Eman Sukker is a teacher from Jordan. She is now living and working in the UAE, where she teaches at the award-winning Cranleigh School, a British international school in Abu Dhabi. Here she shares her experience of working in the Middle East:

“I previously taught in Jordan, at Philadelphia National School, a lovely private school. The management at the school cared a lot about the professional development of their teachers, so I learned many new teaching techniques and strategies while there. I started to think about other countries; I wondered how their teaching and learning differed, what new methods they might be using, how the students varied from country to country. I wondered what it would be like to work outside Jordan. All of these questions led me to consider teaching overseas. I was also searching for a better lifestyle; life is so expensive in Jordan, and the teaching wages are low.

New approaches to teaching and learning

Cranleigh Abu Dhabi is one of the best schools in the UAE and working here has opened so many doors for me. I’ve learned many effective teaching techniques, and continue to do so. I learned to think ‘out of the box’.
Working at the school has taught me to be creative with my students, and to make the teaching and learning process most effective by reaching objectives while still having fun in the classroom!

Exploring the world with my students

I have so many opportunities available to me at the school. When I was a student in Jordan, I always dreamed of doing the Duke of Edinburgh (DofE) award. Finally, I can achieve this dream by being involved in the award at Cranleigh and, since being here, I’ve become a certified DofE supervisor and assessor. Working here and with the DofE students has inspired me to go out and explore the world. I’ve travelled to places I never thought I’d be able to visit; Turkey, Sri Lanka, Singapore, Kenya, Tanzania…all this travel helped me to find out about myself, and about my passions and interests.

Discovering a new passion

While traveling for the DofE award, I fell in love with mountains. As a result, last August I climbed Mount Kilimanjaro. I now regularly go rock climbing, and this month I will climb Mount Kenya. I’m also going to Everest basecamp in April and to Mount Elbrus in Russia next summer. My ultimate aim is to do the Seven Summits Challenge; to climb the highest mountain in all of the seven continents of the world!

Life in the UAE

The most challenging aspect of moving to teach overseas was feeling lonely at the beginning of the experience. But the people here are so friendly and I made friends in no time. I now know people from all around the world.

There is no racism here. Everyone is treated equal; as a human being. It doesn’t matter what religion you are, the colour of your skin, the country you’re from; everyone is treated with respect. It is great to truly experience new people and different cultures. You get to know the real facts about people; not the ‘facts’ from the news and social media - most of what we see and hear is far from the truth!

Benefiting from a global view of education

Working overseas allows me to stay in the loop and keep up-to-date with the rapid education revolution. I read new studies about education and listen to expertise from around the world. This is something I could never have experienced had I stayed in my own country, with the same environment, same people, and same ideas.

I believe it’s important to help to change our young people’s futures in the best way we can as they are our future world leaders, and this experience is helping me do that.

Thank you, TIC!

I want to thank every single person working at TIC, you have totally changed my life! TIC did great research, and behaved so professionally. They were my missing connection to a better lifestyle and I thank them from the bottom of my heart!”

TIC helped Eman to find her job and be selected for her teaching position at Cranleigh Abu Dhabi. If you are a teacher interested in working overseas, register free with TIC now.

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