Good Classroom Teaching for All Kinds of Learners

Here are ten things that teachers can do to help students with learning differences succeed in the regular classroom:

1- ESTABLISH A CLASSROOM THAT PROMOTES LEARNING WITH A FRAMEWORK OF ATTITUDES AND VALUES

Attitudes That Limit Learning For All Kinds of Learners:

Innate intelligence is probably the best predictor of student learning and achievement in schools.

Intelligence is unevenly distributed on a bell curve. A few can expect to achieve at a high level, most will be average, and some will fail.

Normal" means being able to learn the same things that other kids of the same age learn, in the same way, at the same time, at the same rate.

There is usually one correct answer and one best way of finding it.

Students will have an opportunity to show what they know on the test.

Faster is better. Doing things faster means you are smarter.

Mistakes mean you haven't learned or studied carefully enough.

The best students are independent. They don't need or ask for assistance. Help makes you dependent.

There are some things that individual students just can't learn. Some students just don't have what it takes.

Students who don't succeed in school need a dose of the hard reality that awaits them in the real world.

Students who do poorly in school would be more successful if they were more motivated

It's not fair to make accommodations just for some students.

Teachers teach information. Good students master the subject matter

:Attitudes That Promote Learning For All Kinds of Learners

All students can become capable, achieve at a high level, and improve in an area of weakness.
There are many different ways to learn. The world is a better place because we are not all the same.

There are advantages to thinking in different ways.

There are many ways to succeed. There can be successful elements in wrong answers and unsuccessful work.

Students will have many opportunities and ways to show what they have learned.
It is not how quickly but how well you learn that counts. Speed can improve with practice.

Mistakes are natural steps in learning and can point the way to success.

Good students are interdependent. They ask for and give help. They look for detailed feedback on their work.

Students can improve, even in their areas of weakness. Teachers don't give up on individual students.

Sarcasm, shame, and humiliation are inappropriate ways of addressing the needs of unsuccessful or struggling learners.

Students who do poorly in school would be more motivated if they had more successes in learning.

The things that some students need in order to learn are usually helpful to all students.

Teachers teach students. Good students learn the subject and learn how to learn.

2- SEND A CLEAR MESSAGE

Establish eye contact. Look at students so they can see your mouth, facial expressions, and gestures as you talk.

Pronounce words clearly and with sufficient volume. Speak at an unrushed pace, and use natural pauses to divide the material into phrases, sentences, and logical chunks.
Reduce background noises and eliminate distractions.
Avoid double negatives and unnecessarily complicated language. Be clear and direct, but not simplistic. Don't "talk down" or "water down."
Stop at checkpoints for questions. Be willing to repeat, summarize, or find another way of stating information.
Support what you are saying with a picture, diagram, demonstration, or other multisensory materials.
Make sure visuals and handouts are simple, clear, and uncluttered. Use simple, boldfaced type. Leave margins and space for making notes.
Allow sufficient time for students to copy from the blackboard or from overheads. Give copies of overheads to students.
Encourage particular students to sit in the front row, or away from the door to the noisy hallway.
Understand that 1.) remembering, following, and giving directions and assignments; and 2.) asking and answering questions precisely are particular problem areas for students with learning differences.

Assure that questions, assignments, and directions are as clear as possible. Avoid giving last minute assignments as students are leaving class.
Give sufficient time for students to process information, questions, and directions. Be willing to repeat, paraphrase, and explain in more detail and provide a written reference if it is helpful.

Have students reverbalize what they understand.
Assure that all students can hear and understand each contributor to class discussions. Take time to repeat, summarize, or explain.

3.) TEACH FOR UNDERSTANDING

Teach information that has genuine importance, and let students know why. Make connections between life and school, and convey the importance and usefulness of what you're teaching.
Organize what you are saying. Teach in three steps: Start with an introduction that develops the purpose of the lesson. Then teach the lesson. Conclude with a summary of what was accomplished.
Help students see the rules, structure and patterns in the course material they are learning. Emphasize the "why" and the "how."

Avoid rote memorization of information. Embed facts and details in a web of understanding.
Say things simply first and then elaborate. Avoid tangents and insignificant details.
Use "linguistic markers" to highlight patterns and establish connections ("As a result·" "In conclusion·" "There are three main reasons·").
Introduce and explain new vocabulary before you use it. Emphasize definitions and key terms.
Use multisensory teaching and active learning techniques and materials to clarify and reinforce concepts.
Use analogies, real life examples, practical applications, and personal experiences to promote understanding. Make connections to student's strengths, areas of interest, and expertise.
Explain and practice difficult material in meaningful "chunks" or "micro-units."
Provide frequent opportunities to paraphrase, summarize, draw interconnections, and review.
Be willing to repeat, paraphrase, or summarize what you've said, especially information which must be understood precisely.

Check comprehension of information, directions, and assignments by asking students to repeator summarize information.
Reinforce understanding by applying skills and knowledge to new and related contexts.

4.) USE MULTISENSORY TEACHING TECHNIQUES AND ACTIVE LEARNING STRATEGIES

Present and practice information in ways that encourage active involvement, use more than one modality, and tap other kinds of intelligences.
Assure that presentations, discussions, handouts, activities, visuals, and multisensory methods and materials are clear, focused, and well organized, and that students clearly understand their purpose and goal. Otherwise, they distract and confuse.
Be aware of the power of visuals to clarify and organize information, promote comprehension, and tap the intelligence of students whose verbal skills may be weaker.
Recognize the extraordinary power of saying and doing to improve and deepen understanding and promote long term memory and retrieval.
Teach students to recognize and use multiple pathways for learning, and to discover which ones are most effective for themselves.

LEARNING BY SEEING - Use clear, simple, and well designed visual references and aids such as maps, charts, and diagrams. Make use of the blackboard, overheads, and computer generated imagery. Use graphic organizers and visual learning strategies. Highlight and organize information using color.

LEARNING BY SAYING ("verbalizing") - Encourage students to verbalize by explaining, summarizing, expressing personal reactions, asking and answering questions, and participating in discussions. Teach students how to set up and work in a study group, and to study out loud for tests. Have students teach or explain information to another student. Work in pairs and small groups.

LEARNING BY DOING - Provide opportunities to participate in labs, do projects and field studies, role-play, and perform demonstrations and simulations. Build physical models of concepts. Capitalize on students' interests and areas of expertise. Incorporate physical activity into classwork.

LEARNING BY LISTENING - This area, sometimes a weak channel for students with learning differences, can be enhanced by teaching active listening and notetaking skills.

PROVIDE CLEAR, EXPLICIT STRUCTURE

Make organization of time, space, and materials as explicit as possible. Post weekly, monthly, and long term jobs and responsibilities; classroom calendars; homework assignments; and other important information in regular locations on bulletin boards, blackboards, or posters. Use visual organizers, references and reminders.
Regularly, post a daily agenda, or hand out a weekly schedule that provides concrete, consistent guidelines for course content and expectations.
Clarify the purpose of each lesson, and connect each daily class to the short and long term goals of the course.

Give directions and assignments both orally and in written form whenever possible.
Give older students a complete syllabus that includes: a detailed course outline; a calendar with due dates and guidelines for assignments, papers, and tests; a list of required course materials and texts; specific information, such as the professor's e-mail, office location and office hours
Provide detailed guidelines for longer units, assignments and projects that include requirements, timetables, deadlines, and consequences.
Refer to agendas and organizational aids as guideposts. Amend them clearly as you work. Follow through. Be consistent.
Establish clear routines and habits which support regular activities and transitions between activities.

6.) PROVIDE FREQUENT ASSIGNMENTS, AND MEANINGFUL FEEDBACK AND EVALUATION

Give frequent, regular, explicit classroom and homework assignments which provide the opportunity to review and synthesize information and deepen understanding.
Understand the value of correct practice in the learning process. Anticipate and prevent incorrect practice of information which must be learned precisely, such as mathematical procedures.
Give special attention to identifying information and skills which must be practiced to the point of automaticity or fluency, and give frequent, regular assignments to practice these skills. Recognize individual differences in how much practice each student needs to develop automaticity.
Early in the semester, and in advance of assignments, teach students how you will evaluate their work and assess them for the semester.
Make the assessment for each assignment as explicit, fair, and meaningful as possible by:
providing clear criteria for assessing success when the assignment is first given returning assignments and tests promptly giving qualitative feedback giving evaluations and grades based on learning and mastery avoiding grading on a curve or on the performance of the rest of the class
Assess students frequently; give weekly quizzes, assignments, reflection papers, and summaries.
Give timely, specific, qualitative feedback to students about the strengths and weaknesses of their work.
Whenever possible, use explicit, multiple means of assessment. For example, give separate grades for ideas, structure, and mechanics in a written assignment.
Create timelines for completion of longer-term assignments by micro-uniting tasks and establishing frequent checkpoints.
Give assignments that emphasize summary and review.
Teach students to evaluate their own work through assignments that explicitly teach reflection and self-evaluation.
Organize assignments and tests for the semester (or year) into a file or portfolio. Help students understand and assess their progress over time.

