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1 – 10 of over 24000The question of whether military expenditures in the Third World ingeneral and the Middle East/South Asia region in particular have been atthe expense of national human resource…
Abstract
The question of whether military expenditures in the Third World in general and the Middle East/South Asia region in particular have been at the expense of national human resource development is addressed. The findings of a cross‐sectional analysis of public sector expenditure patterns in a large number of developing countries suggest that a simple “guns versus education” trade‐off model is too simplistic. Increased defence expenditures do sharply cut human resource development in countries with particularly high military burdens, especially in the Middle East/South Asia region. However, this negative trade‐off does not appear to be an accurate description of the process by which resources are allocated in the Third World in general.
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The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2008. The IBO published a strategic plan in 2004 calling for a shift towards directed growth…
Abstract
Purpose
The International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO) celebrates its 40th anniversary in 2008. The IBO published a strategic plan in 2004 calling for a shift towards directed growth of the three IB programmes, and greater access. The purpose of this paper is to show how the Middle East region offers a microcosm of the huge challenge facing the IBO in meeting its desired aims.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper presents the current situation regarding the IB in the Middle East region as defined by the International Air Transport Association standards organization. This involves a total of 16 countries.
Findings
The Middle East involves a relatively small area of IB activity in relation to the total number of “international schools” in the region. There is currently 48 schools offering 60 programmes, and comprising 2 percent of IB schools worldwide. Dubai in particular has seemingly much potential for future growth. No school offers the continuum of IB programmes.
Practical implications
This paper offers a regional insight into the challenge facing the IB in meeting its desired goals. It will allow for the success of the IB strategic plan to be assessed more fully in the year 2014.
Originality/value
The nature and development of the IB in the Middle East has received very little attention by the scholarly community in spite of 40 years of involvement. This is the first paper to offer a resource for evaluating the future success of the IB strategic plan.
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Sameerah T. Saeed and Karwan H. Sherwani
Globally, higher education institutions have become reliant on a quality assurance (QA) system over the past four decades. QA is considered to be one of the most important drivers…
Abstract
Globally, higher education institutions have become reliant on a quality assurance (QA) system over the past four decades. QA is considered to be one of the most important drivers of continuous improvement and an essential tool for promoting excellence in teaching, learning, and research. It provides a framework for establishing and maintaining standards, and for assuring stakeholders that programs and services meet or exceed these standards. Despite the wide range of quality assurance models available to higher education institutions, there remains considerable debate over which model is the most effective, as well as what criteria should be used for evaluating the effectiveness of these models. Universities in the Middle East have tried to adopt different models of QA that can meet their needs and expectations and provide a framework for continuous improvement. A major objective of this book is to provide an overview account of the QA process as implemented in the higher education systems of a number of Middle East countries, including Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. This book lays out essential theoretical and practical insights into the role of QA policies and practices in higher education in the Middle East countries and builds upon this idea to provide a blueprint for future academic leaders in these countries and other Middle Eastern countries to enhance their QA policies and practices and drive higher education in those countries forward.
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Lars Mjøset, Roel Meijer, Nils Butenschøn and Kristian Berg Harpviken
This study employs Stein Rokkan's methodological approach to analyse state formation in the Greater Middle East. It develops a conceptual framework distinguishing colonial…
Abstract
This study employs Stein Rokkan's methodological approach to analyse state formation in the Greater Middle East. It develops a conceptual framework distinguishing colonial, populist and democratic pacts, suitable for analysis of state formation and nation-building through to the present period. The framework relies on historical institutionalism. The methodology, however, is Rokkan's. The initial conceptual analysis also specifies differences between European and the Middle Eastern state formation processes. It is followed by a brief and selective discussion of historical preconditions. Next, the method of plotting singular cases into conceptual-typological maps is applied to 20 cases in the Greater Middle East (including Afghanistan, Iran and Turkey). For reasons of space, the empirical analysis is limited to the colonial period (1870s to the end of World War 1). Three typologies are combined into one conceptual-typological map of this period. The vertical left-hand axis provides a composite typology that clarifies cultural-territorial preconditions. The horizontal axis specifies transformations of the region's agrarian class structures since the mid-19th century reforms. The right-hand vertical axis provides a four-layered typology of processes of external intervention. A final section presents selected comparative case reconstructions. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first time such a Rokkan-style conceptual-typological map has been constructed for a non-European region.
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The chapter explores the impact of the global knowledge economy upon education and social reform programmes in the Middle East. It highlights the difficulty of modifying school…
Abstract
The chapter explores the impact of the global knowledge economy upon education and social reform programmes in the Middle East. It highlights the difficulty of modifying school curricula to accord with a view of education which is based upon human capital formation coupled with standardised testing regimes designed to accommodate performativity; both of these phenomena being products of a neo-liberal agenda of the global north. The narrative considers the contrasting perspectives of regionally based Arab commentators, and it demonstrates the difficulty of reconciling the passionately held convictions of those who shun the modernist project with those who wish to embrace the democratic and social values of the global north. From his first-hand experience of government schools in the region, the author concludes with a plea for the formulation of education reforms which may succeed through more closely reflecting the cultural and educational traditions of the region rather than by the wholesale imposition of western values.
