Romania, Russia, Rwanda, Réunion, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent and the Grenadines, Samoa, San Marino, Sao Tome and Principe, Serbia, Seychelles, Slovakia, Slovenia, Solomon Islands, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, Suriname, Swaziland, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Tanzania, Timor-Leste, Togo, Tonga, Trinidad and Tobago, Turks and Caicos Islands, Tuvalu, Uganda, Ukraine, United Kingdom, Uruguay, Vanuatu, Venezuela, Viet Nam, Virgin Islands – British, Virgin Islands – U.S., Wallis and Futuna, Zambia, Zimbabwe.

The Global Kindle version does NOT work in (as of Dec. 2009):

Afghanistan, Algeria, Antarctica, Argentina, Azerbaijan, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bouvet Island, British Indian Ocean Territory, Brunei Darussalam, Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Chile, Chad, China, Christmas Island, Cocos (Keeling) Islands, Cuba, Djibouti, Egypt, Eritrea, French Southern Territories, Gambia, Guinea, Heard Island and McDonald Islands, Indonesia, Iran, Iraq, Isle of Man, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Korea – Democratic People’s Republic of, Korea – Republic of, Kuwait, Kyrgyzstan, Lebanon, Lesotho, Libya, Malaysia, Maldives, Mali, Mauritania, Morocco (including the Western Sahara), New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Oman, Pakistan, Palestinian Territories, Pitcairn, Qatar, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Helena, Saint Martin, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Saudi Arabia, Senegal, Sierra Leone, Singapore, Somalia, South Georgia and the Sandwich Islands, Sudan, Svalbard and Jan Mayan, Syrian Arab Republic, Tajikistan, Thailand, Tokelau, Tunisia, Turkey, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, United States Minor Outlying Islands, Uzbekistan, Yemen.

For every traditionalist looking for established international schools with 100 year histories and massive sports teams, there are others looking for schools where the teachers know not only your name, but also your academic history, your parents’ names, your favorite foods, and your writing style. Those are some of the things that KAIS International School, in Meguro, is known for. While their stated maximum class size is ten students, they claim that some classes have as few as 6; it is certainly understandable that this system would be daunting for some, but the students who attend KAIS seem to love it. Add that to weekly yoga classes, one MacBook per student, a music production studio (with keyboards, computers, mixers, and turntables!), a photography darkroom, a library that rivals those in some of the large schools, and a focus on cultural literacy and balanced academics, and you’ve got one of the most innovative and interesting international schools we’ve ever seen. This is not your old idea of an international school. This just might be the school of the future.

Some may be put off by the non-traditional schedule – school starts at 10:00am – though KAIS claims that it increases student alertness and kids’ abilities to learn. The teachers stay helping students with their homework after school and even create new classes to help with academic or extracurricular when there are enough students who want them. And if you think that all that extracurricular creativity takes away from the core academic focus, then you didn’t hear about the grammar classes, public speech classes, SAT prep incorporated into the normal schedule, intensive science laboratories, and mathematics seminars. Indeed, KAIS students end up at some very impressive competitive universities, both in the United States and international ones in Japan. It seems like the one drawback to a school so small is the social scene, but if you like the idea of school as a family instead of a society, you’ll be very impressed with KAIS. In their press, they say they are “redefining education”, but they are doing far more than that by redefining what it means to be both a student as well as a teacher.

KAIS International School

2-7-16 Kami-Osaki

Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo 141-0021

http://www.kaischool.com

Phone/Fax: 03-5421-0127

Every year I taught Grade 3, my third-graders had a big problem with their friends telling others their secrets.

For example (no real names are used, and the students’ own words are used–accounting for the grammar), one boy said, “My big problem is with Mohamed, because I tell him my secrets, and he tells them to other students, and I don’t like that.”

A girl said, “When I say a secret to Yasmine, she tells it to everybody. She promises not to say it, and then she tells it.”

Another boy said, “The person I have a problem with is Marouane. When I say to him a secret, he tells me he will say it to everyone. Sometimes we tell him a secret, and he doesn’t way to say to us his secrets. He always says to us, ‘I don’t have a secret.’ He keeps saying to us that he will tell us his secrets if we say ours. And then he will never say his secrets.”

Another girl said, “My other big problem was about when I tell my friends my secrets, and they tell me, ‘If you don’t do what we want, we will say your secret to everyone, and to the people you are talking about.’ So I have to do what they tell me to do. “ (blackmail)

I think third-graders all over the world are having these problems with secrets.

Comments?

This cafe has just opened, but new items will be added to the “menu” on a regular basis. Enjoy!

I’m in Beijing for the weekend for a professional development workshop. Although I’m not a counsellor of any sort, I’ve learned a lot about how to counsel students in a specific, solution-as opposed to a problem-based way. Counselling is fascinating: establishing trust with students (the “clients”) and guiding them towards finding answers for themselves is enormous.

As I’m writing this, I just overheard a snippet of a conversation between the counsellor in front of me. The snippet was, “That’s what she said!”

Hahahahha! I mean, I by no means endorse jokes or funny, well-timed interjections of that phrase, but that was high-larious!

Aaaanyway.

