Learning from my Arabic-attire dressing Experience to a West-African Workplace - V1

The Article Below is a excerpt from a paper written in partial fulfilment of my MA in Management Learning and Leadership. Steming from the practices of Experiental Learning, Life-long learning and Living Life as Inquiry, the interesting piece (albeit wordy) emphasizes the changing approaches to individual and organizational learning.

Abstract

This paper was written with the intent of reflexively learning from a self-stimulated experience of dressing in an Arabian-attire to a West-African workplace. It explores the major learning embedded in the experience for the writer, and examined the social issues echoed from the reaction of his colleagues.

Key Words: Reflexivity, Learning, Labeling, Stereotypes, Post-Colonialism, Religion

My Arabic-dressing Experience

When I decided to wear a traditional Arabic attire to work, my intention was largely to portray myself as an international, widely-traveled, open-minded and exposed young-man. Some weeks before my Arabian-dressing experience, I was hitching to wear a “rare”, non-routine work-outfit to the office. Weary of the traditional English official wear (suited up in shirt, tie, a pair of pants and a jacket) and the Friday dress-down sports wears or Westernised African traditional outfit, I decided to dress to work in a complete traditional attire of my tribe (the Yoruba tribe) two-weeks before my Arabian-dressing experience. This Yoruba traditional attire is widely associated with politicians and as such, I attracted a relatively high level of attention and comments from colleagues which I did enjoy and even craved for more. As I will later discover, those were much more positive comments than some of those that ensued in reaction to my Arabian appearance.

Prior to the Friday that saw me dress in the Arabian outfit, I reflected on my expectations of people’s reaction when they see me in the “strange” outfit. In actual terms, I did anticipate that some observers will equate the attire to me being a Muslim and was determined to educate them on the fact that it is rather traditional than religious—however, this awareness instilled in me some expanse of perturbation, a fear of what such perceptions could lead to realizing that the topic of religious affiliation is quite sensitive in my environment. In contrast, I expected great comments like “nice outfit” or “Nice! Where did you get that from?”—which ultimately will help achieve my aim of generating some level of attention from colleagues and depicting me as an exposed, widely-traveled, international young-man. In retrospect, the only instance when I ever saw a Nigerian (who had) dressed in an Arabic-attire, was during my undergraduate days (pre-9/11). He had recently returned from the holy pilgrimage in Mecca. I could remember the level of attention he drew; and how admirable his outfit was to everyone that saw him.

The first reaction I observed happened right after I left my apartment and walked towards the car-park. A group of young kids dressed for school were walking towards me, and on sighting me, changed the course of the direction they were headed. I felt embarrassed but quickly concluded that they probably have never seen someone dressed in the keffiyeh (Arabian headgear) besides televised pictures and that probably scared them a first-sight. Driving to work, I noticed that drivers and occupants of cars that drove by took extra caution to take a second look at me—an incidence that created the mini-celebrity feeling in me.

On arrival at work, walking through the corridor to my office, I got several greetings of “As-Salāmu Alaykum” –-an Arabic greeting that translates to “Peace be upon you” and customarily spoken by Muslims when they meet people of the same faith. Others called me “Alhaji”—an honorific title given to a Muslim who has completed the Hajj (pilgrimage) to Mecca. My determination soured as I thought on ways to achieve the up-hill task of re-orientating my colleagues to make them realize my outfit is traditional and not religious. I was in doubt, however, of how much impact my affirmations could make in a bid to influence their existing perceptions—it became more glaring to me that there is a stereotype associated with my outfit and in relation to the Islam religion. This in itself became a learning opportunity for me recognizing that achieving success in convincing at least one person will indorse my self-stimulated experiences learning approach as a way of helping others to learn or accept a particular fact.