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The purpose of this article is to be a conceptual contribution to the special issue on “Is the Middle East the land of the future?”. It aims to provide a holistic picture of the…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this article is to be a conceptual contribution to the special issue on “Is the Middle East the land of the future?”. It aims to provide a holistic picture of the efforts of the Middle East towards achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), using investments in sports, as a galvanizing force. The paper concludes that, on the balance of probability, this might not be a given.
Design/methodology/approach
The paper is based on personal observations and documentary analysis of numerous studies including those in this special issue.
Findings
Although the Middle East has made “front page” news on most global media platforms – albeit for a variety of reasons, there are signs not to be too optimistic as to whether this geographic entity is, by default, the land of the future.
Research limitations/implications
As a conceptual piece, this article cannot be generalized across the expanse of what constitutes the Middle East. Most of the observations are based on the most boisterous in the region – notably members of the Gulf Cooperation countries (GCC) and Turkey with its rising regional influence.
Practical implications
While the Middle East may have been in the global spotlight, there remain challenges that cannot be so easily wished away. One such is the inability to leverage the investment in sports in a sustainable global partnership that spills over into other MDGs. There are persuasive arguments for deeper integration rather than what seems to be the fragmented sibling rivalry across the Middle East.
Originality/value
This study provides a holistic framework for analyzing a region that has been bedeviled with unrest in recent years; and one that has, to a very large extent, weathered the storm of the Arab Spring and attracted global attention.
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Awatif Boudihaj and Meriem Sahli
This chapter offers a survey of education development in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), and how the different crises have changed the global dynamics in education…
Abstract
This chapter offers a survey of education development in the Middle East and North Africa region (MENA), and how the different crises have changed the global dynamics in education. This chapter first gives an overview of the regional context and the history of education in the region, followed by a discussion of the education developments in the region as shaped by the economic growth of high-income countries and the political upheavals in low-income countries. MENA states have made huge investments in their educational systems through implementing major changes in the education policies and introducing initiatives to improve the quality of education in their countries. However, the educational system in the region has not reaped the benefits of these reforms as it has not met the desired goals. The quality of students’ learning is very low as reflected in the poor rating by international assessments such as PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS. Structural educational reforms to foster citizenship and civic responsibility are urgently needed. Good governance of the education systems of the MENA countries, a critical thinking skills-based curriculum and strong market-oriented skills and vocational training programs are necessary for MENA to become economically competitive and reliably democratic.
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Diane Nauffal and Jennifer Skulte-Ouaiss
The purpose of this paper is to analyse and explain the high rates of employability of one group of Middle East youth by focussing on liberal arts and soft skills education as an…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to analyse and explain the high rates of employability of one group of Middle East youth by focussing on liberal arts and soft skills education as an integral part of quality higher education.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper employs the survey research method using questionnaires, focus groups and interviews to understand the labour market dynamics in Lebanon and explore factors that correlate positively with gainful employment with a special focus on the graduates of an institution that emphasises the liberal arts and soft skills training.
Findings
The paper finds that quality higher education – particularly with a focus on soft skills and internships – boosts the potential of graduates to secure their first jobs after graduation.
Research limitations/implications
Reliable data on higher education, employability and youth are scarce in Lebanon and the region. The paper is based on one labour market study in Lebanon while seeking to extrapolate to Lebanese youth as a whole as well as reflect on employability and youth in the Middle East region.
Practical implications
The paper demonstrates support for improving quality in higher education as well as making soft skills training and the liberal arts critical components for increased employability of youth in Lebanon and the Middle East.
Originality/value
The paper is innovative in its reliance on primary data from a labour market survey as such data are scarce in Lebanon. In addition, advocacy for soft skills training and the liberal arts in the midst of focus on science, technology, engineering and mathematics and other professional education at the university level is rare in the Middle East.
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In this chapter I address three questions, posed by the editors of the Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2014, drawing from my research and practitioner…
Abstract
In this chapter I address three questions, posed by the editors of the Annual Review of Comparative and International Education 2014, drawing from my research and practitioner work in Lebanon, Jordan, Iraq, Sudan, Palestine, and Qatar. The questions dealt with international education, teacher education, and the Middle East. First, I set the context of the region before delving into the answering the questions. In examining how comparative and international education (CIE) research has influenced policy reform of teacher education and professional development, I touch on three main trends taking place in the region whose influence is double-edged: positively influencing policy and reform on the one hand, but also resulting in negative consequences on the other hand. I then discuss how CIE research has influenced the ability of teachers to promote youth citizenship by discussing my own experience as teacher. Understanding the history of a country or a community is important to inform the development of an education system, especially in the development of its cadre of teachers. In conclusion, I argue that the region needs to take control of its own reforms and fully understand what works and does not work in its own community. The region should better understand where it wants its own citizens to be within a globalized society and let that inform its own policies and reforms. There is no “one size fits all” approach as the region is littered with examples of how such reforms do not and cannot work.
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