Gifted education in Arab countries: analyses from a learning-resource perspective

For decades, the pressure to innovate has been rapidly increasing in modern digitized knowledge and information societies (Lianto et al. 2018; Del Giudice & Cillo, 2022). This has led, among other things, to intensified talent search and expanded talent development worldwide (Rindermann, 2018; Shavinina, 2009; Subotnik et al., 2019). This high competition for talent was captured by Steven Hankin of McKinsey & Company in the metaphor “War for Talent,” (Michaels et al., 2001).

However, two major problems have become apparent with regard to the support of talents. The first is the context in which talent development takes place. For example, analyses have shown that countries often organize their talent development in a deficient manner (Chandler, 2013; Dai & Kuo, 2017; Stoeger et al., 2018; Ziegler & Alghawi, 2017). The second problem is that established methods of talent development (e.g., acceleration, ability grouping, enrichment) have been found to be not much effective. While meta-analyses confirm some effectiveness, it is overall low (e.g., Kim, 2016; Lipsey & Wilson, 1993; Steenbergen-Hu et al., 2016). According to the standard interpretation of effect sizes, they are considered “weak” to “moderate” at best and typically remain below half a standard deviation after controlling for some biases (e.g., publication bias and placebo effects). However, it would need to be well over 50 times higher to achieve exceptional levels of performance (Simonton, 2019).

Given the contextual and the effect size problem, today’s models of giftedness take a more holistic perspective (Ambrose & Sternberg, 2016). The focus of talent support is no longer just the individual, but the individual learning and developing in his or her socioecological context. This trend is also reflected in an expansion of the technical language. Examples include concepts such as “gifted environments” (Mirman, 2003), “smart contexts” (Barab & Plucker, 2002), “learning sociotopes” (Ziegler et al., 2017), and “talent hotspots” (Coyle, 2009).

Contextual analyses of gifted education and talent development can be undertaken at various systemic levels (Schorer et al., 2015; Stoeger et al., 2015). The most complex levels of analysis to date are nations (Chandler, 2013; VanTassel-Baska, 2013) and cultures (Phillipson & McCann, 2007; Phillipson et al., 2013). In this special issue of Cogent Education, we focus on nations, specifically Arab countries.

Arab countries do not have a long history in formal gifted education. Indeed, gifted education was formally introduced only towards the end of the last century and the beginning of the 21^st century, but the foundation of this form of education had started to be laid in the 1980s through a couple of research projects (David, 2018). Nevertheless, in recent years several Arab countries have started paying more attention to the issue of gifted education and talent development as they consider the education of the elite generation fundamental for the development and prosperity of their nation. An example of the growing interests in gifted education is the initiative of the current special issue project by the WGC at Hamdan Bin Rashid Al Maktoum Foundation for Distinguished Academic Performance to examine the current status of gifted education in Arab countries from a learning and educational perspective.

Learning and educational resources are viewed as a mean to achieve learning goals. The coexistence of these two elements is especially important to aid effective learning to take place (Ziegler, 2005). The learning and educational resources were classified as endogenous (located inside the individual) and exogenous (located within the environment) respectively (Ziegler & Baker, 2013). This learning and educational resource perspective is a brand-new concept within the context of gifted education in Arab countries. Along these lines, the learning and educational capital approach introduced by Ziegler and Baker (2013) was adopted to examine the status of gifted education within the contexts of the participating Arab countries (United Arab Emirates, Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Lebanon, Sudan & Oman) in the present special issue research project. Collectively, the results divulged the status of gifted education in those countries and the similarity and differences in their knowledge, experience, and practices of this new perspective (learning and educational resources).

The article about gifted education in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) described the noteworthy progress that the country has achieved in general and gifted education in such a brief time. In general, the results revealed that the UAE has recently initiated a rigorous general educational reform policy that stresses the needs for providing students with equal opportunities to attain their goals. At the same time, the UAE wants to guarantee that students with special gifts and talents are offered the right services and support to enhance their potentials to the maximum level that they are able to achieve. Another global result highlighted the lack of a unified national policy for gifted education to coordinate all the existing efforts that reflect the growing interests of the nation in providing quality education and opportunities for the gifted and talented individuals as they are considered the future asset of the country.

The results obtained via the use of the educational and learning capital approach shed light on the growing importance of gifted education in the country and the existing practices and experiences relevant to both educational and learning resources. When considering the results of the educational resources (Economic, Cultural, Social, Infrastructural, Didactic Educational Capitals) collectively, we may conclude that the UAE has made a significant progress in recognizing the concept of giftedness and responding to its elite generation’s needs for quality gifted education. Both the growing budget allocated to this sector year after year and the provision of state-of-the-art infrastructure for many educational institutions in all Emirates are two distinctive examples reflecting the place and importance of gifted education in the overall national agenda. Another two key results are reflected by the growing societal awareness of the culture of giftedness and the involvements of several parties and individuals in the provision of services and support to mentor gifted and talented students. Another reported interesting result is relevant to the individual well-being (health and physical fitness) and its emphasis by the general educational policy. Although, the UAE has made some progress in this area, there is still more work to be done to raise awareness, spread the culture of giftedness and establish a supportive system to serve mentees and mentors. However, when looking at its situation within the context of the communities of Asian states, the UAE was reported to possess somehow advanced gifted education and more experience (Vialle & Ziegler, 2016).

