The uncompleted reforms : the political mechanisms of reforming educational systems in the Arab Gulf States

During the past two decades, the Arab Gulf states (AGS) have invested heavily in reforming both the K-12 and higher education systems in the belief that this might improve the human capital and enable the region to shift toward a knowledge economy instead of relying on hydrocarbon as the primary source of state income. Yet, after this long period, these systems are still underperforming, and the region continues to struggle with providing quality educational practices that enable its citizens to contribute to the “knowledge economy” specifically or to the future of their states more generally. Many international consultants have been involved in these reforms to develop the so-called ‘neoliberal’ education reform agenda; many projects have been launched and implemented. While sporadic changes have been observed, the situation remains largely unchanged. The question is why these states have not achieved their goal: a highly-skilled nation capable of competing globally. Critical scholars have placed significant emphasis on the political mechanisms and the social circumstances in the process of education reform and its implementation (Bell & Stevenson, 2006; Heck, 2004; Nitta, 2012; Portnoi, 2016; Taylor et al., 1997; Williams & Cummings, 2005). In a similar vein, this article approaches the question of education reform in the AGS by looking at it critically from a contextual and political perspective, which is considered a new approach to studying these reforms. In doing so, the paper highlights that this drive for change avoided certain political and socio-economic matters, which may account for the low achievement and consistent underperformance of these reform initiatives in the education and development arenas. This article applies a qualitative comparative approach to examine education reform in the region by analysing key policy documents and relevant literature that studied the reform. My argument is twofold: First, the extensive involvement of the ruling establishment and the topdown policy process remain unchanged. Secondly, over the past 60 years, the region has relied heavily on foreign consultants, which indicates a lack of confidence in the local expertise to handle the reforms. Also, the ‘street-level bureaucrats’ such as school leaders and teachers remain neglected in the policy process. Finally, the political and bureaucratic contexts remain undiscussed in reforming the education system. Matters such as the instability of the leadership and the bureaucratic structures impact the low calibre of employees in the Ministry of Education but are not considered in the reform process; they seem to be a redline for the ruling establishment. Contextual changes are a crucial factor in achieving successful and sustained educational reforms, but the AGS is unwilling to risk making these changes. For policymakers and education reformers in the region, this article offers an invitation to seriously consider the contextual and political dimensions and boundaries when imagining, articulating, and implementing future education reform initiatives.peer-reviewe

Modular Composite Body Armor

Tasked with the development of a composite material profile for use in the application of body armor design, the team worked with with Desmark/Amerisewn to create a stab and slash resistant composite material. This report investigates the design, development, and analysis of such composite material, and details the accomplishments made by the team throughout the entire design process. The objective was to meet and adhere to the National Institute of Justice (NIJ) 0115.00 Standards, specifically the specifications described for a Protection Level III apparatus. Thinking beyond this scope, the initiative is to provide a more lightweight, flexible, reliable, and modular solution to threats encountered by law enforcement officials in regards to slash and stab attacks, with a primary concern being those implemented by a knife or spike-like object. Corresponding manufacturing and experimentation procedures are included for analyzing the implicit dynamic penetration resistance and associated mechanical behaviors of the configured composite material. Through this analysis, a numerical method pertaining to the design and prediction of a multi-laminate composite material’s mechanical behavior, given an impact due to a weapon/implement mentioned above, aided in a final solution that adheres to both the items described within the NIJ 0115.00 Standard as well as design specifications corresponding to the product. Proposed to adhere to these requirements, the team developed a composite material that applies a multi-laminate design to create the desired product characteristics. The carbon fiber epoxy resin solution has an overall profile thickness of 0.495 inches and an estimate total weight of approximately 2.38 lb. A manufacturing method for producing such composite material is also explained in this report. Further analysis and testing of the was conducted through means of numerical analysis. A composite program developed by the team using MATLAB was used to calculate the mechanical characteristics of the composite using data inputs collected by experimental methods. The program will then assess the respective stress and strain relations through the entire composite profile. This gave insight to where the material will fail and under what load, and is a useful tool in determining the failure conditions, as well as identifying materials that do not contribute to the overall integrity of the composite. Several methods of experimentation, both physically and numerically, were conducted in order to validate the performance and adherence to design specifications. Ultimately, the carbon fiber/epoxy composite material adheres to National Institute of Justice’s 0115.00 Protection Level III Standard the most effectively and efficiently, minimizing the depth of puncture to less than 1/4 and 3/4 past the backing material due to a force applied at the strike face of 43.0J and 65.0J respectively

Kuwait Principals: Preparation, Induction and Continuing Development

This research explored the leadership capability of principals in intermediate schools in Kuwait by examining the preparation and development programmes that were available to them. Ten intermediate school principals were interviewed to identify the qualities that they considered school principals needed to lead public schools in Kuwait, whether or not their own preparation, induction and continuing support were sufficient and their suggestions for what else was needed. The interviews revealed that principals in Kuwait are not prepared well for their positions due to the inadequacy (and absence) of formal preparation programmes, relevant learning experiences, induction procedures and continuing support. Participants identified a number of different experiences and activities that would help develop their practice in leading public schools in Kuwait and would help others in similar circumstances

Developing the Leadership Capability of School Principals at Public Intermediate Schools in Kuwait

