Education Sciences

In an attempt to enhance teacher and student performance in school, a learning management system (LMS) known as Knowledge-Net (K-Net) was introduced in Qatari independent schools. (All public schools in Qatar have transformed to independent schools; the independent schools model is similar to the charter school system in North America.) An LMS is a tool that organizes and regulates classroom administrative tasks, supports teachers and students in the teaching and learning process, and informs parents of their children's progress and school activities. Despite the benefits of the LMS, research studies indicate that its use by students has been limited because of a number of manipulative and non-manipulative factors that can influence behavior. This study explores the factors that impact student use of the LMS K-Net in Qatari independent schools. Quantitative data were collected through a questionnaire that was administered to students in 37 schools. A total of 1,376 students responded to the questionnaire. Semi-structured interviews were used to collect qualitative data that helped to confirm the results of the quantitative data and to provide additional insight on students' perspectives regarding the use of the LMS. The results point to a strong relation between ICT knowledge and LMS usage. They suggest that the more ICT knowledge students have, the less prone they are to using the LMS. Attitudinal barriers were not predictive of usage. Student usage was strongly correlated to teacher and parent usage. This study is informative in evaluating LMS usage in Qatari schools.

This study describes the implications of the massive Qatari educational reform, Education For a New Era (EFNE), from the perspectives of teachers, principals, and parents provides insight into these stakeholders perceptions regarding how EFNE has impacted teaching and learning and the new challenges they face. This qualitative study uses open-ended questionnaires, focus groups and interviews. Survey data is collected from 18 Independent Schools including 17 principals, 413 teachers and 565 parents and interviews with 17 principals, 26 teachers and 50 parents. Findings describe the effects, impact, the challenges and the advantages and disadvantages of EFNE on these stakeholders.

In 2012, the Supreme Education Council of the State of Qatar decreed a change from English to Arabic as a medium of instruction in four of the colleges of Qatar University. This surprise move created much controversy, especially among the students, the first stakeholders to be affected by this decision, related to the impact this change would have on their futures. The aim of this study is to investigate the attitudes of college students at Qatar University concerning the shift from English to Arabic as the language of instruction. The sample includes 295 students from the four colleges affected by this decision. Data were collected using an Arabic version of the standardized Student Attitudes Towards the Instructional Medium questionnaire.

Educational institutions in the Arab Gulf are requiring rapid changes to enhance English language learning to keep up with globalization and economic growth. This urges the need for investigating policy changes such as effectiveness in curriculum orientations and their impact on the actual process of teaching in order to gauge how educational institutions are performing. This paper reports the findings of a survey study on curriculum enactment in the English Language Foundation Program of a higher education institution in the Arab Gulf region. Data collection methods included a survey and interview with teachers investigating their opinions about the curriculum, how much support it offers teachers to reach the objectives of the course, and whether/to what extent as well as the reasons why they feel they need to modify the curriculum at the implementation level. Results showed that most teachers exercised discretion in using the prescribed curriculum materials due to individual contextual factors. Results also indicated that either when implementing the prescribed or modified materials, most participants highlighted the importance of using reliable quality resource materials that can help teachers as well as students to enhance the learning process. Findings have implications for English as a second language curriculum design in Arab higher educational contexts.

The paper reports the results of a qualitative research study that explores principal, teacher, and parent perceptions with regard to Qatar’s education reform, Education for a New Era (EFNE) launched in 2004. The study focuses on the effects of the reform on each group, their perceived advantages and disadvantages of the reform, and the challenges they face in the implementation of EFNE. Data for this study was collected through an open-ended questionnaire. The results point to the positive effects of EFNE on improving instruction, principals' leadership style, and learner attitude to education. These stakeholders believe that the reform is too ambitious and sometimes unrealistic. The three groups also report challenges that revolve around the amount of extra effort and work it requires from them, the continuous reform changes, and the threats to the local culture and language. Discussion and conclusions are provided regarding EFNE.