A few people did make pleasant comments about my outfit in a way that helped realize my desire to be perceived as an exposed, widely-traveled individual. However, there were contrasting reactions. One of these was from a Muslim female colleague who surprised reaction to the sight of my dressing and subsequent remarks insinuated I might be intending to join a terrorist organization; relating my action to following the path of the Nigerian Christmas-day-bomber who attempted to detonate an explosive in a US-bound aircraft on Christmas day of 2009. I found this Muslim female colleague’s reaction astounding, considering the fact being Muslim she should have displayed more tolerance and familiarity with my strange attire. However, I began to wonder if the Arabian attire echoed terrorism rather than religion to her.

Another highpoint of my “single-day-dressing-experience” developed from a conversation an older colleague (in his 50s) initiated which attracted a good number of colleagues in no time; as it developed into a heated debate. The older colleague had questioned my decision to dress like a Muslim when I am not one. I attempted to re-orientate him and insisted that the attire is not a religious wear but one of the numerous traditional wears that exists in the world. He persistently opposed my opinion as he started to outline the dangers I was being exposed to by dressing this way. He inferred that colleagues’ impression about me will change as I will be labeled a potential terrorist or could even be attacked by Muslim fanatics if they find-out I am of a different religion. I was dumbfounded! This was a grave impression of my appearance—considering the very serious implications associated with it. A number of other colleagues joined in the debate. Most of them shared the opinion of the older colleague. They emphasized that my dressing could have been okay without the keffiyeh (Arabian headgear). As I struggled to convince them otherwise, I realized I had become frightened by the threat that I could be a possible target for religious attack. Being in a country (and a city) that is quite susceptible to religious violence between Muslims and Christians, my colleagues’ assertions on the implications of my Arabian traditional attire got me panicky and a few hours after, I lost the courage to keep the keffiyeh on my head.

Defying my perturbed situation while the debate was on, I raised my voice to make reference to other forms of stereotypes especially “the discrimination we Nigerians face being notorious for internet scamming and other vices”. I pointed out to the audience that having a few Nigerians as scammers does not make all Nigerians scammers invariably affirming that being dressed in an Arabian traditional attire does not make an individual a terrorist suspect even if a number of Arabians have been linked to terrorism following the 9/11 incidence and subsequent terrorist acts in and from the Middle-East.

Sadly, there was no certainty that I was able to pass across my message proclaiming—“this dressing has nothing to do with religion, it is just a traditional wear”!

Albeit, I had gained a first-hand experience similar to the stereotyped population—it was an experience that probably brought me close to the feelings of thousands of Arabians who, because of their appearance and traditional attires, are subjects of suspicions when they visit other parts of the world.  As the day came to a close, I realized my “single-day-dressing-experience” comprised numerous incidences that had substantive richness for reflexive learning.

The Decision: Reasons and Purpose

At the point where I decided to dress to my workplace wearing outfit that is “stereotyped”, my intentions were not entirely clear. I had a craving to dress in an unusual manner in a bid to attract attention and I also sought to show-off my exposedness across the global terrain. As I thought through possible scenarios that could play-out, there was an awareness of likely reactions from observers that could depict traces of biased assumptions of my intents. Conscious of the commencement of a journey that depicts an experimentation of a learning approach, I lacked clarity on the learning awaiting me. However, I was determined pick-up each learning point by disengaging the “me” from the situation and analyzing it in a rational and objective manner (Cunliffe and Easterby-Smith, 2004).

Reflecting on my action and considering the weirdness of a resolution to create experience for the sake of reflexive learning, I see the need to question my source of guts. Did it have anything to do with my personality, a new approach to living life or is it normal for humans to wish to learn from daily-lived experience?

Archer (2007), in explaining the rapid change of late-modernity, stated that continuous reassessment of experience and information imbedded in our experience has become central to living, describing it as an essential means by which people make their way through the world. Thus, she defines reflexivity as ‘the regular exercise of the mental ability, shared by all normal people, to consider themselves in relation to their (social) context and vice versa’ (Archer, 2007: 4).

In her submission, all normal people are assumed to regularly exercise their mental ability in relation to social context. It is however unclear what Archer meant by the term normal people. The research was conducted drawing on an initial sample of 174 respondents and a final 128 subjects, each of whom was chosen to reflect differences in age, gender, and occupation (Cicourel, 2010).