7.) EXPOSE AND TEACH THE SKILLS, INFORMATION, AND EXPECTATIONS HIDDEN OR EMBEDDED IN THE CURRICULUM

Don't make assumptions about what students know. Be explicit with students about any "hidden expectations" you may have for classroom behavior, attendance, or performance.
Teach study skills which support success, such as active listening and reading skills, asking questions, notetaking, summarizing, how to use the textbook, or time management.
Explain how and when to use specific memory strategies and study skills to master the course content.
Respect different ways of learning and different pathways to success. Point out alternatives that work. Help students identify learning channels and strategies that work well for them.
Present models for notebook organization and time management. Require that students maintain "Master Notebooks" and carry a dayminder with them.
Cue students to organize: put dates on handouts, record assignments and due dates.
Model the skills, techniques and strategies you use successfully as a teacher and learner.
Recognize language as an essential tool for teaching and learning, and teach students to use language effectively.
Early in the semester, make students, parents, and support personnel aware of skill deficits or other specific difficulties which need direct instruction

8.) OFFER ALTERNATIVES

Offer multiple kinds of assignments and tests, which offer students a range of ways to learn and to express their understanding.
Give the gift of time. De-emphasize the role of time and speed of performance in assignments and tests.
Reduce reliance on quantitative measures of performance (letter or number grades) by using descriptive, qualitative, process oriented assessment methods.
Support students who have appropriately documented a disability with student services by providing modifications, such as:
alternative test environment, methods of evaluation, and time on tests.

9.) INVOLVE AND RESPECT STUDENTS AS CENTRAL PARTNERS IN LEARNING

Involve students in designing and creating a respectful, productive positive classroom atmosphere.
Encourage students (in groups and as individuals) to share their thoughts, successes, difficulties, and reactions to their studies.
Give students opportunities to explain, clarify, question, expand upon, and interconnect their ideas and thoughts, rather than respond with yes/no, single word, or short answers.
Encourage students to make the connection between what they are learning and their own lives. Incorporate their opinions, reactions, and evaluations, and experiences into assignments, discussions, and other activities.
Involve students as a member of the team (teacher, student, and parents) when evaluating progress, making choices, and setting goals.
Give direct, honest feedback to students about their work in a way that respects their comprehension skills.
Teach students to recognize and respect their own areas of strength in thinking and learning.
Encourage and teach planning, self-evaluation, reflection, and goal setting.
Keep a portfolio or notebook which organizes assignments and tests over time, and guide students to reflect on, analyze, and evaluate their own work.
Incorporate methods of assessment that measure an individual's progress.

10. INTERVENE EARLY AND EFFECTIVELY WITH THE INDIVIDUAL STUDENT WHO IS HAVING DIFFICULTY LEARNING.

Anticipate the material that will be difficult for students to learn by understanding the demands it places on the learner.
Develop techniques to monitor students' understanding as the material is being presented.
Teach diagnostically, using student errors and difficulties as a tool for planning. Link assessment to instruction.
If students don't do their work, don't assume that they don't want to do it. Take active steps to explore whether they understand the information and assignments and whether they have the skills to perform the required work.
Incorporate the following principles when providing specific help to a particular student who is having difficulty learning.

PRINCIPLES OF INTERVENTION

Make no assumptions about what the student knows. A student may hide his difficulties to avoid embarrassment or be unaware that underlying problems are causing the observed difficulties with schoolwork. Careful observation supported by formal and informal diagnostic work is helpful in finding the best starting point for instruction (Point Zero).
Find "Point Zero" and begin instruction there. "Point Zero" is the breakdown point, or weak link, in the chain of skills required for performance.Complex skills, such as reading, require mastery of many subskills. Difficulty in any of a number of areas (for example, decoding accuracy or speed, vocabulary knowledge, or memory skills) can cause reading comprehension problems. For any particular student who exhibits reading comprehension problems, there is a "best intervention" which addresses the particular "breakdown points" in performance.
Provide explicit teaching in the rules, structure, and patterns of the subject matter that is difficult. Students usually benefit from a teaching approach that emphasizes understanding, rather than memorizing, the subject matter. Make connections to a student's areas of expertise and interest.
Break difficult material into smaller, more manageable "chunks" or "micro-units." Help students learn and practice the material in small, meaningful parts to achieve fluency with the material as a whole. Avoid micro-uniting material that is easy for the student to learn.
Provide many opportunities to succeed. Define daily goals by dividing the material into "micro-units" and assure that the student experiences genuine daily successes. Students who are "behind" in learning are often denied the satisfaction that comes from accomplishing goals, since they are "just catching up." They demonstrate more determination when they experience tangible successes that they can attribute to their own efforts.
Provide multisensory reinforcement and practice. Encourage active learning. Involve many of the senses by having students see, say, hear and do as they learn. Insure that materials and exercises are well organized and focussed, so that they do not distract or confuse.
Regard mistakes positively. Use student mistakes as clues to help understand how a particular student thinks, where his understanding breaks down, and what he needs to do to get beyond the mistake.
Give the gift of time. Emphasize "mastering" rather than "covering" the material. Present and practice material neither too rapidly nor too slowly. Pace the instruction to match the student's rate of learning, allowing plenty of time for the student to practice material to the point of automatization or fluency.

Practice essential subskills and skills to the point of automatization. Athletes accept the well-established necessity of practicing skills they understand to the point where they can be performed fluidly and automatically. Yet in school, such practice is sometimes dismissed as "mindless drill." Provide students with "meaningful practice" that helps make fundamental skills as automatic as possible.

Demonstrate the "spiral of learning" by showing how skills can be applied in different ways in different settings. Many students who practice skills or difficult material in isolation never learn how to apply that information in context or understand its usefulness as a whole. Provide opportunities for students to practice skills and material in a variety of ways and show them how to adapt them according to the context.

Bloom's Taxonomy

In 1956, Benjamin Bloom headed a group of educational psychologists who developed a classification of levels of intellectual behavior important in learning. Bloom found that over 95 % of the test questions students encounter require them to think only at the lowest possible level...the recall of information.
Bloom identified six levels within the cognitive domain, from the simple recall or recognition of facts, as the lowest level, through increasingly more complex and abstract mental levels, to the highest order which is classified as evaluation. Verb examples that represent intellectual activity on each level are listed here.

Knowledge: arrange, define, duplicate, label, list, memorize, name, order, recognize, relate, recall, repeat, reproduce state.

Comprehension: classify, describe, discuss, explain, express, identify, indicate, locate, recognize, report, restate, review, select, translate,

Application: apply, choose, demonstrate, dramatize, employ, illustrate, interpret, operate, practice, schedule, sketch, solve, use, write.

Analysis: analyze, appraise, calculate, categorize, compare, contrast, criticize, differentiate, discriminate, distinguish, examine, experiment, question, test.

Synthesis: arrange, assemble, collect, compose, construct, create, design, develop, formulate, manage, organize, plan, prepare, propose, set up, write.

Evaluation: appraise, argue, assess, attach, choose compare, defend estimate, judge, predict, rate, core, select, support, value, evaluate

Guidelines for Working with Students With Disabilities

Understanding Disabilities

Definition of Disability : A disability is not necessarily the presence of an impairment or condition that interferes with or disturbs the normal structure and function of the body. A disability exists when the condition permanently or temporarily affects a person's ability to perform normal daily activities.

The preceding distinction, made by the World Health Organization (1988), was the basis for following definition: Persons with disabilities are persons who:
a) have a significant and persistent mobility, sensory, learning, or other physical or mental health impairment which may be permanent or temporary in nature; AND
b) experience functional restrictions or limitations of their ability to perform the range of life's activities; AND
c) may experience attitudinal and/or environmental barriers which hamper their full and self-directed participation. At Brock University, a student with special needs is any student who is academically inconvenienced because of a physical, medical, mental-health, or learning disability.

Categories of Disabilities : There is no one universally accepted approach to describing the categories of disabilities. Those used in this section cover the major categories which are likely to occur among the university student population. Within each category of disability, there are differences between individuals in the type of disability, its degree and its impact. A person may have more than one disability, so more than one section's strategies may apply.

