By Alton L. Biggs
Received on December 16,2009 and printed by permission.
Yesterday I finished the four most grueling days of staff development that I’ve ever done. I’m in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia and the workshop presentation was for about 130 science supervisors (mainly from Saudi Arabia, but some from the Arab Emirates, Bahrain, and Jordan). The pace was agonizingly slow for me since everything I said had to be translated to them and everything they said had to be translated back to me. I spent one day on strategies for differentiating instruction, one day on correction of preconceptions and misconceptions in biology, one day modeling an effective lesson, and one day on problems in the classroom. I couldn’t tell how I was doing until the very end when I got a standing ovation from both the men and the women. (The participants were in separate rooms and the women were viewing me on television!)
The funny thing is I thought these supervisors (i.e. participants) were the same as our department chairs or district supervisors. Boy was I wrong! I found out as I was reading their evaluations that each of them was responsible for between 50 and 80 schools. It seems they were more like state science supervisors and this was an international conference. I’d have probably been trembling in my boots had I realized that. All that said, the Under Secretary to the Minister of Education (who presented their certificates of completion in a formal ceremony) told me that he had heard only good things about my work during the week and that he would be inviting me back next year. So, I guess I’ll get to bring back a little more of the oil money we ship over here (although a very insignificant amount in the scheme of things)!
Of course the biggest barrier was the language and completely different culture. My humor did translate pretty well, which surprised me. The repression of women is still quite upsetting to me. Although I was told I’d see none of the women in the workshop at any time, I actually did run into a few and they practiced their English by telling me how much they appreciated my visit to their country. It’s a little disconcerting speaking to someone when all you can really see of them is a rectangle of eyes – sort of like when the eyes are censored in a photo, except everything else was censored and all you could see was two eyes and the bridge of a nose.
More than one participant was concerned for my eternal life and presented me with various books on Islam. I was able to have a long discussion about religion and share mine with three gentlemen. They listened intently and seemed genuinely interested.
I will say that the people in all walks of life that I came into contact with were very kind and hospitable, willing to help in any way that they could. I don’t think any of the people I met would approve of terrorism that we sometimes incorrectly attribute to all Muslims. Of course I wasn’t used to the security measures that are in place – even at the Marriott where I stayed. Cars were not allowed to approach the building, being held at bay by concrete walls. Those cars that even entered the ground (including my taxi) were checked under the hood and under the chassis before being allowed to pass the guard house.
Then there was another car with guards as you approach closer to the hotel.
As always, I’ll be glad to be back home, for as Dorothy said, “There is no place like home.”
Alton L. Biggs, President
Biggs Educational Consulting
2006 Creekview Drive
Commerce, Texas 75428-3947
Phone: (903) 886-2240
E-mail: altonb@ix.netcom.com
Web site: http://home.netcom.com/~altonb/biggseducationalconsulting/
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