But was it or has it been always normal for me as an individual to initiate an experience in a bid to reflexively learn from it? I am naturally analytical.  Yes! But in retrospect, I realised that I would not have taken such an action (decision to dress in Arabic-attire), for the sole purpose of reflecting on the eventual experience, a couple years back. Although, the reasons for my awareness of the value-addition in reflexive learning is imprecise, my participation in the MAMLL Programme has certainly enhanced my willingness to be open-minded in exploring various views and perspectives of particular issues and critically evaluating situations as a basis for instituting change (Cunliffe and Easterby-Smith, 2004).

Built on a model of Action Learning, the MAMLL Programme is pedagogically based on learning communities. Expressing the effect of being on the MAMLL Programme, a past MAMLL student stated that:

“It is difficult on MAMLL not to develop some form of critical thinking as tutors and peers constantly ask questions of statements we make and assumptions such statements may be based on, and challenge us to look at things from a different perspective. This happens in all forums of the programme, be it online around our papers, by phone or face to face in workshops. I think that this is perhaps most evident in our questioning of our own ontologies and/trying to understand why we see the world the way we do”. (Ormand, 2007)

 Furthermore, my quest for tacit knowledge could have helped suppress my perturbations and gave me the guts I needed to go ahead and dress in an unusual outfit. In explaining the forms of knowledge, Raelin (1997) stated that explicit knowledge are forms of knowing that could be transmitted in formal systemic language while tacit knowledge are forms of knowing that cannot be reported because they are deeply embedded in individuals’ actions and their involvement in a specific context. Drawing from the Model of Work-based Learning at Individual Level initiated by Raelin (1997) in which four learning types were outlined resulting from a matrix of the two learning modes and knowledge forms, I can identify my transition from one level of knowledge to another before and after my “dressing experience”. The four learning types identified by Raelin (1997) [through learning modes of theory and practice and knowledge forms of explicit and tacit knowledge] are: Conceptualisation, Experimentation, Reflection and Experience. Although this model may not apply to my reflections in its entirety, my experience probably portrays a transition between Conceptualisation and Experience.

Conceptualisation involves the learner going through theoretical forms of learning to gain explicit knowledge. When new principles are introduced to learners, it is conceptualised thereby giving them an ability to solve work challenges in new and different contexts. When learners conceptualise they are better positioned to reflect on their actions based on newly gained theoretical learning. Experience breeds learning—when learners pass through a particular experience and then, upon reflecting upon that experience, they extrapolate learning from it. Experience, therefore, refers to how people learn in practice to gain tacit knowledge (Raelin, 1997).

My prior theoretical knowledge on topics related to diversity and inclusion has made me an “advocate” of equity and equality in diverse societies promoting zero tolerance for any form of discrimination. I have, for a long time, held a firm belief in promoting inclusion of disadvantaged groups whether it is as a result of cultural, racial, gender, sexual orientation or other forms of differences.

I was to later realize that I could not have anticipated the richness of my experience as some of the numerous reactions of the people around me (most especially colleagues) were stunning and even frightening; and how much more practicality I would add to my conceptual knowledge on diversity and inclusion. The reactions to my Arabic appearance could be said to span two extremes. One extreme was the remark relating my action to terrorism and inferring my choice of dressing as “religious extremes”. The other [delighting] reaction was a tolerant reception from another colleague who showed delight in my attire and offered to take pictures with me—though raised as a Muslim, he had grown up in Europe and gone around the world, raising questions of how much influence his “global exposure” had on his perception of my dressing in contrast to the perception of the other colleagues who have not had as much global exposure. An interesting outlook emerged from my thoughts, pondering on the role of post-colonialism in the tacit knowledge embedded our minds as West-Africans about the Arab world. I will attempt to explore this further later on in this paper.

Overall, this single-day experience brought me to a greater realisation and knowledge of discrimination based on culture and generalisations, and fulfilled my aspiration and purpose for initiating a unique experience to learn from.