It is observed that economic and social development inevitably invokes the necessity for the change of the public educational systems to meet the needs and interests of the transformed society. The purpose of the paper is the evaluation of multiple aspects of modernization of approach to education that recently took place in the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
The paper investigates the major motives for the reforms’ initiation and the main objectives for the attainment of which they were launched. The modernization process triggered the shifts in the perception of leadership and instructional roles in the school environment. The concept of organizational and class leadership is evaluated in the study to demonstrate its significance to the successful performance of educational change. The educational reforms positively affect the academic achievement of students, but the improvement of school specialists’ proficiency may help to attain greater long-term positive results.
The constant process of the economic and social development in the distinct countries may be regarded as the causal factors for the evolution of the educational systems (Abed & Hellyer, 2001). And the success of the formation of new quality of economy and society in the UAE in 21st century largely depends on the modernization of public education.
The theory of modernization provides different typologies of the transformational process – they can be caused by endogenous factors (provoked by a set of internal reasons such as State’s self-development and self-transformation of society) and adaptive factors (provoked by external reasons such as global competition) (Portnoi, Rust, & Bagley, 2010). It is possible to say that modernization of the UAE education system was influenced by both of the factors because it appeared as a requirement for maintenance of the sustainability of the internal growth and an attempt to comply with the international standards of education.
Since the midst of the 20th century, the UAE experienced a great leap in its economic and industrial growth, but despite significant progress in commercial domains, the school systems were severely criticized for the failure to meet the demands of a new epoch (Thorne, 2011). As a result, the debates and discussions of the problem were raised by the UAE government, as well as by regional and Western mass media. Since 2005, after His Excellency Sheikh Nahayan publicly commented the educational issues, the news about the reforms in education and adoption of new initiatives obtained an ongoing character (“Problems face education,” 2005).
The educational system in the UAE is strongly associated with the problems of unclear curricula goals and missions; inappropriate methodology and selection of teaching instruments; and lack of curriculum flexibility that leads to inefficient time management and subject themes drop-outs (Thorne, 2011). As a result, some Emirates preferred to abandon the traditional state system and shifted educational structure towards the private education systems.
For example, in 2006, the Abu Dhabi Education Council has announced the adoption of the alternative “public-private partnership” educational reform that implied the raise of instructional standards in elementary and middle schools under both for-profit and non-profit management (Thorne, 2011, p. 173). The launched reforms were also related to the introduction of new curriculum norms and regulations that had a purpose of immediate influence on the academic outcomes especially in the areas of science and mathematics. Moreover, it was decided that the students in math class should be instructed in English in the number of partnership schools.
Nowadays, the UAE society experiences the cultural expansion. The rapid linguistic and ethnic diversification of the UAE society raises the topical issue of educational equity (Britto, Yoshikawa, & Boller, 2011). According to multiple international education standards, such as Millennium Development Goals (MDG) and Education for All (EFA), the educational equality can be supported primarily by the free school enrollment and the provision of equal academic opportunities for the students from the distinct demographic backgrounds (Britto et al., 2011).
The UAE educational organizations and official representatives make efforts to develop and realize multiple inclusion programs (Gaad & Almotairi, 2013). The inclusion programs have the significant social and ethical implications as they are aimed to support the social diversity, and provide the disabled individuals, as well as the students from the minor ethnic groups or low-income families, with the equal opportunities to become the valuable members of the UAE community. The inclusion of diverse students into the educational programs contributes to the formation of children’s positive social identity and helps them to acquire skills of social interrelations more efficiently.
Educational Leadership
For the efficient modernization of the educational system and achievement of enduring and sustainable positive academic outcomes, it is important to transform the leadership identification at the school and class levels. It means that the new concepts of leadership and professional efficacy should be adopted and supported by teachers and school management.
According to recent studies, leadership plays a substantial role in the students’ academic success and largely effects on the quality of school and class organization (Macpherson, Kachelhoffer, & El Nemr, 2007). In this way, the principals and school managers are regarded as the catalysts for the development and realization of educational potential.
