The Place of Leadership in Education in the UAE Research Paper

Abstract

Recently, the United Arab Emirates has made efforts in revamping the educational cirriculumns used in training teachers training colleges and also look at how international schools in the UAE can manage to sustain improved performance. The need for the improvement has been necessitated by the fact that there is lack of collaboration amongst principals and learners which has consequently has resulted in a situation whereby the boy-child has been neglected while priority is being placed on the girl child. There is need to focus awareness, social and economic funding towards improving education outcomes in the boy-child. It also recognizes the importance of according equal opportunities of learning to both girls and boys. Therefore, the research embarks on an important process which is to study ways that performance can be improved in international schools particularly among boys. The research methodology used is a systematic review which encompasses critically analysing and summarising information in an attempt to reconcile evidence. The study also enrols one participant who will be the source from one of the many international learnings institutions in the United Arab Emirates. A precise sequence is used to obtain data in this research. It specifically uses BERA Guidelines. It results are that girls are seemingly improving their academic performance while the performance of boys as stagnated and dropped. It recommends structural leadership as a means of combating the problem since it results in a learning environment that fosters shared decision-making that is done with the input of not only the institutional leaders, but also teachers and, the students.

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Chapter 1: Introduction

1.1 Background of the Problem

According to Bass (1985), in the education environment leadership is not only vital in inducing performance, but is also indispensable in shaping the character of learners. The claim has in the past prompted various educational stakeholders such as the ADEK UAE - Department of Education and Knowledge in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) to institute education reforms, which are aimed at restructuring the curriculums, used to train teachers at training colleges and also look at how international schools in the UAE can manage to sustain improved performance. The Future Leaders Trust, an organisation based on the United Kingdom has also made steps to train school leaders on how to increase performance. The restructuring process is specifically aimed at incorporating instructional leadership into the curriculum (Litz, Juma, and Carroll, 2016). Leadership is equalled to having a clear vision of the future (Schaubroeck, Lam, and Cha, 2007). Hence, based on this definition, education stakeholders primarily focused on imparting leadership skills among trainee teachers while aiming at achieving pre-set goals and excellence in the education sector. Previously published literature asserts that the use of instructional leadership in schools results in high productivity since it has the ability to restructure organisational culture, augment efficacy and effectiveness. Based on the desired possibilities mentioned above, the focus of this paper is to analyse staff in an international school within the UAE which can apply instructional leadership strategies and consequently improve performance.

1.2 Statement of the Problem

As per Waller, Alhebsi, and Pettaway (2015), the education sector of the UAE assumes a significant part in the fulfillment of the country's objectives. It is for this reason that the UAE government continues to prioritise reforms and improvement to the sector. Even though literacy levels through education in the country has significantly improved since it was initially established, the country's public, as well as international education, continue to experience many obstacles. One of the primary difficulties that face learning with regards to administration is the absence of collaboration amongst principals and learners (Iskander, Pettaway, Waller and Waller, 2016). The occurrence has resulted in a situation whereby the boy-child has been neglected while priority is being placed on the girl child. There is need to focus awareness, social and economic funding towards improving education outcomes in the boy-child. The literature review reveals that in the UAE, education is valued as a national investment.

Chapter 2: Literature Review

2.1 The Place of Education in the UAE

In the UAE, education is valued as a national investment. The government places immense importance on education that it prioritises on the provision of input that will facilitate learning. As indicated by Judge and Piccola (2004), the significance of instruction is likewise premised by the way that it can move the nation into wanted levels of national strength and security. Furthermore, through instruction, the nation can develop diversity utilizing learning foundations that are focused on the ideal goals (Warrington, Youngu, and Bearne, 2006). Education enables the development of students through the training of teachers. Undoubtedly, the decision to undertake education reforms on the curriculum so as to include technology will significantly enhance the standards of education in the nation. At the moment, various stakeholders in the country's education sector, particular policymakers are keen and observant on potential issues that may form obstacles to the quality education. In addition, they assess to decide conceivable zones for future advancement, which can be utilised for better training results (Yang et al. 2016). Additionally, education in the country encourages active learning in place of passive learning. It places accentuation on the significance of learners having a dynamic commitment in class with their teacher (Al-Khaili et. al, 2012). It is, however, important to state that educators have a mandate to accord equal opportunities of learning to both girls and boys. They ought to be inspired to positively perform in their academics.

2.2 Content and Rationale

Undoubtedly, teachers are a critical determinant in the performance of students in their schools. Their role is essential as it involves imparting knowledge into the students, which is assessed periodically. Despite this, the process of posting a good performance is an easy task. The process requires developing appropriate relations between the students and teachers, as well as the creation of effective academic programs. Judge and Piccolo (2004) states that for a decent teacher-student relationship to be developed it must be established on suitable administration aptitudes as well as an approach that is efficient. Instructional leadership provides an instrumental approach that can be used in the development of a beneficial relationship teachers and students. Instructional leadership is premised on the task of motivating followers as an incentive to produce desired outcomes. Hence, the teacher should be trained and their training must incorporate the principles of instructional leadership, which will undoubtedly inspire students to perform exceptionally.

As noted earlier, there has been the concern that boys in international schools in UAE have been performing poorly. As indicated by Jha, and Kelleher (2006), the event has been credited to different factors, for example, the absence of inspiration, which makes them less eager to work harder for an improved academic performance. While a number of social has supported the girl child and welfare programs meant to encourage them to seek education, the boy child has remained neglected. The occurrence has created a situation where many boys fail to understand and see the value of getting an education. It is important to educate girls since they will eventually raise children. Similarly, it is also important to educate boys since they will be able to gain employement.

For the occurrence to be mitigated there needs to be an overhaul of leadership approaches in an international school which will see them adopt new ones that will eventually be instrumental in motivating all students and not leaving out male learners.

This research will focus on how instructional leadership that is applied by most organisations in the UAE has a positive academic performance among male students through examining published literature and interviewing a principal at a school. This study is inspired by the existence of few types of research conducted on the subject. It is also motivated by the possibility that the conclusions of the investigation will be contributory in the provision of suggestions that apply to policy-making on how a favourable academic performance in boys can be induced.

2.3 Theoretical Framework

As indicated by Bass and Avolio (1994), the need to accomplish exceptional academic improvement and in addition the point of professionalising teaching as a vocation has framed the best push for moving towards instructional leadership over the earlier years. Hallinger (2003) states that the deed associated with instructional leadership involve defining clear achievable objectives, undertaking normal instructor execution evaluation, educational modules administration, and asset administration and guaranteeing understudy development in learning. When one clearly understands what instructional leadership is, they get to know why it is an appropriate leadership strategy since it focuses on the development of followers.

An observation of current literature on instructional leadership reveals that there exists considerable variation in its understanding. In some articles, their writers appear to co...