Gifted education in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

Gifted education, defined as the schooling of students demonstrating some exceptional abilities, is relatively new in the education system of the United Arab Emirates (UAE); hence, research on gifted education in the UAE is limited. This study is the first to investigate the implementation of gifted education programmes at seven primary government schools in Dubai—UAE. The main research question of the study was: What programmes are offered for gifted learners in primary government schools in Dubai? And what is needed in order to improve the provisions of gifted education? The study adopted the National Association for Gifted Children (NAGC) gifted programmes standards as a framework. A sequential exploratory mixed-methods research design was employed with triangulation of data to test the validity of the findings. The methods used to collect the data include classroom observations, interviews and a questionnaire with teachers, a focus group with parents, and a review of official documents. The conclusions demonstrate that the provision of education for gifted students has progressed in Dubai—UAE in the last 10 years, However, more improvement is required in identification of gifted students and implementation of gifted policies and programmes. School administrators and teachers need to better understand and implement the policies prescribed by the Ministry of Education. Based on the findings, a set of recommendations is offered to better serve the gifted students of the UAE.

Keywords:

• gifted education in UAE
• gifted programmes
• gifted identification

Public Interest Statement

This paper evaluates the implementation of gifted programmes in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) focusing on a study conducted in Dubai. The UAE is striving to reach excellence in many sectors including its economy, industry, finance and education. Gifted education is a relatively new initiative in the UAE. Various gifted education programmes have been implemented in public schools in the UAE. Only limited research has, however, been conducted to evaluate these programmes, providing a direction and rationale for the current study. This study is the first to investigate the implementation of gifted education programmes in public schools in Dubai, UAE.

Acknowledgements

The author wish to specially thank Prof Albert Ziegler for the encouragement provided in writing this article. In addition the author thank Mohammad Baharoon and Angus Taverner for their help.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Mariam A. AlGhawi

Mariam A. AlGhawi, PhD, is the Director of Gifted Welfare Department at Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Educational Award, a non-profit organization in Dubai Government which works on promoting gifted education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE). She completed both her Doctoral and Master Degrees in Education at the British University in Dubai (BUiD) in association with the University of Birmingham in UK. She graduated from the United Arab Emirates University (UAEU) with a degree of Bachelor in Special Education. She has been working in the field of Gifted Education since 2008. Prior to that, she worked as a teacher then a supervisor of Special Education and worked in the Ministry of Education as vice-director of Special Abilities Department which creates and supervises educational programmes for both gifted students and students with disabilities. Her research interests include identification of gifted students, programmes for gifted students, talent and creativity, gifted and talented education.