Show some respect!

18 March 2014

Germany's Tagesspiegel newspaper features a report Ahmad Mansour's work to support female teachers who encounter difficulties when teaching male pupils from patriarchal cultures. The article focuses on how Ahmad and his colleagues at HEROES are addressing this issue in the form of seminars and training sessions for teachers.

Ahmad states that many of the young people in these classes have grown up in predominantly patriarchal families and cultures, “[w]hich means that the man lays down the rules, and the woman has to obey them. If she fails to act in line with his values, or dresses too liberally, or has sex before marriage, then the family loses its reputation and its place in society.” He goes on to explain how a woman at school, who is suddenly in a position of authority over the boys, does not fit into their worldview.

Through role plays, the teachers gain the confidence needed to tackle challenging situations. They also learn to avoid making comments like “we’re not in Turkey now” which would attack the pupils’ familial values, but instead to pose direct questions such as “Why is it that you don’t want to follow my instructions?”, and thereby to endorse the values of the school.

The full article is only available in German, and can be read here..