Role of teachers in reinforcing students cultural and heritage awareness at Abu Dhabi schools to meet global challenge

Abstract

The study aims to explore the role of teachers to reinforce cultural awareness and heritage in the schools in Abu Dhabi. A descriptive and correlational design was employed and 339 teachers were recruited. Questionnaires were distributed using an online platform SurveyMonkey and the data collected was analyzed through SPPS version 22. The results showed a significant correlation between programs and practices organized by teachers (p-value = 0.000), the development of interpersonal roles of students (p-value = 0.000), and role behavior (p-value = 0.000) with cultural and heritage awareness among students to meet the global challenge. Moreover, there was a significant interpersonal role of teachers towards the reinforcement of cultural and heritage awareness among the students to meet the global challenge. The study concluded that there is a significant impact on the role of teachers in the reinforcement of culture and heritage awareness among the students at Abu Dhabi schools.

Keywords:

• awareness
• global challenge
• heritage
• students
• cultural
• teachers

Public interest statement

This study explored the teachers’ role in reinforcing cultural awareness and heritage in the schools in Abu Dhabi. The study has revealed a significant effect of teachers’ role in inculcating cultural values, norms, and awareness about heritage among the students at Abu Dhabi schools. These findings will assist the policymakers and decision-makers in the UAE to promote cultural heritage, diversity, and inclusiveness through the education sector which is one of the dynamic and responsive areas to promote any of the ventures due to the young population associated with it. Thus, it is suggested to develop new ways of teaching to increase fostering with the culture and heritage in the country.

1. Introduction

Cultural heritage and awareness are highly significant as they influence a sense of identity, a person’s behavior, and loyalty to the country. Libraries, museums, schools, and historic sites are the memory institutions that have the responsibility of safeguarding and interpreting cultural records, so it can be said that there are practical reasons for reinforcing a cultural heritage. Immense attention to cultural heritage can lead to a wider awareness of the complexities involved in understanding and reinforcing culture (Bhardwaj et al., 2015). Cultural heritage is the legacy of physical artifacts and intangible attributes of society inherited from past generations (Willis, 2014). It can be transferred through education and even by traditional livelihood. One of the most basic traits of education is passing on the cultural values and patterns of behaviors to the young members of society. This makes it evident to state that society can achieve basic conformity and make sure that the traditional modes are safeguarded. This has also been called the conservation function of education. Nevertheless, handover traditions can be at times encountered with conflicts with an urge to initiate changes. When a society changes slowly, the conventional elements of its culture are much more easily absorbed (Srivastava, 2015).

The UAE is home to more than 200 nationalities (Pagès-El Karoui, 2021) and the schools currently teach 16 different types of curricula (Knowledge and Human Development Authority, 2017). An environment as diverse as it provides several challenges and so, it makes it important to equip the teachers with the knowledge and skills that they need to not only understand their Emirati students and their families but also, the country or the city in which they are living (Byat & Sultan, 2014). As, in past before the independence of the UAE, paid teachers from countries like Bahrain and Qatar worked in Emirate. Even today to fill up the gap of qualified teachers in the UAE, the government has hired an immense number of teachers from western and Arab countries to teach K-12 schools, colleges, and universities. Non-Arab faculty/professors in higher education massively outnumbered their Arab and Emirati colleagues. Arab and Emirati students on other hand outnumbered expatriate students.

The lack of awareness among the teachers about Emirati culture has been a major matter of concern for the parents. Nevertheless, the Abu Dhabi Education System has identified the problem of cultural ignorance in the Abu Dhabi Schools. The problem lies within the expatriate young teachers who are not aware of the cultural values themselves. They live among other young teachers and often fail to understand the social environment and the broader culture that they are a part of (Bradshaw et al., 2011). According to Pillai and Achilles (2015), teachers need to be educated and trained to assess, validate, and maximize the cultural heritage that brings their multicultural background to the classroom. Hence, it becomes important to understand the roles of the teachers and their efforts to ensure that cultural heritage and values are enforced on every child to preserve these values for the generations to come. Presently, there has been a need to preserve cultural roots, otherwise, future generations will never be able to understand the basic characteristics and features of the nation. This study aims to explore the role of teachers to reinforce cultural awareness and heritage in the schools in Abu Dhabi.