Learning Disabilities Learning disabilities are presented first in this section, for good reason. Estimates are that 10 percent of our university population may experience some form of learning disability. It is an invisible and individualized disability, which may be difficult for both the student and faculty member to understand. Often students feel as if others see them using their disability as an excuse for doing things differently (MacIntyre et al., 1980).
Definition

A learning disability is a group of disorders which lead to the ineffective processing of information

and which are manifested by significant difficulties in the acquisition and use of listening, speaking, reading, writing, reasoning or mathematical abilities. The disorder is intrinsic to the individual and results in a significant discrepancy between academic achievement and potential, with deficits in at least one of the following areas: receptive language (listening, reading); language processing (thinking, conceptualizing, integrating information); expressive language (speaking, writing, spelling); or mathematical computations (Hammill, et al.., 1987; Learning Disability Association of Canada, 1981).

Even though a learning disability may occur together with other handicapping conditions (sensory impairments, physical or medical problems, mental-health disabilities), or environmental influences (cultural differences, economic disadvantage, insufficient instruction), it is not the direct result of these conditions and influences (Learning Disability Association of Canada, 1981).

All learning disabilities and the impact they have on a student's academic performance and learning are individual. Using information from assessment with a battery of psychological and educational tests, it is possible to determine a student's areas of strength and weakness, his/her learning style and the impact of the learning disability. This information is used to determine the needs of the student and what types of accommodations are required. Students are often the best expert on what types of strategies and accommodations work for them.

Instructional Strategies

Provide a course outline and reading list in advance to assist those students who require more time for organizing their work or who need to make arrangements for accommodations such as taping a text. This also helps students make a more realistic estimate of what difficulties they may face throughout the course. Make sure that all expectations and due dates are clearly stated.

Present information using a variety of methods such as lecture, hand-outs, overheads, demonstrations and discussion. When possible, provide concrete examples or personal anecdotes to present ideas and theories. Material should be presented using all modalities as much as possible, since many students with learning disabilities are visual, auditory or "hands-on" learners and have difficulty learning information that is presented in another modality.
Some students benefit from receiving a general overview of the material/theory being presented. Other students need information to be organized in a sequential manner to ease their comprehension.

Discuss with the student how she or he learns best.

Recognize that some students may need to tape-record lectures or may require the services of a note-taker due to writing or language- processing problems.
Review key concepts periodically to ensure that they are understood.
Highlight important information by telling students that it is important or that it is a major point. Understand that students with learning disabilities have to process information their own way and that they may have unconventional methods of learning. Allow students to use the methods that work best for them.

Minimize room distractions.

When possible, allow students some extra time to process questions in a discussion. They may know the information but need extra time to retrieve it.

Assignment Accommodations

Consider accommodations for assignments (extended deadlines for completion, alternative assignments such as oral or taped presentations rather than a written assignment). Some students, due to language-retrieval problems or problems with memory, may have difficulty with oral class presentations; consider alternate assignments such as taped or written assignments. Requirements of an assignment should be given in writing as well as orally to ensure that students know what is expected.

Recognize that proofreaders, if used, are simply assisting the student in producing a more readable, satisfactory copy, not in completing the assignment. When possible, give advance warning of assignments so that the students can budget their time appropriately. If possible, remind students of upcoming assignment deadlines.

Examination Accommodations

Allow extended time to accommodate for the student's decreased speed of information processing, language retrieval, thought organization or reading comprehension. Extra time can improve the results of students with disabilities.
Try to use the same vocabulary or phrases as used in class, to help the student retrieve information. Avoid using double negatives and complex sentences.
Consider the construction of test items in written examinations (e.g., could an essay examination be substituted for a multiple- choice examination if this would accommodate the student?).
Computer-scored answer sheets (Scantron) are extremely difficult for many students who have learning disabilities to complete correctly, due to visual-perceptual or visual-motor integration problems.

Consider allowing the student to circle the correct answers directly on the examination paper and having it hand-scored. If this is not possible, enlarged computer score sheets may benefit students with poor eye-hand co-ordination. Computer sheets with numbered answer choices, rather than alphabetical choices, may benefit students with visual-perceptual difficulties, as they eliminate the possibility of (e.g.b/d) letter reversals.
Students may need to use a word processor with spelling- and grammar-check features to complete examinations.

It is beneficial for students to have the opportunity to ask questions during tests/examinations regarding the interpretation of test questions. Due to information or language-processing difficulties, the student's perception of what is being asked may not be correct.
Some students may benefit from frequent tests or examinations rather than a major test at the end of term.

Mental Health, Psychiatric and Psychological Disabilities Because mental illness often develops between the ages of 18 and 25 (Unger, 1992), university students are at a particularly vulnerable time in their lives. The impact of mental illness often means that educational plans are interrupted and disrupted; students may have to withdraw from a term at the onset of the illness, or take a reduced course load; course work may be interrupted. Because of the cyclic nature of many mental illnesses, these students may function very well for months or years and then suddenly run into difficulty. Medications used for treatment can also reduce concentration, blur vision and induce physical problems like dry mouth, nausea, tremors and insomnia; all of these have a negative effect on the speed of learning.

Some of the students within this "disability" grouping have a history of mental illness, which could include such illnesses as depression, schizophrenia, etc. They may have been hospitalized, may be receiving medication and psychotherapy. Others, because of the age of many of our students, may have recently experienced or be experiencing their first episode of a mental illness.

Other students may be experiencing on-going psychological distress for which they are seeking treatment (often psychotherapy), but which is of a shorter duration than for those students previously described. Short- term accommodations (typically for one term or one year), such as isolation when writing examinations or increased flexibility about assignment deadlines, may be extremely useful to these students as they complete a specific course of treatment in which they learn new skills for managing their feelings and/or behaviour. It is assumed that once treatment is completed, accommodations will no longer be necessary. Professional documentation and student participation in treatment are required in order for accommodations to be granted; accommodations are negotiated only for a short period of time and then renegotiated with student and mental-health-care professional involvement.

A third group of students may experience an emotionally distressing situation which has an impact on their academic performance; for example, the death of a parent, a sexual assault or serious difficulty adjusting to university, which will create disruption for the student's academic functioning. This is short-term and situational; i.e., in response to an external situation. Faculty members often make accommodations for this group of students on compassionate grounds in response to the student's request (for example, when an assignment is not ready).

Arab Woman

“As if it is not enough I have been born in an Arab country to Arab parents with the name “Arab” wearing me from head to toes, I have been chosen to be a woman, guilty forever and ever with no ‘until proven innocent’ chance. No, friend. The ‘until proven innocent’ pipe dream remains forever a pipe dream I will continue to pay for for simply dreaming it.”

I have heard my grandpa repeating over and over again that the name “Rawan” is a magical name that fills the life of any one called “Rawan” with blessings. I grew up with this beautiful notion in my head to the extent that I liked my name even before knowing what it meant. I ached for people calling me “Rawan". I enjoyed the way it glided through their tongues waiting to meet my ears. When I knew that my name pointed at an Arab tribe, I was thrilled. I thought of my name as a blessing in disguise until I understood that the blessing in disguise is simply no more than a mere curse. Instead of being cursed with a period pain, I realized that my curse came in the form of a name and a gender or was that really a curse?

“What is your name, lady?” he asked me on the plane heading to the United States of America. I looked at him and simply said, “My name is Rawan. What is yours?” Even before he gave himself the chance to answer, he asked, “What does your name mean?” To that, I replied, “Rawan" is an Arabic tribe.” I saw the sneer on his face and adjusted myself in my seat waiting for what was coming my way. I did not wait long. Even before he asked, the question “Are you an Arab?” formulated in his eyes. “Yes, I am. Do you have a problem with that?” “Not at all,” he said and continued, “but it seems to me you do. Your name is Arabic and you are a woman.”

As the plane slithered through the sky, the conversation played itself in my head over and over again. In no way could I bring myself to blame the guy. After all, all he seemed to know was based on movies portraying Arabs as terrorists. I was sure of that. I wanted to scream, to tell him I am a woman who is proud to be both an Arab and a woman. Yet, what was there to be proud of? That question refused to leave my head.

The society we live in seems to be bathing in too many misconceptions. If our eastern society does not understand the true beauty behind the term “Arab” and the extraordinary essence of a “real Arab”, how would western societies understand it? If our eastern society is too afraid to regard a woman as an equal to a man, what kind of picture does that send the west? And more importantly, what picture does that send us, the inhabitants of the society?

In this paper, I plan to shed light on the meaning behind the terms “Arab” and “Woman”. Who is an Arab? How can one define an Arab living in the Arab world? Are woman who happen to be Arabs actually cursed? Where does their curse come from? Where do Arab women stand in terms of education and marriage in the Gulf Area, Lebanon, Kuwait, Bahrain, Somalia, Yemen, Egypt and other Arab countries?

