He's funny, relaxed and easygoing. He's all of this things, except when it comes to his passion: getting people to read. When it comes to this most elemental mission in his life, he is absolutely determined.
Thomas Patrick Seelleur, a lecturer in English at the Khalifa University in Sharjah, is on a mission to get every child - and adult if he can help it - in the UAE to read fluently. He's started a special interest group called Read SIG under the aegis of TESOL Arabia to get his plan rolling. He's also introducing a novel scheme called Reading Champions where football stars will be visiting schools with the aim of motivating students to start reading.
"I've been trying to promote reading to students who often arrive at university having never read a single book in either English or Arabic," he says. "If we can engage parents and their kids, educators, librarians, business leaders... people from all walks of life, and get them to buy into this simple and enjoyable pastime, it would make the world of difference. The fundamental idea behind this campaign is to make every child love reading and every home a place where parents read to their kids." I, ME, MYSELF
I, Me, Myself
I can't imagine a life without books; it would be a life without words.
I started reading at a very early age. My dad read and my mom read too, and I inherited a love for books from them. My brothers and sisters used to read all the time too, and we would often have discussions about the books we were reading. That made me want to find out what it was about those books that fascinated them so.
One of my biggest influences was my school, which encouraged reading. At university I started reading newspapers. I became more into newspapers than books! I still read books, of course, but I tend to read more newspapers. I like to stay updated with news and I like to know what's happening.
I believe a good start to reading can come from listening. Whether you're listening to stories as a child or to the radio. Even listening to the news is as good as reading it. The mind works to conjure up images; the imagination is activated.
Reading is a natural progression from the imagination. We start off by listening to stories told to us by our parents. The curiosity and fascination that builds up in us goads us to seek more of the same… which we can find in books.
I think books can take you to places you could never have imagined. They can make you think, clarify your thoughts and ideas and they can breathe life into an otherwise uneventful day. They inform, console, provoke and stir emotions. Books bring me closer to my children and closer to an ever widening world. I may own a book but a book owns us all.
I would describe myself as a fun person. I am also stubborn as well as optimistic. I believe in people. I trust people before I mistrust them. Many people consider that a stupid thing to do. But I believe most people are honest and can be trusted. I have to actually see dishonesty to believe it.
I am also a very practical person who enjoys doing practical things. I'm not big into material things. I'm a family guy and I enjoy kids.
I believe in keeping things simple. Seeing the funny side of life and having fun where you can. Life is short so don't take things too seriously. Of course, there are some things you should take seriously, such as health and safety.
I am happy seeing that the rest of my family are as obsessed with reading as I am. My wife goes to bed reading a book and gets up reading one! We spend quite a lot of our incomes buying books for ourselves and for our children. We buy them books over video games. Our children are encouraged to read and buy their own books too.
We give them their pocket money through a rewards system. Their behaviour - such as getting up on time, saying thank you and so on... will determine their allowance. A good behaviour tick is the equivalent of 1Dh. When they collect 100 ticks - 100Dh - they get to buy a book.
I, ME, MYSELF
Me and the travel bug
I got the travel bug when I was 12 years old. My father got a job offer in Istanbul and sat down to discuss it. I wanted to stay but everybody else wanted to go. So, off we went to Istanbul.
Just when I started to like it, I was sent to a boarding school in the UK. After university, I got a job in the UK and then I got a chance to go to Beirut, and that was the start of my travels.
I got into teaching, and discovered that I loved it. It was a good experience and very interesting. I returned to the UK again for a stint and went on to spend some time in Spain teaching. I met lots of different people and they led me to different places. I followed a friend of mine to Saudi Arabia for two years. I met my wife the day I landed back in the UK. It has been a roller coaster ever since.
We stayed in the UK, got married and had our first child. With a family to look after, I needed a better job and so moved to Libya. I then went back to Saudi Arabia for two years. When we decided to move again, we drove from Saudi Arabia to the UAE.
I started off in Abu Dhabi working at the Petroleum Institute for five years. We then moved to Al Ain where I worked for the UAE Academy and was a member of the Board of Directors for the Al Ain English Speaking School. My wife got offered a job in Sharjah, so I resigned and was a house husband for a short time. My wife teaches too. She started teaching when we were in Saudi Arabia.
Now with five children in tow, our travels are mostly restricted to trips back home as we want them to be in touch with their roots.
Me and my influences
My mother was my greatest influence growing up because she used to read to me. On weekends, my dad would sometimes read to me, as would my brother and sister. My siblings were my mentors and I really looked up to them.
