What Kind of Classroom Management Issues Arise in Egypt?

Teaching high school in Egypt.  There's no job quite like it.  

Nothing that anyone told me really prepared me for my second day of class. 

Why do I say "second day" of class?  

Because the first day of class was pretty much a normal day.  On the first day of class, as I mention in Nile Union Academy: A Memoir was the day where the students size up the teachers, to see what they will be able to get away with in class.  On day two, the students begin to test the teachers, and by the end of the first week, you are chewed up and swallowed like a piece of raw meat in the stomach of a baby shark.

You have to be firm from day one.  

In my book, Mrs. Selma told me to be firm, but I did not listen.  I wish I did, because it took me a long time to figure out just how firm I needed to be, and by that point, the students had gotten pretty comfortable in my classes.

Here are just a few things you will deal with if you teach high school students in Egypt.

1.  LOTS of cheating.

In Egypt, cheating is kind of a sport, and many Egyptian youth have no problem cheating in front of you.  At Nile Union Academy, we had a ZERO cheating policy, but that did not matter to many students.  Many students wanted to get high honors or at least pass the classes, and to do so, some resorted to cheating rather than studying.  I wondered at times, "do Egyptian students understand study skills?"  

There are many ways in which my students liked to cheat.  Some ways included having another paper under their test with the answers on it, copying off other students, walking around the room during the test and talking to other students/looking at their papers, or even going to the restroom.  Some students would write the answers on their skin.  Pretty much anything that they could get away with was fair game.  You have to be prepared for cheating and ready to call the students out on it.  It's uncomfortable for the teacher, as the students often would deny they cheated and the other students would vouch for them.  

2.  Talking when you talk.

If you expect the students to listen to you while you lecture, forget it.  It won't happen.  I got to the point where I didn't lecture.  There was pretty much nothing that I could do to get the students to stop speaking (at least at first).  You have to be willing to be tough - give out tardies or absences, or even send the students out of the class.  It seems rough, but it will show the students you mean business, and make the class more enjoyable for those who really do want to learn.  I think all the students do want to learn, but they don't realize it yet.  Give them the chance to enjoy the class by taking control of the classroom.

3.  Using any excuse to leave the classroom.

I had one student who had to pee every day in every class I taught him.  He was not the only one who tried to get out of going to class.  Many students had this burning desire to walk the halls and hang out with their friends in the bathroom.  But, it doesn't do them any favors to allow them to go and do these things.  You have to keep them in the classroom at all costs.  

4.  Physical fighting during class.

Egypt is a very hands-on society and physical fighting is very common.  If you allow it to happen, there will be fights every day.  You have to end it before it starts.  Seating charts don't always work.  I had students run across the room to punch each other just because one gave another a bad look.  It's like a prison, sometimes! 

5.  Arguing with the teacher about classwork.

Do not make your class a democracy, or the students will start to argue about everything.  Assert dominance.  You are the leader.  The students must follow your lead and do what you assign them.  Do not back down.  Once you do, everything will be an argument.  Egyptians are experts at arguing and haggling and will make a big show out of the smallest thing.  Some will even feign sick or state that they can' write because they scratched their arm.  

In conclusion, Egyptian students need firm boundaries, and a teacher who is willing to be a leader.  I didn't realize this right away and it caused many problems (of which I wrote about in Nile Union Academy: A Memoir).  Egyptian students will come to love their teachers, even if you are strict in the classroom.  You can be strict and love your students.  It's about finding a balance.  

Life in Gabal Asfar, Egypt - the Home of Nile Union Academy

Gabal Asfar is almost like a village, except that it is a part of Cairo.  Located on the east side of the city (the opposite side of the Pyramids), Gabal Asfar can be described as an area of tall brick and cement buildings, dusty alleyways, busy roads with tuk-tuks and donkey carts weaving in and out of traffic, and many small shops and restaurants.  Meandering along the main road, you will catch a glimpse of women wearing traditional hijabs and men smoking shisha pipes.  Young kids pop in and out of crepe restaurants, which are popular in the area.  There is even a place called "Sushi," but fish nor rice is not on the menu.  It's just another crepe shop.  

