• Sector: Building Cultural Understanding / Society and Culture
• Country location: Qatar, United Arab Emirates
• Grantee: Centre for Islamic Thought and Education (CITE) at the University of South Australia

Project description

Teacher recruitment and retention in the Middle East of expatriate educators is a growing concern. Equally, government officials want to ensure that local culture and heritage is not forfeited with an influx of internationally recruited educators. From an expatriate educator's perspective, many of whom are Australian, some find the cultural transition difficult while others embrace it. Some draw on the rich history and heritage of the Middle East in their teaching while others dismiss it. The critical question for this project: How and to what extent are expatriate educators being culturally prepared to teach in the Middle East?

This project includes: (1) Educator dialogues with expatriate teachers working at international private schools in Dubai and Doha; (2) Visits to national heritage centres to build cultural understanding among Australian teacher education faculty; and (3) two full-day workshops on "cultural responsivity" in collaboration with Colleges of Education in the UAE and Qatar.

Key dates

• Cultural Heritage Centre Visit: Doha, 19 and 22 January 2020
• Educator Dialogue – International Private Schools: Doha, 19 to 20 January 2020
• Cultural Responsivity Workshop: Doha, 21 January 2020
• Educator Dialogue – International Private Schools: Dubai, 23 and 26 January 2020
• Cultural Responsivity Workshop: Dubai, 27 January 2020

• Council for Australian-Arab Relations grant offer: $25,000.
• Total project value: $25,000.