TASA DE VARIACION ANUAL

CT instruction should not be reserved only for those who plan to attend college. Nor should it be deferred until college, since it is not likely to be effective if it were. (Facione, 1990, p. 15)

But referring specifically e to pre-university education in Arab countries, Rivard agrees that "it is not possible to create in one or two years that which has not evolved over the past twelve" before college (Rivard, 2006, p. 30, quoted in Hall, 2011, p. 430). While I disagree that it is completely impossible, this quote refers to the difficulties of developing students' cultural capital in university, when they had not acquired it in their previous home and school

environments. Arab (and Egyptian) education is notorious for emphasizing memorization and having a strong exam-orientation, which is very different from Western pedagogies in university which expect critical thinking (Hall, 2011). Moreover, students unused to questioning certain cultural taboos may struggle with and even resist doing so in college without heavy teacher support (Raddawi, 2011).

Students who went to international schools (i.e. practicing a Western-based curriculum including content and pedagogy), indicated that CT was developed through in-class discussion, exposure to diverse people and diverse views, a chance to practice critical research and writing skills and a general ethos encouraging CT. On the other hand, students who went to schools teaching Egyptian curriculum, or mixing Egyptian/international curricula, either did not

mention the effect school had on them, or explicitly stated that school had a negative effect on their CT, that this hindered their CT development at AUC. It is important to note these

differences, because the more practice a student has in CT, the better they will become at it (van Gelder, 2005), as is the case for many skills.

5.3.1.1 General Encouragement/Discouragement of Critical Thinking

For example, Sandy (fBADMAm) talked about how her American high school in Saudi Arabia taught her to question what she saw/heard in media:

My high school education was pretty critical – there was a lot of critical thinking I mean, especially that IB [International Baccalaureate38] is an international course… it looks at different perspectives – even the American teachers were encouraging us to look at different points of view of the whole situation.

38

International Baccalaureate is an international degree, comparable to 'A' levels in the UK (Moon 2005), which some students in American high schools undertake. Both IB and 'A' level courses can result in "transfer credit" at AUC - e.g. if a student takes IB or 'A' level courses in Mathematics, they can be granted college level credit and be allowed to skip a comparable undergraduate course. Therefore, IB or 'A' level courses can be considered of a similar level to first-year undergraduate courses at AUC.

School also encouraged her inquisitiveness, whereas she feels the environment in Egypt as a whole does the opposite:

I really like to know stuff, and I would say it’s mainly from school, not from here [at AUC]. People in Egypt don’t really look for knowledge, and people who think

scientifically and like nature around them – [people] always think they’re weird here in Egypt. I don’t really see a lot of people wanting to learn … but I have it in me and it’s mainly from school and friends and environment I used to work in [at] school… [I] like reading, encyclopedia, discovery channel and I like these things a lot.

Sandy’s school also developed her analytical skills, open-mindedness, understanding of different worldviews, and critical research & writing skills.

Nassim, who, like Sandy was strongly influenced his American school, thought the particular IB course "Theory of Knowledge" encouraged him to question:

... in 'Theory of Knowledge' we would write essays about different ways of knowing and areas of knowing...it was mainly through class discussions and the assignments

themselves...they wouldn't define critical thinking, however they would allow us to acquire it gradually.

Nassim used to say the Theory of Knowledge course was similar to the Scientific Thinking course at AUC. Moon (2005) suggests that 'Theory of Knowledge' in IB is one way of teaching CT, on par with college courses in philosophy. Although Nassim here says CT was not taught directly in the course, Moon says the course helps students "understand the structure of disciplines, and the differences between them" p. 19. Lina (fCENGAm) talked about how learning about the scientific method in IB helped her learn to question hidden assumptions. Writing in IB English helped her question media credibility.

Yasmine’s (fBADMGm), German schooling was a positive experience:

In school I had to do research and give some arguments and say what strengths and weaknesses are in the article...To bring counterarguments, this is something that strengthens the argument.

Yasmine feels school has developed her open-mindedness and ability to understand different worldviews, her willingness to question authority, and her ability to construct a strong argument.

In contrast, Noha (fPOLSTh), talked about how Egyptian high school (Thanaweyya Amma) discouraged questioning, and how this is affecting her until now:

I guess we were taught to always think that the teacher is right, as opposed to college. The way you were educated: the teacher is right and you don’t question authority. Noha says her “self-esteem or confidence in my own intelligence was limited because of education I had as a younger person –it is improving but taking a very long time”.