As worldwide educational reforms link educational outcomes with teacher performance, teachers are increasingly pressured to adopt several roles that reflect these new demands. Thus, the purpose of the study was to investigate student teachers' perceptions of their roles and whether these beliefs underwent certain changes during the practicum experience. It also explored the factors within the socio-cultural context that may have influenced the development of their beliefs. A qualitative research methodology was employed, which involved the collection of empirical data from multiple sources including pre-and postinterviews, weekly journals, and mid-and post-reflective essays. The results revealed the intricate nature of student teachers' beliefs about their roles and the processes of belief change. Despite the apparent flexibility of these beliefs, the results revealed the divergence between the student teachers' anticipated roles and their actual roles. To facilitate student teachers' belief change towards the goals of the teacher preparation program as well as those they had initially anticipated for themselves, several recommendations include the necessity of establishing closer partnerships between universities and schools, the exposure to multiple social learning activities, a careful consideration for student teachers' procedural concerns, and the attention to the subtle power relationships that play out during the practicum experience.

This article aims to examine how language policy affects the reconstruction of academic identities in a time of rapid and significant changes in contemporary higher education. Through a narrative approach, we explore how a top-down language policy chaperones the process of redefining the perceptions of our positions as academic faculty working at Qatar University, recognized as the world's most international university. Three main themes emerged from data analysis: language identities; narratives of exclusion and selfexclusion; and working in a Third Space. We conclude that the linguistic status quo poorly serves university staff in contemporary higher education and maintain that language policies must be aligned with, and better reflect, the sociolinguistic realities of university life in a global era.

Research shows that literature in translation has a tremendous impact on students' learning in an increasingly interdependent world. The purposes of this study were to explore the usefulness of Arabic young adult literature in English in both American and Arabic classrooms and to examine the current availability of Arabic young adult literature (AYAL), particularly in the genre of fictional prose. Since I wanted my work to be useful for readers and teachers both in the United States and the Arab world, the accessibility of the texts in English was essential. My extensive searches indicated that there is a real scarcity of first-rate AYAL available in English. I found 49 AYAL books that were published or republished in English between 1988 and 2010. The selected books can be placed into two categories: contemporary fiction (timely stories about Middle Eastern/Arab conflicts) and adapted classical Arabic folk literature (simplified versions of classical Arab folk tales). Interestingly, the majority of the contemporary books were

The United Arab Emirates is devoted to inclusive education, which respects the right for all learners, regardless of their strengths or weaknesses in any area, to become part of the mainstream school. This study describes the current practices that shape the nature of inclusive education in UAE schools from the teachers' perspective. Data drawn from the questionnaire that was directed to 26 teachers in UAE private and public schools indicated that such teachers were concerned about inclusive education in their schools. Teachers' dissatisfaction was due to a lack of qualified special education professionals to deal with students with disabilities, a lack of proper training for teachers in mainstream classrooms, a lack of knowledge about inclusion among senior-level administrators, a lack of financial support for resources and services specifically in private schools, and a lack of awareness of the inclusion issues that students with and without disabilities may face in inclusive settings.

The United Arab Emirates has always been keen to integrate students with special needs in mainstream classrooms. This study explores teachers' attitudes toward the inclusion of children with disabilities in the UAE mainstream schools. It also provides a basic background about the present types of programs and services offered within the UAE schools with respect to individuals with special needs. The main findings of this study which targeted 56 teachers who are involved in teaching students with disabilities in UAE private and public inclusive schools indicated that the participating teachers agreed in principle with the goals of inclusion, however, they were generally unsatisfied about the current practices of inclusion in their schools. These teachers reported that their schools have insufficient allowance for special equipment, resources and services; a limited number of certified special education personnel; a lack of proper training for teachers in mainstream classrooms, and a lack of clear guiding policies available in schools to deal with inclusion issues, even the senior-level administrators are not sufficiently knowledgeable with inclusion practices. Further, these teachers expressed common concerns such as teachers' time taken away from the rest of the students, class size, and safety of children with special needs. Such teachers' concerns might be justified as inclusion is relatively a new educational philosophy practiced in the country.

