Assessing the Emotional Intelligence of Gifted and Talented Adolescent Students in the Kingdom of Bahrain

This study assessed the differences in the emotional intelligence of gifted adolescent students and talented adolescent students in Bahrain. The sample consisted of 80 gifted adolescent students and 80 talented adolescent students in Grades 9 through 12. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA) indicates that there were significant differences in emotional intelligence levels, as measured by the Bar-On Emotional Quotient Inventory, between gifted students and talented students in Bahrain in the direction of gifted students. There were differences between the gifted and the talented students in intrapersonal, adaptability, general mood subtest, and total emotional intelligence scores. Finally, gifted males had higher total emotional intelligence scores than gifted females; talented females had higher interpersonal scores than talented males.     

Paulo Freire’s critical and dialogic pedagogy and its implications for the Bahraini educational context

Abstract

This paper is a conceptual analysis in methodology. The purpose it fulfils is that of analysing the critical and dialogic pedagogy of Paulo Freire, to arrive at implications of Freire’s philosophy and approach for the current educational context of the Kingdom of Bahrain. The Bahraini context is currently one of major economic, social, and educational reforms. Despite several reform initiatives, however, schools in Bahrain are still not advancing as they should be and deficiencies continue to exist in students’ development of higher-order thinking skills, such as critical thinking, problem-solving, and analysis. Among the implications made by this study are ones related to: teaching and learning practices within a classroom, cultivation of 21st Century skills, curriculum development and planning, and the role played by the teacher. The paper ends with a number of significant recommendations for teachers and policy-makers, which can enhance education in Bahrain and help it progress faster. These recommendations can also prove to be useful to other parallel contexts regionally and internationally.     

The role of time in policymaking: a Bahraini model of higher education competition

ABSTRACT

This paper contributes to discussions about the nature and scope of higher education (HE) business in light of some of the emerging ways in which countries seem to be reframing the impact of globalism. In particular, it develops a discussion about spatialities and temporalities of HE policy by drawing on the Kingdom of Bahrain’s distinctive approach to free markets, transnational capitalism, trade of international services and foreign influence. The paper draws on key HE policy documents and regulatory frameworks issued by the Higher Education Council in Bahrain. In the paper, we ask about priorities that drive HE investment in Bahrain, as well as their impact on the role of international input in HE policy building. We find that policymaking in Bahrain is driven by ‘nationalisation’ as a pragmatic strategy at the time of transition to a knowledge economy. We also find that these goals are transient, thus providing suggestions for policy analysis from the perspective of time intervals in a space.