The workshop has been really interesting, is all I’m trying to say. I’m just surprised by the observation that so many teachers in international schools around Asia move around so much. Sure, there are people who stay in the same school for years and years, but they are more of an exception rather than the rule. How I envy the freedom of moving around like that. I wonder whether I would ever be at that place myself. Maybe in the future.

But the question is, do I want to continue in the field I’ve chosen?

We’re driving through the suburbs now. The houses are incredible – it’s like this is not China at all. Although it’s hardly surprising.

Later:
The workshop was good all around and I learned a lot about focusing on the solution rather than the problem. On the one hand it makes complete sense, but on the other, it’s hard to establish that mentality as so much of it is ultimately relational when it’s a student and teacher talking.

I was able to get it ino practice a little last week though, and will be sharing about this with the other teachers during a faculty meeting at some point. Ahh, it could be so good to have all teachers equipped with skills for counselling.

This two-minute video  shows how to multiply 21 x 13, and  123 x 321, with an easy line-drawing and angle-counting method.  No times tables needed!

Here is another very clear example showing 432 x 312, done with the same method.  However it shows a way to “carry” digits.

Seeing these videos makes me wonder anew whether math is really about “shapes,” and about describing all the “shapes” in the universe.

If there is anyone from China reading this blog, I’d really appreciate knowing how extensively this method is actually used in schools.

–Eileen

It’s that time of the year in Gurgaon, when parents seeking nursery school admissions for their children steel themselves for the ordeal ahead. Apart from the enormous capitation fee, the hapless parents face written tests,  interviews and group discussions before the child can approach the school gates. The child is also interviewed sometimes, and parents pray to every god that the innocent babble of the child does not spoil his/ her chances of admission.

Many of my colleagues have taken leave from office this week to attend this charade. The interview questions require parents to be experts in subjects ranging from child psychology to world economy. Parents who have not developed high aspirations for the child or framed their expectations of the school in definite terms stand little chance of winning the coveted admission.

Check out some of these questions before you even think of admissions.

a) What do you want your child to become?

b) Explain the role of ‘Books’ in a child’s life?

c) How will you develop the qualities of sharing and caring in the child?

d) Freedom = Responsibility. Comment?

e) How do you enhance the motor skills of your child?

f) Can we provide some kind of justification on forcing our wishes onto the child?

g) What has been your child’s personal milestone till today in your opinion?

h) What are your views with respect to the joint family versus nuclear family while focusing on the child’s overall development?

Now these are only a tiny sample of the volley of questions awaiting the parent. It is no wonder why many parents are paralyzed with fear when it comes to school admissions. During our coffee table discussions there was unanimous agreement that this system of interviews benefits only the schools by helping them to winnow out children likely to underperform for any reason. In the light of the huge demand for schooling, education has become a zero sum game benefitting only the schools. Schools also demand to know whether the parents are financially capable enough to afford the overhwelming educational expenses. It often happens that both parents have to work to support the houshold. However, schools want to ensure that one of the parents, highly qualified he or she may be, stays at home to spend “quality” time with the child. So we have the classic catch-22 situation, one has to work to provide the child “quality” education and care the school purportedly offers, but at the same time, one needs to stay at home so as to spend quality time with the child.

 We have reached an age where education has become big business. It no longer contributes to nation building. The multitude of international schools which have cropped up all over NCR exploits the vulnerability of parents to the hilt. No one in Gurgaon in their right mind would dare to send their child to a government school. There are no teachers and no infrastructure.

Despite the exalted ideals expounded by schools during admissions, the children have to take extra tuitions to achieve good results. Parents too have to burn midnight oil to work through the gargantuan homeworks and assignments given to the children.

Considering the difficulty of school admissions, I often wonder if it is worthwhile to have a child. I’m not exaggerating. Perhaps, the pleasures of bringing up a child out weighs the pains. But some of these pains are avoidable. Psyching out the child and putting enormous pressure on parenthood takes the joy out of it.

A school is a sacred institution. But today its ideological foundations have eroded under economic pressure. The school is now a business centre and children and parents are the raw materials to be manipulated to further profits.

In my opinion, the goverment needs to act, on one hand to improve the infrastructure and incentives provided to goverment schools and on the other hand by bringing legislation to arrest the day light robbery practised by wayward schools motivated solely by business interests.

There are two interesting facts which are not often noticed, but should be shared with students to get them interested in this subject.

First, the equinox( falling this year on September 22, 2009) means that the length of the day is exactly the same all over the earth:  from the North Pole to the South Pole, and from both Temperate Zones, to the Tropics, to the Equator.

Second, which I’ve noticed over many years of watching the world weather, is that TEMPERATURES equal distances north and south of the equator (in similar continental zones, of course), are roughly the SAME at this time of year.

For example, I live in  North Africa.  Having travelled many years ago to Cape Town, South Africa, I’ve continued to watch the temperatures there, comparing them with the North African temperatures.

Around the time of either the March or September equinoxes, the temperatures in both North Africa and South Africa are roughly the same!

I enjoy noticing this every year, and I feel a lot of students worldwide would enjoy it if their teachers pointed it out.

