If a Muslim or Arab family is slow to respond to a note sent home by a school or is running late for a teacher conference, school officials should not feel snubbed but should understand the cultural influences behind that behavior. That's been the message delivered this week to about 250 Jefferson Parish public school teachers and administrators as part of a four-day workshop designed to help them work better with Muslim and Arab families in the school system.The seminar, which comes after an incident last year in which a teacher was accused of using religious slurs against a Muslim high school student, focused not only on religious tenets but also on the geographical and cultural aspects of Muslim life. "I want them to be able to better understand their Arab and Muslim students and their families," said Audrey Sabbas, a nationally known speaker on Middle Eastern culture who ran the workshop Wednesday for about 50 teachers and principals.
Sabbas, who is married to an Arab man and converted to Islam decades ago, discussed a list of values that guide Muslim life, including family-based support systems, a need to build trust with those with whom they work and a strong respect for authorities, especially educators and doctors. Those values can affect practical, everyday matters, Sabbas said. Because Muslims like to build trust, verbal communication tends to get better results than written documents, she said. Correspondence sent home by schools is the "least effective" way to communicate as opposed to a phone call or visit, Sabbas said. "They want to develop a sense of you before getting down to business," she said.