GCES Symposium 2021

Ninth Biannual Gulf Comparative Education Society (GCES) Symposium

Rethinking Educational Reform in the GCC: Reflecting on the Past to Inform the Future

March 21-23, 2021

The Al Qasimi Foundation hosted the Ninth Biannual Gulf Comparative Education Society (GCES) Symposium from March 21st to 23rd. The theme of the 2021 Symposium was “Rethinking Educational Reform in the GCC: Reflecting on the Past to Inform the Future," which attempted to reflect on the theme of educational reform in the Gulf since the first GCES Symposium (held in 2010) to see what has changed and what lessons and practices can be shared since then.

This year’s first-ever virtual edition of the conference brought together renowned scholars and education specialists across fourteen panels, including four keynote speeches, and a special panel series on the impact of the coronavirus on education.

The conference aimed to stimulate discussions on educational reform in the GCC, and provide a platform for current and future research that explores achievements, challenges and pitfalls in education. As the education landscape continues to change, it is important to explore the way education-related practices influence how education is practiced now and in the future.

Keynotes and Guest Speakers

Professor Susan L. Robertson (University of Cambridge)

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Professor Fatima Alhashem (Gulf University for Science and Technology)

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Dr. Diego Santori (King's College London)

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Dr. Ahmed Al-Shahi (Oxford University)

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Professor Salwa Al-Jassar (Kuwait University)

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Professor Susan L. Robertson (University of Cambridge)

Susan L. Robertson is currently a Professor of Sociology and the Head of Faculty at the University of Cambridge. Susan has held academic positions at the University of Bristol in the UK as well as in New Zealand and Australia. Her research engages with education policy, state transformations, governance, and social justice. Susan is also the founding editor and editor-in-chief of the journal Globalization, Societies, and Education. She has published articles in leading journals, including the Journal of Education Policy, and her recent books include Public-Private Partnerships in Education and Global Regionalisms and Higher Education: Projects, Processes, Politics. Some of her most recent publications include the book chapter “Non-state Actors, and the Advance of Frontier Higher Education Markets in the Global South” (2019) and the article “Ordinalization and the OECD’s Governance of Teachers” (2020).

Professor Fatima Alhashem (Gulf University for Science and Technology)

Dr. Fatimah Alhashem is an Assistant Professor in Curriculum and Instruction at the Gulf University for Science and Technology (GUST) and chair for the Center of Teaching, Learning, and Research at GUST. She worked as general manager for the teacher development department at the National Center for Education Development (NCED) from 2015 until 2018. Her professional interests focus on professional development for teachers, teachers’ practices, teachers’ polices, STEM education, and the Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK) model for teachers. Her research discusses the TPACK model and Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS). Additionally, she worked as director for the Ibitikar Initiative to support women and young girls in science and research for two years. She is a member of the National Science Teacher Association and Kuwait Soroptimist. Some of her most recent publications include the article “Analysis Based on the Three Objective Educational Domains for Final Summative Secondary Examinations of Science Subject (Chemistry, Physics, and Biology)” (2020). In 2021, she also published the article “Analyzing Plans of Localizing Professional Development of the Ministry of Education in Kuwait Based on TPACK Model for the Rolling Out Competency-Based Curriculum.”

Dr. Diego Santori (King's College London)

Dr. Diego Santori is a Senior Lecturer in Education and Society at King’s College London. His research interests include relationships between education policy, economics, and subjectivity and the ways in which their interpenetration produces new cultural forms and practices. He is currently researching the effects of test-based accountability on teacher–pupil interactions and the mechanisms, motivations, and influences of grassroots organizations involved in resisting standardized testing in England. He has also served as a panel member for prestigious funding bodies such as UK Research and Innovation (UKRI), a non-departmental public body of the Government of the United Kingdom With Stephen Ball and Carolina Junemann, he has recently published Edu.net: Globalization and Education Policy Mobility (2017). His work has appeared in leading academic journals and major international collections, such as the World Yearbook of Education 2016, the International Handbook on Ethnography of Education, and the Handbook of Global Policy and Policymaking in Education.

Dr. Ahmed Al-Shahi (Oxford University)

Dr. Ahmed Al-Shahi is a social anthropologist and Research Fellow at St. Antony’s College, Oxford University, and the co-founder of “The Sudanese Programme” with Bona Malwal, a Sudanese journalist. He taught social anthropology at the universities of Khartoum, Newcastle upon Tyne, and Oxford. He undertook anthropological fieldwork on the Shaygiyya tribe of northern Sudan and particularly on the large community in the city of Nuri. The themes of his fieldwork research are agricultural and economic development, sectarian politics, social differentiation, social and kinship institutions, and oral literature (stories, poetry, sayings, and songs) among both the sedentary and nomadic populations of the area. He is a Fellow of the Royal Anthropological Institute of Great Britain and Ireland and a Member of the Association of Social Anthropologists of the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth. Some of his latest publications include Wisdom from the Nile (in Arabic) and Wisdom from the Desert (in Arabic), in collaboration with F.C.T. Moore.