–Eileen

Readers, one of the biggest problems facing teachers living overseas is that we have NO learning disability specialists, not in our school, not in our country.  I have searched websites for years, but every article I find, instead of giving helpful tips on WHAT EXACTLY to DO with children who display different disabilities, winds up by saying,  “Make sure to have your child tested by a specialist,” or “Get your child to a specialist to be helped.”

This is COMPLETELY USELESS advice for overseas teachers (and parents), who have NO such resources, in our schools, or in the society at large!  Most parents are not able to go back to their home country to have their child tested, and even if they are, they need someone IN THE COUNTRY WHERE THEY ARE CURRENTLY LIVING to help their child!

I need help with finding some SPECIFIC STRATEGIES to use with two problems I am facing right now (in reading and math), with a little boy I am currently tutoring who is about eight years old.  This little boy is of normal intelligence, and speaks English very well, but is having trouble both with elementary math and with learning to read.

In Math, this boy is having a lot of problems conceptually understanding addition and subtraction. At school, he is being given a mixed page of addition and subtraction problems to do in class, such as:

3 + 5 = ?;  9 + 8 = ?;  7 – 5 ?;  and 12 – 8 = ?

I recently began working with this boy.  He was having a lot of trouble, so I asked him what 1 + 1 was.  He screwed up his face and was trying so hard to “remember” the answer, finally telling me it was 3.  Asking him a couple other simple problems, I found he was trying to use the stategy of “memorizing” answers (without understanding how to get the answers), and HOPING to be able to recall those memorized answers. I also discovered he does not know how to count on his fingers.  I asked him if he had ever used “counters” in either Kindergarten or Grade 1.  He says he has used those in the past, but didn’t really “understand” them.  I pointed out that fingers are like counters, but just attached to your hand.

This boy is having a lot of trouble learning to use fingers to calculate sums such as 2 + 3.  He can follow and understand fine when we both use our fingers together.  But just five seconds later, when I ask him to do it again by himself, he can no longer do it because I think he’s not really paying attention to the “method.”

Furthermore, when he uses his fingers to count, he but doesn’t start counting aloud on the correct number, and thus ends up with the wrong answer; or else he starts by using the fingers in the middle of his hand, and not the ones on either end, and thus mixes himself up about how many fingers he has counted.  If the problem says +3, he can tell me before counting that he needs to add three fingers, but when we actually go to count them, he goes right past three and keeps right on going, forgetting to stop after three fingers, and doesn’t recognize when he’s come to the answer!

In Reading, I found the little boy DOES understand the correct sounds for each letter, and IS capable of sounding out simple words.  However, he doesn’t choose to USE what he knows.  Instead, he looks at the first letter of each word, and JUMPS to saying another word he knows which begins with the same letter.  For example, instead of sounding out the name Nat which appeared in the reading, he kept saying Ned, even after we stopped and corrected it about fifteen times (because Ned is a name he knows).

I’m finding that in both math and reading, the little boy is about two years below grade level.  I’m working with him an hour each day (five days a week).  The strategies I’m using are to break each task in to the smallest, simplest units possible, and practicing those skills individually until they are mastered, and then putting them back together.  The little boy performs the task well together, then sometimes on his own, and when asked to repeat the same task only a few seconds after successfully doing it, can no longer do it.  It seems to be a case of his wanting to rely on the old way, of just “memorizing” the math problem answer, or word, rather than taking the time to sound out a word, or employ a new strategy such as counting up the answer to an addition problem.

Can anyone reading here help me with better suggestions of what to DO, what new strategies to try?

–Eileen

Lucy Mellors and Liz Perelstein published

“Searching for Schools in a New Country: Meeting Children’s Special Needs”

in MOBILITY Magazine, September 2009.

Family concerns remain the most overwhelming reason for assignment refusal or failure, and this challenge is heightened when addressing a child with special needs. A well thought-out process and high standards can be the difference between success and disaster when moving special-needs children. Lucy and Liz outline 13 comprehensive steps, as well as an explanation of how to accomplish each step. The process includes:

• Start with the child, not the school;
• Conduct an in-depth analysis of the values of the family;
• And be aware of the curriculum differences relevant to the move.

This article is the perfect guide for any parent facing the challenges of an assignment of repatriation.

The entire article can be found here.

Home Office for Two

I spent a lot of time during August reorganizing my home office.

I cleaned out and rearranged my office, making space for both my daughter (close computer) and myself (far computer).  Our family had all started spending far too much time in different rooms invoved in doing different activities.  This home office for two provides for some family togetherness, in a fun and comfortable way.

Not seen, I have a file cabinet in the back corner under the plant, and another file drawer under the desk.  I have an ottoman (soft leather footstool) under the desk, as well as a basket with various bags I use for different places I go, or different types of appointments.  Shelves have been installed in a closet to the right, as well as a bookcase on the right conveniently keeps materials for different students  I’m tutoring from home.

I recently bought two new very compfortable red velour office chairs, and the pink towels are on top of them to keep them clean (we also have two cats, one of whom likes to claw them if they are uncovered).

I placed the telephone and a notepad for messages between us, and a printer going to both computers will soon be installed on the small table under the painting.

One key thing with this office is that I use it for writing, tutoring, creative projects, and business.  I do NOT use it for bill-paying, or filing away paid bills.  All that goes in a separate room, where I have another desk, and other cupboards, and file cabinets.  That way everything doesn’t get mixed together.

