United Arab Emirates University students’ attitudes towards the handicapped

ABSTRACT

The study aims to explore attitudes of the United Arab Emirates University students towards the handicapped. A sample of 313 students, conventionally drawn, took the College Students' Attitude Scale towards the Handicapped. Statistical analysis revealed significant differences in favour of females vs males, single vs married, residents vs non‐residents, families with handicapped children, previous contact with handicapped and urban vs rural groups. Several recommendations are suggested at the end of the study.     

Factors favouring or impeding building a stronger higher education system in the United Arab Emirates

The paper examines the inherent strengths and weaknesses of the higher education system in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). Using a literature review, three elements were examined: its development and structure, quality, and research capacity. The findings reveal that the UAE’s higher education sector has witnessed remarkable growth since 1997, guided by the state’s policy commitment, and few restrictions on foreign universities opening branches in the UAE. This situation has led to substantial growth in the supply of higher education opportunities for the Emirati and expatriate population. Despite the UAE having achieved a high ranking for ‘quality indicators’ on the global level in the World Economic Forum’s Competitiveness Reports, the quality of graduates, education, and research engagement is still debatable. Significant efforts are needed to ensure that these critical issues, as well as the understudied expansion of higher education institutions, are being addressed to erase the misalignment with the UAE’s strategic goals.     

One or multiple paths to quality assurance of higher education institutions in the United Arab Emirates

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a federation of seven autonomous emirates that follow different economic models. There is a process for quality assurance at the federal level, however, each emirate takes its own approach to assure the quality of its institutions. This has resulted in different procedures and varying levels of oversight and scrutiny of quality. Since the majority of higher education providers in the UAE are market-driven, this poses the challenge of maintaining the quality of education in those institutions. This study explores how well quality assurance systems support the quality of commercial higher education institutions using two research methods: semi-structured interviews with 38 stakeholders to investigate their perceptions of the quality assurance processes in the UAE; and focus group discussions with 161 students to collect their views of the quality of education in the commercialised institutions. The research confirms earlier findings that quality of education is a function of quality assurance processes.     

The analytic hierarchy process of the decision-making factors of African students in obtaining higher education in the United Arab Emirates

The mobility of African students beyond national territories has become common worldwide. However, the underlying reasons motivating students to leave their countries of origin in pursuit of higher education in other developing nations and why these factors are important have not been fully explored. This study attempts to explore why and how African students travel to the United Arab Emirates for higher education. A push-pull factor theory of the international student’s choice of destination is developed to identify factors influencing the choices made by these students. The analytic hierarchy process is used to examine the relative importance of these factors. The findings of this quantitative study indicate that learning environment and geographic proximity are the two most important factors for African students, while other factors have a moderate impact. The findings contribute to a deeper and more comprehensive understanding of the needs and choices of existing and potential students from this continent, with a view to applying a segmentation approach to attract these students.     

初任教师的适应与思考

初任教师的入职阶段是他们在教师生涯中一个重要的部分 ,是他们从事教学专业工作的关键适应期 ,对教学的有效性、工作满意度以及职业持久性产生长久的影响。但我们对初任教师的职业适应状态不容乐观 ,他们往往面临“现实的冲击”,影响其留任率。本文拟从师范院校、学校和初任教师三个角度 ,考察初任教师面临的主要问题 ,并从职前和入职培训两个方面 ,提出改善初任教师适应状态的某些建议。     

Classroom interaction in regular and special education middle primary classrooms in the United Arab Emirates

Samir Dukmak is an assistant professor in the Department of Special Education in the Faculty of Education at the United Arab Emirates University. The research reported in this article investigated the frequency, types of and reasons for student-initiated interactions in both regular and special education classrooms in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). These interactions were studied in relation to various variables, including levels of students' academic achievement, their gender, special educational needs and disability. Teacher-initiated interactions were also examined in the study. Eighteen boys and girls from two regular and two special education classrooms were observed. Various types of interaction were identified among students and the results reveal that boys in all groups initiated more interactions than girls, and that high-achieving boys and girls initiated more interactions than their low-achieving counterparts. The findings also reveal that teachers interacted differently with boys versus girls. The reasons prompting students to initiate classroom interaction are highlighted in this research.     