Results pertaining to the learning resources (Actional, Organismic, Telic, Episodical, and Attentional Learning Capital) highlighted the status of UAE gifted students’ goals, motivation, aptitude, attentional level, and achievements. A key result revealed that the UAE is very keen to encourage its younger generation to participate in international exams such as the PISA and TIMSS. The results from those tests showed that UAE’s students have been making steady progress in their scores since the country first participated in those measurements, but their scores are still below the international average (OECD) in mathematics, science and reading. Other results demonstrated how UAE gifted students are quite different in the level of their motivation, interests, attention and focus on their goals. Some students are highly motivated, extremely focused on their goals and they can attend attentively to their interests and what they need to accomplish at the end. Nevertheless, other gifted and talented students are still in a need of more guidance and mentoring to help them become more aware of their overall goals and raise their motivational and interest level. In summary, when compared to other Arab participating countries in this special issue, the UAE is seen to be one of the leading states in the embracing and development of gifted education policies and best practices.

Like the UAE, the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA) has been progressing steadily in developing its gifted educational policies and increasing its initiatives to offer effective services and support to gifted and talented students. Gifted students in KSA are offered services and programs by the Ministry of Education and Mawhiba in the form of enrichment and school pull-out programs. Nonetheless, it was reported that only male students dominated the pull-out programs.

In relation to the educational capitals, the article reported some key results regarding the infrastructure and the educational capitals. The country has already made significant efforts in this regard. Yet, the results highlighted the importance of allocating more budget for gifted education and to pay more attention to the lack in essential resources. Other results highlighted the increasing number of initiatives, enrichment programs, and the number of students participating in giftedness programs. These results reflect the growing awareness and the spread of the culture of giftedness in the country, though there is still a lot of more work to accomplish. Still other results reported the cooperation of different parties to support gifted students, the recruitments of specialist staff, and the offering of professional development workshops for teachers. Additionally, students’ health and physical well-being received marginal attention during the preparation and implementation of giftedness programs.

Like educational resources, the results of the learning resources in KSA highlighted the importance of those capitals and the government’s efforts and initiatives in catering for gifted and talented students. Based on the specialists’ views, students sitting in various programs demonstrate different motivational, attentional, interest, and goal levels. Each of these programs is believed not to focus on a specific giftedness area or discipline, and overall, they are not integrating other crucial skills such as creative thinking, critical thinking, research, scientific, personal, and social skills. A key result reported the participation of students in the PISA international exam. Like the UAE, students’ results demonstrated that their scores in mathematics, science and reading are still below the overall international average (OECD scores). However, many Saudi students always participate in national, regional, and international award contests and some of them show that they are able to compete and win. Although the KSA has some leading initiatives and programs in giftedness among Arab countries, these efforts still need to be reviewed and developed in relation to latest trends in this field to respond to students’ growing needs, motivation, and interests.

The article about gifted education in the Sultanate of Oman showed that the situation is not vastly different from the UAE and KSA in paying special attention to the education of its elite generation. The country has initiated several programs and continuously work to establish and restructure the sector of gifted education. A distinctive effort is reflected in the ongoing work to establish a national policy for both gifted education and identification of the gifted. In relation to the educational resources, the article shared some key results regarding planning and investment in gifted education. The results highlighted the scarcity of proper infrastructure for catering for gifted students and limited allocation of resources especially the budget that parents allocating for the education of their gifted children. Awareness of the importance of gifted education is not remarkably high among parents since their spending on the education of their children is extremely limited due to the still evolving awareness of the culture of giftedness and probably because of the restricted budget of some families.

The results of the learning resources highlighted some promising feedback relevant to students’ performance and how they view the concept of gifted education. Like most other participating countries in this special issue, Omani students have been participating in the TIMSS exam for some years and they have demonstrated steady progress in their results since they first started taking this measurement in 2011, but the overall score of students is still below the international average (OECD scores). A key result reported that gifted Omani students expressed appreciation for the offered programs and services. Other results highlighted that those gifted students are aware of their goals and that is reflected in their motivation, interests, and persistence to develop their potentials. They are also even more motivated by the positive view that their classmates hold about them. Gifted Omani students were reported to have different attentional levels depending on the kinds of talents they are attending to. Overall, the Sultanate of Oman has some experience in caring for the gifted, yet increasing initiatives and efforts are expected to respond to the existing and growing needs of the gifted and talented young generation of the nation.

