The “Singapore of the middle east”: The role and attractiveness of the Singapore model and TIMSS on education policy and borrowing in the Kingdom of Bahrain ^☆

This chapter was written during a transition between positions. The author was on faculty at Macon State College (now Middle Georgia State College), USA, during the early stages of manuscript development and subsequently moved to Abu Dhabi, UAE, to begin a new position in educational research shortly after presentation of this paper at the 2012 Gulf Research Meeting.

Abstract

Education reform and policy formation have become national priorities in all of the Gulf States that make up the six member Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC). This move toward developing and sustaining effective education provision for the national citizenry gained greater importance in the wake of the Arab Spring movement that swept across the region. Although not as directly impacted as some other Arab nations further north, the leadership of Gulf States recognized that the large youth demographic in the region needed greater education and employment options, partly to stem the tide of unrest in their own nations. Many Gulf States, including the Kingdom of Bahrain, were already looking overseas for education models and systems that they could “buy-in” and implement in local schools. One such provider that seemed attractive to Bahrain, among others, was Singapore, which is widely hailed in the Gulf region as a model of a high-performing, global economy and education system. Yet importation of foreign models, with little or no accommodations made for local needs and cultures leads to an uncomfortable “grafting” of systems that seem out of place. This, coupled with the desire by Gulf States to take part in international benchmarking exercises, such as TIMSS, has created an awkward skewing in many educational practices and processes in Bahrain and other GCC states. This chapter, using Bahrain as a case study, will explore the regional importation of systems and models and the effect that participation in international assessments is having on localized education practices.

Citation

Kirk, D.J. (2014), "The “Singapore of the middle east”: The role and attractiveness of the Singapore model and TIMSS on education policy and borrowing in the Kingdom of Bahrain ^☆

This chapter was written during a transition between positions. The author was on faculty at Macon State College (now Middle Georgia State College), USA, during the early stages of manuscript development and subsequently moved to Abu Dhabi, UAE, to begin a new position in educational research shortly after presentation of this paper at the 2012 Gulf Research Meeting.

", Education for a Knowledge Society in Arabian Gulf Countries (International Perspectives on Education and Society, Vol. 24), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 127-149. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-367920140000024014