Published date: Jan 31 2021

Journal Title: Gulf Education and Social Policy Review

Issue title: Gulf Education and Social Policy Review (GESPR): Volume 1, Issue 2

Pages: 91–108

DOI: 10.18502/gespr.v1i2.8457

Emily Winchipemily.winchip@zu.ac.aeZayed University, Abu Dhabi, UAE

The compulsory education sector of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) provides insight into the effects of the marketization of education. Quality assurance by UAE government agencies has required international comparative testing, the results of which have highlighted the uniqueness of the school system in the UAE and the need for investigation into teachers’ experiences. This study was a part of a mixed-methods investigation of teachers’ experiences in marketized systems. Teachers working in for-profit international schools were interviewed. Items were developed based around themes of the initial findings of marketization, control, buffering, and fulfillment. Then, teachers in the UAE were surveyed to find quantitative patterns in their experiences. The findings from the quantitative study show that across types of schools, teachers in the UAE experience the direct effects of a marketized school system and the indirect effects that influence interactions at their workplaces. While the direct effects demonstrate how teachers’ work is modified to be more business oriented, the indirect effects reveal the threats teachers feel regarding their professional judgment, hierarchical relationships, and social pressures due to the marketization of schools. Future research should investigate a broader range of schools for how teachers are affected by the marketization of their school.

Keywords: Marketization, Teachers’ work, Teachers’ experiences, Education policy

[1] Apple, M. (2000). Preface. In J. Smyth, A. Dow, R. Hattam, A. Reid, & G. Shacklock (Eds.), Teachers’ Work in a Globalizing Economy. Falmer Press.

[2] Andrich, D. (1978). A rating formulation for ordered response categories. Psychometrika, 43(4), 561–573.

[3] Aurini, J. (2006). Crafting legitimation projects: An institutional analysis of private education businesses. Sociological Forum, 21(1), 83–111. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11206-006-9004-8

[4] Ball, S. (2003). The teacher’s soul and the terrors of performativity. Journal of Education Policy, 18(2), 215–228. https://doi.org/10.1080/0268093022000043065

[5] Ball, S. (2010). New voices, new knowledges and the new politics of education research: The gathering of a perfect storm? European Educational Research Journal, 9(2), 124–137. https://doi.org/10.2304/eerj. 2010.9.2.124

[6] Ball, S. (2012). Global Education Inc.: New Policy Networks and the Neo-Liberal Imaginary. Routledge.

[7] Ball, S. (2013). Foucault, Power, and Education. Routledge.

[8] Ball, S. J. (2018). Commericalising education: Profiting from reform! Journal of Education Policy, 33(5), 587–589. https://doi.org/10.1080/02680939.2018.1467599

[9] Bond, T., & Fox, C. (2015). Applying the Rasch model: Fundamental measurement in the human sciences (3rd ed.). Routledge.

[10] Bullough, R., & Hall-Kenyon, K. (2011). The call to teach and teacher hopefulness. Teacher Development, 15(2), 127–140. https://doi.org/10.1080/13664530.2011.571488

[11] Connell, R. (1985). Teachers’ Work. George Allen & Unwin.

[12] Coulson, A. J. (1994). Human life, human organizations and education. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 2(9). https://doi.org/10.14507/epaa.v2n9.1994

[13] Davies, B., & Bansel, P. (2007). Neoliberalism and education. International Journal of Qualitative Studies in Education, 20(3), 247–259. https://doi.org/10.1080/09518390701281751

[14] Department of Education and Knowledge. (n.d.). About ADEK. Retrieved from https://www.adek1.adek. gov.ae/en/AboutADEC/Pages/default.aspx

[15] Devine-Eller, A. (2004). Applying Foucault to education (Unpublished Thesis, Rutgers University). Retrieved from http://www.audreydevineeller.com/Devine-Eller,%20Applying%20Foucault% 20to%20Education.pdf

[16] Dubai Statistics Center (2019). Enrolled Students by Education Type and Nationality - Emirate of Dubai (2018/2019 – 2016/2017). Retrieved from https://www.dsc.gov.ae/Report/DSC_%20SYB_2018_04%20_ 01.pdf

[17] Government of Dubai. (2006). UAE Law 30 of 2006 – Establishing the Knowledge and Human Development Authority in Dubai. Retrieved from https://www.khda.gov.ae/CMS/WebParts/TextEditor/ Documents/Law_No_30_of_2006_Establishing_KHDA_%20English.pdf

[18] Friedman, M. (1997). Public schools: Make them private. Education Economics, 5(3), 341–344. https: //doi.org/10.1080/09645299700000026

[19] Gewirtz, S. (1997). Post-welfarism and the reconstruction of teachers’ work in the UK. Journal of Education Policy, 12(4), 217–231. https://doi.org/10.1080/0268093970120402

[20] Hargreaves, A. (1999). Series editor’s introduction. In S. Acker (Ed.), Realities of Teachers’ Work: Never a Dull Moment. Bloomsbury Publishing. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.uk/books?id= Acz0wMVd2DIC

[21] Hollway, W., & Jefferson, T. (2000). Doing Qualitative Research Differently: Free Association, Narrative and the Interview Method. SAGE Publications.