Gabal Asfar is much more than the buildings on the main drag but also consists of a maze of buildings crisscrossed by small alleyways.  In these alleyways, you will see children playing ball as motorcycles rush by.  Women carry fruit and vegetables along the streets, and you may even spot a man selling erk sous, which is a cold traditional tea, best enjoyed on a hot day.  If you dare to try it, you should be warned that for many, it is an acquired taste (I happen to enjoy it).  Along the back streets, you will find smaller markets, some with live chickens and other animals waiting to be butchered, or produce stands where you haggle for the price of goods.  There are even some convenience stores selling all sorts of sweet treats and carbonated sodas.  Look above during Ramadan, and you will see tapestries of all colors, as well as streamers hanging from the buildings.  Otherwise, you will see clothes hanging out to dry in the dusty heat.

There is something else about Gabal Asfar that will catch your eye, and that's a large walled-off compound along the main road.  What could be beyond those walls, where date palms reach toward the sky and birds flock in and out?  As you drive by, you will see a gate and the words, "Nile Union Academy: An International School" written on the wall.  A large metal gate with a small gatehouse guards the campus, and a friendly man watches for visitors.  

Once you enter the school, you are whisked away into a whole different world.  The loudness of the city is drowned out by the sound of the wind.  The rumbling of cars and backfiring of motorcycles fades to silence.  And, as you walk towards the main campus, you shall see something that does not exist anywhere else in Gabal Asfar.  A lawn.  From the center of Nile Union Academy, you can look around and see the neighborhood's high rises all in varying stages of construction.  None are finished, to avoid paying the taxes on finished buildings, they are "completed" in a manner that still looks like they are under construction.  That may mean beams sticking out of the tops, or exposed brick and cement.  

Then there are the minarets that sound their famous call to prayer.  You will hear it five times a day.  It is best enjoyed in the evening as the bright red sun sets over the buildings and trees to the west.  The smokey, hazy air makes for some spectacular deep-colored sunsets.  

What else can I say about Gabal Asfar?  It is a whole different world than anywhere in the west.  A place where people come and go, where many live, and where change is constant.  When Nile Union Academy was founded in 1954, the area around the campus was all farmland.  Now, there is no sign of that world save for one farm next to the campus, as well as the campus itself.  

Want to learn more about life in Egypt, and the place known as Gabal Asfar?  Then check out   Nile Union Academy: A Memoir.  

Teaching High School in Egypt - Teaching at Nile Union Academy

Many people wonder what it is like to teach in a foreign country.  I have had the opportunity to teach in the United States, Ukraine, and Egypt, and I would say that Egypt was by far the most difficult.  Yet, at the same time, you will gain valuable skills that will equip and challenge you in ways that you have never imagined.

Nile Union Academy is a five-year boarding school on the edge of Cairo.  The school is surrounded by mosques, minarets, and local neighborhoods.  It is truly an interesting place to experience!  It is the kind of place that most people in the US never get to see, nonetheless experience.

Life in Egypt is far different than life in western countries, and the same can be said about life in the classroom.  Classroom management is trickier.  Students have the desire to go to the western world but don't really know exactly how to go about it.  Cheating is a problem.  Life is often about power and asserting dominance, especially for young men.  But, once you get past these walls, you begin to know the students who are not so much different than youth anywhere else in the world.  

They love sports, competition, and are hungry to know about God.  I used to joke and say that I thought I could understand what Moses felt like when he lead the Israelites and mixed multitude out of Egypt.  Sometimes you wonder if you are doing anything at all.  The mental aspect can be a real challenge.  There were many days I wondered, why in the world am I here?

The honeymoon stage will end.  You will sometimes wake up and ask yourself how you will get through another day, another week, another month... 

And then, there are other days when you wake up to the call to prayer and are once again in awe that you are waking up in Egypt.  

Nile Union Academy: A Memoir is available on Amazon.  