Introduction:

There are various theories that aid in the definition of an “Arab”. According to Patai (2003), for instance, in order to define an Arab, one has to think of three concentric circles. These are the following:

A- Language: An Arab is one who speaks Arabic.
B- Geography: All people who live in the Arab World are Arabs. Still, Geography alone does not suffice, because not all those who live in this area are Arabs. We have to keep in mind that these are also ethnic minorities.
C- Culture/religion: Here, the question that pops is: Is the Arab culture, in general, a Muslim culture?

This is the most inclusive of theories, but it does not mean it is the only one. There are others that come in handy when one is to define an “Arab”.

For example, according to historical documents, the Arabs originally lived in the Arabian Peninsula as tribes.

Ibn Khaldun, the first Arab Socio Historian, believes that we all come from the tribes of the Arab Peninsula and the Syrian Desert. It is said that the tribes left the Arab Peninsula when a dam broke and the water became scarce.

Thus, the term “Arab” referred to nomadic Bedouins or Arabian Peninsula dwellers. In the 7th century, the Arab armies became the carriers of Islam as well as traditions or values. When the Arabs came face to face with people of Arab stock and language, they got fused. They also came face to face with non-Arab stock people. Those people embraced the language, traditions and religion of the Arab conquerors.

Due to the Arab armies’ social and cultural integration, the term “Arab” started referring to a citizen of the “extensive Arab world”, the “great majority who racial descent, even when it was not pure Arab lineage, had become submerged in the tide of arabisation” with their language becoming Arabic.

The Arabic language came to be a source of fellow feeling between different Arab groups. Because of the Qur’an, the Arabic language turned into an interaction and communication mechanism and a vehicle of thought used in administration, government, schools and universities. The Arabs became so proud of their language, especially that it enriched their culture, helped in the study of historical ancestry and opened doors for understanding Arab themes. In other words, the Arabic language has provided Arabs with a cultural identity that sheds light on Arab cultural heritage. Here, it is crucial to point out the fact that even Arab history plays a role in bringing Arabs together. Famous people, such as Abu Bakr, Umar and Saladin are thought of by all Arabs as heroes who honor the term “Arab” and make Arabs proud. As we all know, pride is directly proportional to being an Arab.

Religion-wise, by stressing on topics such as family, relationships, heritage, charity, social obligations and such, Islam constituted the same norms and ways of behavior in Arab countries. Perhaps, that is one of the reasons the culture of different countries of the Arab world is the same. This is called “cultural affinity” and it is born out of the similarities Islam has produced in different Arab countries.

So, basically, there is a vague image of who an Arab is. However, as we have mentioned above, many theories appear. These include theories that indicate that Arabs were Nomadic Bedouins or dwellers of the Arabian Peninsula and extend to modern era theories that suggest that being an Arab has linguistic and political connotations.

All of this has brought about a certain Arab image. The image revolved around qualities of bravery, trustworthiness, faithfulness, mercy, kindness and, above all, manliness. This Arab image is viewed by the Arabs themselves.

I say this image is only viewed by the Arabs themselves, because if one is to test the Americans’ point of view, for example, as it comes to Arabs, one can perceive the differences in the interpretation. Instead of seeking to understand the Arabs, American colonies of long ago viewed Arabs as “pagans”. Also, in the sixteenth and seventeenth century, Arabs were labeled as “savage robbers”, people resorting to aggression, hostility, lack of order and ferociousness. So, they were simply considered people who have “lived outside of history” as it came to Americans. They have offered the world no input. In other words, whether or not the Arabs existed, it would have merely proved to be the same (Suleiman, 1988).

In 1974, and during a study that took place in the American high schools, Arabs were portrayed as “fanatics” and “infidels” who believe in a “false religion”. Also, Arabs were associated with oil. They were depicted as “vindictive”, “wild, barbaric and bloodthirsty” “madmen with little logic” (Suleiman, 1988).

Still, to add up to the matter, Americans tend to refer to the Arabs as “writing the same language” and “having the same religion-Islam” (Suleiman, 1988).

The image got even more distorted after the occurrences of September, 11 also pointed at as 9/11. A new adjective was added. Arabs started being referred to as “devious” (Hagelan, 1980)“terrorists”. Gradually, Arabs became considered a part of those “wrath should fall upon”.

Still, to be fair, this image is not the fault of the Americans alone. It is also that of the Arabs.

In other words, if one is to observe the Arab world which is made up of a group of countries and a Mediterranean ethos, it is easy to see that it does have what it takes to be a nation. However, it faces many problems that relate to its being a complementary, multiple, transitory and developing society.

A problem added to these problems points its fingers at the fact that the Arabs, in general, tend to live in the past with the Arab culture accepting all that has been handed down to it.

“Even God cannot change the past,” is one of the most famous adages repeated on the tongues of many of those Arabs who call themselves “Intellectuals”. Yet, there seems to be a conflict between what is repeated over and over again and what is actually done about it. If one wants to dissect this saying, a very simple conclusion can be reached. Once the past is rendered into no more than a past, even a miracle cannot do anything about it. After all, the only way to transform the past is to realize that one can do nothing about the past but it is in one’s hands to do everything about the future in an attempt to prevent the repetition of the past. However, this seems to be easier said than done. One wishes it had been the opposite, but reality is harsh and has the ability to bite one in the eye. Even though truth bit Arabs in their eyes too many times to count, they have chosen to ignore it, assuming that it was ordained in God’s plan for them to live in the past forever and ever. Perhaps that is one of the reasons Israel and America want to keep the Arabs in the past forever.

The Arabs simply love the past and all that has to do with the past. They are attached to it just like a baby is attached to his mother. They live in the past, discuss the past all the time and pretend they understand everything they need to understand about the past. They formulate hypotheses about the past and explain the past the way they like, repeating all the time that they have learnt everything they should learn from it.

According to Hisham Sharabi, the Arab society is “neo-patriarchal”. In other words, it is one “whose patriarchal structures have not been truly modernized, but only reshaped and preserved in ‘modernized’ forms” (as cited in Weitzman, 2005, p.3).

As it comes to Fatima Mernissi, this patriarchal structure has resulted in a “‘mutilated modernity’ – void of the great democratic advances deemed crucial to achieving genuine social transformation” (as cited in Weitzman, 2005, p.3).

The Arab world is actually engulfed with misconceptions. In the Arab world, there is a censorship on media and books. There are psychological distances between people. In addition to that, the educational setup is enclosed. Above all, there is a ruthless gender inequality ruling this world. If one is to dissect this gender disparity, one will notice that it is actually a war against women, the marginalized fraction.


Arab Women and Marriage

“A modern Muslim conservative interpretation of the alleged inferiority of woman’s nature run: The woman is afflicted with menstruation, childbirth, with pregnancy and delivery, with the raising of children … with a deficient constitution” (Guthrie 2001, p.187).

Arab women are despised for 2 reasons and by two separate worlds, one being the West and the other being the East.

In other words, the West loathes Arab women because they are “devious” Arabs (Suleiman, 1988) who were born from Arab parents. To the West, any woman wearing a veil is an Arab whose veil prevents from breathing in the air of freedom.
The East looks down on women because they are women, guilty forever with the crime of being women. As simply put.

In the 1980s, Halim Barakat listed five features that mirrored Arab women’s subordinate status. These are:

1- “Women are secluded and segregated, with the majority continuing to occupy the private domain of the household, and with public space reserved for males, and veiling (a sign of separation) still widespread.”
2- “The roles most available to women are those of daughter, sister, wife, mother, mother-in-law, etc – with few professional careers available. Women are relegated to marginality by the prevailing social, political and economic organization.”
3- “Personal status codes discriminate against women, particularly in such areas as marriage, divorce and inheritance. Among certain classes, ownership of property is almost exclusively confined to men.”
4- “Prevailing religious ideology considers women to be a source of evil, anarchy (fitna) and trickery or deception (kayd). The prevailing standard of morality stresses those values and norms associated with traditional ideas of femininity, motherhood, wifehood and sexuality.”
5- “Women may still be exposed to such practices as forced marriage, honor crimes, clitoridectomy” (Weitzman, 2005, pp. 2-3).

Girls were buried physically in the past. It was a disgrace for a woman to give birth to a girl. Still, physical burial is nothing like the emotional and psychological burial women are experiencing now.

Al-Ghazali, one of the distinguished philosophers of his time, once claimed that men were lucky to be men since that meant that they did not have to be involved in house chores. By house chores, of course, he was referring to “cooking, sweeping, cleaning utensils” and such. In other words, Al-Ghazali reflected the “urban bias of traditional Islamic culture” (Guthrie, 2001, p.11).

