With the Summer Session at the American University of Beirut

From this university — nay, from this city standing as a torch of light and guidance upon our broad shore — springs the first spark to burn away ignorance and submission!

In its spacious courtyards varied faces greet you, for it gathers students from every Arab land; they meet on one ground, to bind themselves together and pledge one another to love of the homeland, of goodness, and of righteousness.

In this university was held this summer's training session in the methods of education and teaching; and here, dear reader, I carry you off to the classroom, or the courtyard — to the shade of a fresh green tree, or a green bench — to watch those literary circles forming in every corner, for discussion, inquiry, and exploration.

As for the session's teachers, most of them specialists in the arts of education and teaching, they deserve particular notice for the effort they expend with such devotion, confident of a day that will bring the country to what they — and we — desire!

My steps led me to the office of Dr. Habib Kurani, to obtain an interview concerning the teaching session. It was not easy for me to make my way into the crowded office, but chance helped me to my goal, and from behind the registers and notebooks the genial face looked out at me; and when he learned the errand on which I had been sent, seriousness showed in his eyes and he began to pour forth, treating the matter with awareness and experience.

— What is the aim of the teachers' summer session?

— Our schools need the spirit of renewal, and this comes about through acquaintance with the new, comprehensive culture, and the teacher alone is able to bring it to life. And since the teacher is occupied throughout the school year, we thought it best to hold the session in the summer. It comprises five groups: one group here at the university, and another group — the rural session — at the American School of Sidon.

Understanding among the various Arab lands is created by way of the child, whom the teacher takes in his charge. On our benches now are teachers from all the Arab lands, conferring together to understand educational problems and to work for the strengthening of general culture.

We laid this idea before Point Four, and those in authority agreed to give some assistance; the remaining expenses are borne by the university with the help of certain of the Arab states.

As for the remaining circles, among them is the circle of Near East studies, by which we mean to make the West understand, and to acquaint it at close range with our civilization; and the other program concerns students who did not finish their course requirements last year, or who cannot study during the school year.

★

In the classroom I accosted Mr. Philip Najjar, the specialist in psychology and education, with my question. He smiled, trying to slip away, but I gave him no room; rather I placed him before an accomplished fact with my question:

— Who, in your view, is the successful educator? And do you acknowledge woman's superiority in the field of education?

— In my view, the educator can be any person who devotes his life to guiding others by way of persuasion and the exchange of love and respect. He is anyone who believes that education is the foundation of a life he lives in practice, persevering at it all his life without weariness or boredom, striving to achieve the aims that will bring him to raise the level of country and people. I am certain that the side of reform, guidance, and counsel is the first foundation in education, and the weapon of the faithful educator; and I believe in give-and-take and the exchange of views in education — without these sacred things, no success in it can be hoped for.

As for woman: being our mother, she alone possesses that exalted heavenly gift, and so she surpasses man in motherhood, the source of tenderness and affection. It is no secret that her educational task is more arduous than man's; but each of the two completes the other, and the two educational sides, in man and in woman, meet on one ground.

In one corner of the teaching building stood Mr. Ahmad Yatim, our colleague and owner of the newspaper al-Qafila in Bahrain, debating with a group of teachers. I seized this favorable opportunity to put my question to him, though frankly I doubted whether the answer would be candid; but the first word he uttered convinced me that the journalist, wherever he may be, is a social reformer, freed from every bond.

— How does the woman in Bahrain help the renaissance of her country?

Mr. Yatim rubbed his brow, then set about delivering a lecture, from which I gathered the following:

— The woman in Bahrain is your Arab sister — would that you could see her! She is fettered; she tries to break her shackles and to take part in any activity, and she cannot, for impregnable barriers stand in the way of her goal. Yet I am optimistic that they will be removed, with the help of everyone who aims at liberation and release.

Al-Qafila has stood by woman at every stage: it has written several articles urging her to rise, and prompting those in authority to relinquish the right they have usurped. Fanaticism against women grows the higher their social station rises: the emiras do not learn, nor do they join in some of the development projects that have begun to appear through the enthusiasm of the awakened youth.

★

I put the same question to some of the Iraqi and Jordanian teachers, who answered with pride and enthusiasm about the renaissance in their countries, and the renaissance of woman in particular. In Iraq she competes with man in the universities and the institutions and the fields of specialization; and in Transjordan her present renaissance is no less than that of her other Arab sisters — save that progress in the countryside dwindles beside the national renaissance in Amman.

Suddenly I awoke to my negligence toward the young ladies, who had formed a defensive front in the shade of one of the pine trees; and I had to put my question twice and three times over before I received the first answer, with which Miss Thurayya Abu Asali met my question:

— What led you to join the summer session?

— My pressing desire to become acquainted with the modern methods of teaching led me to join the summer session; this, besides my eagerness to add to my experience in languages, and in the psychology of the child and everything connected with it, in its simplicity and its complexity.

As for Miss Salwa Karroum, she delivered her answer while fixing me with steady, calm glances: I have gained a good deal of experience in teaching in past years, but I feel an impulse always to become acquainted with new surroundings, to gain knowledge that was not open to me before; for I believe that life, be it long or short, is a school in itself, and for the reflective person every day holds a lesson and a sermon.

As for Miss Fathiyya Shehadeh of Damascus, she left me no room to question her, but proceeded to shower me with the reasons that had spurred her to join the summer school: among them, acquaintance with the laws of modern education, and then the fascinating educational excursions, which open new horizons for the broadening of thought — we go back to generations long past, to live with the ancient civilizations by viewing their precious monuments. And there is something else that moved me: my desire for discussion and the free exchange of ideas, and then contact with opinions of every kind.

Miss Linda Sawaya could not hold back a sigh that parted her lips as she pointed toward Dhour el-Choueir: Knowledge, and the love of learning of which we hear in every sermon! Yes, I believe in the proverb that says: "Two there are who are never satisfied..." I left the summer of the Dhour and plunged into this blazing heat, my spur in it being to add to my experience and my knowledge in the teaching of children... my beloved pastime.

And I came back to myself, asking: is there life for a nation whose thinking has died?...