Carried out by Masouma Al-Haidar, Meera Al-Hashmi, Ghada Abdulla,

Aisha Al-Janahi 

Sandra (Sandy) Stephan Interview Transcribed

 

Okay, so we're starting the interview now. Can you just quickly introduce yourself?  Uh, my name is Sandra Stephan, but everybody calls me Miss Sandy, and that's a name that I prefer to go by. Okay, next. So, Miss Sandy, how many years have you been teaching in Qatar?  I have been teaching nine and a half years.

 

Next year will be ten years in Qatar, and um,  it's ten very happy years at the same school.  At the same school? Okay, and  this is a bit personal, but are you married?  I'm not married. Um, I have been divorced for longer than I have been married ever. So I do not consider myself as divorced or anything else. I just consider myself a single.

 

Um, I have got two children. Um, my daughter's married and they live in the Cayman islands.  My son is a, he is not married, but he has a partner and they live in Dubai. He's an architect. Um, and both are very successful and I see them  maybe once every two years. Um, especially my daughter, because it's a very, very long trip.

 

So,  um, my son, I'm going to see now in the Eid holiday. So looking forward to that.  And do they ever plan on coming to Doha?  My son has been here three times. My daughter, no. She doesn't want to do the Middle East. Um, she wants to do the northern countries and Europe. That's her area that they would like to travel.

 

And they do travel there very often.  . So, um, if I want to see her, I've gotta visit her. So , that's okay.  meet halfway across. Yes. And then would you mind saying your age?  Um, I'm close to retirement age.  . . Um, and how many schools have you taught about that? You said Pearl has been the only one. Curling has been one and only.

 

And do you ever plan on changing? No. No, definitely not.  And then.  So you teach art here at Qadr, at Berlin. And does that align with your degree?  What was your degree specifically? My degree was actually in management law and policy. Okay.  So I am a trained or a, uh, uh, uh, an honest degree in management. So I have got managerial roles, which suits me absolutely perfectly fine as a director of the arts for both the, um, Garafa campus.

 

Um, and so much of my degree comes to pass and I've learned so much how to use my, the stuff that I learned in my degree and apply it in my job here. Yeah.  As far as art, I majored in art. Um, when I was, that was my college, um, degree, was in art. And I also have, um,  This goes back a very, very long time. I also received honors for my arts when I was studying it.

 

I had the highest marks, um, both at school and at college.  I didn't make, because I felt that I want to expand more than, not just art, art, art. So that's why I went into the managerial, um, honours degree direction. So the,  the managerial law and policy was a side or a minor? Yeah, that was afterwards. So that was, that was an honours degree.

 

And when you first majored in art, was that your plan going to teaching,  specifically? Or, uh,  Were you planning on continuing a career in art, like being an artist, and I've always been an artist. I've always been an artist, even though I was, um, an art teacher. I've always continued with my own art. Um, I have had three exhibitions.

 

Um, one international exhibition. It was sold out in Turkey. Um, I have sold over 300 of my own paintings internationally. Um And I've always considered myself as being an artist  and completely  matching that up with my career. So I teach art and I am an artist. It just comes naturally to me. I always say, I don't think I've got blood in my veins.

 

I think I've got paint.  And was teaching part of the plan? Oh yeah. I'm a born teacher. I love teaching. I love students. I love teenagers, working with teenagers. I love their wit and their, their, their mysteriousness. And they, yeah, I just, I feel of that, that keeps me young, I think.

 

But do you think that comes with challenges? Like what challenges does it cause being an art teacher versus just pursuing art as an artist?  Um,  I wish I could just do art, but then that would not pay the bills.  So, um,  yeah, so I do take like, for instance, in my week, I always look which lesson  or lessons I can use for my own art.

 

So at currently, when my new timetable came out at the beginning of the term, I saw that I've got the last two lessons on a Thursday. I've got a free and I was like, thank God, because that is exactly what I, those are my two hours. That I sit and paint, so I am busy with a painting. Yeah. And what I usually do is I work on art that my students are busy with because I then inspire them.