My Desk (with cat sleeping behind the books)

One of my cats was always sleeping on the desk, all over my books and papers, so I cut two cat “blankets” out of an old sheet (one to be washed while the other is being used), and have now gotten the cat to understand he needs to lie on the blanket, and not on my books and papers.

On the wall to the left,  facing my desk, but unseen in the photo, I will be installing a white board.  This way when I tutor students, two can sit in two chairs at my desk, facing the white board.  Alternatively, a single student can sit next to me at the same desk (it’s two meters long), or sit in one of the red chairs, if we are reading aloud from two copies of the same book.

–Eileen

Summary: Most families moving abroad find choosing the right school a major factor in the relocation’s success. Yet few know how to begin to approach the school search.

Moving Overseas – Choosing an International School

Most families moving abroad find choosing the right school a major factor in the relocation’s success. Yet few know how to begin to approach the school search. Increasingly a child’s first school has been the culmination of considerable effort, with young parents determined to place their children on a path to success by enrolling them in an Ivy-prep program starting in nursery school.

Whether parents have chosen their children’s school by default or spent years strategizing about “getting in,” they often feel that the rug is pulled out from under them when all prior effort is wasted, and they need to learn the rules governing education and school admissions in a new country.

via Expat Exchange – Choosing the Right School Abroad – international school, expat education, expat schools.

Summary: New survey examines UK admissions officers views of the post-16 qualifications on offer in the United Kingdom and highlights university application concerns

New survey examines UK admissions officers views of the post-16 qualifications on offer in the United Kingdom and highlights university application concerns.

• Pressure on pupils and teachers is forcing out independent thinking and creativity, the qualities most prized by universities.
• International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma is the most highly valued post-16 qualification and should be available in more state schools.
• IB scoring system is not fully understood by some universities and unfair demands may be made on IB students as a consequence.
• Quality of most careers advice for sixth formers is ‘indifferent’.

From http://www.expatexchange.com/lib.cfm?networkID=159&articleID=3421&clk=ok

My readers have indicated they enjoy my posts on Middle Eastern culture.

Today a well-connected Egyptian man who is a woman’s rights activist and friend of mine, sent me this short, shocking15-minute video.  Part of this video also interviews Egyptian author Nonie Darwish about her new best-selling book on Sharia Law, Cruel and Usual Punishment. Darwish was born an Egyptian Muslim, and some years ago both converted to Christianity and became an American citizen.

Nonie Darwish

I don’t want my readers to make the mistake of thinking that every Muslim country is as depicted in this video, or that even the majority of Muslims around the world want Sharia Law imposed.  But just as Chritianity has seen a resurgence in fundamentalist sects in some places, the same has happened with Islam.  What is depicted here is NOT mainstream Islam, it is the equivalent of fundamentalist Islam.

Furthermore, some of the comments of this author during the interview are not applicable to great swaths of the Muslim world.  For example, this idea of  ”temporary marriage” exists only in some parts of the Muslim world (mostly around the Persian Gulf region, from what I hear) and is vehemently denounced in my part of the Middle East. This idea doesn’t even exist in my country.

Any man who beat his wife would be thought of as violent and derranged in my part of the Middle East.  (Nevertheless, it takes being beat three times, each time with a medical certificate, to be able to go before the judge and ask for a divorce in my country.)

In my country, girls now cannot marry until 18; there are no young girls getting married.

Most of the cultural values talked about here by Darwish are not actually coming from Islam, but from the cultures themselves, where Islam and/or Sharia Law is used as an EXCUSE to enforce the cultural values.  For example, Darwish states that the dowry given to the woman is for the man to purchase the woman as a sex toy.  While some men in some countries may view it that way, that is not what Islam says.  The woman’s dowry is actually her future settlement in case of divorce, merely negotiated in advance of the marriage ( instead of at the time of divorce).  Furthermore, only an extremist (Taliban-type) Islamic scholar would claim that marriage for a woman should be “slavery!”

I just want readers to be aware that Darwish makes some good points, but also makes a number of statements that are sweeping generalizations, and just NOT correct for vast areas.  That being said, I do agree with her that no doubt the extremists would like to impose Sharia Law on Muslims throughout the world, and have it be applicable to Muslims even in Western countries (as they are trying to do at the moment in England and France).

I think what differentiates moderates from extremists in ANY religion (Christianity, Islam, Hinduism, ANY religion…) is that moderates believe in aspiring to and practicing certain values THEMSELVES, whereas fundamentalists believe in IMPOSING their own values on OTHERS.

I live in a moderate Islamic country and have never heard anyone voice a wish for Sharia law here, even though there could be a few people who privately would support it.  Interestingly, countries without dictators or kings generally have more difficulties with extremist factions of Islamic groups tying to become dominant over the others.  Those with either kings or dictators generally manage to keep a lid on this problem.

So, paradoxically, the coming of democratic movements to the Middle East has also aided the rise of extremism, in my view.

–Eileen

You gotta love this town. On the way home this evening I stopped off at a local haunt when I saw a good friend having a quiet beer there. We chatted for awhile then ordered some of the great food this very local place serves.  We’re there for awhile when a guy next too us strikes up a conversation. Now this is not the first time this has happened and, on previous occasions we have found ourselves drinking dubious alcohol or engaged in simplistic conversation and mime but, on this occasion our conversationalist proved to be from the United States.