[22] Hoxby, C. (2000). Would School Choice Change the Teaching Profession? National Bureau of Economic Research. http://www.nber.org/papers/w7866

[23] ISC Research (2000). Data and Intel. https://www.iscresearch.com/data

[24] Junker, B. W., & Sijtsma, K. (2001). Nonparametric item response theory in action: An overview of the special issue. Applied Psychological Measurement, 25(3), 211–220. https://doi.org/10.1177/ 01466210122032028

[25] Keddie, A., Mills, M., & Pendergast, D. (2011). Fabricating an identity in neo-liberal times: performing schooling as ‘number one.’ Oxford Review of Education, 37(1), 75–92. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 03054985.2010.538528

[26] Kenway, J., Bigum, C., & Fitzclarence, L. (1993). Marketing education in the postmodern age. Journal of Education Policy, 8(2), 105–122. https://doi.org/10.1080/0268093930080201

[27] Linacre, J. M. (2000). Reliability and separation of measures: Winsteps Help. Help for Winsteps Rasch Measurement Software. http://www.winsteps.com/winman/reliability.htm

[28] Linacre, J. (2017). Winsteps® Rasch measurement computer program. Oregon: Beaverton. Retrieved from: www.winsteps.com

[29] Macpherson, R., Kachelhoffer, P., & El Nemr, M. (2007). The radical modernization of school and education system leadership in the United Arab Emirates: Towards an indigenized and educative leadership. International Studies in Educational Administration, 35(1), 60–77.

[30] Molenaar, I., & Sijtsma, K. (2000). MPS5 for Windows. A program for Mokken scale analysis for polytomous items. Iec ProGAMMA.

[31] OECD. (2016). PISA 2015 Results Volume II: Policies and Practices for Successful Schools. Paris, France: OECD Publishing. Retrieved from: www.oecd.org/education/ pisa-2015-results-volume-ii-9789264267510-en.html

[32] Olmedo, A. (2013). Policy-makers, market advocates and edu-businesses: New and renewed players in the Spanish education policy arena. Journal of Education Policy, 28(1), 55–76. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 02680939.2012.689011

[33] Rasch, G. (1960). Studies in Mathematical Psychology: I. Probabilistic Models For Some Intelligence and Attainment Tests. Nielsen & Lydiche.

[34] Ridge, N., Kippels, S., & Shami, S. (2015). Private education in the absence of a public option: The cases of the United Arab Emirates and Qatar. Education Support Program Working Paper Series (64). https://www.researchgate.net/publication/292138912

[35] Robertson, S., & Dale, R. (2013). The social justice implications of privatisation in education governance frameworks: A relational account. Oxford Review of Education, 39(4), 426–445. https://doi.org/10.1080/ 03054985.2013.820465

[36] Sijtsma, K., & van der Ark, L. (2017). A tutorial on how to do a Mokken scale analysis on your test and questionnaire data. British Journal of Mathematical and Statistical Psychology, 70(1), 137–158. https://doi.org/10.1111/bmsp.12078

[37] Smyth, J., Dow, A., Hattam, R., Reid, A., & Shacklock, G. (2000). Teachers’ Work in a Globalizing Economy. Routledge. Retrieved from https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=2NQ9AAAAIAAJ

[38] Statistics Centre Abu Dhabi. (2019). Education Statistics 2018/2019. Retrieved from: https://www.scad. gov.ae/en/pages/generalpublications.aspx?releaseid=11335&publicationid=38&topicid=23

[39] UAE Vision 2021. (2018). National Agenda 2021. Retrieved from https://www.vision2021.ae/en/ national-agenda-2021

[40] Verger, A., Fontdevila, C., & Zancajo, A. (2017). Multiple paths towards education privatization in a globalizing world: A cultural political economy review. Journal of Education Policy, 32(6), 757–787.

[41] Waterson, M. (2015). An analysis of the growth of transnational corporations operating international schools and the potential impact of this growth on the nature of the education offered. Working Papers Series International and Global Issues for Research. Bath University.

[42] Whitty, G., & Power, S. (2000). Marketisation and privatization in mass education systems. International Journal of Educational Development, 20(2), 93–107. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0738-0593(99)00061-9

[43] Winchip, E. (2020). The interplay of government, private funding and civil actors in the United Arab Emirates: Response to ‘private actors and public goods: A comparative case study of funding and public governance in K-12 education in 3 global cities’. Journal of Educational Administration & History, 52(1), 120–123. https://doi.org/10.1080/00220620.2020.1724395