Suzanne-TP 3

Last week, Katie and I had our culture class, which proved to be an interesting and somewhat frustrating experience all around the board. We had quite a good turn-out, probably because we each used our connections in some of the different groups at CIES (the Arab guys; Katie's Asian friends) to gather everyone together. I was actually quite pleased with the number of students we got. We had students from Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, South Korea, the Ivory Coast, and China - a good mix for our lesson, which revolved around the roles of women in different places around the world.

First, we had everyone introduce themselves and we introduced ourselves to them. Then, we delved right into a discussion about womens' roles, first asking the students to recall when they first came to America and discuss things they found particularly different from home. Anna, from China, told us about how she found it odd that women in the U.S. go home or back to work so soon after giving birth; she touched particularly on the fact that in China, women who have just given birth must stay away from cold water, something not adhered to in the U.S. at all. Mohammad, from Saudi Arabia (my tutee; thank god he came!) told us about how women in Saudi Arabia aren't allowed to drive cars or leave the country without written permission from their fathers or husbands. Our other Mohammad, from Kuwait, emphasized to us how Kuwait is more liberal than other Arab countries, sharing with the class the different political posts women are now holding in the country. Katie and I talked about different female roles in America; I brought up the pay difference between men and women, which seemed to surprise some of the students.

Next, we divided the class up into two groups - one of whom was to debate for the affirmative and one the negative of the question, "Should women be given more equality in the workplace?" We had to do a little bit of explaining of the process to help the students understand it and in hindsight, I think a demonstration of a debate by Katie and I before we set the students loose would've been useful. The students also seemed disconcerted by the concept that they were being made to argue for one side, especially if they themselves didn't believe it. Albraa, from Saudi Arabia, was put on the affirmative side of the debate, and kept telling me that he didn't know how to argue for something he didn't believe in. But our idea was to open up their minds to differing opinions, so we tried to explain that and kept the debate groups as they were. We each walked between the two groups, helping them craft their arguments, and finally let them debate one another on different points; for instance, the affirmative side argued that anything a man can do, a woman can also do; the negative side argued that if women were allowed more freedom, it would disrupt a system unprepared for such change. The main concept of the debate was understood by the students, then, but, as Katie and I anticipated, it turned a little rowdy. Dary, from Kuwait, did a marvelous job arguing the negative side, and Mohammad, from Kuwait, was livid at his arguments against the position of women. To my delight, I noticed that Albraa was arguing strongly for the affirmative side, despite his allegations that he'd be unable to do so.

On a scale of 1-10, I would have graded Katie and I a 6. I thought we commanded the room well and kept the students attention centered on the project at hand, and the debate, though a little unorganized, was more or less along the lines we were looking for. But some of the students were confused and uninterested in the topic, so I thought we could've done more to raise interest. There were a lot of factors working against us - the optional nature of the class, the lateness, etc - but as teachers, it's our job to climb over those kinds of obstacles. But for a first time, at least for me, I thought we handled ourselves well.