Challenges in the Education System in Saudi Arabia

Education is the most important aspect in our today lives. How education is passed to our upcoming generation is always taken with a lot of concern since education is what give rise to doctors, engineers, politicians, president and other important people in the society. Different people have different systems of passing the knowledge. Some of the systems are taken as most appropriate and favorable in educating our children while others have disadvantages and need to be improved for better future of the children in their education process. Thus we will look at the pedagogical of leadership challenge. Which is the best way to teach?

Children in Saudi Arabia begin attending preschool from the age of about 3 to 5 years. However attending preschool is not a compulsory requirement for a child to be enrolled into the first grade of primary education. This make the preschool education very useless since most parents always ignore the education. I found out that most children in Saudi Arabia join their first grade without any useful knowledge from their preschool due to lack of consistent attendance by the children. I personally had a hard time catching up in my first grade while I attended Nada International School, due to lack of basic foundation knowledge from the kindergarten .This clearly shows poor method of how to teach. This has really affected education system in Saudi Arabia as a whole since it created a gap between the children who attended preschool and those who did not. I realized that social life of the children who did not attended preschool is affected negatively as they have poor interaction skills with other children in and outside the school environment. Some are even slower in learning since they missed the preschool fun of learning which matters a lot in a child education. Also we have poorly trained teachers, this will mean that the children are not well taught thus poor results. We also see that there is no certain standards put for children to attain thus I was able to find that there is a lot of relaxation in the education sector.

Remedies can be taken to help improve the education system in Saudi Arabia. This is to help improve the children’s performance and also their social life with others. First, preschool education should be made compulsory. All parents and the community as a whole should try to encourage each other and ensure that all children attend the preschool education which is the basic foundation of the child education. Social participation in education should also be improved, Children should be free with their teachers and also contact hours improved. This will make the children free to the extent of asking questions and thus performance will be improved. Qualification of teachers should be highly taken into consideration. Teachers at Nada International School should have their quality of professionality checked and insure that they do their work as required. Also, the development of the ministry personnel should also be taken into consideration for the growth and improvement of the educational system in Saudi Arabia generally.

Remedies for Improving the Education System in Saudi Arabia

Most institution and education systems always have the most dominant pedagogy in common. They believe and trust them to be the most appropriate way to education prosperity. Most learners are able to understand when certain pedagogy are used. Art and science is the most preferred way of approaching pedagogy. Most education systems today use these methods to pass information to learners. As we all know, every good thing has its negative side. As much as art and science is the most common approach to pedagogy, it does not connect areas that require practice and theory (Paulo F, 1996). Also, it does not respect the historical experience. I suggest that a good pedagogy should be learners-friendly, able to explore the learning concepts and generally bring learning into life which the art and science approach does not fulfill.

In practice, pedagogical leadership cannot be considered on its own. If early childhood leaders attempt to practice pedagogical leadership by itself, and as a traditional leader working alone, it will not be effective as it has to be considered within the full event of leadership roles and responsibilities expected of today’s early childhood leaders (Paulo F, 1996). An adequate understanding and theorization of the introductory steps of pedagogy in leadership is required for this to be possible. Pedagogical leadership in this scenario is explored within childhood education in order to find its significance. Several concepts for example pedagogical leadership are analyzed yet their relationship and differences do not get to be clarified. The development of these concepts with respect to early childhood literature come about with the lack of thorough research on pedagogical leadership (Bell H, 1994).

Early childhood leadership can be practiced in several ways and gaining interest in understanding these ways increases the possibilities of improving pedagogical leadership in the early childhood setting. Distributed leadership values knowledge and expertise. Leadership roles on the other hand include activity such as community development and curriculum. Distributed leadership is therefore seen to be reflected in these roles.

Social pedagogy nurtures learning and well-being of individuals and the community at large. When I talk about social pedagogy, I think in the aspect of having a relationship-centered way of working within an educational environment with people involved. This has been a constant practice through time across many countries. Its main objective or focus is addressing the issue of social inequality and enhancing social change by nurturing most importantly connection both at an individual level and at a community level as well. Nevertheless taken as a tradition, social pedagogy does not only fully become the responsibility of parents but a collective responsibility of the entire society. According to Hamalainen, he explains that, “historically, social pedagogy is based on the belief that you can decisively influence social circumstances through education”. Back in time, philosophers such as Plato discussed how education could contribute to social development whereas social pedagogy only emerged through the influence of modern thinking in the reformation and enlighten. The pedagogical approach is driven by social forces such as;

Different Pedagogical Approaches in Education

Social group work, which mostly aims at developing both individual and community-wide social competence. In class, engaging my students in group work makes it easier to handle them and expose my pedagogical skills in professional teaching. It also unites them regardless of their social background.

