Zai Arabic Language Research Center

مخرجات التعليم واحتياجات المجتمع الخليجي
هنادا طه
كلية البحرين للمعلمين، جامعة البحرين
Hanadataha1@gmail.com
محور "التربية واحتياجات المجتمع"
الكلمات المفتاحية:
مخرجات التعليم – المجتمع الخليجي – التعليم في الخليج –بيرلز – تيمز – بيزا – سوق العمل الخليجي – التعليم وسوق العمل
ملخّص:
يرتبط مجتمع المعرفة في القرن الواحد والعشرين ارتباطا وثيقا بالتعليم ومخرجاته وبقدرته على إعداد الكوادر الشابة القادرة على دخول أسواق العمل والمنافسة التي باتت تعتمد على مدى إتقان هؤلاء الشباب لمهارات القرن من تفكير ناقد إلى مهارات تواصلية بأكثر من لغة والقدرة على الإقناع والحجاج والقراءة السريعة وتحليل المعلومات واستخدام أدوات التكنولوجيا الحديثة وبالإضافة إلى القدرة على العمل التعاوني ضمن فريق واحد.  ومن هنا يصبح التعليم الجيد الحجر الأساس في التنمية البشرية وفي تلبية احتياجات المجتمع.  ومجتمع مجلس التعاون الخليجي المتمثّل في (سلطنة عمان والمملكة العربية السعودية والكويت والامارات العربية المتحدة وقطر والبحرين) ليس بمختلف عن باقي المجتمعات الحديثة في هذا المجال حيث سلّط التقرير العربي للتنمية البشرية 2003 الضوء على أهمية أن تنتقل المجتمعات العربية إلى مجتمعات معرفة لتلحق بالمنحى العالمي تجاه العولمة والتطوير التكنولوجي.  في هذه الورقة تتناول الباحثة موضوع مخرجات التعليم واحتياجات المجتمع الخليجي من خلال الإطار الآتي:
1) جودة مخرجات التعليم في المجتمع الخليجي بالنظر إلى نتائج الامتحانات العالمية المقننة المتوفّرة
2) جودة مخرجات التعليم بالنظر إلى سوق العمل والقدرة على المنافسة فيه وبيانات البطالة المتوفّرة
وتحلّل النتائج وتستخلص النتائج بناء على ذلك الإطار.

Learning Outcomes and the Needs of the Arabian Gulf Society
Hanada Taha
Bahrain Teachers College, University of Bahrain
Hanadataha1@gmail.com
Key words:
Learning outcomes – Arabian Gulf society – Education in the Gulf - Timms – Pirls – Pisa – Gulf Labor market – Education and Labor market
Abstract:
The knowledge society of the 21st Century is closely and organically linked to education, its learning outcomes and its ability to prepare the young generations to enter some heavily competitive labor markets.  The labor market depends on how well qualified its force is and how competent it is in certain needed skills that include critical thinking, bilingual and multi lingual communication skills, ability to persuade, argue a position, speed read, analyze data, use emerging technologies an work collaboratively within a team. 
Education thus, is the cornerstone in human development and in meeting societal demands and needs.  The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) society encompassing Saudi Arabia, Kuwait Qatar, United Arab Emirates, Bahrain and Sultanate of Oman is not any different from any other modern society in that regards.  The Arab Report on Human Development 2003 emphasized the importance of moving Arab societies into knowledge societies that would be on par with the international trend of globalism and technological development.  This paper will focus on learning outcomes and the needs of the Arabian Gulf society Vis a Vis the following:
1) Quality of learning outcomes in the GCC countries as depicted in the results and data of international standardized tests.
2) Quality of learning outcomes as it pertains to labor markets, the ability to compete and unemployment rates available.

Those are 4 volumes of the Hanada Taha Arabic Language Arts standards 2017 edition.  The 4 books contain K-12 ALA standards, performance indicators, sight words, rubrics, glossary of new jargon used including terms like: academic vocabulary, fertile questions, close reading, etc. Published by Educational Book House.

Quality teacher preparation programs have been shown to greatly impact ‎student learning outcomes as studies often refer to the importance of quality ‎teacher education as a key factor in learning.  Linguistic realities in the Arab world ‎reflect a bleak situation where Arabic language teachers remain largely poorly ‎prepared‏ ‏‎ and deprived of sustained and meaningful professional development.    ‎This situation is manifested in students’ results on international standardized ‎Arabic language proficiency tests.  This chapter describes current practices in ‎teacher Arabic language teacher education and cites student Arabic language ‎learning outcomes as demonstrated on the 2011 PIRLS test.  The chapter covers ‎research done on the importance of effective teacher education including quality ‎of preservice admissions, and field experiences associated with those programs.  ‎

Investing in Arabic language has to start by investing in cutting edge Arabic language education. Results from international literacy and reading tests such as PIRLS and PISA are showing that students across the Arab world are not being able to read well and are not being taught in ways that would make them competitive at home and abroad. Ministries of education across the Arab world are increasingly realizing the importance of modernizing the teaching of Arabic but lack the needed infrastructure and expertise to make it happen. This paper briefly looks at reasons why Arab countries are falling behind in Arabic language literacy and will argue for research-based solutions that will put Arabic literacy on par with other world languages where learners are thriving, and competing internationally.

