Educational Patterns

Education to an Arab family means much more than what takes place in the formal school setting. The school meets the academic requirements—providing the child with basic skills, then following through with acquisition of knowledge both through the study of the accumulated knowledge of mankind and through the scientific method of experiment and observation.

It is the family, however, which instills a value system, social conscience, and the very rules which govern daily life and a complex system of social interaction.

A system of etiquette, called adab in Arabic, teaches the type of behavior expected of the well-behaved child, who is termed adib.Intrinsic values teach the child to: obey parents, respect elders, demonstrate politeness in the presence of elders. An adib is expected to be generous, cooperative, humble and helpful.

The child finds that the tongue is most important. Proverbs reproach those who: gossip, quarrel, lie or speak in ways less than kind: “What if a woman is beautiful, if she has an evil tongue?” “A kind word can attract even the snake from his nest.”

A happy countenance is important too. The prophet Muhammad said there are three things in this world which give joy: fresh water, fresh green, and a fresh and happy face.

Still other proverbs and sayings express values of honesty, cooperation, hard work and common sense. Such proverbs or sayings themselves are not relegated to the folk-legend or literature, but are commonly used to accentuate everyday conversation.

While patterns of behavior taught at home are reinforced at school, the school is not looked upon as a socializing agent or as a source of religious or moral teachings, but as the source of academic wisdom and training. How well the school fills this role varies from one part of the Arab world to the next. Education, for boys and girls, declined greatly during the past centuries of foreign domination and economic stagnation, and only recently have the Arab states, especially those producing oil, been able to finance mass education for both boys and girls. As in poor countries elsewhere, the luxury of education in the Arab world was, until now, reserved for boys as the future support of their families.

Educational services vary from one country to the next in the Arab world. Many are compulsory; some have separate facilities for boys and girls; all are free (some including university and schooling abroad). Some receive as much as 20 percent of their country’s annual budget, and a few have as desirable a student-teacher ratio as 12 to 1.

Formal schooling is highly regarded by the Arab family, which instills in its children a love of learning and respect for scholarly pursuits, as well as the family’s inherent teachings which carry over to the school, ie. “respect for elders” includes teachers, etc. Arab school children, of whatever age, are eager to go to school and take immense pride in their scholastic accomplishments.

As attention is drawn to the International Year of the Child, it is appropriate to consider the life of the Arab child. Of the Arab world’s 140 million people, some 45 percent are children (under the age of 15 years).

Recent development in this region has greatly improved the lives of all the people. For the children it has meant a declining infant mortality rate, a drastic reduction in childhood diseases, greatly increased educational opportunities for all children, including the handicapped child.

Few would deny that problems remain. But more than ever before, Arab children, psychologically prepared and with access to greatly improved medical care and the necessary education, will be well equipped to take advantage of the opportunities the future holds.