Alhosani (2022) has evaluated the educational curriculum of the students in Kindergarten in the UAE. The study found that the curriculum was aligned with the core of the Emirati culture to deliver and reinforce it during the initial level of a child’s development at school. Besides, the Islamic value system has also been encompassed in the curriculum to inculcate religious values and practices. In the curriculum of social studies, the element of heritage has been embedded along with the heritage of the world with the help of stories related to prominent heritage landmarks to familiarize students with them. However, the study has endorsed the idea that cultural endorsement at the school level in the UAE has not reached its mark yet due to the predominant representation of foreign teachers in the education sector of the UAE as they are not fully aware of the culture of the country. The study by Nasab (2018) has pinpointed that leadership has an association with the way the culture is reinforced and embedded in a country. In the context of the UAE, it has been asserted that it is needed to inculcate the cultural norms, values, and heritage among the students so that they could contribute to enlivening their heritage eminence because following the western leadership and lifestyle style, without considering the ground realities and features of their country, will beget complex challenges that will not be favorable for the country in long run. In this instance, invigorating the Emirati culture and signifying it through edifying the new construction and infrastructural projects by the emerging native workforce will be instrumental. If the cultural aspects are reinforced, a reflective urban heritage can be edified in the UAE with the right approach. Nasab (2018) has emphasized exploring and reinvigorating culture in the urban infrastructure and instilling this phenomenon through education and learning. However, it calls upon a central role of the teachers that are the most important stakeholders in materializing this dream of cultural reinvigoration in the UAE. Thus, devising careful interventions, and smart heritage conservation at the academic level is the need of the hour to lessen ignorance or the lack of interest in the culture.

There has been a lot of debate on emerging issues such as globalization, rootlessness, and privatization. As a result, there has been an ever-increasing demand on the issues related to cultural heritage and the degree to which the school teachers in Abu Dhabi are aware of their cultural values, which can later help them pass the same values to the students who are highly prone to the increased globalization and are influenced by the western culture. Whereas, there is very limited data available in terms of how the education sector can help in protecting cultural heritage. Based on the published literature cited above, a gap is identified that to date no study has examined the role of teachers to enliven the UAE culture among the students. Also, no study has found the extent to which teachers play a role in reinforcing cultural heritage and awareness, the potential of special programs to spread cultural awareness and heritage, and the level of teachers’ awareness about the UAE cultural values and heritage. To fill this gap, this research aims to explore the role of teachers to reinforce cultural awareness and heritage in the schools in Abu Dhabi. The findings of the study will help the teachers, students, researchers, educationists, and policymakers to devise culturally responsive curricular interventions to decrease the likelihood of blurring the importance of the pristine culture of the UAE among the students. It will also help to enliven the urban heritage of the UAE for its global recognition.

1.1. Research questions

Based on the above objective study have designed some research questions as follows:

Q1. Do teachers play a role in reinforcing cultural heritage and awareness at Abu Dhabi schools to meet the global challenge?

Q2. Do teachers conduct special programs to spread cultural awareness and heritage at Abu Dhabi schools to meet the global challenge?

Q3. Do teachers have an awareness of the UAE culture and heritage?

2. Literature review

The present study has provided a foundation to outline 4 different aspects defining the role of teachers in reinforcing students’ cultural and heritage awareness. These aspects including cultural and heritage awareness, the role of behavior, the interpersonal role of teachers, and different programs and practices taking place within an institution have been explained in this section. It has been shown that the knowledge of students regarding their heritage and culture is considered a great obstacle in meeting the global challenge.