Professional identity tensions of beginning teachers

This study reports on interviews with 24 beginning teachers about tensions they experienced regarding their professional identity. The interviewees reported a total of 59 tensions of tension that fell into three themes: (1) the change in role from student to teacher; (2) conflicts between desired and actual support given to students; and (3) conflicting conceptions of learning to teach. Most of the tensions experienced conform with those found in the literature. Tensions were often accompanied by feelings of helplessness, frustration or anger, and the teachers had a strong desire to learn to cope with them. Because of their negative impact on beginning teachers’ professional development, it is important that teacher educators and mentors in schools pay serious attention to tensions like these that relate to beginning teachers’ professional identity.     

Motivation to teach: the case of Arab teachers in Israel

This paper describes an attempt to identify factors influencing teachers’ motivation in the Arab education system. In-depth interviews with 10 school principals, 15 teachers and 3 counsellors, yielded three themes influencing Arab teachers’ motivation: (1) Arab culture, (2) the school climate and (3) government policies. Arab teachers try to meet both government requirements and the minority Arab society’s expectations that they will shape students’ academic achievements, national identity and culture. Deficient resources and Arab principals’ detached management styles augment the difficulty, negatively influencing teachers’ motivation. Suggestions are given to improve government policies and Arab principals’ work and thus to enhance teachers’ motivation.     

Attitudes of Slovene teachers towards the inclusion of pupils with different types of special needs in primary school

Numerous studies show that a successful implementation of inclusion of children with special needs (SN) largely depends on the teachers’ positive attitude towards it. The empirical research that is presented in the main part of the article analyses attitudes of a representative sample of Slovene teachers (n = 1360) regarding four domains of impact (impact of inclusion on pupils with SN, on peers, on teachers and on the classroom environment). In this, we controlled the role of the following two relevant characteristics of the sample: the category of SN (physical impairments, mild intellectual disabilities, learning difficulties and behavioural/emotional disorders) and the category of professional expertise of teachers in working with pupils with SN. We applied the Impact of Inclusion Questionnaire. The results show that teachers’ attitudes towards inclusion are determined by the type of SN the integrated pupils have. In the case of pupils with physical impairments, teachers expressed the highest level of consent and the lowest in the case of pupils with behavioural and emotional disorders. Our study shows that besides the type of SN, teachers’ professional expertise in working with pupils with SN is another important factor that determines the level of agreement with inclusion. It turned out that the teachers who had taken part in different forms of education and training had a more positive attitude towards all domains of impact.     

Emotional arousal of beginning physics teachers during extended experimental investigations

Teachers often have difficulty implementing inquiry‐based activities, leading to the arousal of negative emotions. In this multicase study of beginning physics teachers in Australia, we were interested in the extent to which their expectations were realized and how their classroom experiences while implementing extended experimental investigations (EEIs) produced emotional states that mediated their teaching practices. Against rhetoric of fear expressed by their senior colleagues, three of the four teachers were surprised by the positive outcomes from their supervision of EEIs for the first time. Two of these teachers experienced high intensity positive emotions in response to their students' success. When student actions/outcomes did not meet their teachers' expectations, frustration, anger, and disappointment were experienced by the teachers, as predicted by a sociological theory of human emotions (Turner, J. H. (2007). Human emotions: A sociological theory. London, England: Routledge). Over the course of the EEI projects, the teachers' practices changed along with their emotional states and their students' achievements. We account for similarities and differences in the teachers' emotional experiences in terms of context, prior experience, and expectations. The findings from this study provide insights into effective supervision practices that can be used to inform new and experienced teachers alike. © 2012 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 50:137–161, 2013     

Storied emotional distances in the relationships between beginning teachers and school principals

Recent research has acknowledged the importance of the relationships of school principals with beginning teachers. However, little is known about how emotions inform these relationships from the beginning teacher's side. Applying the concept of emotional geographies, this paper explores the kinds of storied emotional distances that appear in the relationships between beginning teachers and their principals. Based on interviews with beginning Japanese teachers, the results indicate that such relationships may be: (1) very direct and personal; (2) acted out indirectly by the principal as personal facilitator ‘behind the scenes’ or as public gatekeeper; or (3) mediated by the teacher community. The analysis reveals beginning teachers’ personal experiences of these relationships, as well as how such relationships are influenced by organisational and cultural context. Although principals are described as distant figures within the school organisation, they are seen to play an important role in facilitating beginning teachers’ work by connecting with them at a personal level and providing good working conditions by influencing the emotional atmosphere of the teacher community or by sheltering them from parental pressure.     

