January 2008
Pointless Points System
by Fireglo (contact admin of this site if you have any questions coming from this article)
The ‘Points System’ is the method SABIS / International School of Choueifat use in their schools al around the world. It is defined on their website as “The whole class is then taught together, using the unique SABIS® Point System™. The key concepts of a lesson are listed. Each of these is taught interactively, alternating oral work, individual written work, and group checking.”
This means that before each class a teacher writes on the board what they are going to explain in that lesson. There is a concept, for example, the meaning of the word ‘fraudulent’, a written application, ‘fraudulent’ used in a sentence i.e. ‘This company is a fraudulent one,’ and group checking, students sit in groups of four and the group leader (usually the smartest) goes around to check the students have written it correctly. Each cycle takes ten minutes.
This is how the Points System really works:
Its real function is for SABIS to protect themselves. They hire teachers with no teaching qualifications and use this dummy method of teaching to train them. It is a cheap alternative than hiring someone with a teaching diploma or masters in education.
The AQC will come into class and see that you are using the system correctly and check that you have planned your lessons in writing. This is SABIS’ way of checking that you are doing your work as a teacher and that they’re getting maximum value of the little money they pay you.
The group leader is the student with the most intelligence. He is usually surrounded by students with less ability. When the ‘Group Checking’ part of the points system occurs, he/she usually ends up doing the work for the other students because they don’t have a clue. Do SABIS care? No, once they can show parents that the students have written answers in their copybook they are happy because the burden is off their shoulders.
The majority of SABIS teachers don’t use the points system and only do so when the AQC or principal comes into the classroom. This is a fact. It simply doesn’t work.
If it did work and was properly used then think of it realistically: The children are in class for six or seven hours a day and in every class they are doing this cycle; concept, application & checking. The system is robotic in nature and gets beyond boring after the first month. This leaves the students and teachers uninterested.
The whole points system, in summary can be defined as offloading education on subordinate’s shoulders. The head people at SABIS dictate the curriculum, in my experience and often plagiarize materials from respected educational firms like Penguin: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_School_of_Choueifat,_Abu_Dhabi
The teacher then has to prepare lessons with sub standard, misleading and erroneous materials. The teacher then offloads this information to the group leaders and then the group leaders to the children. SABIS can get away with this system because they have “proof” that teaching is done at every stage.