In Yemen, St. Paul teachers train union leaders

"For these kids who grew up in a Muslim society to come here, it\’s really difficult," Prentice said. "Suddenly, women don\’t have to be fully covered. Suddenly, they are thrust into classrooms with both boys and girls."

In August, Prentice and St. Paul Federation of Teachers President Mary Cathryn Ricker traveled to Sana\’a, Yemen, where they trained leaders from two different Yemeni teachers\’ unions in effective teaching techniques.

In Yemen, Prentice walked among women covered from head to toe in black, save a small slit in the veil for their eyes. She ate in restaurants where she and Ricker were the only women allowed, as Yemeni women gathered to eat downstairs in a separate place.

But Prentice experienced more than just culture shock. She also witnessed the ways women are seizing power and becoming leaders in a society that, from afar, appears to suppress women\’s voices.

"I left feeling like a I had made a positive difference in the world at large," Prentice said. "It was a lot of work – 12-hour days, 13-hour days – but it was so rewarding."

Amber Prentice and Mary Cathryn Ricker with teachers in Yemen.

Professional development
Education International, a union federation of nearly 30 million educators in 172 countries and territories, organized the training sessions for Yemeni teachers. The federation recognized a need for professional development among the country\’s educators, as the standards for becoming a teacher in Yemen are minimal.

How minimal? According to Prentice, Yemenis need only graduate from college – or high school, in some rural areas – to become teachers.

The situation is worse, Prentice said, for women, particularly in rural Yemen. Once a Yemeni girl hits puberty, she needs to study under a female teacher to continue her education.

"Because of a historical lack of women being educated, a lot of girls, if there aren\’t any women teachers in their area, can\’t go to school," Prentice said. "It becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy."

Education International recognized this cycle of under-education of Yemeni women and, about five years ago, began fostering a training program between the American Federation of Teachers and two Yemeni unions to address the issue.

The workshops focus on very basic teaching strategies, like group management, assessment and classroom transitions. Most Yemeni class sizes are large – upwards of 50 students – and teachers are looking for ways to improve their efficiency.

"Elementary classes have like 60 or 70 kids, and high school classes get even bigger," Prentice said. "We talked about things like assessment without having to collect everybody\’s papers, time on task and ideas for group work."

Channels to power
Half of the participants in the August workshops were women, and Prentice said she and Ricker focused on creating – and modeling – female leaders in the teachers\’ unions.

"That way women have the knowledge, and they can bring that back into their locals and give these workshops themselves," Prentice said. "By having more power, they can recognize and encourage more women and girls to become teachers and to become leaders."

What Prentice discovered during her two weeks abroad, however, was that Yemeni women already are creating and strengthening channels to power within their Muslim society. And they\’re doing it through the labor movement.

There are big differences between the two Yemeni teachers\’ unions with which Prentice and Ricker worked. One, Gutep, is the nationally recognized union. Its leadership is hand-picked by the Yemeni president.

The other, an upstart union known as The Syndicate, has to defer to Gutep when it comes to bargaining for contracts. Instead of bargaining, The Syndicate has focused on mobilizing its members around specific issues, like better facilites, better pay or increased access to education.

The Syndicate, in order to avoid being disbanded by Yemen\’s governing party, has aligned itself with the second-largest political party in Yemen, the Allah Party.

It\’s an ironic alliance, given The Syndicate\’s progressive goals and the Allah Party\’s fundamentalist principles, but Prentice was impressed by The Syndicate\’s pragmatism and agility.

"It was weird to be there and read the things the (Allah) party was trying to do, like ban women from voting or sitting in parliament, when at the same time it is backing a union that is trying to get more women to go to school," Prentice said. "It\’s interesting to see people clamoring for real power in a place where there\’s not a lot of power to be had.

"I already knew that we were lucky to be able to unionize, but it really reinforced how lucky I am that I have a union that supports me, that gives me professional development, that helps ensure that my rights are being respected. It\’s really a powerful thing."

Michael Moore edits The Union Advocate, the official publication of the St. Paul Regional Labor Federation. Visit the federation\’s website, http://mn.aflcio.org/stpaulunions