Storybook reading at the kindergarten level is not given adequate attention by Arab parents and caregivers due to the perspective that children do not understand formal Arabic/FusHa and those children do not enjoy being read to from books. However, a body of research supports the hypothesis that storybook reading has a positive impact on children's literacy development and reading interest. In support with the research findings, the results drawn from the current study which targeted Arab kindergartners indicated that exposing children to storybook reading appears to support early literacy for Arab kindergartners. There was a noticeable increase in the proportion of formal Arabic vocabulary and clauses in the kids' utterances. Kindergartners have showed a positive progress on measures of comprehension and richly use of vocabulary and complex sentences in telling picture stories. Besides using words in FusHa, the children's speech has tended to become more distinct and more grammatical. They will pronounce the end of words more clearly and can distinguish between singular and plural forms-both of these attributes of literary Arabic. Most importantly, the children's reading motivation was positively influenced.

s The Genius of Islam: How Muslims Made the Modern World is a timely book and highly needed, especially during the current Arab Spring. It reminds Muslims and non-Muslims of the Muslim culture during the Middle Ages, which was a period of tremendous artistic, cultural and scientific advancement in the Islamic Empire. In this important book, Barnard uses short, engaging text and attractive, full-color artwork to bring Islam's contributions gloriously to life. Every section in Barnard's book reflects some of the great influences of Islam to the improvement of the human condition: "The books we read, the music we play, the words we speak, the numbers we count, the clothes we wear, the food we eat, the science we depend on [the medicine we take, the perfumes we smell]-all were shaped, at least in part, by Islam" (6). Moreover, Barnard summarizes significant inventions and innovations of various Muslims and gives short biographies of many Muslim inventors, scientists, and other leaders. These inventions and innovations include, but are not limited to, books and libraries, Arabic writing and calligraphy, and even the shift from using scrolls to using books to keep records and tell stories.

This research paper explores the trends of presenting political and social realities in Arabic children's literature through a content analysis of 26 awardwinning Arabic children's books published between 2011 and 2018after the Arab Spring. The origins of Arabic children's books are first investigated from a number of different standpoints, and are shown to have traditional, religious, and global ties. I also explore the recent rise of interest in creating Arabic literary works for young children. I deduce that the causes of this increase are a cultural reawakening, globalization, and government support and funding. Finally, the 26 children's books studied show links between the ethnicity of their authors, their dates of publication, and the illustrations and themes that appear in them. This provides support for the idea that Arabic political reality is often reflected in Arabic children's literature.

لعل هذه الدراسة هي الأولى من نوعها لأنها تعلن  ظهور الأدب العربي الخاص بالمراهقين العرب (باللغة الانجليزية ) – نصوص أدبية موجه الى الاطفال الذين تتراوح أعمارهم 12 -20 سنة. ألاهم من ذلك , تحدد هذه الدراسة ولأول مرة معايير و خصائص النصوص الادبية " الاصيلة ثقافيا". و بالاضافة الى ذلك, فإن الدراسة  تسلط  الضوء على قيمة دمج هذه النصوص الادبية في مناهج اللغة ألانجليزية في البلدان الناطقة باللغة العربية وغير الناطقة بالعربية. This paper is the first in its kind as it declares the emergence of Arabic Young Adult Literature (in English) as an independent genre - literature texts written about Arab children ages 12-20. More importantly, this study establishes, for the first time, a teacher-friendly criterion of the key characteristics of “culturally authentic” Arabic young adult texts. Additionally, the study highlights the value of integrating Arabic Young Adult Literature (AYAL) texts (in English) into the English language arts curriculum in Arabic and non-Arabic speaking countries.

Research shows that literature in translation has a tremendous impact on students’ learning in an increasingly interdependent world. The purposes of this study were to explore the usefulness of Arabic young adult literature in English in both American and Arabic classrooms and to examine the current availability of Arabic young adult literature (AYAL), particularly in the genre of fictional prose. Since I wanted my work to be useful for readers and teachers both in the United States and the Arab world, the accessibility of the texts in English was essential. My extensive searches indicated that there is a real scarcity of first-rate AYAL available in English. I found 49 AYAL books that were published or republished in English between 1988 and 2010. The selected books can be placed into two categories: contemporary fiction (timely stories about Middle Eastern/Arab conflicts) and adapted classical Arabic folk literature (simplified versions of classical Arab folk tales). Interestingly...