Professor Salwa Al-Jassar (Kuwait University)

Dr. Salwa Al-Jassar is the Associate Professor of Curricula and Sociological Teaching Methods at the College of Education at Kuwait University. She is also a member of the board of directors of the Society for Citizenship and Development in Kuwait, a former member of the National Assembly, and the former chairwoman of the National Assembly’s education committee. Her research interests include the field of educational policies, curricula, women empowerment, citizenship education, social leadership and entrepreneurship, and teacher preparation and training programs. She is one of the first Kuwaiti women to win a seat in the Kuwaiti National Assembly in the free elections of 2009. Some of her most recent publications include the article “The Teaching and Classroom Problems Facing Student Teachers of the College of Education at Kuwait University during Field Training” (2019). She has also published the article “A Framework for the Professional Development of in-Service Teachers in Kuwait” (2020).

Program & Schedule

The conference is aimed to stimulate discussions on educational reform in the GCC. This program provides a platform for current and future research that explores achievements, challenges and pitfalls in education. As the education landscape continues to change, it is important to explore the way former education-related practices influence how education is practiced now and in the future.

View Full Schedule

9.15 – 11.00

Workshop: Collective Impact: Systems Theory and Shifting Paradigms through Grassroots Community Engagement

11.00 – 11.30

Opening Remarks and Introduction to GCES

11.30 – 12.30

Keynote 1: Learning to Live Futures through Re-Reading Pasts and Negotiating Presents

12.30 – 13.30

Lunch break

13.30 – 14.45

Panel 1: Addressing Student Performance in Literacy and Numeracy

14.45 – 15.45

Keynote 2: “Educational Cross-Currents” – A Recent Perspective

15.45 – 16.00

Coffee break

16.00 – 17.00

Panel 2: Rethinking Leadership Frameworks in Educational Institutions

17.00 – 17.05 AST

End of Day 1 Remarks

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9.10 – 9.15

Announcements

9.15 – 10.15

Keynote 3: The Need for a National Teacher Framework in Kuwait: A Situation Analysis of a Hidden Project

10.15 – 11.30

Panel 3: The Nexus Between Education and State-Led Development

11.30 – 12.30

Panel 4: Regional and International Comparative Studies About the Teaching Profession

12.30 – 13.30

Lunch break

13.30 – 14.30

Keynote 4: Learning From Failure: Drawing Lessons from Educational Reform in the Global North

14.30 – 15.45

Panel 5: Privatization and Collaborative Endeavors in Higher Education

15.45 – 16.00

Coffee break

16.00– 17.00

Panel 6: The Use of Education to Promote Inclusion, Emotional Intelligence, and Conflict Resolution

17.00 – 18.15

Panel 7: Teachers’ Experiences, Perceptions, and Educational Performance

18.15 – 18.20

End of Day 2 Remarks

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9.10 – 9.15

Welcome & Announcements

9.15 – 10.30

Panel 8: Higher Education and Schooling in the Gulf: A Historical, Social, and Political Examination of Educational Policies in the
Region

10.30 – 11.30

Panel 9: Learning from Teachers’ Experiences

11.30 – 12.30

Panel 10: The Need for Educational Reform in Curricula, Schools, and Universities

12.30 – 13.30

Lunch break

13.30 – 14.45

Panel 11: Tackling Challenges and Using Innovative Educational Practices

14.45 – 15.45

Panel 12: Educational Challenges During COVID-19

15.45 – 16.00

Coffee break

16.00 – 17.00

Panel 13: Coping with the Pandemic: Students’ Perceptions and Learning Mechanisms

17.00 – 18.00

Panel 14: Lessons Learned From the Pandemic

18.00 – 18.20

End of Day 3 Remarks

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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

The organization “en.v” will conduct a participatory workshop using the ongoing pilot of the Collective Impact Coalition (CIC) for educational reform in Kuwait as a case study to introduce the collective impact approach and its application to target long-term paradigm shift through grassroots engagement and systems awareness.

In this workshop, en.v will introduce the CIC’s model and invite participants to share their lived experience and knowledge using some tools of collective impact, with a focus on education in the GCC. Participants will be asked to consider the social constructs at play as they identify the challenges currently being faced in the education systems of the GCC and will also participate in a solution-driven feedback exercise.

Workshop outline

As it stands now, the structure is as follows: The presenters will facilitate an icebreaker that will require the creation of small breakout rooms.

Then, they will discuss a case study of the CIC that is currently being piloted in Kuwait, while further enabling a short Q&A session.

Presenters

Layan Al Dabt (Program Coordinator)

Over the past three years, Layan has taken responsibility for the creative vision of the en.v AWAKEN program, a community-building initiative aimed at engaging youth through a multi-arts platform that promotes dialogue and critical thinking as tools for tackling local issues.

Eleanor Burton (Training & Partnerships Manager)

Eleanor Burton is the lead for en.v's multi-sectoral CIC for education reform and designs, and facilitates training with youth on inclusion, privilege, and compassion as part of the AWAKEN program.

Her training designs have supported the Educating for Sustainability project, Creative Minds for Social Good, and the women’s leadership program, Empower Kuwaiti Women in Politics (EKWIP). Eleanor also worked on long-term strategic planning for capacity building within the civil society sector in the PACE initiative.

GCES Symposium 2021

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