In Al-Ghazali’s own words, women were “capable of setting things to rights in the home” (Guthrie, 2001, p.11). This is how it all started in Arabic literature the role of which included portraying real life. Also, “portrayals of women in Arabic literature” provided a “barometer by which we can measure the status and role of Arab women in society” (Mikhail, 1980). Women were often regarded as the “playthings” of men. It is as if their roles stopped there.

Due to the patriarchal nature of the Arab society, women were not allowed to choose their marriage partners. They were even given to marriage between ages 10 and 12 (Guthrie, 1001, p.11). This brutal approach stole the women’s right to realize that they actually had rights (Guthrie, 2001, p.11).

During the middle ages, “honor” was one of the most important words ever invented. That is, honor was viewed as “the regulation of female sexuality”. A woman’s honor was her ticket to “worthiness”. Still, her worthiness consigned her to no more than a mere commodity (Guthrie, 2001, p. 12).

According to Shirin Shukri, honor (sharaf) is “what makes life worthwhile: shame is a living death not to be endured. Honor involves recognition, the openly acknowledged esteem of others which renders a person secure and important in his or her own eyes and in front of everyone else.” As it comes to her, it is the concept of honor that characterizes the roles of men and women, marks out every single matter or deal between them, authenticating them and embellishing them ineradicably (Shukri, 1996, p.1). To her, “Women in Jordan bear a special responsibility for family honor (ird), insofar as so long as a woman conforms to certain standards of modest feminine conduct her family’s status is maintained or even improved, whereas unwomanly conduct is a blot not just on her personal reputation but on the reputation of the whole family” (Shukri, 1996, p.2). In other words, if a woman behaves in a disrespectful way, no man will ask for her hand in marriage and if no man asks for her hand in marriage, she will tarnish the reputation of her family (Shukri, 1996, p.2).

Most Arab women, especially those who belong to lower socio economic status, have no right to choose their husbands. They have no right to fall in love or even to marry some one they choose to marry. To their families, love is a crime and marrying some one out of love is a sin. As a partner in marriage, the parents of the bride-to-be usually resort to choosing a first cousin, out of the notion that he will be the “most appropriate choice for perpetuating a family’s lineage”. Still, “although marriage to a first cousin is not perceived as incestuous in the Arab region, such unions can lead to congenital diseases in the offspring”, a fact uneducated parents ignore (as cited in Arab Women 1995 Trends, Statistics and Indicators, 1997, p.11).

“Marriage for women was monogamous. Their spouses, however, were allowed serial marriage or concubines, and for many women the spectre of another wife must have loomed large.” Of course, if a man got himself another wife that meant that the “original” wife would have to endure emotional and psychological pressure, especially if the new wife lived in the same house (Guthrie, 2001, p.12).

“The singular mean age for marriage among Moroccan women who have no education is 17.8 years compared with 24.9 years for women with secondary-level educational attainment” (as cited in Arab Women 1995 Trends Statistics and Indicators, 1997, p. 11). Iraq has set the female’s minimum legal age of marriage at 18 (as cited in Arab Women 1995 Trends, Statistics and Indicators, 1997, p.11).

In general, the more the age at first marriage increases, the more the woman decides to put off giving birth, choosing to stay in school longer (as cited in Arab Women 1995 Trends, Statistics and Indicators, 1997, p.11).

“Recording 26 years, Tunisia represents the highest age for women, followed by Jordan, Lebanon and Qatar (25 years each). Countries posing the youngest ages at first marriage are Djibouti and Oman (19 years each), followed by Somalia, Mauritania, the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya and the Comoros (20 years each). Subregional averages show that the least developed countries, with a mean of 20.5 are the only category which lies below the regional mean of 22. Both the Gulf States and the diversified economies (23 each) scale slightly above, with the North Africa cluster trailing slightly behind (23.5 years)” (as cited in Arab Women 1995 Trends, Statistics and Indicators, 1997, p.11).

“Several countries register a very high percentage of currently married females in the lowest age bracket, 15-19 years: the former People’s Democratic Republic of Yemen (49%); the former Yemen Arab Republic (39%); Oman (36%); and Mauritania (32%)” (as cited in Arab Women 1995 Trends, Statistics and Indicators, 1997, pp.11-12).

As it comes to F. Mernissi (Mernissi 1975, p.110) as cited in Shukri (1996, p.15), when a man and a woman get married, that means that the woman should be a faithful, compliant and dutiful wife. These are men’s expectations. However, a wife is not allowed to be expecting of faithfulness from her husband or even obedience. According to Mernissi (1975, p.110), Moroccan husbands, for instance, “owe no moral duties to their wives and the alleged ‘rights’ of women are in fact restrictions on their freedom” (as cited in Shukri, 1996, pp.15-16).

Shirine notes that the “mother-in-law” is one of the chief elements in a man and a woman’s marriage (Shukri, 1996, p.16). A mother-in-law usually has a lot to say about her daughter-in-law. She chooses her, orders her and does all she can in order to prevent the formulation of a love relationship between the married couple. “Men’s mothers act as moral watchdogs and often burden their daughters-in-law with a huge range of ethical demands, exhorting them to look forward to the future when, if they bear sons, they in turn will achieve seniority and status” (as cited in Shukri, 1996, p.16).

In some Arab countries, it is a disaster if the woman gives birth to a girl. Even now, in the 21st century, the man threatens his wife to give birth to a boy else he will divorce her, as if it is actually in her hands.

Divorce put women in the circle of those who are considered “socially outcast”. Men usually given themselves the right to divorce their wives in the case they were discovered to be barren or in the case they gave birth to girls, as we have already mentioned above. “Talaq al bid’a”, also known as “innovatory divorce”, is the divorce by which the man “repeats a repudiation statement three times before a witness” (as cited in Shukri, 1996, p.16). If the man decides to take his wife back, however, he can do so exactly 3 months after the divorce has taken place (as cited in Shukri, 1996, p.16).

A divorced woman is not respected. She is considered an outsider. Divorce becomes a label that seems to wear the woman from the time she is divorced until she is dead. Her children, in most cases, are taken away from her.

In spite of everything, according to the Imamiyyah, “if a man divorces his wife while he is sick she will inherit from him, irrespective of the divorce being irrevocable or revocable, on the realization of the following four conditions:

1- That the husband’s death occurs within a year of the date of divorce. Thus if he dies a year after the divorce, even if only by an hour, she will not inherit from him.
2- That she does not remarry before his death. If she does and he dies within a year of the divorce, she will not inherit.
3- That he does not recover from the illness during which he divorced her. Thus if he recovers and then dies within a year, she will not be entitled to inherit.
4- That the divorce does not take place at her request” (as cited in Shukri, 1996, p.167).


If a divorced woman manages to become independent financially and economically, she is doubted morally. In other words, the honor of her family depends on her own honor (as cited in Shukri, 1996, p. 163.

Arab Women and Education

Education is a weapon against illiteracy, poverty and diseases. This has been a fact no one has ever dared to argue against.

According to the exact words of Munir Bashshur (1980, p.67), “the subject of women in education is at once easy and difficult to discuss. It is an easy topic because all we have to do is find out where women stand presently in education: how their status compares with that of men, or how far they have improved in their educational chances over the years … But even before we entertain the situation, we can all agree that the conclusion is going to consist of one or two things: first, that the share of women in education has been improving over the years; and second, that this share is still less, generally, than that of men.” He continues, “It is not surprising that disadvantaged groups, no matter how we define these groups, receive smaller shares of whatever there is to be shared around” (Bashshur, 1980, p.68).

Even though the views towards educating a woman have changed, a large percentage of women in the Arab world are considered illiterate. Illiteracy, as a matter of fact, robs women of many chances. The more illiterate the woman is, the less her opportunity at proving herself is.

“A number of studies have focused on the lingering low levels of literacy among Arab women and the persisting gender gap in literacy rates. Some have explained the gender gap as partly owing to the historical disadvantage of a generation of older women, who had no access to education and partly to a lack of educational facilities for women in rural areas in poorer countries” (as cited in Arab Women 1995 Trends, Statistics and Indicators, 1997, p. 71).

In the case of Yemen and Somalia, for instance, there is a primary school enrollment gender gap of 35 and 51 girls for every 100 boys respectively. In Comros and Djibouti, this gap covers around 60 girls for every 100 boys. Still, in the Gulf Area, there are 92 girls for every 100 boys, which is actually very high and more than excellent (as cited in Arab Women 1995 Trends, Statistics and Indicators, 1997, p.73).

As it comes to “attainment rates at the primary level”, the best of these exist in countries such as Iraq, Jordan, Lebanon and Tunisia (attainment rate for girls is 23%). The poorest attainment rates are found in Egypt (3%), the Libyan Arab Jamahiriya (4%) and Saudi Arabia (5%) (as cited in Arab Women 1995 Trends, Statistics and Indicators, 1997, p.73).

