JEDDAH, 26 May 2005 — Demands that women be allowed to teach boys in elementary school are growing. They are coming from parents as well as those involved in the education system. Many feel that in a society where women are carers and that the involvement of fathers in young children’s upbringing is noticeable by its absence, it makes sense for women to teach boys in their first stages in elementary school. It would certainly allow for an easier transition from pre-school education where women are the principal teachers, both of boys and girls.
“Most Saudi children are taken care of by women, be it mothers, female relatives or nannies,” says Nouf Abdul Aziz, the mother of four, who supports the change. “In pre-school, the teachers are female. The entire pre-school environment is all-female. Then suddenly the little boy starts first grade in an alien, all-male environment. It’s not like men are trained to deal with little boys. I bet most of them don’t even deal with their own sons at home, let alone have to deal at work with the sons of others!”
The attitude of men to six- and seven-year-olds is another reason behind demands for change. “Most Saudi men are only involved in the disciplinary part of bringing up a child,” said Faiza Nawaf, an MA researcher in children’s educational psychology.
Some pre-school teachers suggest that there ought to be a transitional phase for small boys, or that male teachers receive specific training before handling first, second or even third graders.
“Imagine yourself in their shoes,” said Lina Sulaiman, a pre-school teacher in one of Jeddah kindergartens. “Little boys are used to our gentle tones, gentle ways; we’re like mother figures. We take their fears and tears into consideration and then suddenly — wham! — the next year he gets a tough, yelling man teacher telling him to be a man when he cries during his first days of school.”
Umm Nasser, the principal of a kindergarten and mother of two, speaks of how she receives calls from mothers of “graduated kindergartners” after their sons have begun in an all-boys’ school. She is asked for help because the boys often start hating the new school.
“In other parts of the world, male teachers are trying to break female dominance of the elementary teaching profession,” said Umm Nasser. “Here we need the opposite.” But, she says, it is not because men cannot teach or nurture. “Saudi men are simply inexperienced,” she says.
However, just as women are learning to improve and to move into new professions, she suggests that men should undergo training to become better elementary schoolteachers.
Even fathers state that until there are enough good elementary male teachers, regulations should change to meet the needs of young boys. “Why should our sons suffer the consequences of second-rate male teachers?” asked 35-year-old Majed, the father of two boys. “My son knew how to read when he started first grade and that was thanks to his kindergarten teacher. You know what the male first-grade teacher told me at the first father’s meeting this year? — that my son could be suffering from retardation or learning deficiencies because he refuses to talk or respond to the teacher during class?”
Saleh Ahmad is another supporter of change. “In the early pre-school years, my three sons tuned into the learning environment,” he said. “However, after starting elementary school where men took over their education, they underwent some kind of shock. I even have problems in dealing with the teachers when I go to discuss my sons’ school performance. It’s obvious that the man regard teaching as a job, not as a vocation. They don’t realize the damage they’re doing.”
Various education officials — both men and women — agree that Saudi men, like others, have the potential to become better elementary teachers but lack experience and training. They also say that what gives female teachers the headstart is that they deal with children of all ages in their own lives. They mention another reason why mothers want women to teach their sons; it is easier for them to follow up on their children’s school performance.
“It’s frustrating for a mother to be unable to meet her son’s teacher,” says an education supervisor. “Not many fathers have the inclination or the time to attend father’s meetings. Or they’re not involved enough with their children to know what to ask. It’s the mothers who deal with schoolwork. It’s the mothers who the children tell what happened at school. It’s the mothers who know what needs to be discussed with the teacher. Even over the phone, male teachers aren’t available and aren’t very helpful.”
In some private schools boys were formerly taught in girls’ schools until the third grade and then were moved to the boys’ section of the school. This gave some boys the chance to adjust to male society prior to enrollment in an all-male school. “In the late 1970s or very early 1980s as a fourth grader in a private school, Riyadh School for Girls, there were boys with us until the third grade,” said Haifa. “They later stopped that system so why not pick it up again?”
The matter of teachers’ brutality to pupils is altogether more serious. Despite the Education Ministry’s ban on any form of physical punishment in all stages of education, there are almost daily newspaper reports of physical abuse of both male and female students. Not only do some teachers use physical punishment, there are those who use psychological abuse as well.
Ahmad is a student in the fifth grade. He recently complained to a reporter from Al-Watan about one of his teachers who, he said, enjoyed beating students. “When a student forgets to do his homework or commits any violation, he hits the student with a strong stick five times on his hands,” said Ahmad. “Then he orders him to walk around the classroom, come back to him and he beats him five times again.”
Another student, Khaled Ali, accused one of his teachers of being a sadist. He said the man beat students and that he enjoyed it. He said the teacher enjoyed hearing students cry when he punished them. “He sometimes put a pin between the fingers of students and squeezes on it until the student cries,” he said. “What is even worse is when he hits the students with a stick on the back of their hands. That is in addition to the verbal abuse he uses.”
Teachers too are concerned. Physical punishment can never be part of education, according to Muhammad Al-Shahrani, a mathematics teacher. He concedes, however, that many teachers think it an effective way to educate students. “Such teachers need new information because any form of punishment harms the student. We need to motivate students and educate them on how to use inner energy and shape their skills.”
Abdul Muhsin Al-Khaldi, a language teacher, agrees. “Physical punishment is used by losers. Any teacher who thinks that physical or psychological punishment is useful should not be in education. He needs to be educated.”
Such teachers bring shame to the teaching profession, he says.
For educationalist Abdullah Al-Barkan, the issue is about more than schools. “The problem is the contradiction we live. We are asked not to use any form of physical punishment against students, yet punishment is practiced at home. We never learned how to use dialogue. Many children now resolve any problem they face by fighting and violence. This is what they need to focus on, more than they need to focus on teachers using violence.”
The issue of violence committed by teachers links with the matter of women possibly being allowed to teach boys at elementary schools. “I read early this week that Education Minister Dr. Abdullah ibn Saleh Bin-Obaid, is currently considering suspending problem teachers,” said Abu Jameel, a vice principal in a government boys’ school. “Problem teachers include those who deal badly with the students. I’m male and I admit that the majority of Saudi male teachers shouldn’t be teaching elementary school. Only a minority have their hearts in it or even care. I truly hope that our minister is serious and committed about clearing problem teachers out of our schools.”
So what does he think of women teaching elementary students?
“It’s definitely an alternative solution until we have enough competent elementary male teachers. There should be no hesitation over making whatever changes are needed to help the education of future generations.”
