And now I’m finally on the topic of Choueifati books! There’s just so much to say…where can we start? The English course, you say? Okay.
The year before I first moved to Choueifat, I read the likes of Beowulf and The Merchant of Venice in school. Once I moved in the eighth grade, we had to read biographies of Henry the Great and Thomas Jefferson. First of all, who the hell assigns eighth graders to read biographies? They should be given famous creative literary works instead of simplified life stories of politicians. Secondly, the books were something like 80 pages thick with double spaced fonts. I was reading books that size at age 10, and I was still reading a lot less than most of the people in my grade at the time.
Along with these “Class Reader” books, we had Dictionaries and Vocabulary Lists picking on particular words in the stories. We had to memorise definitions and circle the correct answer in the exam, regardless of how obscure the definition would be or how irrelevant the word was. We would then proceed to forget the words after the exam. This may work to some extent in the lower primary grades, but one cannot expect high school students to put up with it.
The literature syllabus in Choueifat needs to be thoroughly revised and updated. The “SABIS approved” class readers aren’t doing much good for the students at all.
The year before I first moved to Choueifat, I read the likes of Beowulf and The Merchant of Venice in school. Once I moved in the eighth grade, we had to read biographies of Henry the Great and Thomas Jefferson. First of all, who the hell assigns eighth graders to read biographies? They should be given famous creative literary works instead of simplified life stories of politicians. Secondly, the books were something like 80 pages thick with double spaced fonts. I was reading books that size at age 10, and I was still reading a lot less than most of the people in my grade at the time.
Along with these “Class Reader” books, we had Dictionaries and Vocabulary Lists picking on particular words in the stories. We had to memorise definitions and circle the correct answer in the exam, regardless of how obscure the definition would be or how irrelevant the word was. We would then proceed to forget the words after the exam. This may work to some extent in the lower primary grades, but one cannot expect high school students to put up with it.
The literature syllabus in Choueifat needs to be thoroughly revised and updated. The “SABIS approved” class readers aren’t doing much good for the students at all.
12 comments:
:P Oi you should mention that it was my idea for you to write an entry on Vocab lol
Dude...trust me...although it may seem like some randomly run organisation now...but once u enter university u'll figure out how much u love that place...
And then when you graduate from university, you'll realise that in many ways it's pretty rubbish beyond the fact it teaches you how to cram enormous amounts of material into your head due to constant exams.
Good preparation for university. Utterly useless otherwise.
I was a teacher for two years in a Choueifat school. It's nice to see a student who is still capable of thinking. I thought they wiped that out of you.
I taught little kids. I left because it broke my heart. There system is just plain wrong. And it's only helpful at University level (if at all) if you're doing a science degree. Trust me, as someone who did an arts degree, there is no way that school would have taught me ANYTHING useful.
Keep it up. :)
Crap. "Their" system. Sorry. I'm sick. My brain is obviously not working. ;)
well all I have to say is that you may think that choueifat prepares you for college, thats what they WANT you to think.. The truth is, any student in most schools in the world are prepared for college, that isnt a thing that makes ISC special... From the way Germanos was talking you'd think that all other students who didn't go to ISC all failed miserably in college. And besides, I find college to be a VERY different experience from choueifat... how about "USING the library and computer lab, HAVING activities, thinking for YOURSELF, having FREEDOM, PARTICIPATING..." just a couple examples
The Dude is totally right. I've spent 13 years in Choueifat AUH. Arts? Music? Absolutely rubbish. I only managed to study a degree in English literature and French when I got a private tutor for the French A-level. I would have failed otherwise. The English lit A-level and History classes were an absolute waste of time because they were just lectures with no interaction. I'm 28 and a lawyer now and there is no way I can credit Choueifat for that. When i first started uni it took me years to start thinking for myself in class as I was so used to passive learning. This is dangerous!!!! Choueifat is so going to the dogs. I would never, ever send my kids there. Even my parents have realised they've made a mistake by putting me there.
sorry, i was referring to the ex teacher's post :-S
they renovated the whole class reader thing 7 years ago. we used to take really cool real "literary" books
in my 5th year we had a really advanced book about a guy who gets stranded on an iceberg. twas a huge book for a 5ht grader
and we were looking forward for next years books..the magicians nephew and more... but we were presented with the so called "class readers" some shit about a chinese emperor and some...other weird crap.
o and i remember reading the railway children, treasure island and the jungle book (abridged..all of them thought) in the 3rd grade.
a..the good old days
I used to be in AIS (Abu Dhabi International Pvt. School) from grades 5 till 9. Then hell began, a.k.a. moving to Choueifat. I got straight 100's in my Maths average the whole time, except grade 9; that was when we started the IGCSE curriculum. I got a 94 if i recall. Once I entered Choueifat, it went down to around 82, which is complete bull**** for a fully multiple choice school.
That's only a beginning.
For some people who used to take Biology in grade 11, they remember taking a chapter about genetics, which, as a person who does NOT like Biochemistry, found interesting at first. Then I realized I had taken all this in grade 6 back in AIS, news that shocked most of my friends.
Also, when my old friends ask me about my status in Choueifat, I just tell them, "Imagine a cheap school, worse than AIS, but closer to a prison. Barbed wire, security cameras, guards (indoor prefects), you name it!"
They would reply with something like how is the syllabus; to which I would reply with, "I don't know if I'm taking IG material or IB!"
Add to everything I said what everyone before me said, and more tyrannical ways, and you get Choueifat.
SABIS Educational Book Series? More like SABIS MIND-BOGGLING book series.
I am in grade 7 now and I love sabis........it is actually fun but u guys r saying is terrifying. .maybe ur wrong or I am
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