He introduces himself as being from San Francisco but, for all intents and purposes, appears to be Vietnamese. Both my friend and I are well travelled and neither of us are particularly insensitive so it takes us awhile to ascertain that he is indeed American (which neither of us doubted) but was born in Saigon and is one of those people who escaped from the south in 1975. I say escaped because those are his words and because for him it was, no doubt, an escape. Now this is what I love about this town. I was planning on a quiet night but instead I end up having an experience. Our friend turns out to have been an air traffic controller (hence the photo above) who left the country in 1975 just as South Vietnam was about to fall.  He tells us about making a new life in San Francisco, the pre-1975 days and how English and French were widely spoken in the streets of Saigon and how he made it out. We learn about his restaurant business, how he didn’t return to Vietnam until 2005, after Clinton had normalised US/Vietnam relations and how the city had changed so much since he left. We don’t talk politics because that is still a no-no in Vietnam but we do skirt around the edges. We’re fascinated by our newly found friend because he connects us to a Vietnam that we only know of through documentaries. We buy each other drinks, although I think he buys us more drinks than we buy him, share phone numbers and agree to meet up one night in Cholon, the Chinese district which he knows well, at some stage in the future. I love this town. I was just driving home and going to have a quiet night. Instead I lived a little history, not for the first time and, no doubt, not for the last.

මේ දවස්වල මෙහි Taboo Subjects කියන්නට යහමට දෙයක් නොලියැවෙන බවට කමෙන්ටයක් එක්කළ පාඨකයකු චෝදනා කොට තිබුනේය. බොහෝ කාලයක් තිස්සේ ලියනවාද නොලියනවාද දෙගිඩියාවෙන් සිටි මාතෘකාවක් ගැන ලියන්නට සිත්වූයේ ඊට ප්‍රතිචාරයක් වශයෙනි.

මින් පෙර මේ මැය සාකච්ඡාවට ගන්නට ලේඛකයා මඳක් පස්ස ගැසුවේ සාමාන්‍යයෙන් මෙවැනි දේවල් ගැන ලියා රට අවුළවන්නේ කුහක සුචරිතවාදීන් වන නිසාය. ඔවුන්ට මෙන් නොව ලේඛකයාට මේවා සිදුවීම ගැන අරුමයක් නැත. සුළඟ හමන අත ඔහු දනී. නතර කළ හැකි දේද, නොකළ හැකි දේද ඇති බවත් ඔහු දනී. එනිසා මේ නිරීක්ෂණයක් විතරය. ඒ නිරීක්ෂණය ගැන විනිශ්චයක් දෙන්නට ලේඛකයා අදහස් නොකරයි. එසේම මෙහි මූලාශ්‍රද පැහැදිළි හේතූන් මත ඔහු අවශ්‍යයෙන්ම සඟවයි. (අන් කිසිදු මාධ්‍යකරුවකු නොදන්නා තොරතුරු ලේඛකයා අතට පත්වන්නේ කෙසේද කියා යමකු ප්‍රශ්න කරන්නේ නම් කීමට ඇත්තේ අනෙක් මාධ්‍යකරුවන් දේශපාලකයන්, පාතාලය හා සම්බන්ධතා ගොඩනඟා ගන්න විට ඔහු ඒ දෙපිරිස අමතක කර සමාජය සමඟ විවෘත හා අවංක සම්බන්ධතා ගොඩ නඟාගෙන ඇති බවය. එය මුහුණට-මුහුණ සේම මුහුණු පොත තුළින්ද කළ හැකිය.)

සීගිරි අප්සරාවන්ගේ පිබිදුණු රන තිසරුන් තාර ගා සඟවනු නොබැරි තරමේ වික්ටෝරියානු මානසිකත්වයෙන් මැඬී ඉන්නා කුල්තුර ඇමති මහින්ද යාපා අබේවර්ධන නම් චමින්දයා ක්ලාන්ත වී වැටෙන්නට තරම් සාන්ද්‍රතාවයක් ඇති මේ මාතෘකාව ‘යුනිෆෝම් සාද’ (uniform parties) ය. වෙනදා මෙන්ම මේ කතා කරන්නේද ලංකාවේ සිද්ධ වන දේවල් ගැනය. මේවා සිදුවන්නේ ඒරොප්පේ විතරය කියන්නන්ට අනුකම්පා කිරීම පමණකි කළ හැක්කේ.

සමහර සමානකම් තිබුණද ලංකාවේ ‘යුනිෆෝම් සාද’ ලෙස හඳුන්වන්නේ සාමාන්‍ය අර්ථයට වඩා වෙනස් අර්ථයකිනි. වෙනත් උචිත නාමයකින් හඳුන්වන්නට බැරි නැතත්, මේ නම පහසුව හා ආරක්ෂාව මත ප්‍රචලිත වූවා විය හැකිය.

මෙවන් සාද වල ප්‍රධාන ලක්ෂණ කිහිපයක් වේ. (සමහර විට මේවා එකක් දෙකක් වරින් වර වෙනස් විය හැක.)