Others who studied the Egyptian Thanaweyya Amma, when asked about their inquisitiveness and curiosity, said things like:

Not in school. The things presented and the system in school itself didn’t give a chance for any person to ask questions – we used to take things as granted. (Yasser mJRMCTh) School didn’t help a lot because teachers are sticking to the subject itself; when done with the class they leave. [Afterwards they were] not available for further discussions.

Environment in schools is not encouraging at all; you find lots of students in a very small class; no one concerned with what the professor says (Kamal mCSCITh)

For Kamal, his parents at home were the main factor that nurtured his curiosity by encouraging him to ask questions of all kinds.

Noha talks about how her previous educational experience made her less likely to act on her curiosity

A lot of it is because I’ve had such a bad educational system, went to AUC, took my education for granted, didn’t put effort to genuinely learn instead of pass... I now realize how valuable education is.... I will be much more curious to learn about my courses [than] I previously was. [I am] always curious, but don’t always make the effort.

5.3.1.2 Practice in Critical Reading and Writing, In-class Discussion

Students from good international schools who majored in “applied” fields such as engineering and business administration said they got more practice in critical research and writing in school than at AUC. This raises concerns about students who choose these majors but have no high school background in critical research/writing.

Students who went to American schools (Lina, Sandy, Hoda, Nassim) all said that research and writing were emphasized at school. For Lina and Sandy, this was reinforced in AUC rhetoric courses, but not their engineering and business majors respectively.

Mona (fPOLSBr) had some experience with writing in her Egyptian high school teaching the British system, using a small number of sources, but AUC added a lot of value through the rhetoric courses and her political science major. So in this sense, Mona’s choice of major has

given her more practice in research and writing, but another student with her background may not have developed the same research skills had they taken engineering or business

administration.

Nassim (mBADMAm) who went to an American international school in Egypt, also mentions how writing essays in school helped him make critical use of sources and supporting his argument, but that in-class discussions and debate had a greater effect on his critical thinking skills. Lina had a similar experience with debates in school.

On the other hand, Hossam (mBADMECONAm) who went to an Egyptian-type American school had no experience with in-class debate or presentations before joining AUC. This highlights the difference between international American schools and those using an Egyptianized system. Yasmine talks about discussions in German school that helped her develop a level of relativism:

[W]e had discussions in school [classes] and the conclusion is that we all cannot meet at one point… For example, once we had a discussion about the different religions Christians and Muslims and Jews and we had discussions about the holocaust; it has a religious side; we talked about terrorism, and that many of the Europeans deem Muslims as terrorists not as Muslims.

Compare this to Mona’s experience:

[My religion teacher in school] didn’t leave any space for questioning, I think I became accustomed to doing the same with any other religious figure.

5.3.1.3 General Outlook on School versus AUC

Yasmine’s school was the basis of her CT development, and she views AUC with derision: ...the most thing that made a difference to me is school; AUC is ta7seel 7asel [translated: something you do just to get it over with] even the way the courses are tafha [translated: insignificant, superficial, silly] - the way teachers explain things like someone with special needs is listening to them...Really most of the courses I took at AUC I feel that – except five or six.

Osman (mMENG2Br), an engineer who did his IGCSEs at an Egyptian school said: High school was mostly memorizing facts and applying equations; analysis part was present but not that much compared to AUC. IGCSE in [in my school] has been Egyptianized.

Kenzy, a computer science major said her mother felt that her thinking improved because of IGCSEs, but she felt that her previous schooling limited her thinking even in IGCSEs:

...in IG[CSE], the examinations, and how we worked, depended on how we think and how you interpret things and before in primary and preparatory we were just like knowing things by heart and summing things but now [in IGCSE] we are learning how to think about things.

Having said that, Kenzy still feels that her IGCSE experience prepared her for AUC:

[It] was much like Thanaweyya Amma…the difference was only in the questions and of course how I studied for them and in [IGCSE] you don’t expect what you’re going to get in the exam… [it somehow prepared me for AUC] but in AUC in some courses

sometimes you have to memorize, even in science courses. In [Computer Science] courses, I realized that I have to get past exams and sometimes people do memorize them and doctors sometimes don’t change the exams and so lots of people do memorize exams rather than just studying.

A notable observation is that some students (Osman, Mona and Hossam) mentioned how they grew up in international schools in Gulf countries, and that coming to Egypt for the rest of their education was a culture shock where they felt the difference. This may be one of the reasons why they are more critical of the education they received here, which was not international but also not as bad as Egyptian Thanaweyya Amma39.