ERIC Number: EJ1104680
Record Type: Journal
Publication Date: 2016
Pages: 19
Abstractor: As Provided
ISBN: N/A
ISSN: EISSN-2327-3607
EISSN: N/A
Applying Concepts of Critical Pedagogy to Qatar's Educational Reform
Romanowski, Michael H.; Amatullah, Tasneem
Critical Questions in Education, v7 n2 p77-95 Sum 2016
Qatar is in the midst of a systemic education reform, Education For a New Era, steered by RAND's (a nonprofit research organization) analysis and report of Qatar's Educational system. Driven by a neoliberal agenda, the reform includes international curricula, curriculum standards, teacher licensure, and professional standards for school leaders and teachers produced by international educational consulting firms. These organizations offer policies and practices often limited to an instrumental discourse where technical rules control knowledge with the purpose of controlling the environment. Furthermore, the assessments on reform are limited to post hoc explanations of failure and success centering on test scores and other accountability measures eluding some of the more critical questions and issues important for reformers to consider. In this discussion, we draw upon several concepts from critical pedagogy to raise questions regarding Qatar's neoliberal educational reform and when appropriate, call upon our own experiences teaching and researching in Qatar. This dialogue is neither intended to provide solutions to problems of the Qatari Educational reform nor to point out successes or failures. Rather, it deliberately uses critical pedagogy concepts to raise questions that may have not been considered in order to provide reformers with insight and new knowledge that could prove useful for effective educational reform.
Descriptors: Foreign Countries, Critical Theory, Educational Change, Educational Practices, Neoliberalism, Educational Assessment, Academic Standards, Discourse Analysis, Social Environment, Cultural Context, Politics of Education, Theory Practice Relationship, Teacher Role, Parent Role, Student Role, Social Influences, Transformational Leadership
Academy for Educational Studies. 2419 Berkeley Street, Springfield, MO 65804. Tel: 417-299-1560; e-mail: cqieeditors@gmail.com; Web site: http://academyforeducationalstudies.org
Publication Type: Journal Articles; Reports - Descriptive
Education Level: N/A
Audience: N/A
Language: English
Sponsor: N/A
Authoring Institution: N/A
Identifiers - Location: Qatar
Grant or Contract Numbers: N/A