Kuwait is facing a set of challenges in its education system. Some of these challenges are related to the quality of education and some are related to school administration, especially in training programmes and leadership skills. To avoid these challenges, the Kuwait Ministry of Education has established a long-term strategy to reform the education system, and the Ministry gives the schools the main value in this strategy. These challenges increase the pressure on school leaders. Consequently, the quality of school principals is significant in these reforms; they should have the capability to lead the schools during the reform process. Educational leadership is given wide attention across the world because of its position in schools and thus in our lives. Therefore, schools need to be guided by leaders of a high quality, which prepared well to give them the capability to be effective leaders. This is a research project aims to help with the development of the leadership capability of principals in intermediate schools in Kuwait by looking closely at their skills and the preparation and development programmes that are available to them. Ten intermediate school principals will be interviewed in order to understand directly from them the qualities that they consider school principals need to lead public schools in Kuwait and whether or not their preparation was good. It also aims to explore different leader preparation programmes that are now available in other countries and to look at which ones may be suitable for the Kuwaiti context to be in the suggestions

Exploring teachers’ professional agency within shifting educational contexts: A comparative study of Lebanon, Qatar, Kuwait, and Morocco

This study explored teachers' professional agency in response to shifting educational contexts caused by the COVID-19 pandemic across four participating countries. Findings from this qualitative comparative study revealed that the forty-six participants enacted agency in initiating teaching and learning activities for students, engaging in individual and collaborative learning opportunities, and establishing new partnerships with multiple stakeholders. However, teachers’ ability to practice professional agency was either supported or hindered due to several factors which varied between the public and private sectors within and across the participating countries. Implications on practice, professional development and policy for a post-pandemic era are discussed

The Present Status of Public Libraries in the State of Kuwait: Librarians’ Perspectives

This study aims to explore librarians’ perspectives regarding the present status of public libraries and their activities to serve the community in Kuwait. To achieve the objectives of the study, a descriptive analytical method was used. A random sample of 262 librarians was chosen to answer 42 questions in a questionnaire that was divided into six dimensions: the role and reality of public libraries (9 questions), the availability of information services (6 questions), the use of IT (6 questions), the library environment (7 questions), the administration and financial level (6 questions), and awareness of whole library activities (8 questions). The data were analyzed using SPSS Statistics to calculate correlations. The study found that public libraries must support users and offer advanced materials to meet a wide range of print and digital needs. Attention must be given to these materials, and the libraries’ valuable contribution to society should be acknowledged. The value of this study lies in the exploration and understanding of librarians’ perspectives, which are indispensable for improving the services and resources provided by public libraries. Keywords: public library, librarians, librarians’ perspectives, library status, Kuwait DOI: 10.7176/IKM/12-3-04 Publication date:May 31st 202

The Politics of Teacher Policies Reforms in the Arab Gulf States: A Comparative Study

In the past two decades, the Arab Gulf States have introduced several educational reforms, seeking to improve the quality of their education systems in a drive to diversify their economies. Despite heavy investment by the Kuwaiti government in education reform, its implementation of teacher policies reform has had limited success. To explore and understand why Kuwait has not implemented any reforms related to teacher policies in the past ten years, this study compares the process of teacher policies reform in Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain and investigates the variations among the three countries. The research is approached through the lenses of different policymaking theories, specifically the Institutional theory and the Multiple Streams theory, as its main focus is to study education reform in the three countries from a political perspective. It employs a qualitative comparative study, analysing key policy documents and consultancy reports, as well as interviewing policymakers and faculty members in Kuwait’s education colleges, to gather relevant data. The three countries shared similar aims and agendas for reforming their education systems, including teacher policies, and all three relied on international consultants in developing the reforms, but the significant difference concerned the degree of emphasis on reforming teacher policies; in Kuwait, this received much less focus than in Qatar and Bahrain. Guided by the Most Similar System Design, three explanatory factors were identified: the ruling establishment’s degree of motivation for reform, the stability of the administration responsible for the reform, and the extent of stakeholder involvement in the process. Bahrain and Qatar had highly motivated ruling establishments, stable administrations, and extensive stakeholder involvement, thus facilitating reform, whilst these factors were absent/weak in Kuwait. Therefore, this research argues that these three factors are closely related to the outcome of interest and explain why Kuwait was less successful with teacher policies reforms

Csr and facets of value creation: The role of key moderators

The value corporate social responsibility (CSR) creates for consumers still remains unexplored although its importance has been demonstrated in several contexts including pricing (Chang and Wildt 1994), retailing (Baker, Parasuraman, Grewal, and Voss 2002), and across cultures (Xiao and Kim 2009). Monroe (2003) argues that consumers would be willing to pay a higher price when they perceive a substantial value associated with making a purchase. In order to resolve many of the inconsistent findings in the CSR literature, such as the inconsistencies of CSR's ability to influence attitude (Sen, Bhattacharya, and Korschun 2006; Webb and Mohr 1998) and purchase intent (Mohr and Webb 2005; Trudel and Cotte 2009), it is necessary to explore which facets of perceived value consumers derive from CSR. However, without knowing what type of perceived value consumers gain from CSR, researchers and managers lack the information they need to understand why consumers are willing (or not willing) to pay a higher price in the context of CSR. The value created by CSR depends on the type of CSR activity that the company engages in (Peloza and Shang 2011). This study utilized cause-related marketing (CrM) as a type of CSR and proposed that it will influence consumers' values. Specifically, the value consumers derive from CrM will be moderated by perceptual and attitudinal factors. The perceptual factors examined in this study include the company's reputation, the authenticity of the CSR action, and the consumer's perceived personal role. The attitudinal factors included in the study are cynicism, moral disengagement, and consumer alienation. Two experiments were conducted, and the results show that an authentic CSR image accompanied with CrM influences consumers' esteem and spiritual values. This study also finds that consumer values of esteem and spirituality create favorable consumer responses. Finally, the consumer's perception that he or she has a personal role in impacting a cause enhances the value derived from CrM