Toward a new professionalism in Saudi Arabia: could council for exceptional children standards be a catalyst for change in special education?

ABSTRACT

In Saudi Arabia, there is an urgent need for good quality professional development for special education teachers, many of whom find this work extremely challenging. Definitions of professionalism often involve quality of practice and the setting of standards, but it is clear that there are wide variations in the implementation of standards in Saudi Arabia, caused by a marked absence of guidelines for special needs teachers. If Council of Exceptional Children standards pioneered in the USA, were adopted in Saudi special schools, professionalism could improve and  special school teachers would be more likely to update existing skills or develop new teaching methods. This would support teachers whilst benefiting their special needs students. The new standards would require teachers to possess specific skills. Some critics hold the view that implementing such standards might diminish professionalism, erode autonomy or burden teachers with a heavy workload, but evidence suggests that these points are unfounded and that by implementing Council of Exceptional Children standards to equip teachers with a repertoire of pedagogical skills, the developmental and learning needs of students can be met. This could be a catalyst for change in Saudi Arabia and even outside this region, that is long overdue.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Additional information

Funding

This research was funded by the Deanship of Scientific Research at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University through the Fast-Track Research Program.

Notes on contributors

Sara Binammar

Sara Binammar is an Associate Professor in the Department of Special Education and Head of the Professional Partnership & Investments Unit at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahman University, Riyadh. She was awarded a Doctoral degree in Special Education from the University of Exeter, UK in 2019. Sara is a member of the Council for Exceptional Children, (CEC) and the International Network of Scholars, (INET) at Johns Hopkins University, USA. Educational research interests focus on learning disabilities, parents of children with learning disabilities and parental Involvement (PI).