1. ඒවා සාමාන්‍යයෙන් පැවැත්වෙන්නේ උපන්දිනයක් වැනි විශේෂ අවස්ථාවක් නිසා නොවේ.
2. පැවැත්වෙන්නේද කුඩා කණ්ඩායම් අතර රහසිගත ස්ථානයකදීය.
3. සහභාගිවන්නේ නවයොවුනන්ය. (teens) ඔවුන් සමහරක් දෙමාපියන්ගෙන් අවසර ගනු ඇත්තේ සාමාන්‍ය සාදයකට සහභාගිවන බවට බොරුවක් කියමින් විය හැකිය.
4. සාදයේ ප්‍රධාන හෝ එක් මූලික අරමුණක් වන්නේ සහභාගිවන්නන්ට ලිංගික තෘප්තියක් ලබා ගැනීමය. (එහෙත් මේවාට සහභාගි වන සියළුම දෙනා අනිවාර්යයෙන්ම ලිංගික ක්‍රියාවන්හි නිරත වේ යැයි මින් අදහස් නොවේ. ඒ මට්ටමට යන්නේ සුළු පිරිසක් විය හැකිය.)
5. (ලේඛකයා දන්නා තරමින්) මේවා තවමත් පැවැත්වෙන්නේ කොළඹ හා තදාසන්න ප්‍රදේශ වලය. මහනුවර හෝ අන් ස්ථානයක ඒවා පැවැත්වෙන්නේද නැත්ද යන්න ඔහු නොදනී. අඩුතරමින් අසා නැත.

වැදගත්ම කාරණය – මේවා එනම ලද්දේ කෙසේද යන්න පැහැදීම – ඒවාට සහභාගිවිය හැක්කේ ජාත්‍යන්තර පාසල් වල (international schools)ඉගෙනුම ලබන මානව මානවිකාවන්ට පමණය. මෙය ඔප්පු කිරීම සඳහා තම පාසලේ නිල ඇඳුමින් (uniform) සැරසී පැමිණීම අනිවාර්ය වේ. පාසලේ විෂයාතිරේක ක්‍රියාකාරකම් වලින් පසුව කෙළින්ම සාදයට පැමිණිය හැකි පරිදි ඒවා ආරම්භවන කාලය ගළපනු ලබයි.

සංගීතය, මත්පැන් යනාදිය හැම සාදයකටම සේම යුනිෆෝම් සාද වලටත් පොදුය. එහෙයින් සාමාන්‍ය සාද වලින් මේවා වෙනස් වන ලක්ෂණ ගැන කතා කිරීම ප්‍රමාණවත් වෙතැයි සිතමි.

1.සහභාගිත්වය: සාදයේ ස්වරූපයම මේවා කිට්ටු මිතුරු මිතුරියන් පිරිසකට සීමා කරන්නට බලකෙරේ. නමුත් මේ කණ්ඩායමට හැමදාම දැක පුරුදු වී සිටින මුහුණු වලට අමතරව අළුත් මුහුණු අවශ්‍යය. සහභාගිත්වය පාලනය වන්නේ මේ අවශ්‍යතා දෙකම ඉටුවන ලෙසය. අළුත් මුහුණු කොයිතරම් ආකර්ෂණීය වුවද අමුත්තකුට අමුත්තියකට ඒවා එකවරම විවෘත නැත. සහභාගි විය හැක්කේ කණ්ඩායමේ කෙනකුගේ ආරාධනයෙනි.

2. රහසිගතභාවය: මේ සාද පැවැත්වෙන ස්ථානය අවසාන මොහොත දක්වා හෙළි නොකෙරේ. බොහෝ විට එය සාමාජිකයකුගේ නිවෙසකි. සමහරවිට එතරම් නොවිසල්, වැඩි බිස්නස් එකක් නැති හෝටලයකි. සහභාගිත්වය තහවුරු කළ යුතු වන්නේ අඥාත ඊ-මේල් ලිපිනයකටය. සංවිධායකයෝ අඥාතයෝය.

3. සාද ඇඳුම (dress code): මෙය සාදය අනුව වෙනස් වේ. සමහරවිට එය කැෂුවල් විය හැකි වුවද, පසුව ඇතිවන ක්‍රියාවලියකට පෙරහුරුවක් වශයෙන් සමහරවිට පූර්ණ වස්ත්‍රය හා පූර්ණ නිර්වස්ත්‍රය අතර දෝලනය විය හැකිය. මෙය තීමය (theme) මතද රඳා පවතී. උදාහරණයක් හැටියට යුනිෆෝම් සාද සඳහා නිතර භාවිතා වන එක් තීමයක් වන්නේ උපර්-නිරුවතය. (topless) මෙහිදී ගැහැණු පිරිමි භේදයක් නැතිව සාදයට සහභාගි විය යුතු වන්නේ උඩුකය නිරුවතිනි. සාමාන්‍යයෙන් මේ සම්මතය මින් එපිට මට්ටමකට නොයන්නේ යම් පිරිසක් ඉන් අපහසුවට පත්විය හැකි නිසාය. එනිසා අවශ්‍ය නම් කෙනෙකුට ඉන් එපිටට යන්නට ඉඩ තබා අනිවාර්ය ඇඳුමට සීමා වැටේ. (සමරිසි සාදවලදී මීට වඩා එපිටට යන අත්හදා බැලීම් සිදුවේ. මෑතකදී කොළඹට තදාසන්න ප්‍රදේශයක පැවැත්විනැයි ලේඛකයා ඇසූ එක් සමරිසි යුනිෆෝම් සාදයක සම්මත ඇඳුම වූයේ මේස්, සපත්තු හා රතු ටයි පටියකි.)