Secondary school enrollment-wise, there are, on average, 74 girls for every 100 boys. “The regional mean of female first-level secondary school attainment stood at 11% of the female population aged 15 years and above in 1990, while 10% of that same population held a second-level secondary certificate” (as cited in Arab Women 1995 Trends, Statistics and Indicators, 1997, p.75).

College-wise, during the year 1990, 40% of the students enrolled in university or college were females. Here, the gender gap in enrollment demonstrates 80 females to every 100 males (as cited in Arab Women 1995 Trends Statistics and Indicators, p.77).
“Females’ share of tertiary enrollment is above the regional average, reaching as high as 72% in Qatar, 70% in the United Arab Emirates and 57% and 56% in Kuwait and Bahrain respectively” (as cited in Arab Women 1995 Trends ,Statistics and Indicators, p.77).

Still, according to Patricia McGrath (1976), “Concrete obstacles working against female education exist, ranging from shortage of educational facilities; to the belief that boys should be educated first; to the notion that girls should not travel or live alone if educational facilities are not near; to the fact that girls are kept home to administer chores that are seen to be more appropriate for daughters to do rather than sons; to the belief that educating girls limits their chances in marriage; to the belief that girls should not be in contact with boys (gender segregation); to early marriage; to parents’ belief that any investment in a girls’ education will be lost to them, since the girl will eventually belong to her husband in her newly created family or even the family of her in-laws and will no longer be part of her parents’ family; to the belief that by education, women may become less submissive to the dictates of their male relatives (or spouses); to limited employment opportunities which lessen enthusiasm for (the already costly) education; to the educational system, curricula, textbooks, etc., which reinforce the stereotypes against women; to the future educational expectations for girls, which are generally limited since marriage is considered the ideal future” (as cited in Arab Women 1995 Trends, Statistics and Indicators, 1997, p.72).

Actually, what Patricia McGrath (1976) has noted says it all. When it comes to educating boys, any parent would go ahead and do it without a moment of hesitancy. However, educating a woman scares parents. In reality, it scares the society. If a woman is educated, this means that she is a danger to the man. As it comes to the society, an educated woman is a powerful enemy, because she can outperform men at any domain. That is, she can play their own game and even beat them at it. Parents seem to believe that an educated woman does not have to marry, because she has everything she wants. That is, she can spend on herself, open her own house and even start a business of her own.

Moreover, the more educated a woman is, the more aware she is of her rights, of the real meaning behind “right” and “wrong”. An educated woman is a powerful woman who can step above any blockage and even transcend above any complications.

Conclusion

“Talk to Arab women and you’ll quickly learn that the controversy over the Muslim veil that ranges endlessly in Europe is the least of their concerns. They face a daunting array of hardships, from spousal domination at home to gender discrimination in the workplace, and even if they happen to agree that the veil symbolizes their plight, they tend to dismiss criticism of it as a Western Attack on their culture” (“Women in the Arab World”).

An Arab Human Development Report released under the sponsorship of the United Nations Development Fund “debunks the Arab conspiracy theory that promoting women’s rights is part of a Western plot against Islam”. According to this report, “The rise of Arab women is in fact a prerequisite for an Arab renaissance and causally linked to the fate of the Arab world and its achievement of human development” (Women in the Arab World).


This report sheds light on the predicaments Arab women endure. Arab women are denied the right to have a proper education even though they see to best boys at school. It is a fact that Arab countries have “one of the highest rates of female illiteracy in the world”. If a family gives birth to a boy and a girl and has enough money to educate one of them only, it chooses the boy. This is due to the notion that a boy will grow up to be the “man of the house” who will bring in money and make his family proud while the woman is the “maid whose destiny ordained her to clean after him and raise his children without complaint”.

According to the famous writer Assia Djebar, “All our women are afraid… They who are so talkative, never speak of the fact that they are afraid. They are busy having child after child to stifle their fear” (Mikhail, 1980).

Assia says it all. Arab women are not actually cursed. They are simply afraid and feel restrained. They need to perceive how lucky they are because they are women who are born to be Arabs. Once they do, the curse they are permitting the society to surround themselves with will break and their real beauty will ensue.

Women have actually gone a long way. In Saudi Arabia, for instance, women are starting to leave their cocoons and raise their voices. In the Gulf Area, women are assuming high positions. Egypt even held the first Summit for Women. Where were we and where are we now? And the best is yet to come!

A Final Thought

For ages, Arab women have been an inspiration. Examples of such women are Al-Khansa (Tumadir bint Amru al-Harith- bint al-Sharid), Nazik al-Mal’aika, Walladah bint al-Mustakfi, Therese Awwad, Fadwa Touqan (Mikhail, 1980), May Ziade, Om Kalthoum, Feiruz, Majida el Roumy, Layla Anwar, Julia Boutros and many others. These women wrote and sang, thus proving to themselves, to Arab women and to all women that they have a voice that can transcend above stereotypes and injustice. With a pen, Fadwa Touqan, for instance, wrote:

“Freedom
My Freedom
I shall carve the words in the
Earth
Chisel their sounds
Over every door in the Levant…
Below the slope at every street
Corner inside the prison
Within the torture chamber” (as cited in Mikhail, 1980).

Majida el Roumy, in a speech during Jubran Twaini’s memorial, proved what a great woman she is. This is the women who sang for Kana and for Beirut and who looked in the eyes of everyone and said that God is her only witness and politics was nothing to her in a country who is on the verge of “worshipping” politics and taking it for a God instead of a dirty game.

Layla Anwar raises her voice against the horror surrounding Iraqis in general and Iraqi women in specific. She shouts and argues (Anwar, 2008). She admits the following:


“All you need to know about me is that I am a Middle Easterner, an Arab Woman.
I have no Homeland per Se. I live in Iraq, Lebanon, Palestine, Jordan, Syria and Egypt Simultaneously … All the rest is icing on the cake” (Anwar, 2008).

Those are the Arab women. This is their real image. I am not saying this because I am woman who happens to be an Arab. I am saying this because I am so proud of who I am, proud of my name and of my origin, of my gender and my voice, of the women I know and those I do not know but understand that they have the courage to fly high without losing their innocence and their compassion for others. Being who I am is not a curse. On
the contrary, it is one of the most beautiful pieces of good fortune, of blessings. My job is not to wage a war against men. “I am fit for high positions, by God … And am going my way with pride” as Walladah bint al-Mustakfi says (Mikhail, 1980).

The Fatherless Syndrome

A clergyman called Henry Ward Beecher has once said that, “The most important thing a father can do for his children is to love their mother." This quotation shows the importance of a husband in the life of his wife and children. In other words, if a mother is the tender creature, the father is the role model, the man the boys want to be like and the girls want to marry someone who is his exact copy. This means that a father’s presence in the life of his children is crucial. Still, his absence can be pretty destructive, thus resulting in the “fatherless syndrome”. The absence of a father in the life of his children influences their lives negatively by preventing them from becoming healthy individuals emotionally and depriving them of a set of attributes mothers cannot provide and resulting in various problems.

When no father is evident in his children’s life, the children lose the emotional health that psychologists, psychiatrists and social workers seem to be discussing endlessly. Rebecca Hagelin explains that although fathers are shown in books and movies as abusers, they assume an inimitable role by providing their family with tenderness and solidity. In David Popenoe’s opinion, men who grow without fathers turn hostile and immoral. This is due to the fact that they have no role model to help them throughout their lives. As it comes to girls, the absence of a fatherly figure will make them reach a stage where they will think they are not deserving of love and affection because no strong male figure showed them the opposite. Moreover, Popenoe explains that most fatherless young men might put an end to their life or pass away due to sickness.

In addition to that, Elizabeth Fox-Genovese of National Review believes that no man will be able to take care of the kids and be loyal to them except the biological father.
The absence of a fatherly figure deprives children from a set of attributes mothers cannot provide. According to Rex McCan’s study entitled On their own: Boys growing up underfathered and mentioned by Steven Svoboda, no matter what the reason of the father’s absence is, the children are deeply influenced. McCan goes further to say that boys need their fathers around so that they give them the landmarks for their own personal development. The study explains how boys usually look up to their fathers and wish to spend time with them to learn how to become men like their fathers. In other words, when there is no father in the house, there is no one to teach the sons about manhood. On the other hand, Popenoe considers that daughters discover that they have no sense of their own femininity when their fathers are not in the picture. Also, sons cannot have the same type of relationship with their fathers as the one they have with their mothers.