2.1. Cultural and heritage awareness

In the contemporary world, according to Brown (2018), culturally responsive teaching is described as an effective means of meeting the social and academic needs of culturally diverse students. Culturally responsive teachings also stimulate the teachers to design the perspectives of students’ diversity as a strength rather than a shortfall. Hall and Wilkes (2015) have recognized that educational experiences for Emirati students should reinforce their language and culture instead of diminishing the culture. Nevertheless, Krakouer (2015) has also argued that to be culturally responsive in the space of teaching, the practitioners need to recognize the existing institutional racism, which is incorporated in strong western teaching spaces such as universities and schools. The dominance of western culture has largely influenced the expectations of Emirati students and the schooling outcomes, which has resulted in several children giving up their distinct ways of learning and unrestrained their cultural heritage to receive a formal education. In current national teaching standards, assessment standards, and aggressive national and international policies, the significance of ensuring the fairness of Emirati students through the culturally responsive practices of teaching is exceptionally evident. Undoubtedly, teaching practices, which are culturally responsive offer teachers the means to encounter institutional racism and place other cultural knowledge lower than western values. According to Zhabykbayeva et al. (2021), teachers did not find cultural heritage education sufficient, they said that using innovative technologies would increase the level of student knowledge. Nevertheless, looking headlong into the future, globalization may have an influence on educational outcomes in Abu Dhabi in the coming years (Flavell et al., 2013).

H1:

The role of teachers is important in reinforcing cultural and heritage awareness among students at Abu Dhabi Schools.

2.2. Role behavior

Molina (2013) has asserted that the role of the teacher is not limited to transmitting values and beliefs to the children, but these have emerged from the relationship between a student and a teacher. Teachers are often very effective in expressing how their moral questions can be related to the moral questions of children, and when they model how to reason through dilemmas and moral issues through stories, poems, and dramas. Caring, empathetic, and generous teachers model these qualities and can guide students in sorting out questions (Catapano & Thompson, 2013).

The responsibility of the teacher is to motivate students in the community partaking by planting trees and adapting new strategies of teaching. According to Maiti (2020) through daily hidden curricula through several activities in schools which may be in an unplanned way or an unconscious manner like the development of aesthetic sense, a sense of nationalism and internationalism, a sense of respect for the elders, respect for his own culture. Diafi (2013) talks about a cultural partnership where it is mentioned that in a cultural partnership with colleagues, parents, and students, a teacher not only creates conditions for a better-quality process of education but also, influences the quality of formal and informal cultural education. Aldhaheri (2017) finds in his study that cultural intelligence in school leaders influences their ability to adapt their leadership style within a diverse work environment. Civitillo et al. (2019) find that teachers who were observed to be more culturally responsive also showed elaborated patterns of self-reflection in their teaching Griph (2015) has added that the cultural environment of a student may be different from that of a student in such an extent that it may be impossible to form partnerships. In this case, both the student and the teacher may wish their cultural environment to be more dominating and this creates a conflict between the two.

As the partnership between the students and the teacher does not exist, a student finds an independent cultural education from the media. Nevertheless, a teacher’s involvement to promote cultural awareness is neither insignificant nor enviable as confirmed by the researchers, primarily in the areas of culture. Fenner (2008) has stated that students perform better in culturally responsive environments because teachers understand their cultures and promote them. Teachers can also learn about different cultures to enhance their knowledge and have exposure to them. Teachers can also present a culture-based problem to students to solve, which will enable students to search for information about various cultures. In this way, they will be more familiar with different ethnic backgrounds to accept those.

H2:

The behavior of teachers toward students is important in reinforcing cultural and heritage awareness among students to meet the global challenge.

2.3. Interpersonal roles of teachers

It was suggested by El-Amouri and O’neill (2011) that to work towards reinforcing cultural heritage, there is an immense need to bring a transformational change in the sector of education in Abu Dhabi. Several schools and colleges provide minimal training to teachers concerning cultural openness with local students. One way in which to repair the lack of training is to give professional development to teachers. Flavell et al. (2013) have stated that these activities are an important source of knowledge and can have a positive effect on teaching practices, such as the improved ability to make use of various teaching techniques, enhances teaching confidence, and changed teaching conceptions. Alhadhrami (2013) also found that professional development is an important source of knowledge for teachers who would like to know more about culturally responsive teaching with native students. On the other hand, Lloyd et al., (2015) have asserted that professional learning opening help to improve teachers’ engagement with the Emirati community while at the same time, giving knowledge about their cultures, histories, and societies.

