I recently took our class on a field trip to the Al Ain desert – to clean a small patch of well-used public desert that also happens to be strewn with garbage of all descriptions!
I know more traditional professors and educators in the rote learning tradition will not understand how these projects have anything to do with learning… well, you do not teach critical thinking, problem solving and strategic implementation by memorizing definitions.
Action learning is a movement gaining steam in academia – it involves not only hands on learning but applying theoretical concepts in real situations… Our desert cleaning project in Al Ain involved not just discussing the AD 2030 and UAE 2021 plans, but also the nitty gritty of strategic implementation. The vision of the UAE and the Emirate of Abu Dhabi is based on sustainability of the economy, environment, the society, and culture. The desert has everything to do with all four…but there is a serious litter problem. Of course not everywhere is this “bad” and the students looked hard to find a “bad” spot that was also easy to get to. The desert in the UAE is breathtakingly beautiful, just certain well-used spots need some TLC!
It started with a small group in charge of the project (Hamad, Khalaf and Surour – awesome job guys!). They were tasked in finding the best place, leading class discussions on what would be needed, how we would organize, getting permission from the Municipality, transportation, etc. I was in charge of sending countless email 🙂 The Municipality was very supportive and actually offered to send workers to help us out… Hamad knew what I would say to that and respectfully declined the offer!
OK, it is not that strange to see camels in the desert – but we all took photos and were excited all the same… and of course it was a stark reminder of the real dangers of trash in the desert… the camels graze in the open desert and eat the plastic… but the plastic isn’t digested and the lump can grow so big the camel will die a painful death.
The Maghreb or sunset prayer is one of the five prayers that Muslims pray daily. I have had the honour of seeing my students pray on many occasions, but I wanted to share this special moment with you. The owner of the camels had noticed us cleaning and then joined the students in their prayers. He then talked with them and said he would send over camel milk from the evening milking to thank and welcome us. A photo of the still warm and frothy camel milk is below.
After dinner he came himself and sat around the fire – and asked about our project and then spoke of the importance of teaching each generation – parents to children – about cleanliness, the ways of the desert, their heritage and Islam. He asked each student to introduce himself, and from their names he would sometimes tell a story about the father or grandfather and guess where they were from. He also spoke of how proud he was of them and how proud the university and their parents must be.
He then asked if the professor (me) wanted to hold a falcon. So we walked the few feet to his truck and there was one of the most beautiful falcons I had ever seen! It was a Shaheen and had a royal lineage… let me tell you there were some excited students to see his falcons and hear about his hunting adventures around the world.
Action learning will always have “unintended” teachable moments… this project had too many teachable moments for all of us to count! Bravo gentlemen, I am proud of you… when you start your jobs in organisations in Abu Dhabi, just remember this was a valuable team building exercise.
Smile and courage,
Dr. Connie.
Dr. Constance Van Horne is Assistant Professor of Management at Zayed University. Follow her on Twitter @cmvanhorne
