The Emperor's New Designer Threads

My crusade for justice has begun. I am no longer angry, but I am fiercely clear-headed and dangerously logical.

According to the Vision of Majan University College (http://majancollege.edu.om), it aims to "be a premier University institution providing students with value added Higher Education of International standards in a dynamic environment that fosters knowledge, values and sustainable employment skills." The Mission Statement sets the following targets: "to build a knowledge based learning organization", "strive for excellence in learning, teaching and research", "develop the creative potential of all its staff members" and "equip its students to make effective contributions to society and the economy".


Inspired by these lofty goals in addition to the reputable Leeds programme, I eagerly joined this course, and it was impressive to see that many of the staff I met truly personify this vision and mission. One of my key motivations for choosing this programme over distance learning was the access to resources that would be consistent, not only with the mission and vision of Majan, but also with the tuition fees. (21 students registered for the course hosted by Majan, raising over OMR 140 000, or GBP 180 000.The tuition fee per student is OMR 7000, equivalent to GBP 9000. A full-time foreign residential MA TESOL student at Leeds University pays GBP 9700 and has full access to tuition, resources and all on-campus facilities.) It is disconcerting that, two months into the course, our resources are limited to a collection of twelve books, mostly in single copies, some in duplicate, while any other sources are only available for reference inside the library. This for the princely sum of nine-tenths of residential study. Twelve books.

However, my fundamental concern is not the books: they can be bought, shared, borrowed. Students have been phenomenally resourceful, and as you yourself said, clear, original thought is more important than resources. My fundamental concern is the apparent underlying message that not only is the bare minimum sufficient, but anything more is a bit of a nuisance. The obstacles in the way of our group's students are more than ample, ranging from unpredictable work and family responsibilities, resource problems, mediaeval internet facilities and distance from the library, to language difficulties and a profound aversion to the written word. Additionally, as foreign students and non-native speakers of English, (not to mention being hosted by an oil-rich country) our MA degrees will forever be skeptically scrutinised unless we can shatter the preconceptions against us with sterling performance. Sterling performance may require a bit of reading. Which may, in turn, call for a few books.


The bottom line is that students deserve the opportunity to take more out of this course than a piece of paper in a gilt frame. I am paying for an education, not a degree. As to the current library situation, the BA students are entitled to their books and should receive priority over the MA students for those titles. By the same token, the MA students should be entitled to access the titles from their complete reading list- as a bare minimum- if Majan's vision, mission and the tuition fees are to be accounted for.

I have the greatest appreciation for all those staff who have embodied this vision and enacted this vision, and I trust that the library facilities will be brought in line with these ideals.

OUTRAGE!

“MA STUDENTS ARE NOT ALLOWED TO BORROW BOOKS OUTSIDE THEIR CORE READING LIST FROM THE LIBRARY.” This would be outrageous enough, but when the core reading list comprises TWELVE BOOKS, the angels simply weep.

I did not weep. I spat fire when I was told this by the librarians at Majan University College, where the Leeds University MA TESOL program is being hosted (at astronomic costs to the students, I might add). To understand the predicament, it is important to note that there are no libraries in Oman, except for governmental, university and college collections which are, of course, closed to the public. One student kindly arranged permission for the students enrolled in this programme to borrow from the state’s Sultan Qaboos University library, but I have not found anything relevant to my current module there, nor much that is recent. So effectively, it seems that students enrolled in this programme are being prohibited from performing well and, more significantly, from learning.

Before I launch my crusade full force, I will confirm this with the head of the English department at Majan, who will hopefully arrange a polite explanation that this was a misunderstanding. Face-saving is, after all, far more important than the facts on this soil. If the facts are, however, that reading widely is taboo, the implications for foreign students of accredited universities are profound.

I can understand that in some circles higher learning is mainly about the piece of paper in the elaborate gilt frame, the status or the money. For me it is not. If any establishment tries to reduce me to that, there will be war.

Back In The Saddle Again

The first day back at work was extremely positive. The difference from past years, when conflicts poisoned the air, was tangible. It really is fortunate to have such a motivated, forward-looking staff to work with. Though I have to ask myself: is it simply people’s temperaments that are so sunny, or has the department reached a tipping point where positive people have taken over? It does comfort me to think that this is not just a twist of fate, but fashioned by conscious design. The staff meeting was extremely friendly, light and constructive. I received my final schedule, and the benefits far outweigh the drawback of slightly inconvenient (read afternoon) timings. For one thing, I teach all my Language Through Arts groups in the same classroom, which means we have quite a bit of say in arranging, and maybe even decorating, the room. Just what we need in a course like this. There are also vast cupboards for storing all the goodies we’ll need for the lessons…

And then the studies. Tonight the weight of the decision I made has finally dawned on me. Because I joined the class late, I hadn’t the time to read all my documentation thoroughly last week. As a warm-up to studying, I read the handbook this afternoon. The list of Recommended Reading is just daunting- and reading those books is not even enough: then you have to base original research on all that stuff! Not to mention the fact that many of the books are not available in Oman (or there are only single copies in the library), so we’re all more or less between a rock and a hard place: order the books from abroad, or risk not having read them. Another thing is that none of the books are really descriptive overviews: they all seem to be radically opposing points of view in some of the most heated debates in Applied Linguistics of our day. Placing things in perspective is one of the biggest challenges I’m facing. (It was all so daunting that I resorted to reading some of my old teaching diaries in pursuit of ideas for my assignment, which naturally swallowed an hour.) It won’t be easy. But I simply can’t resign myself to thinking that an overall pass grade will be enough. I really need to establish for myself what I am truly capable of in this international academic context I have flung myself into so willy-nilly… (how utterly un-academic of me!)