 

So I've got several artworks around here that will house up there, this mask there  that will hat they, um, that painting that I've done there. So I do what my students are busy with. Mm-Hmm. , I do something similar just to show them what can be done and then.  Yeah, and I, I just give it away or sell. It's no longer about money for me.

 

Back in South Africa, it was there. I had to sell my, my artworks to  for a little bit of extra money, but here I don't have to because I own enough as a teacher. So it's for very enjoyment. It's absolutely for my enjoyment, and I just love it. That's incredible. Yeah.  . So,  okay, so I asked you.  about becoming a teacher, a self taught teacher, but why did you choose teaching?

 

Because I think art also offers many different jobs. You could have become a director of a gallery, or you could have been, uh, posed as,  like, managerial roles in a museum. But why becoming a teacher specifically? I wanted to be an art teacher, like the art teacher I had at school. Her name was Tareen Oliver.

 

And, um, I was a very much a loner at school, very much the odd one out, because I was much younger than most people.  My, my peers in my class, I, I was always the one behind. I couldn't start driving when they were driving. I couldn't go out to party when they were because I was always young. And the reason for that was my mother put me in school when I was five years old.

 

Oh. Because she just could not  handle me anymore. Um, I was just too active for her. She couldn't handle me anymore. So she put me in school when I was five years old. When everybody else in the class was seven. So I've always been two years behind all my peers in my class.  Um, so therefore I was always very much a loner.

 

I also, um,  uh, I don't share myself very, I'm very private, so I don't, um,  I didn't say I don't make friends easily because I do, but I don't allow people very close to me unless they are really very special. So I'm a loner, which is fine. I don't have a problem with that.  Um, but at school it does become a problem  because you're always alone at break times and you become the target of bullying and things like that.

 

So, um,  my art teacher, Tarim, she said to me,  if ever you need to come and just sit in the, in the art room, please do so. So that's what I did.  And she spoke to me, and she was like a counselor to me. Um, obviously I had lots of problems with my mom being, um, The only child at that stage and It was difficult.

 

My mom couldn't relate to me and I was always very active and very I'm a free thinker and my mother's was very narrow minded. So we clashed quite often and So Tarine  Became my counselor and she opened up a whole new world to me So I always knew I was welcome in the art room and I was always busy with some kind of art  Fiddling around Eventually she allowed me in the, to, to, um, back cause that's also, I love, I'm very organized.

 

Everything has to be precise.  So, um, she allowed me to back her, um, and organize  resource room.  And, um, so I was like,  let,  Allowed to go into the inner sanctum and I felt so good about that  To go and organize somebody else's  But anyway, um So yeah, and I all decided back then that I want to be a teacher like her one day  Okay, inspiring students being there for the odd ones and that's why I got that there  Yeah, I was gonna say I remember this from year seven when we first took your class It says, blessed are the weird people.

 

That's me.  The poets and the misfits. That's me. The artists, the writers, the music makers, the dreamers and the outsiders. For they  force us to see the world differently.  So I'm still of that same opinion.  And, um, This one as well.  A teacher takes a hand, opens their mind, and touches the heart.  And, um, I've got lots, every break.

 

I've got kids in my class, the loners, the misfits, the  the odd one out, and they come and sit here and they do art and they chat with me and I love it.  So I, I never have a, a free break that I've got no kids around me. I do my break duty, obviously outside, but. Then I come back here and I, I wouldn't see it as a duty.

 

So I sit here and they chat to me and sometimes they don't and that's also fine as long as they know that this is a safe place for them.  So that's why I became an architect. I remember your room has always been open since year seven. Yes.  It has, you've always offered it to us whenever we needed it. Yep, yep, yep.

 

And do you think, uh, your teacher influenced your teaching or also your career, like your personal life as well? So you said she influenced you becoming a teacher and your career, obviously, but like what about your personal life? Has she influenced you that way? Um, yeah, I suppose so. She also went through difficult things and she was always strong and, um, she always held her poise, which is what I think you do.