The presence of community intervention work which has a major objective of developing communal demographic structures. This affects the school externally as the community contribution helps in building the school socially and bring about harmony. Having a peacefully and friendly environment enables an effective pedagogical approach internally.

We have individual case work which has the main objective as improving individual life environments. When every student is responsible enough to come up with a constructive idea when working individual, the teacher is motivated therefore having a positive influence on the pedagogical approach. (Bell H, 2002).

The key thing to note when we talk about political forces affecting the pedagogical approach is that decision making within the education system is, in a large part, a political process. To begin with, the education system is determined politically, not to forget the curriculum itself. Most government officials and mostly elected leaders make decisions within the context of the political authenticities in which they operate. These leaders have great influence over school boards, state legislatures as well as even departments of education. Some influential leaders who view education as key have promoted new culpability initiatives and provided motivations to stimulate improvement in the education setup. Passing of bills involving the education sector without proper review also affects pedagogical leadership as some parts may be of great negative effect to the sector. Not to forget political party preferences in the education sector may result in a pull from both directions in the education sector, for example the ideologies of the ruling party against those of the opposing party. These political forces go ahead and give rise to economic forces from the external level. For example, the funding of schools.

Economic Forces

The economic breakdown of Nada International School affects classroom teaching in several ways. I thought it best to also include the socioeconomic breakdown as I experienced it most in my professional pedagogical approach. Socioeconomic refers to a situation where factors such as the race of students in school meet the economic factors such as income (Harry K, 1991).
The income of students’ parents is of great effect to their learning as they vary. They all belong to different classes. Others are rich, others poor. My students majorly those from humble backgrounds feel intimidated by those from well-off families. This affects pedagogical teaching as most of the time I have to deal with issues of equality. Nevertheless, some are unable to afford to pay the entire amount of fees. Being an International School, the fee is quite high and there are limited bursaries. Some of my students are therefore occasionally in and out of school therefore effective learning hardly takes place. I therefore have to ensure that I make others catch up and this affects the syllabus completion.

Pedagogical Leadership

Since schools in Saudi Arabia receive funds. Some receive less funds especially those on the lower end of the socioeconomic breakdown. Teachers in this case are affected as their salaries will be inadequate. Nada International School for example rarely attracts high-quality teachers due to their pay, not considering the fact that our students need them the most. Being among the few equipped with pedagogical approach skills, it is difficult to handle the entire school.

At the Nada International School, teachers from other religions have a hard time in adopting the Islamic culture and also dealing with the Islamic children due to language difference. Thus citizenship within and beyond school has really had a great influence in the education system. Most teachers from other regions in the world always find it hard to cope in Saudi Arabia also getting permits to work in Saudi Arabia is very hard. It takes a lot of time to legalize the documents.

Teachers and leaders from the Islamic culture always have an easy time interacting with their students and learners of the Islamic culture. They are able to blend in well and also able to know the kind of problems they go through as they belong under the same denomination. The problem comes in when it comes to foreign students and teachers. Educating the others become a very hard task due to cultural influence. Most foreigners don’t understand the Islamic culture thus have a hard time. We also found out that the students of the Islamic culture are not free with Christian teachers and the rest from other denomination .This effect of popular culture affect the education system (Paulo F., 1996).

Informal institutions of a place always determine the quality of an education system a lot. In Saudi Arabia the effect of gender equality is really an issue. Mostly boy child are placed into high consideration than the girl child. Mostly the ratio of the boy child and the girl child in schooling vary with a high percentage. Most boys than girls are taken to school. Education for the girl child is not valued and its importance is not seen. Girls are taken as a source of wealth and education for them is seen as a waste of time and resources. Thus the informal institution always have an influence on the pedagogical practice (Harry K., 1991).

