Our trip to Egypt was amazing! This blog will be a work in progress as I took copious notes of every site we went to and took more pictures of ancient carvings and hieroglyphs than necessary! I believe I may qualify as a novice Egyptologist at this point.
Click on the bullet points below to access pictures from that region. Hope you enjoy!
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In Luxor, we were treated to two different arts. First was the carvings of stones that happened in a small area right outside of the Valley of the Kings.
I have always been interested in exploring the similarities and differences of educational systems around the world. Egypt proved to be most interesting and the first time I have ever actually had to reframe my thinking on education.
In most major cities, education is available to all it is just the degree to which your family can afford education. There are public schools available but they remain over crowded to the point that students have to attend one of two sessions, the morning (7-12) or the afternoon (12-4). There are limited supplies in these schools. There are other educational options but they cost money. There are Arabic-American schools and French Baccalaureate programs that offer more comprehensive programs. Here are pictures of the educational buildings in Cairo and Luxor.
In provinces, education works a bit different. In some areas schools are centered on what that area is known for making or creating. Take the area near Saqqara for example, the schools there are called Carpet Schools. Children in the area are provided with a job making carpets (it was explained that their fingers are more nimble and can make them faster). They are also provided with education that is really centered on problem based learning. They create proportional drawings of the carpets they would like to make, determine the amount, color, and type of thread they will need. Each grid on the plan represents a particular amount they will account for. They then create beautiful artifacts. Some students also learn foreign languages which will assist them when their fingers get too big to make carpets and they become the salespeople to the tourists that come to the carpet school.
These are hard facts for an American educator to swallow...but I stretched my mind to understand the importance of this opportunity for students in this area. On one hand, it affords students a trade which they will earn a wage. They will use their money to support the farmers in their region. They know more about scaled drawings than my students ever will! However, they will not have the opportunity to pursue any other option for the rest of their lives.
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DisclaimerThis blog is not an official U.S. Department of State blog. The views and information presented are the grantee’s own and do not represent the Teachers for Global Classrooms Program, IREX, or the U.S. Department of State. ArchivesCategories |