Isis Fouad Hanna
School Principal
Isis Fouad Hanna is a school principal, an education consultant, and an Egyptian woman pioneer of education. She graduated from the Faculty of Education at the American University in Cairo, before working at the Manor House School. Among her most notable achievements was introducing modern pedagogical approaches and methods of education that were unconventional at the time, such as Froebel’s and Montessori. In this interview, she shared her academic journey, and the multiple positions she held throughout her career.
At the age of three, Isis attended the Good Shepherd School for three months only, before enrolling in the English Missionary School, where she learned discipline and commitment. She recounted that her teachers took great care of her because she had lost her mother at the age of nine. Isis was interested in reading, and her teacher, Ms. Perry, made sure that she never went home without a book so she would not feel lonely at home. After graduating school, Isis expressed her desire to study medicine, and received great support from her father, whom she described as a highly enlightened man. He was a lawyer, and a graduate of Assiut American College. However, Isis eventually took the advice of her secondary schoolteacher, and attended the Department of Education at the American University, since her teacher saw in her a remarkable talent for teaching. Isis joined university without her stepmother’s knowledge, although they had a good relationship like any mother and daughter. Her stepmother strongly objected to the idea of Isis pursuing a higher education because she wanted her to get married.
While studying at the American University, Isis received a training at the American College, under the supervision of the Fulbright Commission. Upon her graduation, she worked at the American college for two years, then moved in 1954 to work at the Manor House School in Zamalek. There, the British school principal, Ms. Boleyn, followed a traditional teaching method, but Isis wanted to introduce a new approach, known as the Look and Say Method. When she had the opportunity to implement it, the method was a great success with the students. As a result, the principal asked Isis to teach this method to the rest of the staff members, despite her young age, as she was only 19 years old at that time. Although she did not want to stop teaching, Isis accepted an offer as a kindergarten supervisor, and was in charge of supervising the schools, and overseeing the pedagogical and educational aspects of kindergarten education. The Manor House School was nationalized only two days after Isis left, and most of the foreign teachers were let go.
Isis recounted that in 1955, the Department of Education at the American University, as well as the Faculty of Education in Zamalek were both shut down. In 1956, following the Tripartite Aggression on Egypt, Isis took part in the protests organized by the Young Women’s Christian Association against the British occupation. Isis also talked about her relationship with her husband, Dr. Mounir, and how their marriage was based on love, cooperation, and mutual understanding. He encouraged her a lot, and helped her learn the Arabic language, since she did not study it at school. Isis had to travel out of Cairo with her husband when he got seconded to serve as the Head of the Medical Administration, at the Tahrir Directorate. Upon the nationalization of the schools, Ms. Mary Salama took over and asked Isis to work with her at the Manor House School in Port Said.
Isis started working as the school’s supervisor of primary education, besides teaching, but she was not happy with this administrative post since she wanted to focus on teaching. Isis recalled that she learned from Ms. Mary Salama a lot about management, discipline, and the importance of paying attention to her appearance since she was a role model for her students. Later, Ms. Ma’ali Kira, the pioneer of education, became the school principal. Isis loved her a lot, and considered her as an elder sister. She learned from Ms. Ma’ali to love and accept others, and to focus on the good side of every human being, despite their flaws. Both Isis and Ms. Ma’ali worked very well together, until Ms. Ma’ali traveled to Saudi Arabia, and Isis became the principal of the kindergarten and primary schools.
In 1980, Isis traveled to Nigeria with her husband, who received an offer to teach at the Faculty of Medicine there. When they returned after five years, Isis was asked by Ms. Magda Moussa, the pioneer of education, to conduct a teacher’s training in collaboration with Ms. Ma’ali Kira. The aim of the training was to prepare the teachers who were going to work at the school Ms. Magda established, Misr Language School, where Isis continued to work as an education consultant after delivering the training. Isis also served as a consultant at the schools established by Nawal al-Degwi, and at an experimental school in Zamalek.
Isis did not feel that being a woman exposed her to any hardships or obstacles at work. She believed in gender equality and practiced it both at work and at home. She also believed that women had the full capacity to achieve everything men could. Yet, the word ‘oppression’ was always associated in her mind with the conditions of the Egyptian woman, and the suffering she faced in her life in general. However, Isis saw that Egyptian women began to earn their rights, especially after obtaining the right to education, through the efforts of the state, NGOs, and the civil society. For Isis, women’s education and work were indicators of the society’s development because they boost women’s strength, and the sense of partnership between men and women in society. Isis also spoke about some of the negative changes to society, such as the increase in divorce rates, unlike the family cohesion society used to enjoy in the past. Among the other negative changes Isis discussed was the rise of religious fanaticism, which she attributed primarily to poverty, and described it as the main reason for the country’s regression.
Throughout her career, Isis was keen on developing the educational approaches and methods, stepping away from conventional methods, particularly in the kindergarten stage, which was a critical stage in her opinion. She likened education to the house, which cannot be established without a strong base, and the kindergarten stage was that base. Isis instilled in the children the spirit of innovation, love for learning, and honesty. She decided early on that the best way to teach them these qualities was to practice them herself, and to lead by example. As a teacher, she relied on learning through play, and never encouraged using a pen at a young age, and she taught the school subjects, especially mathematics, through comprehension, and not just memorization. Isis maintained a friendly relationship based on understanding with her students, and was proud of the good memories she had with her coworkers, and their close relationship that lasted even after she left work.