Education is the backbone of all leaders. Through schooling we are able to bring up important people in the society. The education system in a particular place determines the type of leaders that will be brought up. Mostly the behavior of the teenagers and manners is determined by the education available (Susan A., 2010). If the pedagogical learning is good one will be able to pass is without any problem to others as you have learned it and noted its importance.

Social Pedagogy

Through schooling one is able to acquire wisdom which is very much relevant to leadership. Everyone needs a wise leader who is able to tackle their problems well and find solutions to them. Thus the schooling process play a very important rule in leadership. For all this to happen the pedagogy used must be appropriate.

Schooling process nurtures perfection. All leaders should be close to perfect in all their dealings. They should be able to carry out their work with a lot of intelligence .For a leader to be perfect his or her schooling process should at list have a pedagogical leadership. In the schooling process one is able to acquire a lot of skill and also living with others which is important in leadership.

Schooling enable literacy .One is able to know how to read and write which is very important. Feature a situation where a leader don’t know how to read or write. Picture an illiterate nation. This will lead to disaster in all sectors since education is an important aspect in life. For good leadership and country with a good economy education is relevant.

(Susan A., 2010) Education helps to transmit national culture. Learners always have religious education which helps to improve the moral standards. Through the study they are able to know what they should do and what not to do. Through schooling peace is also cultivated. Children are taught how to stay in peace with other people. This will promote national peace and good relationship between its members.

Principles And Practices Associated With Planning, Developing, Implementing Coomunicating And Evaluating In A Pedagogigal Leadership Practices

We have the organizational principles which involves taking responsibilities in managing school. This ensures that pedagogical leadership contributes to improved social and academic lives of students. School management also ensures continuous processes are in place to review and improve the effectiveness of pedagogical leadership.it also ensures that the staff involved are considered and are given assess to professional development and support.

Managing the school personnel contributes positively to the pedagogical leadership plan for the school program. In addition, involving partnerships between schools and providers helps to achieve the goals for pedagogical leadership (Harry K., 1991).

We also have the implementation principles whereby the staff involved in the pedagogical leadership are required to have teaching experience beyond the classroom level for example special education and social or youth work. The staff should also be equipped with social skills so as to build effective working relationships with the learning environment. They should be able to identify the strengths weaknesses and areas that need development or improvement.

Political Forces affecting Pedagogical Leadership

The staff should also have not only basic but also detailed understanding of educational theory and practice. They help develop the literacy skills of the learning environment while supporting the development of groundbreaking and relevant teaching and learning not to forget that they are linked to the student study.

Pedagogical leadership is focused on improving the students’ ethical, social and academic skills and models enthusiasm and optimism therefore making a positive difference in lives of the students (Susan, 2010). This always helps to improve the moral standards and behavior of the students. It makes a difference.

Creativity used in conjunction with persistence is required in working through tough educational and social issues affecting the learning environment. Pedagogical leadership acknowledges the importance of pastoral care in a student’s life thus helping in supporting their destination outcomes.it also supports development of culture and helps improve the analysis of achievement information which on the other hand helps to identify new strategies for the ongoing students outcomes and therefore it is concentrated on areas that will have the largest positive impact on students.

Use of effective practice methods and approaches for example using the assessment information of both staff and students for illustration in the classroom .another example is by allowing teachers to interact and work with others so as to gain wider knowledge in their field and therefore develop more knowledge about teaching which very useful.

A good pedagogy should have the following characteristics-should be motivational, expositional, have direction of activity, should be critic and most of all have inviting imitation. All this factors should be present to term a pedagogy as good.

As said by J. Bruner, “teaching is the canny art of intellectual temptation”. Motivation helps to create a conducive environment for the teacher to teach well and the students to absorb the content. When both the learners and the teacher are motivated to do what they are doing more understanding will be achieved. Picture a situation where the learners don’t get the essence of why they study then it will be a disaster. Thus motivation is a very important aspect in the learning process.

Exposition is the process of explaining certain concept.it is easy to do badly and hard to do well. If exposition is done well it can be very motivating and gives an opportunity to the teacher to be able to establish his or her self well to the students. Expository helps to give the basic foundation of understanding. Without explanation teaching will be very difficult on both the teacher and the student side. Mostly to achieve exposition and for it to be done in a good way early preparation and also the use of props is very important. If one decides to use expository it should be don’t to the maximum (Bell H., 2002).

