In the interest of maintaining my sanity, this will be my last post about work for a while.
In the past week or so, I have come to understand what school is really about here. Apparently it is a self-congratulatory facade in which administrators, teachers, parents and students conspire to award good grades to students regardless of learning, effort, or even attendance in school. People keep saying "oh, it's cultural," but I'm calling bullshit on that. Eating only with the right hand is cultural; this is lying.
I have been coerced by my principal, my vice principal and other teachers to raise students' grades. Without my consent, the principal raised all of the grades of the senior class. Then, a few days ago, my principal insisted that I could not mark down the six 11th grade students who copied their entire final exam from an essay I found on the internet--the same essay, word for word, all six of them--because I had no proof that they cheated.
So, let's put aside the fact that they all wrote exactly the same thing. And let's even put aside the fact that this exact essay was published on http://www.oppapers.com/. Fine. Explain to me how a student who can barely form a sentence in English wrote "There are many memories of growing up in Al Ain that frequently goes [sic] back to my father's garden. Ripe tomatoes, pretty green lady fingers, cute cucumbers and yellow squash just to name a few of the vegetables he often grew..." Are you kidding me? What kind of balls does it take to look someone in the face and say that this isn't cheating?
So. Anyway. I did manage to maintain a bit of dignity, and I held my ground. I refused to change the grades of the students who cheated. The princiapl eventually gave in, but I expect I'll take quite a bit of heat for it from here on in. I haven't faced the parents yet, so that will be fun.
Going to speak with someone from the district management this afternoon. I'm not aiming to harm the school, the students, the principal. I just want to get a transfer. I'm not sure whether or not the district is complicit in all of this, but my gut tells me that they know exactly what goes on and ignore it. I expect to be told to "go with the flow," which essentially means shut up and do as you're told, or leave. And it may come down to just that decision. Either way, I think I'm dealing with it as best I can.
Outside of work, I'm trying to enjoy myself, take it easy, be good to my wife, and play video games. Right now, shooting zombies as JFK is going to have to serve in lieu of therapy. It works better than you'd think.
Take care everybody. A is A; the sky is blue. Um, stupid is as stupid does?
