Schools of Education are emerging academic units in higher educational institutions in Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) nations. Most of these teacher training programs are in their infancy stages. Modern day educational discourse across teacher training programs globally, including the Middle East and in the GCC, have predominantly focused on student-centered approaches to teaching and learning. This approach to teacher training is infused with critical scholarship and marks a shift away from positivist approaches to educational scholarship. Integrating critical scholarship in GCC teacher training programs brings about a number of challenges, as this approach to education is a departure from traditional cultural and social norms for schooling in the region. This multidisciplinary volume highlights some of the challenges and complexities that inevitably arise from this paradox. Professors, researchers, and specialists working in the GCC have contributed to this volume with the intent of empowering educators with authentic and contextualized research and insights to advance collective understanding of the complexities and challenges of teacher education and training in the GCC. Ultimately, this work will serve as a practical tool and resource that can be employed by schools of education to provide authentic insights, strategies, and research to further develop teacher training in the GCC and globally.

This comprehensive book presents emergent findings and promising results in teacher education, curriculum, assessment, teaching and learning approaches, pedagogical innovations and practices, and professional development in educating the next generation of students. The volume reflects the current trends and highlights teacher education programs in all 14 MENA countries in one place. The chapters in this handbook discuss the challenges and the ways to improve teacher education by the educators in the Middle East region, including Bahrain, Egypt, Iran, Iraq, Jordan, Kuwait, Lebanon, Oman, Palestine, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Turkey, United Arab Emirates, and Yemen. It also provides an extensive and rich reference for future comparisons across the countries. The book contains chapters written by experienced international teacher educators who draw on their experience and expertise to perennial issues and formidable challenges in teacher preparation and meaningful school reforms. This volume is a valuable resource and essential companion for teacher educators, faculty members, staff developers, trainee teachers, undergraduate and postgraduate students, researchers, school leaders, policy-makers, and professional learning communities to refresh their knowledge and improve their understanding. This book is a must-read for anyone interested in evolving issues in teacher education in the Middle East region.

In the current volume, the selected studies have been grouped into three thematic sections, presenting readers with a set of distinct but related research on meaningful issues for a modern learning experience. The first three chapters present professional and teacher development perspectives and collectively shed light on how to develop, maintain, and improve pre and in-service teacher training and professional development. The second set of four chapters provide research findings that describe the results of direct applications of modern learning elements through course assignments and teaching approaches. The final five chapters focus on critical thinking and range in their focus from classroom-based studies to full-scale curriculum reform. The collection of chapters presented in this volume represents the eclectic nature of modern learning experiences and demonstrate its applicability across educational contexts and disciplines. The chapters resonate with other educational researchers in search of novel ways of creating, facilitating, and investigating modern learning experiences.

This volume in the International Perspectives on Education and Society Series focuses on the ways that social entrepreneurs innovatively contribute to the development and implementation of education worldwide.

Teachers are in the eyes of many the essential ingredient of success fueling educational development. The advancement of teaching and learning standards, both inside and outside of the classroom, hinges upon the effective participation of teachers in the relevant professional development programs being implemented in schools worldwide. In this regard, a number of valuable lessons can be learned from the experiences of countries that boast widely respected, modern education systems. Such lessons can subsequently be utilized to the advantage of other nations, including the GCC states, which are actively exploring a number of potential avenues in view of bolstering their respective teacher training and professional development programs. As highlighted in this volume – through a number of different case studies and with reference to the best practices being employed in the likes of the United Kingdom, Finland and South Korea – the provision of financial benefits and the elevation of teachers standing in society represent two prominent factors that enable the cultivation of a culture of excellence in the classroom. In the Gulf, research suggests that greater support should be given to highly educated and productive nationals who have chosen to pursue a career in teaching; based on an acknowledgement of the pivotal role that teachers play in terms of assisting human and societal development, which in turn, heightens the prospects of long-term economic prosperity. The retention of competent teachers is equally imperative, particularly for the education process itself, whereby experienced teachers serve as welcomed role models for the next generation of teachers. Possible solutions include: the construction of specific, more appealing career paths; the provision of professional development and further education opportunities; and raising societal awareness of the vital role played by teachers. The scholarly papers presented in this book provide a comprehensive overview of the current situation that teachers are facing in certain GCC countries, compared to other countries across the globe. The insights and recommendations presented therein highlight a range of key aspects that are central to professional teacher development, which if acted upon, serve to enhance the standard of education in any given country.

The International Handbook of Teacher Quality and Policy is a comprehensive resource that examines how teacher quality is conceptualized, negotiated, and contested, and teacher policies are developed and implemented by global, national, and local policy actors. Edited by two of the leading comparative authorities in the field, it draws on the research and contributions of scholars from across the globe to explore five central questions: How has teacher quality been conceptualized from various disciplinary and theoretical perspectives? How are global and transnational policy actors and networks influencing teacher policies and practices? What are the perspectives and experiences of teachers in local policy contexts? What do comparative research studies tell us about teachers and how their work and policy contexts influence their teaching? How have various countries implemented policies aimed at improving teacher quality and how have these policies influenced teachers and students? The international contributors represent a wide variety of scholars who identify global dynamics influencing policy discourses on teacher quality, and examine national and local teaching and policy environments influencing teacher policy development and implementation in various countries. Divided into five sections, the book brings together the latest conceptual and empirical studies on teacher quality and teacher policies to inform future policy directions for recruiting, educating, and supporting the teaching profession.

The book analyzes recent changes to the identities and cultures of the GCC countries. These important transformations have gone largely unnoticed due to the fast-paced changes in the region that affect all aspects of society. The volume unpacks these transformations by looking from a holistic perspective at the intersections of language, arts, education, political culture, city, regional alliances and transnational identities. It offers selected case studies based on original research carried out in the region. Chapter 7, ‘Identity Lost & Found: Architecture and Identity Formation in Kuwait and the Gulf’, of this book is available open access under a CC BY 4.0 license at link.springer.com