On the other hand, Azaza et al. (2021) found that serious disconnect between formal policy, practice, and implementation as teachers lacked agency and many constraints prevented them from engaging in further professional learning opportunities. According to Cooke (2016), librarians and educators who are culturally competent understand, effectively interact and communicate with people of cross-culture. According to her cultural competence encompasses being aware of one’s worldview, developing positive attitudes towards cultural differences gaining knowledge of different cultural practices and world views developing skills for communication and interaction across cultures. Sofyan et al. (2019) conducted a study to examine teachers’ attitudes toward providing multicultural education. This study was conducted with 248 Turkish teachers, teaching Syrian immigrants who were surveyed with the “Teachers” Multicultural Attitude Scale”. The results of the study showed that the attitudes of teachers were found to be positive to teach the cultural roles and matters to the Syrian immigrants. No discrimination was found in terms of gender, age, nationality, language, and level of seniority. More interestingly, the highly positive attitudes were of the teachers that were teaching literature. In contrast, the dissonance is also found in culturally sensitive education in the developed world such as the United States of America (USA). For instance, Levstik (2018) stated that adolescents are only taught about the origin, political development, and social structure of the USA. Teachers are merely focused on the rights and opportunities when it comes to teaching history. However, both the curriculum and classroom are silent about cultural sensitivities, differences, and anomalies. In addition, in a systematic review study by Morales-Chicas et al. (2019), it has been underscored that still there is a need of reinforcing the heritage culture, artifacts awareness, vernacular aspects, norms and architecture, community connectivity, and personalization in the education curriculum of K-12 grades. More importantly, Giroux (2020) has endorsed the idea of achieving cultural diversity by making curricula and classrooms with culturally-oriented pedagogies to form a substantive democracy. It further stated, while highlighting the role of the educational curricula, that pedagogies are political practices and the only tool to surpass the influence of the agency and power that presuppose and endeavor to dominate the real cultural roots and influence within the territory. Through pedagogies, prospects are higher to inculcate the aspects of social justice economic equality, and egalitarianism in the lives and experiences of common people (Giroux, 2020). Perhaps, the future of culturally receptive teaching in Abu Dhabi is ideally found as one that learns from other disciplines. This may certify that the greatest practice knowledge is taken from culturally related frameworks of high values that can be implanted.

H3:

Interpersonal roles of teachers are important in reinforcing cultural and heritage awareness among students to meet the global challenge.

2.4. Programs and practices

Schools organize programs that enhance the student’s knowledge about different cultural issues, pride, and cultural backgrounds. According to Hadid (2013), students feel empowered when involved in these programs which motivates them to perform better in school. Byat and Sultan (2014) stated that it creates a sense of identity among children that their contributions are significant. Moreover, according to the authors, improvements in teaching practices created a sense of renovation and positive vibes in the educational system for students in Abu Dhabi. Iwai (2019) in his study finds that preservice teachers increase their awareness about culturally responsive teaching, professional knowledge about multicultural literature, and skills to teach diverse students and practice culturally responsive teaching. Emirati traditional tales, according to Al Khamiri (2015), are the source of learning about other cultures for students. He proposed that folklore enhanced students’ mental capabilities and ability to think creatively. When comparing music and folklore with the culture child possess, improved his personal and social experiences within the community.

The specially designed programs as discussed by McClusky (2017) are vital in developing a culturally responsive learning culture for students and teachers to build good intercultural relations. Culturally responsive teachings use students’ cultural knowledge and experiences to support students in maintaining their native learning, cultural identity, and connections to their culture, provide multiple opportunities to demonstrate what students learn, incorporate different perspectives, and empower students’ socio-political consciousness. Shaheem (2014) reported a unique program focused on a concentration approach under which, conjointly visual and geographical activities were diversified with cultural values. The program focused on the merger of the curriculum of Western counterparts and Emiratis to make the learning environment culturally responsive.