Arrival In Egypt and First Impressions of Nile Union Academy and (second impressions) of Egypt

Arriving at our new home, Nile Union Academy, in Gabal Asfar (a part of Cairo) was an amazing experience.  I still remember the drive from the airport to the school.  This was not my first time to Egypt (I had visited for a month after I graduated law school five years earlier), but it would be my first time working in Egypt, and I was very excited to be teaching.

We had spent three months in Europe on our way to Egypt.  I had previously served as a lay pastor in Queets, Washington (a small Quinalt tribe town on the coast) with my wife and daughter (who was five at the time).  After almost two years of ministry, we were lead to Egypt to work with Nile Union Academy.  It would be a life-changing experience.  During my time at NUA, I knew that I should write a book about my time at the school.  There was so much to write about and it was overwhelming at first, so I decided to keep a journal.  I have decided to post some of those entries here.  I will also post some of the excerpts from the book as well.

"Today was the day we arrived in Cairo. We flew from Kyiv at 10:30 am. Checking in our luggage was a bit of a hassle, especially with our huge orange suitcase, but we got it. We flew from Kyiv a little later than scheduled and arrived in Cairo around 1:05. After immigration and collecting our bags, which took a while, we met with two of the men here who drove us to the school.

The drive took about an hour, and it was very hot as expected. The area of the city looked much different than I expected, but in some ways, I like it more. It seems removed. There were backroads that lead here instead of a big highway, which I liked. There was a canal we drove along which was very polluted with garbage. As we got closer to the school, we saw more large buildings and shops. Then we turned into the school and drove in.

I was very impressed by the school. It is very pretty. There are many trees and lots of grass and bushes. I am even told there are foxes that live on the grounds. There are many buildings around campus and lots of farmland. One of the first things we saw was some children playing in a pool.

When we arrived, we immediately were checked into our room, which is just a temporary room we are staying in for a week. We took a tour of the campus and met a lot of people. It will be hard to learn all the names, but in time we will learn them. We went into some of the classrooms and the preschool area where Beverly will teach. There was a small playground there, which made Persephone very happy. The person who bakes bread in the morning gave us all some mango juice and Sephie drank her cup in seconds. We were all surprised. It was very good.

After going around the campus we went into the neighborhood outside of the campus. We met some people and bought some fruit at the market and then went to a grocery store to buy groceries and water. Later that night we met Mr. Damon and went out for koshary. I was so happy that there is a koshary place right by the campus. 

We think we are going to really like it here. It’s such a nice campus. I love being here and I am really excited for everything.

--Journal Entry - July 30, 2018

From Nile Union Academy: A Memoir --

“It’s going to be an amazing year!” the principal said.

Actually, he shouted it excitedly.

He was a loud man with a seemingly unquenchable fire roaring deep inside of him. He stood tall, with an athletic frame, having a shaved head that glistened under the lights above. He was in his thirties and in charge of operations of the school. There was power, power in his words. He was “the man” on campus: Principal Darren. His wife, Mrs. Daena, stood by his side. She was a petite woman, with flowing brown hair that extended past her shoulders. Like her husband, she was also athletic. Her eyes gazed at all of us volunteers and staff who were attentively sitting and listening. It could not be denied that she was pretty. And the students would love her. She was given the title of Head Teacher and although she was not officially the vice principal (the school did not have one this year), she acted the part. “An amazing year!”

It was already pretty amazing if you ask me. It was my second time in Egypt (I had visited as a tourist five years earlier) and this time I would be living there for one year! My position was the English Teacher at this boarding school in the outskirts of Cairo. Mr. Darren told us that the area around Nile Union Academy was once all farmland, but change came and now it was a part of one of the quickest growing cities on Earth. In the middle of red and brown urban sprawl, this campus looked like an oasis of green fields, date palms, and scattered buildings. Most of the campus was farmland, leased out and worked by outsiders. In the middle of the campus was a big lawn. A fountain stood at the center of it. “This is the only grass some of these kids ever get to see” I was told. I was told a lot in the beginning, but I was never once told exactly how this year would unfold.