Books obviously influenced me greatly. The first book I remember was about lighthouses. I used to love reading about the navy.
I have read a lot of books on politics, war, conflicts, adventures and romance. The Rights of Man by Thomas Paine is one that has influenced me profoundly. Another would be Lord of the Flies by William Golding. They both focus on the need to respect individuals, but point out that no one person is above the law. Without law, anarchy rules and the strong bully the weak. The role of a government is to protect the rights of all. We must protect those who are most vulnerable without resorting to violence.
Me and reading
As a teacher who reads a lot, I focus on integrating study skills - listening, reading and writing. I try to get my students to sit down and read. You are more likely to make them read if you can make it as comfortable as possible for them. I see a lot of teachers trying to get students to read in the classroom. Students don't read in a classroom! Many people like to read in bed. Why? Because it is comfortable.
Reading should be a pleasure, not a chore. It could be on the beach, on a mountain, on the lawn, on your sofa... wherever you enjoy it and where you are comfortable. It should always be relaxing and fun. The classroom is the last place you want to read!
Becoming a father was a big change because there is very little time to read with young kids. Sleep becomes a factor. You learn to live with less sleep and less time. Me and my convictionsI don't think you can impose change, but you can try and persuade people if you believe in something strongly enough. If there's one thing I would like to change, it would be the views on safety.
Me and my possessions
There are no real possessions that I could not part with, except maybe my stamp collection. It is quite unique and contains stamps from various countries. It is valuable from a historical, geographical, and cultural point of view. If I had to save something from my possessions it would be some photos which cannot be replaced. I would also have a hard time parting with my music tape collection.
Me and my principles
I don't give up easily; I stick to my principles. I believe in being good to everybody. I have my drawbacks too. I get lots of good ideas but I don't always follow them through. I come up with an idea and then I get bored with it. But now I have learnt that if you want to do something you have to stay with it and see it through. I may have many ideas, but I need to learn to stay focused on one idea at a time. I also have a problem controlling my enthusiasm at times.
I, ME, MYSELF
What is the objective behind Read SIG?
The idea is to engage the entire community to combine projects, initiatives and schemes that teachers have started over the years. More so now as we have a lot more insight about education. This special interest group has been started in conjunction with TESOL Arabia (Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages). Part of the mandate is to try to get the students to read more. We are trying to raise the standards of reading and are making good progress. We are working in all seven of the emirates.
What are the problems that Read SIG faces?
I have been in touch with a number of people and we are trying to raise the profile of readers. We are trying to make reading more accessible for students. Some schools have libraries but no books. I base a lot of the programme on the National Literature Trust in the UK, who are doing a good job dealing with the same issue. They are trying to engage different sections of society in reading.
The Middle East used to be the centre of literature in the past, and it just needs to be stirred up again.
Education systems improve if governments encourage students to learn at least two languages. You have to read to get a better perspective of the world. A lot of kids today are not reading at all. I came across a statistic that says that an average student in the Middle East reads around 36 pages in about 12 years. In Europe, the average is 36 books.
I am not trying to re-invent the wheel here. I want to bring together all the successful projects to be used as one large resource. For example: there is a school in Abu Dhabi that has started a reading club which has proved successful. The success sparked an idea at a school in Umm Al Quwain. Good ideas are thus replicated successfully.
What is the Reading Champions scheme?
The idea again is to encourage reading. Kids of parents who read a lot tend to love books too. In such cases, the children grow up reading intelligently and have a positive attitude towards literacy. We thus want to encourage parents to read to their kids as this inculcates a habit of reading.
You've got to read a lot to succeed at university. People who have not grown up reading face an enormous hurdle when they arrive at university which demands one to read a lot. They can read intensively, but they can't read extensively. The government wants more people to study to postgraduate level and do their Masters and PhDs. But this requires more theory and more research. Research involves reading, and if the reader cannot read extensively, how can they become researchers?
That's where our scheme comes in. We want to connect with every school in every emirate. Parents have to get on board for this. There are lots of schemes for parents to become involved in. The Reading Champions scheme was first started in the UK, where popular personalities such as football stars visit schools to be role models for reading.
Imagine the impact on a child when his star says: "Look, I read. Why don't you read?" It's a major draw in the UK and it's sure to be the same here. Imagine when the football clubs go out into the community and take kids to learning centres. The kids will be inspired to take their parents along too.
We plan to set up libraries in schools as well. When parents go to fetch their kids, they will be encouraged go to the library and study with their kids or simply spend an hour reading with them. When parents get into a habit, the kids follow. This will have a long-term effect on younger kids. That in a nutshell, is what I aim to do.