That is, as it comes to him, fathers and mothers differ in their ways of parenting.
When there is no father around, children face major problems. As it comes to the National Institute of Health, teenagers whose fathers are absent become dejected compared to teenagers whose fathers play an important role in their lives. Rebecca Hagelin says that the study did not stop there but went further to say that these teenagers have a big possibility as it comes to getting expelled from school or missing classes. Features in their lives include drug, alcohol abuse and gambling in addition to premarital sex and engaging in misconduct. Daughters usually end up losing their virginity and mistrusting guys. That is, their lives go down the drain especially when they turn into criminals and thieves according to Hagelin.

The fathers’ absence can cause a deep impact on children, whether emotional-wise or attribute wise and it can lead to a set of problems. Fathers are, after all, an essential component of the life of children. They instill the real meaning of masculinity in the blood of their sons and show their daughters that they are worthy of every bit of affection. Life can be really hard in the absence of the father, especially when children require his presence in their lives as much as they need water to be alive. The “fatherless syndrome” is most probably one of the syndromes doctors cannot cure.

Animania

Animania

Animania is a board game that tests the players' knowledge of endangered animals.
Instructional Objectives
Objective: After playing the board game, the students will be able to recollect basic information and strengthen their knowledge of four endangered animals they have studied earlier in life science class with 80% accuracy, in approximately 30 minutes.

This board game is designed for a life science class.

Unite: Mammals
Chapter: Endangered Mammals
Rationale:
Understanding the importance of insuring animals’ safety or else they would be at the risk of deing endangered.

Audience: The game is designed for 3rd and 4th graders (9 and 10 year olds).

The subject matter is familiar to the players because they have previously been taught about endangered animals and have studied the material from the book.

This game is designed as a classroom activity, but can also be played anywhere else. There are no accommodations necessary to play the game other than the board itself and the material that it entails.
The board game is designed to be played only once because it acts as an evaluation for the previously learned information and does not need to be played more than once, unless the teacher wants to obtain perfection. However, the teacher can add or change the questions of the game: the board game can be kept for the following years when new students learn about endangered animals.

Prior to the game, the teacher would inform the students that they will play a board game to test their mastery of the four endangered animals they have learned about in class. The teacher would clearly state the rules of the game, explaining that it is by no means an official graded test, but rather a fun way for self evaluation.
After the game, the students would have tested their knowledge on the subject matter and referred to the answer key to correct their mistakes. The teacher will conduct a debriefing sessions, whereby the students will decompress, describe what they want through, draw comparisons with other evolution methods used throughout the semester, and they will derive lessons.

Object of the Game
The goal of the game is to be the first zoo keeper to get to the endangered animals and take them to his zoo in the area to own such endangered animals.

Game materials

Physical objects:
Dice
Mirror
Black and white pictures of a Panda
Four Game pieces (tokens)
A set of cards
The answer key
The rules (the guide)

Dice: Used once at the beginning of the game to decide which player takes the first step.
Mirror: To be used with one question that requires the player to decipher a code by looking at the question through the mirror.
Black and white pictures of a panda: To be used to answer one of the questions be coloring the black areas of the panda that is drown.
Four Game Pieces: To represent the four players as they advance on the footsteps of the board game
A set of cards: the cards come in three colors each representing a different level of difficulty. The questions range between multiple choice, true or false, codes, and direct questions. Among the question cards are some chance cards.
The answer key: provides the correct answers to all the questions of the board game.
The rules: a paper that describes in detail and gives specific instructions about how to go about in the game.

This game is not adopted from any other game but is rather newly designed; it is not dependant on a frame game.

The game is comprised of 3 levels, each has a different color. On each level there are steps of all the four animals (in four different colors) that the players are seeking to reach. Each player is represented by a shape. Throughout the game there are designs that are related to the setting which is a jungle. There are different types of animals and flowers… there are also areas that have quick sands and ladders to include the element if chance in the game.

Time Required

The board game requires a maximum of 5 minutes to set up; it requires approximately 30 minutes playing; it is completed during a single session.

Post-evaluation:

After having played the game, the teacher will start a discussion in the classroom, making sure that most, if not all, the students' voice their opinion, reaction and feedback on the game; and the teacher will conduct a quick overview by asking some questions and thus making sure that objective has been met.

Lesson Planning: Constructivism Approach

Lesson Plan Format
Constructivism Approach



1. Documentation
v Teacher’s Name: Rawan Hashem
v Date: April 29, 2008
v Cycle: 1
v Grade: 3
v Theme: Environment
v Subject: Pollution

1. 2. General Instructional Objectives

At the end of this session, students will:

1- Learn new information about types of pollution
2- Learn about the sources of pollution
3- Learn the importance of keeping the environment clean and pollution free

2. 3. Student Learning Outcomes

At the end of this lesson, students will be able to:
1- Identify and discuss different kinds of pollution.2- Identify and discuss sources of pollution.3- Discuss and explain why it is important to keep the environment free of pollution4- Brainstorm solutions to our environmental problems



3. 4. Rationale


As the future of our country, children need to be able to identify the types of pollution, the sources of the pollution, and how they can protect the environment from further pollutants.

5. Students’ Background

There are 26 students in the classroom, 16 boys and 10 girls. They are currently learning about environment and contamination; as a result, this activity will introduce them to the causes of pollution, its sources, and possible solutions to cease it. They have learned about the meaning of pollution before; however, they still need more examine the causes and relate them to their daily life.

6. 6. Instructional Procedure

Focusing Event:
In the previous session, students have learned about environment and were introduced to the meaning of pollution.

1- Begin the activities by displaying and reviewing the lesson vocabulary. (pollution, surroundings, litter, environment)

2. Discuss displayed pictures of water, air, and land pollution. Have students identify what is bad and what is good in each of the pictures displayed. (Activity 1).
3. Ask students to "Brainstorm" to complete a list of ways that they can help to stop pollution. Examples: not put garbage into the lakes and streams, walk or ride bikes whenever possible, pick up litter). List the students responses on a poster titled "Let's Stop Pollution". Stress that because so many important things in the surroundings are shared by people in other communities, everyone must work to stop pollution of the air, water, and land. Students will then have a variety of activities to teach them about the causes and effects of pollution.

Teaching Procedures:

Activity 1:


Display the pictures using the overhead projector. The activity is divided into three parts. In the first one, pictures of factors causing pollution will be displayed and students will be asked to raise their hands when they see something bad (pollution). In the second part, pictures of "good things happening to the earth" will be shown and students will be asked to raise their hands when they see something good happening to the earth. (Please see attached document for the pictures).
Students will be divided into three groups. The teacher will paste numbered note cards containing factors of pollution on the black board. (Some related to air, water, and land pollution). The first group will be called Air, the second will be called Water, while the third group will be called Land. Each group is asked to write down the numbers of the cards that relate to its category (Land, Air, and Water pollution).


Activity 2
Earth Ball Activity:

Materials:
One large-sized beach ball that has the Earth’s countries and oceans on it.

Instructions:

1. Have students stand in a circle and ask them to pass around the ball like they’re playing a game of volleyball.
2. Ask them to pass around the ball gently instead, the second time.
3. Did you throw the ball the second time? Did you hit it?
Discussion:
• If you were the Earth, how would you like to be treated? Like the first or second time?
• The Earth is very fragile and needs to be handled with care.


Activity 3:

Replace the students in groups and let them write down lists of solutions and measures that can be taken to prevent pollution on posters with the title: Lets Stop Pollution. Also- provide students with boxes and paint. Have them make "litter boxes" with labels and decorations that state why it is important not to litter. Place the boxes in areas around the school or home

Closure:

After all the groups are done, each group will read their solutions to the whole class.



4. 7. Students’ Participation
Students will participate in the following tasks:
Differentiate between good and bad things for the earth.
Identify three kinds of pollution (Land, Water, and Air)
Understand the causes of pollutions.
Write down possible solutions.
Present their work in a poster.



5. 8. Materials/Visual Auditory Aids
To do this activity we need:
Over head projector.
A laptop for showing the pictures.
An earth ball.
Markers
Poster
Boxes

Citizenship Education

Citizenship education is about using education to train people to become citizens. Education can refer to formal schooling, or to public information more broadly circulated, e.g. through the media, through legislation, or through informal adult education. It also presumes that citizenship is more than an issue of legal status or political identity, but involves a set of values and commitments. Nevertheless, Citizenship education is not about trying to fit everyone into the same mould, or creating an ideal, or good citizen. It is rather about empowering citizens to make their own decisions and to assume responsibility for their own lives and their communities.
Definition:
The term citizenship has different meanings:
1- A legal and political status
At the simplest level, citizenship is used to refer to the position of being a citizen and part of the community or state. Thus, in this regard, citizenship brings about certain rights and duties stipulated by law. Sometimes, the term means nationality, such as when we talk about "applying for citizenship".

