Special Education Teacher Preparation Landscape

Region and Its Classification

The Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC), herein referred to as Gulf, is a political and economic union of Arab states on the Arabian Gulf, consisting of the Kingdom of Bahrain, the State of Kuwait, the Sultanate of Oman, the State of Qatar, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, and the United Arab Emirates. The World Bank (2015) classifies each country as High Income: nonOECD (Organisation for Economic Co-Operation and Development). The countries share similar traditional and conservative cultures adjusting to modernity, economic prosperity that began in the 20th century mainly due to the discovery and extraction of oil and gas, and high proportions of expatriate residents relative to the number of citizens (Al-Hendawi & Keller, 2014; Commins, 2012).

Views of Disability and the Education of Individuals With Disabilities

Gulf countries have laws in place stating the rights of individuals with disabilities. There are examples of disability issues specifically highlighted in national visions and planning documents as well as policies regarding the education of students with disabilities. Despite these relatively recent governmental efforts, within the countries, there is still a lack of awareness, understanding, recognition, and acceptance of disabilities (Al-Merekhi & Al-Buainain, 2008; Al-Thani, 2006; Kay, 2011), not only by segments of the societies but even by some families of individuals with disabilities.

National plans for the education of individuals with disabilities emphasize inclusion (e.g., Ministry of Education of the Sultanate of Oman, n.d.; Supreme Education Council, Education Institute, 2009; United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education, Special Education Department, n.d.), sometimes citing UNESCO’s (1994) Salamanca Statement and the United Nations’s (2006) Convention on the Rights of Persons With Disabilities specifically as the foundations for this policy.

Primary Service Delivery Models

To implement inclusion, national educational systems in the Gulf are drawing increasingly on approaches like a continuum of learning environments similar to the continuum of placements in the United States (e.g., United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education, Special Education Department, n.d.) and multi-tiered systems of support like response to intervention (e.g., Supreme Education Council, Education Institute, 2009) to conceptualize how services will be provided.

Despite the philosophical emphasis on inclusion, though, there is still a strong tradition in the Gulf of using separate centers to provide education for some individuals with disabilities. For instance, it is stated in the Qatar National Development Strategy 2011-2016 that “increasing the capacity of specialized institutions would lower the pressure on mainstream schools and reduce waiting lists for existing specialized institutions” (Qatar General Secretariat for Development Planning, 2011, p. 135).

Not all children, however, receive a full course of primary education in the Gulf states (UNESCO, 2012). This occurs most likely at the expense of children and youth with disabilities who are not able to go to school. Ambitious and positive “national will” is in place in the Gulf to address the needs of children and youth with disabilities; however, factors such as awareness, attitudes, and insufficient educational capacity in many forms currently affect the realization of that intention.

How Teachers Are Prepared

In the Gulf, special educator preparation can occur at the bachelor’s, post-baccalaureate diploma (similar to post-baccalaureate licensure or certification programs in the United States or the United Kingdom, for instance), or master’s levels. Programs across the Gulf are organized around a variety of categorical and non-categorical emphases and, except for the few that target the preparation of early childhood special educators, do not differentiate on the basis of age groups.

Because the Gulf states often need to hire expatriates to fill positions, including in the field of education, many special educators have received their preparation and may have experiences not only in other countries, particularly Arab states outside of the GCC (“Working Group Meeting on ‘Arab Migrant Communities in the GCC,’” 2014), but also Western countries like the United States, United Kingdom, and Australia for international schools. As a result, many of these professionals may bring diverse views about special education practices in the Gulf countries.

Prevalence of Teacher Preparation Programs

Degree-based special educator preparation programs are available at 32 out of the 51 universities in the Gulf that provide any sort of teacher preparation, or 62.7% of such institutions. Although there are a few programs which began in the 1980s and 1990s, most were initiated in the 21st century and more are in development.

Minimum Entry Requirements

A bachelor’s degree is a common minimum requirement to be a teacher. A degree specifically in a special education field is sometimes stated (e.g., United Arab Emirates Ministry of Education, Special Education Department, n.d.); otherwise it is noted as a desired expectation (e.g., Supreme Education Council, Education Institute, 2009). In the absence of sufficient special educator preparation capacity within some of the countries of the Gulf, however, it may be difficult to always satisfy this goal, even by hiring from outside the country. As a result, some teachers hired for special educator positions may have no special education preparation prior to their employment, but then receive training from the ministry or school once they begin.