Lalla Amina high school is a public high school in the heart of Meknes' "new city". Meknes, like many Moroccan cities, has a pre-colonial city and a French-based city. Lalla Amina sits along a large square and has a beautiful courtyard with trees and benches just inside the gates. I visited Lalla Amina several times during my stay in Meknes, and each time I was greeted with warm regards from both students and faculty. Look at the great banner they had to welcome us! You will notice that the banner is in English, the name of the school is in Arabic, and above the Arabic in blue, there is the newly added Tamazight language (the language of indigenous people of Morocco). In 2011, the king declared the Tamazight language an official language of Morocco, so when looking at government signs, you can see where it has been added. |
One difference I noticed right away was that teachers do not stay in a certain classroom- they travel, usually with their papers and perhaps chalk or a dry-erase marker. After class is finished, they lock the door to the room and then proceed to the teacher's lounge or even go home. Teachers have 20hrs of face to face time with their students each week, so some teachers only work in the morning, afternoon, or weekends. Many of these teachers supplement their income during this time by teaching at a private school or at a language center. The faculty lounge was buzzing with between classes, with many of the teachers purchasing mint tea and cookies as they prepare for their next classes. This is very different from my work, as I am responsible for hallway behaviors between classes and we do not have a faculty lounge. I was envious of the Moroccan culture's emphasis on nurturing social relationships just as much as professional relationships. Many of the teachers would even greet each other with a hug and a a kiss on each cheek (between women), and they would do this again as they parted ways. This is very different from American teachers- I am pretty certain if I tried to hug my colleagues (even those I am close to) every time I saw them, I would likely appear awkward. Instead of hugging, most of the men would instead shake hands, again upon first seeing someone and when parting. Our host, Khadija, taught English language classes and was clearly well liked by both her students and colleagues. We were able to interact with her students several times, once while observing their classes, again when we taught our lesson about American history and current issues, and then again when working on cultural exchange information. Many of these students were also involved in the English Speaking Competition that we had attended. Here you can see that the classroom walls are quite bare, with the exception of the Moroccan flag. There is no air conditioning, but fortunately it was not too hot on the days we were there. In terms of technology, there is only one computer on the campus, in the headmaster's office. For our presentation we had to set up a projector and white screen- and to think I complain about my SMARTboard needing reconfigured! I am so spoiled to have the resources that I do! Although there were not any technology resources used in the classrooms, I noticed that nearly every student had a cell phone- many of them smart phones. (Interesting side note- They call cell phones "mobiles") These students were just like my students- not using the phones to make calls, but to use for texting and social media. Much to my surprise, the Moroccan students seemed very involved in facebook, twitter, instagram and skype- in fact, a few of my American students traded twitter handles and facebook pages with Moroccan students, and continued to learn more about each other and their lives. While at Lalla Amina, we were also able to sneak a peak at the classroom of Khadija's friend and colleague, Laila. Laila was teaching the English language to 9th grade students. The students were working together to create and write a narrative about traveling on vacation together. I really enjoyed walking around the room to hear the stories her students were developing. I also really appreciated seeing this age group, as I also teach 9th grade students. Laila really seemed to know her students well and I could tell she was a very patient teacher. You may notice, the desks sit two students side-by-side. I thought that this close of proximity to others would cause distractions and horseplay, but students seemed to be very mature about the arrangement. I wonder if this is due to stronger discipline at the elementary school level, or perhaps because they are accustomed to sitting this close.
1 Comment
Bernardo La Cour
9/3/2016 09:24:03 am
I am asking for assistance for a phone number and email address to the Meknes city school educational dept. I am trying to contact a person there who is a teacher and I need help in finding her. I also want to know about investments and humantarian information in that city because of her. And how can I dial direct mobil to mobil from the U.S. to Mekness. I hopefully await your assistance.
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AuthorI'm a high school AP geography and world history teacher, traveling to Morocco with Teachers for Global Classrooms to bring cultural insight back to my community. Archives
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