2- Involvement in public life and sector:
The term citizenship is also used to point to the engagement in public life. It is the behaviors and actions of a citizen, and sometimes known as an active citizenship. It refers to many activities, ranging from participating in elections, and assuming a political position and status. It doesn’t only point to the duties and rights stipulated by the Constitution and law, but also to wide range of behaviors which societies expect from their citizens.

3- Citizenship education:
In this sense, citizenship refers to an educational process, to make people learn how to be active, responsible, and aware citizens. It includes broad scope of education, from information education at home, or through the civics course provided by schools, universities, and colleges. (Greenwoond and Robins, 2000).

In most countries, there is recognition that school structures must support citizenship education. Carole Hahn's important research in Europe and the USA demonstrates a clear connection between positive attitudes toward participation in democratic civic life and schools which encourage students to be involved in school governance and openly discuss and take action on important public issues. Many countries are looking for ways to engage students in school and community decision making as a principal element of citizenship education.
In contrary, there is a growing recognition that schools are not the only sites where citizenship education takes place. In many jurisdictions, service learning is becoming a requirement for high school graduation. In service-learning programs, students are often placed with a community groups and earn school credit for their work there. This volunteer service may or may not — depending on the program — be accompanied by academic work and discussion around the issues dealt with by the organization.. These kinds of programs aim at connecting the students to real issues in their community, and at the same time, developing their knowledge and skills in the area of democratic participation.

Goals of Citizenship Education:

“We should not, must not, dare not, be complacent about the health and future of British democracy. Unless we become a nation of engaged citizens, our democracy is not secure.” (Chancellor, 1998)
The key reason behind citizenship education stems from the nature of democracy. Democracies require informed, active, and responsible citizens who are eager and capable of taking responsibility for themselves and their communities and partake in the political process. These capacities are not innate. They have to be learned and acquired. While certain level of citizenship may be attained through ordinary experience in the home or at the workplace, it can never in itself be sufficient to equip citizens for the sort of active role required of them in today’s complex and diverse society.
Wherever it occurs, citizenship education has the same basic aims and purposes. It is education for citizenship – that is, education which aims to help people learn and know how to become active, informed and responsible citizens. More particularly, it aims to prepare them for life as citizens of a democracy.
Different characteristics are required by citizens in different types of political system. The characteristics required of people living as free and equal citizens in a democratic society differ significantly from those of people living under, say, a totalitarian regime.
My personal vision for the future of citizenship education emulates that of Derricott, (1998). School is a community where values and beliefs are in the formation stage. If the whole culture and experience of school can be one of true pupil-led participation and active citizenship, with the right skills this can be transferred to the world outside as children move into adult life. School is a blank canvas for designing a better society.
Derricott (1998) examined case studies of citizenship education both within and beyond the UK and remarks on how the values of British society do not entirely reflect the values of citizenship. But I argue that this is a core reason for the introduction of statutory citizenship education – to move towards this ideal.
A school is indeed one community that all young people identify with and belong to. Derricott propose that school should aim to become a ‘model of multi-dimensional citizenship’ with entirely democratic and globally responsible policies and practices including environmental stewardship, ethical use of technology, and entrenched values of co-operation and community partnerships. Indeed this is a key criticism of the current position of citizenship in the curriculum – pupils are being taught about democracy in a school environment which is likely to be very undemocratic. Schools need to internalize the values of citizenship in their daily business for children to realize that democracy is effective and that they have an important part to play in it. Data from Derricott (1998) also indicates the importance of community contributions to education and that there must be a sense of collective responsibility for the education of the young.

Lebanon: Why Education and Citizenship

How well are young people in Lebanon equipped and ready to exercise the rights and obligations of citizenship? What is the levelof their understanding of key concepts related to democratic citizenship and how does this impact their attitudes, values and actions? At this time of intense political turbulence, how do they address questions of identity, social solidarity and democratic participation?
What are key factors in their educational setting that impact their civic attitudes and how do they compare to their peers in different countries? These questions were addressed by a study undertaken as part of the National Human Development Report (NHDR) for Lebanon is trying to respond to.
This year, the study of NHDR, entitled Towards a Citizen’s State tried to examine the role of the state and citizenship in Lebanon and identify the problems that mark the relationship of Lebanese citizens with their state and with each other. A key premise of this report is that citizenship is the foundation of democracy, that democratic practices cannot be limited to the procedural dimension, despite its significance, and that effective citizenship concerns not only voting without coercion, but also the formation of relations between citizens and the State and between citizens themselves. The study carried out in Lebanon this year indicates that civic knowledge amongst Lebanese students is low compared to their peers in other countries. However, their comprehension of the three main concepts related to citizenship, democracy, good citizen and state responsibilities was relatively high.

The outcome of the study also revealed strong support by students for the military role of the state as well as strong patriotic and independent sentiments amongst students, which in part may be a reflection of the general political turbulence that Lebanon is undergoing. In addition, although student interest in politics seems to be high, their expectations of political participation appear to be limited – a potential source of future friction. As can be expected, this survey also illustrates the extent to which student’s preference for political leaders is guided by their confessional affiliation, reflecting both the nature of Lebanon’s social makeup and its strong political polarization. Civic knowledge of ninth-graders in Lebanon is modest in comparison to their peers in the 28 other countries covered by the survey.

The achievement of Lebanese students in international civic content knowledge was varied and better than their achievement in civic skills. For example, Lebanese students scored higher percentages than the available percentages for the 28 countries that participated in the study in 4 out of 9 questions (political rights, multiple organizations, more than one political party in democratic systems and on the implications of one publisher buying up the smaller newspaper. Their scores decreased substantially in 5 other questions particularly around the laws and gender discrimination. Lebanese students show a relatively high understanding of citizenship concepts as indicated by their percentages and mean average when compared to their peers in other countries in the IEA study, including developed ones. Even though unexpected [given the ongoing political turbulence], this level of understanding is not reflected in their civic skills where they performed quite poorly. National sentiment amongst Lebanese students is also very strong with a powerful penchant toward protectionism and sovereignty. But, there is no consensus amongst the youth on political options that may be described as national or common (such as name of historic leader, states that may be considered friends or foes to Lebanon etc.). A question on the most important historic leader for Lebanon gleaned an ambiguous result at best


Conclusion:

Because democracy requires informed participation, citizens must understand ideas about citizenship, politics and government. They need knowledge to make decisions about policy choices and the proper use of authority, along with the skills to voice their concerns, act collectively and hold public officials accountable.
A curriculum for citizenship will be enquiry based, with students making connections between their own and others' experiences, learning to think critically about society and take action for social justice. Educational institutions where this is achieved embody learning for citizenship in their organizational leadership and in their self evaluation. Citizenship education enhances the professional values and practices of teachers and others.
In addition, citizenship education requires students to consider public and individual issues of an ethical and political nature. These issues will be topical and often controversial. Effective education for citizenship includes the integration of conceptual understanding and the skills for civic engagement.
Citizenship education requires an integrated approach to assessment which incorporates evidence about knowledge, skills and understanding, values, dispositions and social action. The overall assessment must integrate learners' self evaluations and reflections which take account of others' observations and the teachers' evaluations of pupils.
In conclusion, citizenship education in schools has the potential to bring huge benefits to individuals, schools and community life. Citizenship can truly prepare pupils for adult life and grant them the skills and awareness to contribute positively as young people. For this to work, the values of citizenship need to penetrate the whole school environment and should develop skills transferable to other areas of work, school and adult life.
References:
Chancellor, R. (1998). What is citizenship and why teach it. Retrieved on May 29, 2008 from http://www.citizenshipfoundation.org.uk/main/page.php?286.

Derricott, R. (1998). National Case Studies of Citizenship Education’ in Cogan Citizenship for the 21st Century. Retrieved on June, 1, 2008, from http://gse.ed.uiuc.edu/citizenship.html

DfES, (2007). Diversity and Citizenship in the Curriculum: A Research review. Nottingham, DfES. Retrieved on May, 30, 2008 from http://www.dfes.gov.uk/research/data/uploadfiles/RB819.pdf.

Greenwoond, J. Robins, L. (2002). Citizenship Tests and Education; Embedding a concept Parliamentary Affairs. Retrieved on June, 1, 2008, from http://pa.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/citation/55/3/505

Hebert. Y, Sear. A. (1996). Citizenship Education. Canadian Education Association. Retrieved on June, 1, 2008, from http://www.cea-ace.ca/media/en/Citizenship_Education.pdf

Sears, A., Hughes. A. (1996). “Citizenship Education and Current Educational Reform”. Retrieved on May, 28, 2008, from http://www.csse.ca/CJE/Articles/FullText/CJE21-2/CJE21-2-03Sears.pdf

UNDP report (2008). Education and Citizenship, Analysis of survey results of the 9th grade students in Lebanon, United Nation Development Program.