Vaughn, Twila and Kent had the honor of visiting Noura Al Marri, Director of Special Education for the Ministry of Education for the United Arab Emirates, and Deborah Wolf. We met them in Dubai at the Ministry of Education building and had a wonderful visit. Noura shared that the Emirates passed a law two years ago requiring that children with disabilities be served in their home schools. Until now, children with more significant disabilities have been served in centers specifically for children with disabilities. Noura and Deb are busy establishing performance standards, professional development for educators, and initiating a campaign of awareness about educating all children in their home schools. Noura is a brilliant, visionary educator with a passion for ensuring all children are included and provided the best education possible in their home schools.
At the end of the visit, Deborah put us in touch with Rebecca Dahl, a principal from Montana, who is serving as a principal advisor in the Fujairah area of the Emirates. Rebecca graciously agreed to take us to a school when we arrived in Fujairah. She met us at the ship and took Mom, Twila and I to a school in Khar Fakken. Because the boys and girls are schooled in separate schools, we visited a girl’s high school. We met with Rebecca, the school principal and one of the English teachers. They visited with us for about an hour, sharing about their school system and asking how we do things in the states. After talking for a while, they served us a delicious spread of breads, tea, coffee with cardamom, and pizza.
They posed an interesting question regarding students who do not want to come to school. How can we motivate students to want to come to school when they don’t want to be in school? The attendance rate is very high but school personnel take it personally when a student does not want to attend school. The teachers and administrators at the school are highly committed to the students.
It was interesting to learn that the students stay in their own classrooms and the teachers come and go to the classrooms the students are in. Alisha then escorted us around the school and showed us several classrooms. In the process, we were honored to meet and shake hands with many of the girls who attend the school. There would often be a line of 6-8 girls, waiting to shake our hands. Everyone we met was very pleased to meet us and warmly welcomed us.
We were also honored to meet and visit with one of their special ed students. It felt like home to have folks talking about inclusion and ways to make accommodations required by different disabilities.
The hospitality and graciousness of the Nationals has been beyond anything I could have imagined. They are pleased to have us as Americans visiting their country. We were honored that the school personnel so graciously hosted and opened their school to us.
At the end of the visit, Deborah put us in touch with Rebecca Dahl, a principal from Montana, who is serving as a principal advisor in the Fujairah area of the Emirates. Rebecca graciously agreed to take us to a school when we arrived in Fujairah. She met us at the ship and took Mom, Twila and I to a school in Khar Fakken. Because the boys and girls are schooled in separate schools, we visited a girl’s high school. We met with Rebecca, the school principal and one of the English teachers. They visited with us for about an hour, sharing about their school system and asking how we do things in the states. After talking for a while, they served us a delicious spread of breads, tea, coffee with cardamom, and pizza.
They posed an interesting question regarding students who do not want to come to school. How can we motivate students to want to come to school when they don’t want to be in school? The attendance rate is very high but school personnel take it personally when a student does not want to attend school. The teachers and administrators at the school are highly committed to the students.
It was interesting to learn that the students stay in their own classrooms and the teachers come and go to the classrooms the students are in. Alisha then escorted us around the school and showed us several classrooms. In the process, we were honored to meet and shake hands with many of the girls who attend the school. There would often be a line of 6-8 girls, waiting to shake our hands. Everyone we met was very pleased to meet us and warmly welcomed us.
We were also honored to meet and visit with one of their special ed students. It felt like home to have folks talking about inclusion and ways to make accommodations required by different disabilities.
The hospitality and graciousness of the Nationals has been beyond anything I could have imagined. They are pleased to have us as Americans visiting their country. We were honored that the school personnel so graciously hosted and opened their school to us.
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