4. ආලෝකය: යුනිෆෝම් සාදයක් හැම විටම පැවැත්වෙන්නේ අඩ අඳුරෙහි හෝ අඳුරෙහිය. මේ සහභාගිවන්නට තම කටයුතු සඳහා වැඩි නිදහසක් ලබා දීම පිණිසය.

5. ඡායාරූප ගත කිරීම: යුනිෆෝම් සාදයක් ඡායාරූප ගත කිරීම හෝ වීඩියෝ කිරීම සපුරා තහනම්ය.

6. කූට ප්‍රාප්තිය (climax): අඩ නිරුවත හැරුණු විට යුනිෆෝම් සාදයක මුල් අවදිය සාමාන්‍ය සාදයකට වෙනස් වන්නේ යන්තමිනි. සමාජගතවීම (socialising), මත්පැන් පානය යනාදිය සාමාන්‍ය ලෙස සිදුවේ. මත්ද්‍රව්‍ය භාවිතයද වෙනවා විය හැකිය. වෙනස ඇරඹෙන්නේ සාදය අවසාන වීමට ආසන්නයේ යම් පිරිසක්, මධු විතෙන්ද, සමහර විට මත් ද්‍රව්‍යයෙන්ද සප්පායම් වීමෙන් අනතුරුව, තම තෝරාගත් සහකරුවන් සහකාරියන් සමඟ ලිංගික ඇසුරට යොමු වීමෙනි. ගෙයක නම් සාදය බොහෝවිට යටි මහලේ පැවැත්වෙන විට උඩු මහල වෙන් වන්නේ මේ කාරිය සඳහාය. මේවා එකිනෙකාගේ පූර්ණ කැමැත්ත මත සිදුවන දේය. එනිසා ඒවා විරුද්ධ ලිංගික සේම සමලිංගික හෝ ද්විලිංගිකද (bisexual), යුගල සේම කණ්ඩායම් ලෙසද ඇතිවිය හැකිය. එහෙත් පැහැදිළි ලෙස වැඩිහරියක් ඇති වන්නේ යුගල විරුද්ධ ලිංගික සම්බන්ධතාය. බොහෝවිට ඒවා දොර අගුළු දැමූ නිදන කාමර, ස්නානාගාර (bath rooms) තුළ සිදුවන අතර ‘පොදු ජන පහන් සංවේගය’ උදෙසා තරප්පු පෙළ වැනි විවෘත ස්ථාන වලද සිදුනොවන්නේම නොවේ. (කලින් කී පරිදි හැම දෙනකුම යුනිෆෝම් සාද වලදී ලිංගික ක්‍රියාවන්හි යෙදෙන්නේ යැයි අදහස් නොවේ. ඊට සහභාගිවන්නන්ගේ අරමුණු විවිධය.)

මාක්ස්වාදියකුට හෝ ජාතික චින්තකයකුට දැන් ‘විජාතික ධනපති පංතියට ඕවා සාමාන්‍ය දේවල්’ කිව හැකිය. එහෙත් මේ සාද වලට රිංගන්නෝ ‘ජාත්‍යන්තර’ විද්‍යාලයන්හි සිසු සිසුවියෝම නොවෙති. තම මිතුරකුගේ නිල ඇඳුමක් ණයට ගන්නා ඕනෑම ‘ජාතික පාසල්’ සිසුවකුට සිසුවියකට වුව මේ සාද විවෘතය. අවශ්‍ය හොඳින් ඉංගිරිසි කතා කිරීමේ හැකියාවත් (කඩුව ෆෝම් වීමත්) ඇත්තක් මෙන් බොරු කීමට ඇති හැකියාවත් පමණය.

කලින් කී ලෙස මේ හුදෙක් නිරීක්ෂණයක් පමණි. ලේඛකයා සිනාවට පත්කරන එකම කාරණාව යුනිෆෝම් සාද ගැන අසාවත් නැති මහින්ද යාපා අබේවර්ධනලා ‘වැඩිහිටියන්ට පමණයි’ සිනමාපට තහනම් කිරීමට වලි කෑමය. එතනින් එහාට යම් විනිශ්චයක් නොදී ඔහු නතර වේ. ඒ මේ අසම්පූර්ණ සටහන සම්පූර්ණ කිරීමට ඔබට අවකාශ තබමිනි.

Being at Seisen or St. Mary’s International Schools, one could easily ignore the orange hair and piercings that many of the Japanese students have and imagine that it is 50 years ago. Seisen, started in 1949, is run by the Handmaids of the Sacred Heart of Jesus, a group of nuns who believe in strict guidelines and girls only education. St. Mary’s on the other hand is run by the Brothers of Christian Instruction, who similarly desire boys-only education and tradition. Many look at these two schools as similar, and in fact they are, even organizing events and mixers between the groups of students. Uniforms and conforming are important pillars, though between name recognition and the extensive alumni network in Tokyo, students often feel that they are adding to a legacy.

