Quality of Education in Dubai

My communications with my partner in Dubai have been very informative over the past 7 weeks.  She has shared with me events in which their school has participated in such as performing at The World Mall, competing against students from various parts of the Middle East.  Prior to the event these students spent 4 hours every day after school to practice.  The dedication and determination of this culture is admirable as they truly take pride in all that they do including there academics.   Parents pay large fees to have there children attend school and teachers are well compensated.  Agencies recruit the best American teachers they can find and invite them to teach in Dubai.

There are high expectations for professional development as teachers are expected to be some of the best and compete within the ever-changing world.  Students are taught to have respect for their teachers and school staff, my partner reports that this makes it so much easier to establish positive relationships with families.  However, families in Dubai want to leave their children at school for long hours daily with educated, qualified teachers and pick them up at the end of the day ready to go home and study.  According to my education partner they see school and home as 2 separate places for children.  By holding their students to high expectations students automatically know that higher achievement is expected and must be obtained.  This makes teaching students much easier as they come to school ready and prepared to learn.

NEA's GPS Indicators

I decided to visit the link nea.org/gpsindicators, which is published by the National Education Association.  This site provides information regarding criteria that determines how all states and school districts are addressing areas that are critical to the success of public schools.  NEA believes that the success lies in a strong accountability and assessment system and more.  The associations’ recommendations are research based and are designed to help states develop policies that ensure the success of all students.

Some of the areas that they made recommendations in are that of School Readiness which they suggest can be achieved through high standards and having a plan in place to transition a child from early learning to elementary school.  This organization also recommends that state educators should be involved in Developing and Implementing Plans for standards and curriculum.  Schools must provide resources as well as professional development.  Conditions of Teaching and Learning recommends providing time for planning as well as instructional support for teachers.  This would give educators a say in accountability systems rather than just being told what they are expected to do.

Another area that is address is that of Workforce Quality, which recommends that, states support high quality education preparation and licensure programs, as well as teacher leadership opportunities.  Accountability and Assessment allows for all stakeholders to share the responsibility of using a comprehensive picture of school performance rather than just a snap shot of one day.  It also recommends Family and Community Engagement to foster collaboration with families to improve student achievement.  This organizations addresses the much needed issue of School Funding as it gives states suggestions of ways they can raise their tax base and encourages districts to use performance incentives to ensure school districts use funds productively.  

Although, this website does support implementing standards into our school systems all the way down to the early learning years it does give some suggestions that are helpful to school districts; and those moving forward with the advancement of the Early Childhood field.  The NEA is currently advocating for full day, fully funded kindergarten programs in all states.  Living in Florida we have had full day kindergarten programs for 30 plus years and I just can't imagine how some states have not kept up with this change in services, but still expect students to meet Common Core Standards.  

Equity and Excellence

I must begin by saying that I have truly enjoyed connecting with educators from other parts of the world and sharing their teaching experiences.  Recently, I had asked one of my contacts that teaches special education in Dubai about how poverty and inequality affects children in her school.  Her response was quite interesting as well as difficult to embrace as I thought of students here in the United States.  Her response was as follows:

Unfortunately, for this question I have very little experience in this area and can't really tell you much. I have only ever worked in international schools where parents pay (sometimes large) fees to educate their children. For that reason, poverty isn't an issue for these families. However, I know that there are a lot of added expenses at some schools -such as fees for transport, lunch/snack, materials, PE kits, house colours shirts, trips/excursions etc. 

At the last school that I worked at in Thailand, I know that some parents had to work several jobs to pay for their child's education and that extra fees for trips/materials etc. was quite a burden for them. I'm not sure what the situation is like in other schools, but in many private or international schools, there seems to be a lot of added expenses. However, this does not tend to effect the education of the child, unless they were to miss out on an educational field trip perhaps. I know that some children in my school in Thailand were aware that their parents were paying a lot for their education, which may have made the child feel under pressure to achieve (but I'm only speculating). 

This response made me think about how different cultures value education and will do whatever it takes to ensure that their children have a chance.  It seems to me that parents that place education as a priority must have a higher level of education themselves and therefore can appreciate passing on knowledge rather than entitlement to their children. 

National Association of Early Childhood Educators Website

As I have explored the information on the website http://www.naecte.org the National Association of Early Childhood Educators, I have discovered various links that connect me to happenings within the educational field as well as resources and actions that are currently being taken to improve what is being done.  One particular link that I found informative which aligns with my professional development is the recommendation that all early childhood teachers working with students between the ages of 3 to 8 have certification in early childhood.  The NAECE feels that this is crucial in helping our children to develop in the best possible manner during the early years. Teachers qualified to meet the unique developmental and educational needs of children between the ages of 3 and 8 are knowledgeable about the developmental and learning characteristics of these children and use this knowledge to inform appropriate teaching techniques and assessments. Since teacher preparation and certification should be relevant to the teacher’s position, NAECTE recommends that state certification agencies and school districts adopt the following policies:

• Require an early childhood certificate and/or endorsement for those teaching in classrooms for children five years old and younger in state funded pre-kindergarten and in kindergarten programs.

• Give priority in hiring and placement to teachers with an early childhood certificate and/or endorsement for public school classrooms for six, seven, and eight-year-olds (1st, 2nd, and 3rd grades).

• Require that early childhood certification and/or endorsement be based on completion of teacher preparation programs that meet professional preparation standards consistent with those established by the National Association for the Education of Young Children (NAEYC).

This organization feels strongly that teachers who work with students under the age of 8 should not be considered highly qualified unless they hold certification in early childhood.

Working as a public school teacher I began to wonder how this would affect teachers that are working in classrooms today.  Many of the teachers in my district simply hold certification in elementary education.  Changing the requirements for highly qualified certification would significantly impact local districts, as their teachers would need to receive additional training in order to become certified in this field.  I began to think of the overall impact of how available positions within these grades would be filled if these changes went into effect.  We currently have other teaching positions within my district that they have been unable to fill this entire school year.  This really made me wonder that although the intent is what is best for children, are the impacts something that we could truly make a shift to?  It seems that this may be an issue that is specific to location, as some areas may not struggle to find teachers with this certification while for other areas this could be a great struggle.

There is much about this website that makes me feel that it is influenced by politicians, neuroscience and economist as it looks at the importance of being knowledgeable in brain development and language building, but does not even mention the importance of being able to teach through play or creativity.  It's focus is clearly on achieving high standards for our children but it does not seem to address where these resources will come from or how this will impact those who teach young children.  They claim that this could be achieved at a low cost but also offer no data or research to support this claim.  

Certain certification is required to teach early childhood programs within my state that are publicly funded such as head start and our voluntary pre-k program.  Although certification is required there is no formal education or degree required to teach the state run VPK program.  I was not aware that there were organizations that were pushing to change the standards for highly qualified certification.  This could significantly impact many educators and I gained much knowledge about this subject and the directions that it is moving. 

National Association of Early Childhood Teacher Educators http://www.naecte.org/ 
(Newsletter: http://www.naecte.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=14&Itemid=29 )