Students in all three 12th grades are busy working on research essays. These essays are individually driven, and, although this work comes under the ‘English’ umbrella, students have chosen subjects across the school curriculum and beyond it.

The main purpose of the project is to give the students an opportunity to pose a question, do some individual research that will answer that question, and then to write an essay, citing their sources in a recognized way. The impetus for this was a comment by one of our ex-students. “I wish I had learned how to write an extended essay, while I was at school,” she said. “The first year (of a psychology degree) was really hard, and it would have made it much less stressful.” Of course, an extended essay is one of the requirements for the IB Diploma, but has not been part of Thanawiya ’Ama. To meet the need for this kind of experience in school the 12th grade English teachers successfully piloted this project last year.

Students’ interests vary widely. As Ramadhan approaches, it is not surprising that some students are making inquiries into religious and cultural topics, such as “Is the hijab a symbol of entrapment or a symbol of freedom?” and “How have Western influences affected life in Oman?” Biology is a popular subject, and this leads to questions of a psychological nature, such as “Why do people have phobias?” and “Is selfishness necessary for survival?” Most importantly, students have enjoyed furthering their knowledge about something for which they have a passion. Ala’a Aziz, a lifelong Real Madrid fan, has written a fervent treatise on “Why does Real Madrid have the largest fan club in the world?”

Various experiences have inspired our students’ inquiries. Omniyat Al-Busaidi, who chose to research the question “Is racism inevitable?”, had noticed that “everywhere you look you see examples of racism. There was even a headline ‘Is It Because We’re Black?’ talking about the victims of Hurricane Katrina, and the fact that it took so long for them to get help. Does that mean being racist is part of how humans are made?” That would, indeed, be a depressing conclusion, but Omniyat argues otherwise, very cogently. “If racism is something you learn,” she says, “and I think it is, then we can, and should, unlearn it.”

Amira Al-Lamki also chose a topic that is close to her heart. “Ever since I can remember, I have known that I am a carrier of ‘sickle cell trait’. Writing this essay has been a great opportunity to find out what that means, and what its implications are.” Her well-structured and informative essay answers the question: “Why is sickle cell anaemia so prevalent in Oman?” and is extremely pertinent to the environment of which we are all part.

Congratulations to all the 12th grade students, who have worked very hard and produced some excellent essays. Reading them has been a pleasure.

Joy Bowker
English Teacher