Which door to choose?

As I arrived in Morocco it felt as though a new door has opened in my life. Every new country I visit, I learn so much and grow immensely. With this opportunity, I will have the chance to grow both as an educator and as a person.

With our Fulbright program, we are asked to have a "Guiding Question" throughout our field experience. As with many things in life, I had a hard time narrowing it down before arrival in Morocco. We visited AMIDEAST, which is a non-profit organization that arranges for exchanges between North African and Middle Eastern countries and the United States. We had the opportunity to present our guiding questions and discuss with seasoned Moroccan teachers and American teachers who are teaching in Morocco. As I presented my two possible guiding questions, I still felt at a loss as to which direction I would go:

1. How does the Islamic faith influence and play a role in the Moroccan Education system?

2. How is science and conservation education integrated in Moroccan education?

These are two topics that I am very interested in, but I haven't found a way to intersect the two. As we spoke with the teachers, clarity began to emerge. We learned that rote memorization is the main method of instruction. Moroccans are very good at memorizing things, they don't often take notes. I asked if they had a theory as to why Moroccans have this unique talent. One possibility is that many Moroccans grow up speaking Moroccan Arabic, which is not a written language. Another possibility is that memorization is required in Quran. There was a tiny little answer to my guiding question = a possible influence on the education.

Multilingualism was a topic that was widely discussed as well. Many Moroccans speak four or five languages by the time they graduate from high school. Tamazight (the language from the Amazigh people), Derijan (Moroccan Arabic), Fusha (Classical/standard Arabic), French and English. While this is an amazing talent of the Moroccans, it can be a hindrance for students. Trying to master so many different languages can be extremely tough to the point they are not able to reach proficiency in all of them. Students interested in science or mathematics may not be able to pursue this beyond high school. The students may be gifted in science, but college entrance exams are all administered in French. If a student's French isn't as strong, they may give up on their passion for science.

And there was a gateway to help with my second guiding question. Through the coming weeks, I hope to find a way to merge my two interests.

While I did not make a definitive choice about those two metaphorical "doors", I did make a choice about literal doors. The first half of our day was a tour of Kasbah of the Udayas. It is a walled palace dating back to the 12th century. As we entered the beautiful stone walls of the Kasbah, we were led to a beautiful botanical garden. From there we journeyed through the winding streets where approximately 200 homes lay situated within the Kasbah. We were welcomed by beautiful white and blue walls, MANY cats and MANY MANY beautiful doors (actual doors, this time).