Economic Forces affecting Pedagogical Leadership

Everybody gets to learn by doing. There must be a detailed sequence of how certain directions or actions should be done. First one should be able to know the format or the design of the activity, how that activity should be delivered also the selection and the sequencing of the activity (Paulo, 1996). Also the teacher should be able to identify the main objective of a certain study. This will enable the learners to exactly know what they are doing and how they will respond to a certain question or work given. Also application of adaptive learning involves the teacher selecting learning activities relevant to his or her students and monitoring what they have achieved at every point of the course. The human mind is bound to forget therefore the skill of repetition and review is crucial in learning. This is to ensure that information is learned in the classroom is laid down in long term and not just short term memory.

Criticism ought to be mistaken for a bad word but it is however crucial in a conversation therefore students as well as teachers should learn to accept criticism from both sides. An example of positive criticism is whereby the teacher marks simple sums done by students (at lower levels) .when a student fails to attain the correct answer after evaluation, the teacher corrects the student ,explain the sum again and put measures so that the student wont fail again. Which is very helpful in learning.

Humans are naturally programmed to emulate people who they look up to (role models).children as well may imitate each other depending on what is beneficial to them. For a teacher to be looked up to he or she is required to portray an up to standard personality .this is usually a heavy burden on the shoulders as they have to impress both their leaders and their students. However it should be noted that for a student to emulate their teachers it depends mostly on the culture of the school. For teachers who find it challenging to be both a potential role model and have passion in their subject a few tips would be; to develop good relationships with their students, have good discipline and personalization of learning as well as being a guide to the students by offering advice not only academically but also socially and spiritually (Donalyn, 2009).

One of the ways to achieve success is through crossover learning which involves learning in informal environment .This helps to link content learned in the classroom with the student day to day lives.an example is when the teacher gives a discussion question in the classroom then takes the students out to the field and then go back to class to give the findings.

Cultural Forces affecting Pedagogical Leadership

Another method is learning through argumentation which is applied mostly in mathematics and science courses. Students can argue facts similar to the likes of professional mathematicians and scientists. The contrast and similarities in different ideas given by the students helps to deepen their learning.

Unplanned learning also known as learning is unlike formal education where student teacher interaction is necessary but involves an occurrence while carrying out an activity that does not relate what is learned.

We also have the computational teaching which is a powerful approach to problem solving.it involves decomposition, pattern recognition, obstruction to achieve a particular solution. Such thinking skill may be valuable in many aspects of life from solving simple problems to complex ones.

There different ways of achieving the above. One is by culturally sustaining pedagogy. This seeks to sustain literate and cultural pluralism as part of the democratic schooling project. Embracing our culture as a community is always the first step to achieve our goals in life. Therefore cultural equality and plurality should be embraced.
Another way is socially. A philosopher once said that if you want to walk fast walk alone, but if you want to go further walk with others. Team building is very vital to achieving innovation goals. Different ideas brought together may build our tomorrow and in this case, may be a great evolution in education (Donalyn, 2009).

Pedagogical leadership approach has majorly a positive impact in the learning environment. This includes the students, parents and respective relevant stakeholders. The students have the advantage of acquiring adequate knowledge taught using professional skills thus can be more meaningful to the society at large. As for parents, they are saved of the struggle and finances of having to fund their children to tuition. The stakeholders reap of the benefits of an excellent performing school and everybody wins.

References

Bell H. (1994). Teaching to Transgress: Education as the Practice of Freedom. Routledge: New York.

Bell H. (2002). Teaching Community: A Pedagogy of Hope. Routledge: New York.

Donalyn M. (2009).  The Book Whisperer: Awakening the Inner Reader in Every Child. Jossey-Bass: New York.

Harry K. (1991). The First Days of School: How to Be an Effective Teacher. Harry K. Wong: New York.

Kylene B. (2012). Notice and Note: Strategies for Close Reading. Heinemann: New York.

Peter C. (2014). Make it Stick: The Science of Successful Learning. Belknap Press: New York.

Paulo F. (1996). Pedagogy of Freedom: Ethics, Democracy, and Civic Courage. Rowman & Littlefield Publishers Inc.: New York.

Retallack J, Spahr J. (2006). Poetry and Pedagogy. Wiley: New York.

Susan A. (2010). How Learning Works: Seven Research-biased Principles for Smart Teaching. Jossey-Bass: New York.