AN adorable Bahraini grandmother is making waves in a public school by teaching children modern concepts of science while also instilling in them love for Bahraini culture and heritage.
‘Grandma Mariam’ has stolen the hearts of students at Saar Primary Girl School, who eagerly look forward to her words of wisdom as she arrives in class dressed in colourful Bahraini traditional costumes.
The endearing persona was created by science teacher Fatima Yusuf Al Doseri on an experimental basis.
“I did not want to see our traditions fade,” Ms Al Doseri told the GDN.
“I feared that future generations may slowly forget our identity as Bahrainis.
“While teachers in the public sector are encouraged to inter-relate courses of study, citizenship is barely connected to other topics. So I came up with the character Grandma Mariam.”
The 27-year-old was surprised when students embraced it with love and admiration.
“I was appointed as a science teacher during the pandemic when we had shifted to virtual classes,” Ms Al Doseri said.
“I made up the character of Grandma Mariam as a cartoon figure wearing Bahraini traditional clothes to appear in slide shows during online classes.
“Soon children themselves started to point out Grandma Mariam when she made an appearance.”
Noticing how attached they were to the character, Ms Al Doseri started acting out the persona herself by wearing Bahraini traditional clothes.
“Children were really excited and more focused in class every time I showed up as Grandma Mariam and that was a revelation.
“So when we decided to start in-person learning in schools, I wanted to reinvent that character to work in a classroom environment.
“I decided to let children don the role so that they can feel their country’s traditions, while also launching a quiz to develop curiosity in science.”
Ms Al Doseri would bring to class the traditional Bahraini box, known as ‘sunduq mubit’ which literally translates to dormitory box, and open it to reveal the question of the day, which would be related to science. Whoever answered it would become Grandma Mariam for the next day. They also got to hold the box with the next hidden question.
She also provided students with traditional garments such as the thobe nashal, a colourful garment worn over their dress.
“Sometimes, children seek help from their parents or grandparents and since many of them are from different villages, they would come to class in colourful dresses and styles that I did not know was utilised as traditional Bahraini clothes.”
While the grandma is sparking discussions among children on the country’s rich culture and heritage, Ms Al Doseri also asks students to visit historic spots to further kindle their curiosity.
“Some children, alongside their parents, visited Qalat Al Bahrain where they personally compared soil and minerals around the landmark and beside the sea. A few even took videos of their scientific exploration,” she said.
“The aim is to make children excited when they learn about history or science. They will naturally do better as they become interested in what they learn.”
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