Challenging experiences faced by beginning casual teachers: here one day and gone the next!

The Educational Alumni Support Project (EdASP) indicated that there is an urgent need for the teaching profession to support casual beginning teachers (CBTs). The EdASP that was carried out at the University of New England provided online support for primary and secondary beginning teachers, yet the majority of postings were submitted by CBTs. In general, these casual teachers experienced feelings of alienation, culture shock, a lack of school and systemic support, and are often not considered part of the school community by staff or students. The analysis of postings by CBTs provides further insight into the difficulties they face, as well as reveals or reinforces strategies that could effectively facilitate their teaching. Many of these findings are not new, yet the call to aid casuals continues to be overlooked. This need for support is both professional and pragmatic. Ethically, education – a nurturing profession – should support its novices. In addition, the transition period from pre‐service to professional teacher has significant implications for teacher educators plus the potential retention of teachers.     

高校教师培训个体需求探析

我国高校教师培训的个体需求将由重学历培训轻非学历培训 ,转变为终身需求知识性培训、学术性培训和教学性培训并重。应通过政策引导、全面推行教师职务聘任制、实施教师培训制度、建立培训运行保障机制等措施 ,促使教师重视非学历培训和教学性培训 ,提高培训效果 ,满足高校教师培训的个体需求     

Measuring general and specific stress causes and stress responses among beginning secondary school teachers in the Netherlands

The main aim of this study was to adjust the Questionnaire on the Experience and Evaluation of Work (QEEW) in order to measure stress causes and stress responses of beginning secondary school teachers in the Netherlands. First, the suitability of the original QEEW stress scales for use in the beginning teachers (BTs) context was investigated using a sample of 356 beginning teachers from 52 different secondary school locations in the Netherlands. Confirmatory Factor Analyses, Principal Component Analyses and Mokken scaling item reduction was applied to create high concise and precise scales. Hereafter, based on the teacher stress literature, additional teacher specific stress items were added, resulting in the adjusted version of the measure, the Questionnaire on the Experience and Evaluation of Work – Beginning Teachers (QEEW-BT, study 1). To cross-validate the results and to examine the internal consistency and validity of the adjusted instrument a different sample of 143 beginning teachers from 61 different secondary school locations in the Netherlands was used (study 2). The present findings provide adequate support that the QEEW-BT is a reliable and valid instrument to measure stress causes and responses for beginning secondary school teachers in the Netherlands.     

The social and educational impacts of the first national Down Syndrome support group in the UAE

Although there is a fairly extensive literature on social and educational inclusion of individuals with Down Syndrome (DS) in many countries, very little is produced on the life and education of such individuals in the United Arab Emirates. There is an apparent lack of societal interest in the quality of lives of people with DS. The condition of DS is nearly a taboo subject in this part of the world. With only a handful of pupils with DS included in regular schools, and with many myths and misconceptions surrounding the syndrome and individuals, particularly children with the syndrome, the first ever national support group for individuals with DS, their families and their carers was formed in late 2004 in the United Arab Emirates. This paper examines and evaluates the social and educational impact of the support group. The study particularly focuses on the role of such group in promoting social inclusion and inclusion of pupils with DS in regular schools in the UAE. Members (mainly parents of individuals with DS) of the newly-established group participated in two interviews six months apart and the researcher observed group meetings, recorded activities and events over the same period. Views of individuals with DS on the effects and the activities of the group were also gathered through semi-structured interviews.
Participants reported significant benefits from participating in the group, particularly in the areas of promoting social acceptance for individuals with DS. The study found that the group also helped in eliminating and correcting some of the myths surrounding the syndrome and played a role in promoting social and educational inclusion of such individuals. The study ends with a discussion of the findings and recommendations for future practice.     