Abstract
Textbooks are major organizers of Arabic language instruction in most Arab countries (Faour, 2012). Textbooks approved by ministries of education have traditionally guided teaching of content knowledge, skills, and values to be taught at each grade level (Faour, 2012; Sabella, 2014; Taha-Thomure, 2008). This research is a foundation study into the use of Arabic Language Arts (ALA) standards in six schools in three countries in the Arabian Gulf region (Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates). Fifty-eight teachers used the ALA standards adapted from the Ohio English Language Arts standards (Taha, 2017a) for at least one year. Results of the online survey indicated that 83.5% of teachers found the standards had a positive effect on their teaching, while 94.9% of teachers found that the standards helped them collaborate with each other in planning and finding suitable resources to use. This suggests that well-supported innovations can lead to teachers being aware of and using ALA to improve student learning and instruction. Results also highlight some of the challenges teachers faced to find the necessary Arab language resources that will help them implement a standards-based approach, in addition to the amount of time they needed to put into preparing for the lessons.

This chapter describes the many initiatives that have been spearheaded by the United Arab Emirates in an effort to develop the teaching and learning of Arabic in the country. Although there has been unprecedented attention given to Arabic language education in the decade up to 2018 including an Arabic language charter, a reading law, the Arabic reading challenge, the Arabic for life report, and the Arabic award to list just a few, private and public schools are still having some challenges in bringing best practice to the Arabic language classrooms with students still underperforming. The UAE vision and initiatives set in place to develop Arabic language education are to be applauded, however, it is the direction of that vision that needs to be adjusted to focus mainly on teacher preparation and teacher and school leadership training. Teachers and school leaders are the most important piece in the educational fabric and without ensuring that they receive the best preparation and continuous and meaningful training and support throughout their careers, these initiatives will have little impact on Arabic language education outcomes. 2

Curriculum is an ideological act. Ideologies in education are seen as belief systems that provide tools which help us determine what and how to teach. They influence what is considered as problematic and non-problematic in our educational practices (Eisner, 1985)., articulated four curriculum ideologies: scholar academic, social efficacy, student centered, and social reconstruction. This article aimed at investigating how thinking about literacy and teaching varies when considering the assumptions embedded in each of those ideologies. It, moreover, reflected on the importance of choosing ideologies that are aligned with societies students live in so that they are truly prepared for "the word and the world" (Freire, 1973) and so that they become more autonomously persistent and cognitively involved in tasks they are undertaking. Based on that assumption, we argue that teacher education programs that are still skills-oriented or competence-based (by the technical meaning of a skill or competence) are no longer appropriate in a world that is so uncertain, fluid, money-driven, diverse, and disconnectedly connected. We advocate for alternative programs that prepare teachers who are able to play the role of both literacy teacher and social activist. This is a preview of subscription content, log in to check access.

القراءة في عالمنا العربي حاليا كالغول الذي نخشاه ونبتعد عنه ونخيف الأطفال منه وبه. ولو أننا لعشر سنوات مقبلة استثمرنا بشكل جادّ في كلّ ما يتعلّق في بالقراءة من دور نشر وكتّاب وتوفير الكتب للمدارس وللأطفال وللكبار ولو أننا أطلقنا حملات قراءة وطنية تستمر طوال السنة كلّها ولو أننا جميعا بذلنا نصف ساعة من وقتنا يومياً للقراءة فإنّ القراءة سوف تصبح عادة عند معظم العرب بعد أقلّ من عشر سنوات من الان. وعليه فإنّ القراءة ستصبح بالفعل خلاًّ وفياًّ ينتشلنا من القعر الذي نعيشه وتكون القراءة سبباً في نهضة ثقافية واقتصادية وعلمية وفكرية لم نشهدها منذ قرون. هو طرح ومشروع أمدّ به يدي للأفراد وللمدارس وللمؤسسات وللحكومات ولأصحاب الأعمال: عشر سنين من العمل الجادّ على تفعيل القراءة تحت عنوان: "القراءة، خلّ وفي".

قد تكون القضية الأهم بعد ملف محاربة الفساد في الوطن العربي هي قضية التعليم. على أنّ التعليم وجودته ليس قضية مطروحة بعمق وإلحاح في الشارع العربي والتي لو طُرحت بشكل جادّ وحقيقي لكانت "ترند" طويل الأجل لأنها قضية تمسّ كل بيت، وكل طفلة وشابة وطفل وشاب، ولأنها تمسّ كلّ أمل قد بقي لنا.