GCES Symposium 2018
Eighth Biannual Gulf Comparative Education Society (GCES) Symposium
The Al Qasimi Foundation hosted the Eighth Gulf Comparative Education Symposium from April 7th to 9th at the Hilton Garden Inn in Ras Al Khaimah, UAE. The theme of the 2018 Symposium was “Public, Private, and Philanthropy: Exploring the Impact of New Actors on Education in the GCC”, which was inspired by the increasing involvement of various public, private, and philanthropic actors in education in the Gulf region.
As the influence of these sectors becomes bolder and more visible, the need to explore their impact on education policy and practice within the region becomes more salient. This symposium provided multifaceted perspectives on the role of philanthropic, the participation of public and private actors in the GCC education systems, the scope of these actors’ involvement within and across educational institutions, and the dynamics of interactions with key stakeholders (e.g., policymakers, teachers, students, parents, etc.).
Keynotes and Guest Speakers
Pre-Conference Workshop "Collective Impact: Systems Theory and Shifting Paradigms through Grassroots Community Engagement"
Using International Assessments to Achieve Your Education Goals
National Foundation for Educational Research
Sponsored by Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation
Background
Education is recognized across the GCC as a moral imperative and a strategic priority to secure future prosperity and human flourishing. Policymakers have set ambitious targets to join the ranks of the best performing education systems in the world in order to deliver economic success and secure a place on the world stage for their citizens.
International Large Scale Assessments (ILSAs) play an important role in these developments. The GCC nations have demonstrated their commitment to measuring progress against international standards and to play an active role in the global education community by gathering and sharing data that can be used to inform future improvement.
Coordinated by the IEA and OECD, but delivered separately in each country, studies such as TIMSS, PIRLS and PISA focus on students’ achievement in reading, mathematics and science, but they are increasingly branching out into other outcome measures as well. These studies also gather a rich array of additional data on students, schools and the home environment.
Despite the high profile of the international studies, among the education and academic communities they remain an under-utilized resource. Headline findings such as countries’ international rankings, and the practices of the highest performing countries, receive significant but often superficial attention. The greatest value from the studies remains untapped: the opportunity to conduct in-depth analysis of particular education topics and to draw more sophisticated lessons from a wider range of countries.
Workshop outline
In this workshop, you will have the opportunity to learn more about International Large Scale Assessments, how they are designed and delivered, and what they have to say about education in the Gulf. Most importantly, the workshop will enable you to explore how you can use insights from these studies to support your role – as a policymaker, school administrator or academic.
Experts from the United Kingdom’s National Foundation for Educational Research (NFER) will provide an introduction to International Large Scale Assessments and summarize the most important findings for the GCC nations. They will then introduce the datasets and questionnaires and support you to identify your own topics of interest and to establish how you could use the international studies to provide new insights.
NFER is the leading provider of educational evidence, assessments, and program evaluation in the UK. It was established in 1946 and provides insights to inform policy and practice for governments and organizations around the world.
Presenters
The workshop will be delivered by Ben Durbin and Juliet Sizmur. Ben is Head of International Education at NFER and is responsible for leading NFER’s program of international assessment, research and evaluation. Juliet is a Senior Research Manager at NFER and has delivered several major international surveys, including PISA, PIRLS and TIMSS. She is currently the National Project Manager for PISA 2018 in all four nations of the UK and National Research Coordinator for PIRLS in Northern Ireland.