H4:

Programs are practices organized by teachers that are important for reinforcing students with cultural and heritage awareness among students to meet the global challenge.

3. Methodology

3.1. Study design

A descriptive and correlational design has been used to fulfill the study’s objective and to identify the role of teachers in reinforcing cultural and heritage awareness among students to meet the global challenge at Abu Dhabi schools. The reason for using descriptive and correlational design was to identify the relationships between variables pre-defined in the conceptual framework (Curtis et al., 2016; Seeram, 2019).

3.2. Sampling technique

This study has adopted a random sampling technique to recruit teachers from the schools of Abu Dhabi. According to Raosoft, an online sample size calculator, the recommended sample size was 334. A total of 339 teachers were recruited by the researcher. The data has been collected using an online platform SurveyMonkey, which was used to provide ease to the participants and avoid any physical and financial restrictions.

3.3. Data collection

A primary data collection technique has been used to quantitatively assess the role of teachers in reinforcing students’ awareness of cultural and heritage aspects. In this regard, a close-ended questionnaire has been structured based on a 5-point Likert rating scale for measuring the responses of participants. Furthermore, the objective of structuring a close-ended questionnaire was to provide a comprehensive insight into the aspects related to the teacher’s role and their contribution to reinforcing the awareness of students toward cultural and heritage aspects. A

3.4. Instrument

The close-ended questionnaire comprises two major sections. The first section covers the demographic variables including age, designation, gender, and qualification. In the second section, questions related to the role of teachers in reinforcing the awareness among students toward cultural and heritage aspects are included. The second section of the questionnaire was based on four variables including programs and practices (3 items), role behavior of teachers (3 items), the interpersonal role of teachers (3 items), and cultural and heritage awareness (4 items). A total of 13 items were included in the second section of the questionnaire.

3.5. Validity and reliability

Pilot testing has been performed for measuring the validity and inter-reliability of the questionnaire items. In this regard, Cronbach alpha has been used to measure the reliability of the questionnaire items. From the results, it has been shown that all the items lie under the acceptable range of 0.918 and; therefore, are allowed to be used for final analysis (Table 1).

Table 1. Validity and Reliability

Reliability Statistics
Cronbach’s Alpha	N of Items
.918	13

3.6. Data analysis

The data collected has been analyzed through Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 22. For demographic variables, descriptive statistics have been applied, which include mean ± SD and percentages for showing the representation of these variables (Table 2). Furthermore, Pearson Correlation has been used to show the relationship between independent and dependent variables. Lastly, linear regression analysis has been performed to identify the influence of independent variables on the dependent variable.

Table 2. Demographic profile of the respondents

Measure	Items	Frequency	Percentage (%)
Age	21–30 years	51	15
	31–40 years	155	45.7
	41–40 years	105	31
	More than 50 years	28	8.3
Designation	Primary Teacher	65	19.2
	Physics and Chemistry Teacher	18	5.3
	Biology and Geology Teacher	14	4.1
	Social Studies Teacher	18	5.3
	Arabic and Islamic Teacher	48	14.2
	English Language Teacher	33	2.39.7
	Mathematics and IT Teacher	66	19.5
	Others	77	22.7
Gender	Male	54	15.9
	Female	285	84.1
Qualification	Bachelors	198	58.4
	Post-graduation	65	19.2
	Masters	67	19.8
	PhD	9	2.7

4. Results

The data collected through the questionnaire has been analyzed using descriptive statistics as shown in Table 3. The mean values for practices, development of the interpersonal role of students, the role of behavior, and culture and heritage awareness were 2.51 ± .894, 2.53 ± .837, 1.9095 ± 1.00770, and 2.59 ± .951, respectively.