In search of well‐started beginning science teachers: Insights from two first‐year elementary teachers

The purpose of this qualitative case study was to explore what aspects of two first‐year elementary teachers' practices were most consistent with an inquiry‐based approach, what PCK served as a mechanism for facilitating these practices, and what experiences have mediated the nature and development of these teachers' PCK. For each of the participants data included audio‐recorded interviews, video‐recorded classroom observations, lesson plans, and samples of student work. Data analysis illustrated that both participants engaged their students in question‐driven investigations, the use of observational data, making connections between evidence and claims, and communicating those claims to others. Moreover, there was clear evidence in the findings of the study that a considerable degree of coherence existed between the two participants' knowledge on one hand and their instructional practices on the other hand. The participants perceived specific learning experiences during their programs as being critical to their development. The contribution of this study lies in the fact that it provides examples of well‐started beginning elementary teachers implementing inquiry‐based science in 2nd and 5th grade classrooms. Implications of the study include the need for the design of university‐based courses and interventions by which teacher preparation and professional development programs support teachers in developing PCK for scientific inquiry and enacting instructional practices that are congruent with reform initiatives. © 2010 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Res Sci Teach 47:661–686, 2010     

Making learning visible in kindergarten classrooms: Pedagogical documentation as a formative assessment technique

This study investigated interactions between pedagogical documentation—a formative assessment technique and instructional intervention designed to increase student learning by recording children’s experiences—and kindergarten children, families and teachers in the UAE. The study sample comprised six teachers in six kindergarten classrooms, 141 kindergarten children and 67 parents. The major data-gathering techniques were participant observation, semi-structured individual interviews, focus group interviews and parent questionnaire. The results revealed that pedagogical documentation has the potential to improve children’s learning, contribute to teachers’ awareness of learning processes and help parents gain a better understanding of learning processes in their children’s education.     

Longitudinal effects of induction on teaching skills and attrition rates of beginning teachers

The teaching profession faces a shortage as well as a decline of teaching skills. A possible way to mitigate this is to implement evidence-based induction arrangements. Seventy-one schools with 338 beginning secondary education teachers were randomly allocated to an experimental or a control group. The experimental schools used induction arrangements; the authors measured the effects of these arrangements by using repeated lesson observations and by comparing the rates at which beginners in the control and experimental groups left the teaching profession. Three years later, 14% of the control group and 12% of the experimental group had left. Leaving the profession could be explained by a lack of certification and low initial teaching skill levels. The experimental group exhibited greater improvement in teaching skills compared to the control group. Workload reduction influenced the skill level negatively, and coaching and observing had a strong positive influence on the skill level in Year 3.     

New teachers learning in rural and regional Australia

This paper reports on a longitudinal ethnographic study of beginning primary school teachers in rural and regional Victoria, Australia. The study uses a conceptual framework of place and workplace learning to ask: How do new teachers learn to do their work and how do they learn about the places and communities in which they begin teaching? In this paper, we focus on data from the first year of the three-year longitudinal study, using a place-based survey and ethnographic interviews. We found that the space of the classroom was the dominant site of learning to become a teacher for the new teachers in this study. This learning was understood through the discourse of classroom management. Analysis of these storylines reveals the ways in which the community and classroom are not separate but intertwined, and the process of learning about their communities began through the children in their classes.     

Special needs education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE): a systems perspective

In order to obtain maximum benefits from the educational system, it is imperative that the system should work as a unified coherent unit. Gaad, Arif and Scott (2006) conducted the systems analysis of the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) general education system. They analysed three components of the system in order to assess the development, delivery and evaluation. This paper utilises the same framework to analyse the special needs education (SEN) system in the UAE. Data for the research were collected through observations and semi-structured interviews. Analysis of the data identifies some possibilities for improvement. In the area of development, more teaching and supplemental material specific to special needs education needs to be developed. Currently, teachers are working with what is known as the 'para curriculum'. It is based on the regular textbook; with chapters that are difficult being simplified or removed. In the area of delivery, more training would be beneficial to teachers. The monitoring and evaluation component's analysis points out that the evaluation instrument used currently needs to be modified for special needs education monitoring and additional resources in the area of special needs education would required.