Perhaps most surprisingly, St. Mary’s (and to a lesser extent Seisen) do not focus on language fluency as well as some other schools. Many seniors are left looking for private SAT classes outside of school and students tend to do much better on mathematics, than literature or writing based tasks. In fact, many graduates even have trouble speaking in grammatically correct sentences. The biggest negative that we’ve heard about both Seisen and St. Mary’s is the cliquish nature; socially, both schools seem to have issues with cliques and bullying. While many might feel squeamish at a such a thought, keep in mind that any social hardship your child encounters is a long-standing tradition.

Seisen International School
Address: 12-15 Yoga 1-chome, Setagaya-ku, Tokyo 158-0097
www.seisen.com

St. Mary’s International School
1-6-19 Seta
Setagaya-ku, Tokyo
www.smis.ac.jp

Author:
Liz Perelstein – School Choice International

As businesses expand more and more into developing markets, companies are often facing new challenges in finding appropriate schools for the children of their international assignees.  In some locations, schools haven’t caught up with demand for international education; in others, there simply might not be any international schooling options at all.  Now more than ever, local schools are an option, but you need to be well-prepared for such an approach to work.

Schooling is a Top Priority
Assignees often state that having access to good quality schools for their children is the most important factor in deciding to accept an assignment.  Parents are more uneasy than ever about relocating with children when international schools are not available.  By gaining some understanding of the local educational system and curriculum differences in countries where you send employees, you will be in a better position to create policies that provide children with access to reasonable education.

Consider these facts:
Some local schools in India consider handwriting so important that teachers may not consider content if handwriting falls short of expectations.

1. A study by the University of New Hampshire indicates in many European countries, parental involvement is not permitted.
2. So-called “International Schools” may not be truly international.  Instead, they may be targeted towards local children to help them acquire language and other skills to promote attendance at US universities and/or may exist for children whose parents do not want them to attend local schools.
3. In some countries, schools “stream” students into tracks as early as 12 years old, and this could affect the ability to gain admission to universities in other countries.  Admissions decisions based on an “entry examination” or prerequisites make this a clear challenge for those who do not have the language or curriculum background.
4. Religious education is a fundamental part of national curriculum in many countries, such as Ireland.  This may meet an unenthusiastic response from families not accustomed to such arrangements, or those that practice a different religion.  And, even if considered acceptable, students may not have the religious background to fit in.
5. Special education is handled in varied ways throughout the world, from mainstream educational options in the United States, to China, where few schools have an open-minded approach, and few teachers are taught to teach children with learning or other disabilities.

Language is the main obstacle that many companies are aware of when evaluating local school choices, but integrating families into a local educational system where goals, philosophies and methods are so dissimilar requires a different type of preparation on the part of the family, and a more flexible policy on the part of the company.

Tips for Success:
Here is a short checklist which is useful to help companies and assignees examine educational options for any overseas assignment, as well as for their eventual return home:

• Before moving a family, allow them time and means to review curriculum of the school in the host country, and discuss it with teachers back home.  Evaluating where a child may be ahead or behind enables parents and schools to develop programs that assist in entry as well as re-entry.
• Recommend that families bring along books, course outlines and any other aids to maintaining academic skills required at home so that kids can keep abreast of knowledge required for repatriation.
• Find out the exit requirements for schools in the home country before leaving.  These, in particular, will determine curriculum to continue studying while abroad.   Can these be satisfied on assignment, and if so, what kind of policy do you need to support these additional costs?
• Decide what kinds of supplemental or alternative education your company will allow to reduce hardship for children whose families are sent on assignment, particularly at key grade levels.  These may include tutoring, on-line courses, summer school, home schooling or boarding schools.
• If schooling is totally incompatible, is it possible for the employee or the family to repatriate either a year earlier or later, as appropriate to facilitate the transition?
• Provide opportunity for students to become proficient in reading and writing as well as speaking of the new language well before the move; in fact, as soon as the move is announced is best.
• Engage a professional who understands discrepancies in curriculum as well as culture to recommend individualized support so that students can be prepared before returning home.
• Repatriation is always difficult for children, since even international schools teach different curriculum, have different course sequences, and offer different languages and promote different viewpoints when teaching history.   Children who have attended local schools in remote areas may be more significantly unprepared to attend school back home or enroll in university in their home country.  Be sure to pay careful attention to home country requirements before assignments begin.

Conclusion:
School choices for expatriate children are always challenging, and even more so in locations where the traditional choices are limited or non-existent.  Families who have overcome these obstacles and successfully educated their children in local schools find the rewards to be significant.  Children truly learn new languages, cultures and curricular subjects and enjoy an unprecedented window into the customs of a different country.  As schools are a microcosm of the cultures they inhabit, children raised in local schools abroad can be our true ambassadors in the global world of the next generation.

Providing support in the form of tutoring, on-line learning and language instruction is a key consideration companies should consider when developing policies to support your employees in remote locations.  Inviting parents to reframe their definition of education as learning rather than schooling is the key to promoting the right attitude for a successful assignment.

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