Table 3. Descriptive statistics

	N	Minimum	Maximum	Mean	Std. Deviation
Age	339	1.00	4.00	2.3245	.82903
Designation	339	1.00	8.00	5.1062	2.58705
Sex	339	1.00	2.00	1.8407	.36649
Qualification	339	1.00	4.00	1.6667	.88266
Practices	339	1.00	5.00	2.5123	.89492
Developing Interpersonal Roles of Students	339	1.00	5.00	2.5329	.83745
Role of Behavior	339	1.00	5.00	1.9095	1.00770
Culture and Heritage Awareness	339	1.00	5.00	2.5929	.95141

Table 4 has depicted the correlation analysis among the concerned variables. The result has shown a significant correlation between programs and practices organized by teachers (p-value = 0.000), the development of interpersonal roles of students (p-value = 0.000), and role behavior (p-value = 0.000) with cultural and heritage awareness among students to meet the global challenge.

Table 4. Correlation analysis

		Practices	Developing Interpersonal Roles of Students	Role of Behavior	Culture and Heritage Awareness
Practices	Pearson Correlation	1	.736**	.750**	.608**
	Sig. (2-tailed)		.000	.000	.000
	N	339	339	339	339
Developing Interpersonal Roles of Students	Pearson Correlation	.736**	1	.796**	.689**
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.000		.000	.000
	N	339	339	339	339
Role of Behavior	Pearson Correlation	.750**	.796**	1	.765**
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.000	.000		.000
	N	339	339	339	339
Culture and Heritage Awareness	Pearson Correlation	.608**	.689**	.765**	1
	Sig. (2-tailed)	.000	.000	.000
	N	339	339	339	339

Note: **. Correlation is significant at the 0.01 level (2-tailed).

4.1. Testing hypothesis

H₂:

The behavior of teachers toward students is important in reinforcing cultural and heritage awareness among students to meet the global challenge.

The hypothesis testing for H1 showed that there is a significant role in the behavior of teachers towards the reinforcement of cultural and heritage awareness among the students to meet the global challenge (p-value = 0.000) (Table 5).

Table 5. The behavior of teachers affects the reinforcement of cultural and heritage awareness among the students

	Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Regression	178.977	1	178.977	475.029	.000^b
Residual	126.971	337	.377

H₃:

Interpersonal roles of teachers are important in reinforcing cultural and heritage awareness among students to meet the global challenge.

The hypothesis testing for H2 showed that there is a significant interpersonal role of teachers towards the reinforcement of cultural and heritage awareness among the students to meet the global challenge (p-value = 0.000) (Table 6).

Table 6. The interpersonal role of teachers affects the reinforcement of cultural and heritage awareness among the students

	Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Regression	145.363	1	145.363	305.056	.000^b
Residual	160.585	337	.477

H: Programs are practices organized by teachers that are important for reinforcing students with cultural and heritage awareness among students to meet the global challenge.

The hypothesis testing for H3 showed that there is a significant role of programs and practices organized by the teachers towards the reinforcement of cultural and heritage awareness among the students to meet the global challenge (p-value = 0.000) (Table 7).

Table 7. Programs and practices by the teacher affect the reinforcement of cultural and heritage awareness among the students

	Sum of Squares	df	Mean Square	F	Sig.
Regression	113.171	1	113.171	197.839	.000^b
Residual	192.777	337	.572

H1:

The role of teachers is important in reinforcing cultural and heritage awareness among students at Abu Dhabi Schools.

Based on the results obtained from hypotheses including H1, H2, and H3, it can be stated that the study accepts H4 as the results have depicted a significant impact of the role of teachers in the reinforcement of culture and heritage awareness among the students at Abu Dhabi schools.

5. Discussion

The study aimed to investigate the role of teachers to reinforce cultural awareness and heritage in the school of Abu Dhabi. In this regard study formulated three research questions and four hypotheses. The present study has shown a significant role of teachers towards students in reinforcing cultural and heritage awareness to meet the global challenge which hence proved the H2 of the study. This result was somewhat consistent with the study conducted by Fan (2017) that revealed a moderate and positive association between the role of teachers and the prevailing classroom practices. It has been confirmed that there is a positive association between the belief of teachers and reported classroom practices (Fan, 2017). These results recommend the use of a self-reflective tool that would help in self-assessment of the practices about the reinforcement of cultural and heritage awareness. Teachers need to recognize the institutional racism that exists within the institutions, which might result in students giving up their distinct way of learning.