 

I do as well.  Even though I might go through difficult things in my personal life, I wouldn't show it outwards. That's private, that's gone. So what I am here is I give myself fully to my students.  And I think I have to be thankful for her, not just you as well. Yeah, you know what, I've tried so hard to get a hold of her.

 

I mean, I don't even know whether she's still alive, I don't know where she is. Because I didn't keep contact with her after school. I Obviously, after school, you know, the university and this and that excitement, and you don't think immediately of teachers. It's only later on in your life that you realize, sure, I wonder where she is, and I've tried on Facebook, and I've tried, and I've tried, and I've tried, and I cannot find her anywhere.

 

I don't know, maybe her surname has changed, maybe she's been divorced, I don't know anything. But she's no longer at the school where I was at where she was at. And they don't know anything about her. And none of the teachers that taught with her can tell me anything about her either. So  it's so sad because I would love to tell her how what a big influence she had in my life.

 

Yeah. But yeah.  Well, I'm sure she knows it. Oh, I hope so. We recognize it. Yeah, but we recognize it even if we don't tell you this, but I think you know how much it influenced us. And then, uh, okay, so what led you to teach in a country outside of your own? Money. Money, okay, so the situation in South Africa was difficult.

 

Yeah, I got divorced and, um, I had two children at school with me at that stage. I was just a teacher and,  uh, I won't go into details, but it was extremely, extremely difficult financially for me, um, and, um,  Yeah, I had to make a huge decision. I either stay in South Africa and  I would have died there, honestly,  um, or I step out and I take this huge step of going to teach internationally and, um,  yeah, earning enough money to put both my kids through university on my own  and buy each woman a little car on their own,  on my own, no help from, from their father and, um,  So yeah, I can look back at that and, um, I feel,  even though it's a very materialistic decision.

 

I don't think it is materialistic. But it was absolutely for the sake of my children. I had to earn more money in order to be the mother I wanted them, for them to be.  So when you came to Doha first, your kids were younger, right? Yeah, but I didn't come to Doha first. I first went to Turkey. Okay. That was, I was in Turkey for four years,  teaching art there as well, art and English.

 

And, um, then I went to Kuwait for a year, and I hated it.  Hated Kuwait with a passion.  And then, um, the  principle of,  PSI at that stage was Mr. Alistair. I don't know if you ever know him. Yeah, yeah, yeah, of course. And, um, he contacted me out of the blue and asked me whether I would be interested in,  um, setting up an art department and running the art department at this new school.

 

He said it's a brand new school, it's one year old, and they do not have an art department. And I said, absolutely, get me out of this hellhole.  Which, which he did, and I came here and since then I've been at PSI, so it was Mr. Ellis that got me here. Okay. And, um,  then he left and, um,  yeah, I just stayed.  Now they can't get rid of me.

 

Yeah, no, I don't think they would ever want to.  Um, but then why Qatar specifically? So he offered you the, the role. Yeah, I knew nothing about Qatar, I knew nothing about PSI. Yeah.  It was simply an escape from Kuwait at that stage. And the,  the moment I touched down here,  it was like,  I just felt welcome here.

 

And I felt, this is where I want to be, this is where I'm meant to be. And I've always felt like that.  You're the right piece of the puzzle. Yes.  And then what, why did you choose to continue here? Like obviously you had the, you enjoyed Turkey. Turkey was not a bad experience. But then you decided not to stay there.

 

Um, yeah, that was, they had a new, um, director. And he said from the, from the day that we introduced, he said to me, I do not like South Africans.  And I couldn't understand that. I said, and I still made a joke with him and I said, why are we such nice people? And he said, I do not, uh, agree with your policy.  I don't even know what policy he made referred to.

 

But anyway, so when it became to renewal of contracts, he said to me, we are not gonna renew your contract.  So I can only assume it was based on the fact that I'm South African by birth  because they, you couldn't find anything wrong with my work. My work ethic has been the same everywhere else. Yeah.  So, thank God for that as well.

