Generic Skills Development in the Gulf Cooperation Council Countries and Graduate Outcomes: A Systematic Review of the Literature

Generic skills are essential because today’s jobs and the future of work require flexibility, initiative, and the ability to undertake many different tasks. While higher education graduates in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) countries recognize the contribution of these skills in their academics and workplace performance, generic skills development is not a consistent part of their education, which has led to socioeconomic challenges. If higher education placed a great emphasis on developing generic skills, students would expect to have pragmatic benefits, such as academic success, boosting workplace performance, positive interpersonal relationships, and better health and overall well-being. To the best of our knowledge, no systematic review has been conducted to examine generic skills development outcomes in the GCC. Hence, this systematic review aims to identify, evaluate, and summarize findings from peer-reviewed and policy-related studies that have documented generic skills development outcomes in the GCC countries, including identifying broad definitions used and areas for future research. The findings demonstrated conclusive evidence regarding the effectiveness of generic skills development at the higher education level in enhancing graduate outcomes in employability promotion skills, enhancing stakeholder engagement in curriculum and instruction, academic or workplace performance, influences on health, and effects on social dimensions.

Dominant Discourses and Teachers’ Comparative Sensemaking through Internationally Sited Professional Development Experience

The United Arab Emirates’ education policy agenda is focused on a singular goal: to be one of the top 20 countries in PISA 2022. The focus on PISA has become so robust in the UAE that it is now a central component of teachers’ professional development. This article explores teachers’ sensemaking of dominant education policy discourses through their experience in an internationally sited professional development program in Vietnam – a country whose 2015 PISA performance inspired the education policy reform in the UAE. The findings presented in this article highlight teachers’ deficit framing of difference and their performative adoption of STREAM-focused practices to replicate Vietnam’s 2015 PISA scores. This article concludes with recommendations for future research to better understand the ways in which dominant discourses inform teachers’ professional development, and opportunities to expand teachers’ roles in the policymaking process.

Applying Global Models of Teacher Development to Improve Student Outcomes: Insights from a Teacher Development & Leadership Program in Qatar

This paper aims to examine the relationship between progressive teaching practice and student academic and non-academic outcomes. The teacher development and leadership(TDL) program is a Qatari teacher development program that is a part of a wider global network(called “Global Network”) that aims to expand educational opportunities through teacher development with its roots in the United States. (Names of organizations have been changed for anonymity). The training model of TDL program is based on six themes: (1) orientation to student vision, (2) ongoing reflection to improve practice, (3) setting high expectations for students, (4) ensuring content rigor and mastery in students, (5) fostering positive culture and learning environment, and (6) building positive relationships with students. We used a dataset that includes aggregate student- and teacher-level data from 136 classrooms (with2,087 students) of 41 teachers between 2015 and 2017 to understand the relationship between teacher effectiveness and student outcomes. We found that establishing a positive rapport with students, practicing ongoing reflection, and internalizing learning are associated with higher academic achievement. We also found that incorporation of student vision for teaching practice is correlated with students having more positive attitude toward learning.

Arab countries and the global education agenda 2030: Incomplete path

The 2030 global education agenda sets a progression path for all countries. About ten years before this deadline, this paper explores potential trajectories for Arab countries to achieve significant advances in education. The article examines major challenges related to access and quality of education. While most countries made major progress on quantitative dimensions of education (enrollment, years of schooling), important challenges remain such as limited learning outcomes, persistent illiteracy, inequalities and poor governance of education. This paper proposes new ways to rethink education in this region. The tension between credentials(prioritized by students, family and the state) and skills (needed by society and the job market)is one of the most relevant issue in reforming education in the region.

Evidence and Promises of AI Predictions to Understand Student Approaches to Math Learning in Abu Dhabi K12 Public Schools

Transforming the education system and building highly skilled human capital for a sustainable and competitive knowledge economy have been on the UAE’s top policy agendas for the last decade. However, in the UAE, students’ math performance on the Program for International Student Assessment (PISA) has not been promising. To improve the quality of schooling, a series of malleable predictive factors including the contributions of self-system, metacognitive skills, and instructional language skills are selected and categorized under student approaches to math learning. These factors are hypothesized as both predictors and outcomes of K12 schooling. Through the analysis using machine learning technique, XGBoost, a latent relationship between student approaches to math learning and math diagnostic test performance is uncovered and discussed for students from Grade 5 to Grade 9 in Abu Dhabi public schools. This article details how the analysis results are applied for student behavior and performance prediction, precise diagnosis, and targeted intervention design possibilities. The main purpose of this study is to diagnose challenges that hinder student math learning in Abu Dhabi public schools, uncover R&D initiatives in AI-driven prediction and EdTech interventions to bridge learning gaps, and to counsel on national education policy refinement.

Parental Control and Career Decision-making Among Arab Women in the United Arab Emirates

This article draws on an analysis of interviews with a group of young women from diverse Arab backgrounds in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to examine the roles their parents played in their higher education and career decision-making (CDM). A constructivist grounded theory (CGT) methodology guided the study and enabled the examination of the career decision-making experiences of these women within their wider sociocultural context. Parents were found to play significant roles in co-constructing career decisions with their daughters. These decisions were joint and interactive where career goals and the means of attaining them were shared and negotiated, however, generally under the control and direction of parents. This article aims to demonstrate the implicit and explicit ways in which parents controlled their daughters’ CDM, and how this occurred within the parameters of gendered and cultural conformity. The article concludes with recommendations for education policymakers in the UAE, particularly in regard to involving parents in career guidance programs in order to help young women actualize their career goals.

Teachers’ Experiences of Marketization in the United Arab Emirates

The compulsory education sector of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) provides insight into the effects of the marketization of education. Quality assurance by UAE government agencies has required international comparative testing, the results of which have highlighted the uniqueness of the school system in the UAE and the need for investigation into teachers’ experiences. This study was a part of a mixed-methods investigation of teachers’ experiences in marketized systems. Teachers working in for-profit international schools were interviewed. Items were developed based around themes of the initial findings of marketization, control, buffering, and fulfillment. Then, teachers in the UAE were surveyed to find quantitative patterns in their experiences. The findings from the quantitative study show that across types of schools, teachers in the UAE experience the direct effects of a marketized school system and the indirect effects that influence interactions at their workplaces. While the direct effects demonstrate how teachers’ work is modified to be more business oriented, the indirect effects reveal the threats teachers feel regarding their professional judgment, hierarchical relationships, and social pressures due to the marketization of schools. Future research should investigate a broader range of schools for how teachers are affected by the marketization of their school.