The present study has also shown the significant interpersonal role of teachers in reinforcing cultural and heritage awareness among students to meet the global challenge therefore study H3 is approved to be accurate. A similar study in response to cultural and linguistic diversity examined the background, beliefs, and attitudes of the teachers (Wood et al., 2018). The results showed that teachers were capable to identify specific supports for intensifying instructions and providing individualized support. The interpersonal role of teachers holds significant importance as they are responsible for providing learning and high-quality teaching in a safe, success-oriented, and supportive environment. Chances of conflict between the student and teacher are likely to develop when both wish that their cultural environment is dominating their cultural beliefs (Griph, 2015).

It has been shown that programs and practices organized by the teachers play an important role in reinforcing cultural and heritage awareness among the students to meet the global challenge which proved H4 of the study. Yandell (2017) assessed different assumptions regarding knowledge, which is interpreted as an important quality of teachers. The results were consistent with the present study as it showed that practices and attitudes of teachers play an important role in a social activity that is accomplished in and through the interactions taking place within the classroom. The engagement of the teacher with the students significantly depends on the practices and attitudes they follow. The results of the present study are in line with Cooke (2016), who stated that librarians and educators who are culturally competent interact and communicate and understand people across cultures.

The results of the study have emphasized a culturally responsive curriculum as suggested by the study of Rockich-Winston and Wyatt (2019) which have identified five elements of culturally responsive pedagogies that included cultural socialization, diverse teaching strategies, promotion of cultural diversity in the classrooms, instilling culturally relevant curricula, and reflection of compassion toward cultural. Another effective way has been identified by (Kieran and Anderson (2019) who have documented promising results of the adoption of the approach of universal design learning to inculcate cultural aspects in learning. This approach included addressing the unique needs of students that are also culturally driven. Moreover, it comprised a teacher’s knowledge about the strengths and weaknesses of every student along with information about cultural needs and background with the lens of diversity but not the deficit. Having knowledge and control over the personal bias of a teacher is an important way of implementing culturally responsive teaching to prevent colorblind or culturally blind teaching. Anhalt et al. (2018) adopted an approach of interpreting cultures as the real-life experiences of students for discovering knowledge to be used in mathematical tasks. This method allowed for producing socially-cognisant reflection. Also, Warren (2018) has supported the idea of training the teachers in nursing education at their induction and training phase to adopt culturally responsive teaching methods so that a culturally responsive healthcare workforce can be prepared. In the words of Marshall and Khalifa (2018), positions, at district levels can be created to initiate and chalk out culturally responsive pedagogies for every teacher in the particular district.

From the above discussion, it is advent that the role of teachers is important in reinforcing cultural and heritage awareness among students at Abu Dhabi Schools. The present study conducted in Abu Dhabi has a history of providing universal education to the citizens; although, it has a strong religious base. The students need to strive to catch up to the countries to become effective global citizens.

6. Conclusion

The present study has assessed the teacher’s role in reinforcing cultural heritage and awareness at Abu Dhabi schools to meet the global challenge. The results have shown a significant correlation between programs and practices organized by teachers, the development of interpersonal roles of students, and the role behavior with cultural and heritage awareness among students to meet the global challenge. The study concluded a significant role of behavior, interpersonal attitude, and program and practices organized by the teachers towards the reinforcement of cultural and heritage awareness among the students to meet the global challenge. The study results are limited as the sample size was considered; however, this study has opened a new option for conducting future studies. The context of the Middle East is very different from that of western countries and stakeholders’ perceptions; therefore, future studies should conduct a comparison between Middle Eastern and western countries. Moreover, there is also a need to improve the students’ outcomes to discern the nature of the cultural, ethical, and community expectations.

Consent to participate

A written consent form was signed by the respondents before the commencement of the study.

Correction

This article has been corrected with minor changes. These changes do not impact the academic content of the article.

Acknowledgments

The author is very thankful to all the associated personnel in any reference that contributed to/for this research.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.