 

So, um, but then I had to find a job that paid the same or similar salary because my son was at university in, in, um, Turkey at that stage, in Ankara. And as an expat I had,  the fees were just horrendously high.  So I took the job in Kuwait. Highly paid job, but an absolute horrid, horrid school.  And, um, but yeah, I got my son through university and here I am and I'm stronger for it.

 

And your decision to stay in Qatar was  mainly influenced by what? I love it. I love it. Yeah. Um, I feel safe here. I feel, um,  this is the right, the open mindedness. The, the, the  South African is very, South Africa is very narrow minded. They're very racist. They are, uh, all the things that I, you know, Cannot stand in people, they are.

 

So I do not see myself as South African. I see myself as an international citizen.  And I have found that  same, um,  view here in, in Qatari people, the way that they can forward, the way that they look forward, the way that they, um, are culturally minded and, and,  Empowerment of women and empowerment of and and reaching out to to  People with with disabilities and things like that.

 

That's what I stand for. That's what I believe in. So yes, that's that's the reason why So do you say it's mainly the school or like the country's ethics and policies? The country's ethics, culture, the gentle peaceful nation that Qatar is I stood and read the anthem the other day, the English version.

 

Obviously I don't understand the Arabic, but the English version of the anthem.  And it said we are strong as falcons and peaceful like doves or something like that at the end. And I thought, that is just, look, goosebumps. Yeah, goosebumps. That's exactly how I feel. I want to be strong as a falcon but peaceful as a dove.

 

So I can absolutely identify with that. That's beautiful, yeah.  But then, obviously,  since you enjoyed it, but I think it's safe to say that every success comes with its struggles. So what are the obstacles that you faced dealing with the cultural differences that was different South Africa? So you said South Africa did not agree with, but still it was definitely a culture shock coming to Doha.

 

No, not really. I'm very open minded. I'm very, very open minded and I'm very,  um,  I accept people. I accept different people. I, I do not try to nitpick,  um, and find faults. For me it,  it was just, it came with acceptance. First of all, I'm so grateful and I still am to this day.  I owe an immense debt of gratitude to Qatar because they have offered me a place to feel safe.

 

I feel safer here and I feel more at home in this country, which is not my home country, than I have ever felt in South Africa.  That's great. So, um, No, there's nothing here that I felt uncomfortable with. No obstacles? No. That's great to hear. I hope it continues that way forever.  Same, yeah. Yeah.  Your stay and the lack of obstacles, Inshallah.

 

The only obstacle, if there's one obstacle here, I wish I could permanent, get permanent residency here. Inshallah. That's one thing I, I wish there was an opportunity for me, because it's not. There isn't. There's no way. I don't earn enough money. I'm not rich enough. I'm not married to a Qatari person. I don't own a business here.

 

I cannot speak the language. Um, so all of those things I have to, but, um, Yeah, that's, that's the only thing I wish I could get permanent, permanent residency.  And then how would you say that you adapted your teaching methods to align with the  I'm just really careful with what I say. Um, I'm very aware of the cultural differences.

 

I, and once again, it's my nature not to want to offend anybody. So I'm,  I'm still to this day, I'm very aware of,  Differences and, and, you know, I don't want to offend anybody and I don't want to, um,  get anybody feel in a, in a, in a different spot or anything, you know.  Yeah, just, just teach carefully. Yeah.

 

What about like the, the,  Like school system.  Did you face  any obstacles that you had to adapt your teaching system to that? Or did they limit you in any way?  I'm  happy with what it is. Um,  yeah. I'm fine. I go with the flow.  I think, yeah, the term international citizen suits you more than any Yeah. And you don't do dreadlocks?

 

No, absolutely. I'm, um, as I said, I feel much more comfortable here at this school and in this country than I ever did in South Africa. In South Africa.  Various South African schools that I taught at. Okay.  So it hasn't been a challenge adapting your teaching? No, not at all. Okay, and then,  so you already talked about cultural sensitivity and inclusivity in your teaching practices, but how does that work when, like, for example, Burling has such a diverse campus.

