The Real World

The single most popular criticism levelled towards the academic world is the Ivory Tower Argument: the academic world is said to be removed from the Real World. Since I do not really belong to the academic world, that is not my battle to fight. I can, however, emphasise that when it comes to teacher education, educational institutes do work hand in hand with the end users: real schools in the real world.

Student teachers at our college spend two days per week teaching under observation for their entire final year. I have not really been involved this Practicum course before. Now that my own theoretical base is expanding, I will be one of the observers in the coming semester. I have had one trip to the schools, simply as a chaperone (see the entry for 15 March 2008). Today I had another, to present a workshop for teachers at an open day arranged entirely by our college’s graduating students.

Of course, some things went wrong- they always do. Yet the students were so capable and competent, had such wonderful ideas and gave the teachers a lovely day off while inspiring the students about this new language they are learning. (One has to give them credit: out in the rocky hills where this particular school is located, there seems very little reason to learn this language- or anything much at all.) The staff gave us a warm welcome and the kids surrounded me (foreigner!) in a squealing throng, piping up in brave snatches of grammarless English spiced with rolling r’s.

When I think in terms of preparing my students for the real world, I think New York London Paris Shanghai Sydney. But in this context, the real world is Suwaiq, Sur, Salalah… little brown towns where nothing much happens- except for the revolution that is brewing in Oman’s schools.

And that is very real.

Wednesday, 7 May 2008, 7:28 PM