The leadership role requires a person to demonstrate such features as “honesty and openness, high order communication skills, flexibility, commitment, passion, empathy with others, a sense of ‘innate goodness’ and a belief that schools can make a difference” (Thorne, 2011, p. 175). And the principals in schools need to be engaged in the constant development of the mentioned personal traits to be able to fulfill the organizational goals more effectively. It is found that the successful performance of leadership roles leads to the achievement of the enduring positive results (Macpherson et al., 2007).
When speaking of teachers, the current process of the UAE education modernization requires them to develop new skills and traits as well. A teacher may be regarded as a class leader, and his/her role in the students’ academic, emotional, and cognitive growth is essential. The role of teachers as a leader is especially important at the levels of early and primary education because it is observed that the children overcome the critical phase of psychological and cognitive development before the age of 10 (Britto et al., 2011).
In this way, the teachers need to know well how to address the major needs of their students and provide them with the adequate class environment stimulating the children’s sound development. Moreover, the teachers should provide the content access to diverse students, and, therefore, they need to know the children’s personalities and abilities to prevent the developmental delays. The class activities should be flexible and inclusive of everyone, and it is also important to create positive and friendly environments, so the culturally and linguistically diverse students would feel accepted.
A vast number of organizational problems in the UAE education system (instability of curricula, disconnectedness of instructional content with the current social needs, lack of learning support, low level of instructors and managers’ proficiency, etc.) indicates that the changes in the leadership perception should be made (Macpherson et al., 2007). It means that the training programs for school teachers and administration should be designed, and the participation in these programs should be encouraged by the officials. It is important to provide the school specialists with the necessary support to achieve the improvement and growth of the professional competence that would lead to the enhancement of academic achievements of students.
Potential Benefits of Educational Modernization
The recent studies demonstrate that the UAE educational system is exposed to the expansion of individualization of teaching and learning practices in the 21st century (Phillips, 2014). It is possible to say that the models of private education became widespread because the pedagogic community came to a conclusion that the current educational practices do not have a desired effect on the students. The adoption of the alternative models of tutoring that are regarded as the main source of individual and social evolution demonstrates the stable tendency to the increase in education quality (Macpherson et al., 2007).
Nowadays, the UAE experiences the reevaluation of the traditional approaches to teaching and curriculum development. The government and the public recognize the necessity for the creation of open educational space, individual instructional approach and support of the students; elaboration and realization of individual academic trajectory; as well as teachers’ ability to create class environments facilitating the development of vital skills, independence, and autonomy in students.
The economic and social transformations in the UAE make it clear that the shifts to new strategic objectives and missions in education should take place, and new teaching directions must be aimed at the development of conscious self-identification in then students. The direct goals of school education in the modernized system became associated with the formation of knowledge in individuals characterized by the scientific worldview, who have the abilities to comprehend the world as a whole. The given tendencies totally fit the goals of the state’s economic and social evolution, in the stimulation of which the major role is given to the well-educated and proficient individuals (World Economic Forum, 2007).
Conclusion
The educational initiatives that have been undertaken by the government since 2005 provoked many short-term benefits and positive outcomes. However, the realization of full potential of modernization initiatives requires the teachers and principals to achieve a higher level of competence and proficiency (Thorne, 2011; Macpherson et al., 2007). The major tension between the successful fulfillment of change in education and the conservatism of the traditional the UAE educational system indicates the lack of human and knowledge resources that would support the efficient transition to change.
The severe criticism of the state educational system, as well as the current organizational problems in schools and low salaries, in particular, do not attract the new teachers. Moreover, the reforms impose significant demands on teachers but, at the same time, many organizations fail to provide sufficient instructional support and training for the educational specialists, and it leads to the job satisfaction decrease (Thorne, 2011).
The provision of well-organized and structured support system for school teachers and leaders may help to increase the modernization reforms efficiency and achieve significant improvement in the development of academic and cognitive abilities in students. The teachers and leaders need to comply their professional growth with the strategic paradigm of a new approach to education. They need to be able to provide the students with the schooling environments stimulating the adoption of skills for the effective identification of personal goals, the establishment of good micro-social interrelations, the critical thinking, and other skills that could be used by the individuals in the professional and academic domains.
References
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Problems face education: unsuitability of curricula, collapsing school buildings and low salaries. (2005, November 19). Al Ittihad Daily, pp. 8-9.
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