Sharing Good Practice
Understanding
the Emirati Student
By Rahima Jabeen
C
hildren all around the world
are the same. They have the
innocence of a flower in bloom
and the love to learn and grow
which we adults often lose sight of.
Students’ behaviour can sometimes
crowd our judgments and cause us to
think differently.
Culture,
family,
religion
and
environment heavily contribute to the
upbringing and nurturing of any child.
Contrary to popular sentiments, I have
found Emirati children to be proficient
in their native Arabic language.
They have a deep sense of pride in
their heritage. They are friendly and
generally full of life and vigour.
However, since most local families
have strong financial means, they
hire nannies and maids to look after
young children. They provide them
with the latest toys, gadgets and
accessories. At times, these children
display a more stubborn demeanor
and a slightly more hyperactive streak.
This is not to say that it is necessarily
the way it has to be. These children
are intelligent. They are proud of their
heritage, which they in some cases
have sound understanding of. I have
had the pleasure of teaching these
children and here is what I learned, the
challenges faced and the rewards:
Language Barrier
Younger children had some trouble
understanding subjects that
were not in Arabic. Whereas
some
languages
can
imbibe words from
English and use them in a sentence,
Arabic is more traditionally rich and
strictly spoken amongst the tight knit
family circle. As a result, they could
not interact in class like other children
could and lagged behind somewhat.
Persistence is key here. As with any
other child, motivation and creative
strategies helped them to eventually
catch on in areas of reading and
writing. Math usually did not pose
such an issue as many generally excel
in it.
Lack of Parental Involvement
As mentioned above, many families
employ nannies to attend to their
children. Added to this, many fathers
do not involve themselves so deeply
in some of the daily rituals of their
children. This has inadvertently led to
some local kids lagging behind in their
studies. Their homework was often
not completed correctly, or absent
altogether. Learning and reading at
home was lacking and sometimes
books ended up missing. Talking to
parents to become more active and
involved with the children’s education,
in my experience was met positively.
It helps to make parents aware of how
their children are performing on a
regular basis.
Excessive Paraphernalia