 

How, how do you try to meet that with the diversity of students in Burling?  I became the head of it.  Um, I am the head of the, um, Awareness and Enrichment Program in PSI. I run it. I decide which days to celebrate and how we celebrate it. And I organize everything and everybody to do their part and to, you know, Enjoy the day and become more culturally aware of each other's  cultures, backgrounds, disabilities, whatever.

 

So yeah, I became at the head of it. And your class as well reflects that, because we do, your arts course  reflects a variety of  teaching styles. Can you talk about that?  Well, I've always been an art snob in that regard because I, um, because I, I studied fine art myself and, and I teach fine art. So I don't teach arts and crafts.

 

Yeah. Okay. Um, and, um, I believe in bringing in history and historic, uh, movements and art movements and so on. And, um,  opening that up to students because just teaching them to draw without teaching them the history of drawing, without teaching them the history of, of, of the pencil or whatever, to me it's not, I, I teach the full rounded, um, holistic, yeah, completely holistic approach, yeah.

 

Okay.  And then, so we've brushed on this,  Question a few times. Have you ever considered living in Qatar full time? Oh, I wish I could.  I wish I could. So if you can find me a rich husband, that will, um,  that will make sure that I get permanent residence here by all means.

 

And then how do you see the future of education in Qatar? And so first, I think I asked the question to how do you think, how do you see the future of education in Qatar? I think it's very, um,  very open minded  and very much directed at the future. So we are not just, in Qatar, we are not just trying to get people through school.

 

We, we, we're trying to prepare them for the future, to go ahead and become  valued citizens of the world. So, yeah. And do you think that difference if it was another country?  South Africa, yeah. Um, I,  I think it, it was a similar, uh, sentiment in Turkey. That's why I love teaching in Turkey as well. Um,  because they also prepare  their students for the future and for, for their contributing to the, uh, The national, the, the whole national la  nationality of the school.

 

Yeah. Um, and international contributions as well. It was totally different in Kuwait. Um, I was told to alter students marks and I refused to, and because of that, my pain was docked and things like that, so. Oh. Um,  yeah. Sounds horrible. It was, it was horrible. Yeah. I, I, I hated it there.  . And then,  so I think teachers, of course education and the country system play a huge role.

 

But teachers specifically, what role do you think teachers have  in playing in the future of education in Qatar?  Oh, we'll, we'll never be out of fashion. We'll never be taken over by AI. I was just going to mention AI, yeah. No, I don't think so, because that human contact should always be there. I mean, we had a trial run during COVID when we had to sit behind a screen and teach behind a screen and it didn't work.

 

Because the, the human contact wasn't there,  so um, I don't think teacher, teachers will ever  be out of fashion.  Okay, about AI, do you think that in any way, shape or form, is it gonna overtake teaching jobs?  No? No.  Um, I use AI already and I encourage my students to use AI as well. It opens a huge new avenue for them to explore and it's wonderful.

 

Um, but you will never have a robot standing in front of the classroom.  And,  it just, it's never gonna happen. Do you think it takes away from like the personal elements in art?  Because it does take away part of the creativity part. Like  the aspect of it. Yeah. So, so how do you think that's gonna influence?

 

Oh yeah. I don't use it for absolutely everything. So I will not encourage my students and I won't going to allow them either to  have an AI generated artwork, for instance, or to submit that.  Um, but there are ways to get around that. You, you, you have your stock gaps that you, you know, you check to, to make sure that they do the work.

 

Yeah. Like ethical use. Yeah. And can you describe a bit what do you see as like ethical usage of AI?  Um, to get ideas. Um, there's nothing wrong with getting ideas from them to, um, help with research and things like that. Nothing wrong with that. We are, draw the line is for the, for, for the AI to do my work for my, for me or for them.

 

Yeah. Yeah, so.  So that's the extent of the questions I have. Okay. Thank you so much for helping me. It's a pleasure. I really appreciate it.