The article about Sudan was conducted to review the existing services and support offered to gifted students in the country. It actually started by reviewing the beginning history of gifted education, then it described its current status and finally it discussed the reality of gifted education in Sudan using the educational and learning capital approach. The authors reported that initially there was no official policy or structural organization within the educational system hierarchy, but very recently the authority approved a form of regulation. In relation to Educational resources, the study discussed the limitation of the budget allocated to support gifted education and the basic infrastructure which needs to be upgraded, However, the authors described some positive aspects of gifted education within the Sudanese context; namely, Sudanese society holds a positive view about gifted education, there are special schools for gifted students, the curriculum of gifted education meets the international standards, and specialized teachers are assigned to teach in gifted schools after they have taken a proficiency exam.

The authors briefly shared some information about the reality of learning resources within the context of the Sudanese society due to the scarcity of documented evidence. From the participating countries in this special issue project, Sudan is the only country that does not participate in international exams such as the TIMSS, PISA, etc. Nevertheless, it was reported that Sudanese students demonstrate cheerful outlook through their enthusiasm, interests, and the enjoyment of attending special programs in gifted schools. It was also reported that students show some kind of motivation to pursue their goals and develop their potentials.

The article about Egypt described that the country has known gifted education as early as the 19^th century. Similar to Sudan, Egypt has specialized schools for the gifted known as the STEM schools. Another discussed issue in the study is the establishment of enrichment and grouping programs to serve gifted and talented learners. The authors reported that gifted education gets financial support from the government and the private sector. Additional support is provided in the form of scholarships to gifted students by certain institutions such as universities. Yet, the study stressed the necessity for the allocation of more budget to meet the growing needs of gifted education in the country. The study also described the existing infrastructure as reasonable since it provides the necessary requirements for caring for the gifted. However, the study cautiously expressed that the government may not be able to continue providing the necessary equipment and services due to the increasing cost of technology. Another result indicated the growing interest in nurturing exceptional students and the widespread of positive attitudes towards the issue of gifted education within the Egyptian society. Parents were also reported to be very keen to have their gifted children joined specialized schools and programs for gifted and talented students.

The results pertinent to learning resources highlighted the status of gifted education in the country in relation to students learning and progress. Egyptian students are reported to continuously participate in international exams, and they are also encouraged to take part in contests at all levels. A key result revealed that gifted students are provided with the necessary services and opportunities to maintain their health and body well-being. An interesting result described the advantage of competitive atmosphere in study classes, which in turn helps students to enhance their potentials. Equally, this practice was discussed with some caution and reservation as it is more important to pay more attention to students’ individual differences rather than encouraging competitive learning in classrooms. The study also highlighted that it is particularly important to provide parents with adequate information, guidance, and progress awareness to enable them to assist their children pursue their goals and continue learning to enhance their potentials. Overall, the Egyptian efforts to cater for gifted and talented students are not very different from the attempts of other Arab countries.

Lastly, the article about Lebanon highlighted the uniqueness of the Lebanese national education system which provides school enrolment to Syrian and Palestinian refugee students in addition to the Lebanese national students. In this regard, the government has to coordinate with international organizations to provide education for the refugee children. It is reported that there is no regulation to offer services to gifted and talent students in public and private schools. Yet, some progress in caring for gifted students is made in private schools, but the situation of refugee students is difficult due to the shortage of financial support and the limitation of resources. The author reported that the government budget for public education, including gifted stream is so modest compared with the private education spending. Parents are spending a significant amount of their budget on the education of their children in private schools. It was revealed that the Lebanese government does not offer any budget to support and nurture gifted students in public schools. Caring for the talented and gifted is a customary practice in private schools where resources and budget are available. Gifted students are supported with scholarships to join universities by certain institutions and organizations. Again, infrastructure and resources in public schools are limited compared to private schools where gifted students are cared for. The author stressed the need for the government to pay more attention to the education of the gifted within the government school system.

The study unveiled that Lebanon has more talented people in different areas, and thus all talents are recognized and valued within the Lebanese society. It was discussed that there is exceedingly high awareness and knowledge about the importance of gifted education among the Lebanese community. Like four other countries in this special issue, Lebanese students participate in international exams such as the TIMSS and PISA and they continuously make some progress. It was highlighted that socioeconomic advantaged learners scored better than their counterparts in the socioeconomic disadvantaged group. Similar to other Arab countries the Lebanese students’ scores in science mathematics and reading are still below the OECD’s average. Although the Syrian and Palestinian refugee students are classified as low socioeconomic groups, a number of successful endeavors were reported among them. The study concluded with a summary of the challenges of gifted education in the country. The first of these challenges is the absence of a formal education policy, which represent a challenge for the success of any initiative to serve and support the nation’s exceptional generation. Another example of these obstacles is the lack of trained teachers to serve and support gifted learners at all levels. The set of recommendations at the end of the study emphasizes the importance of the cooperation of all concerned groups to establish a concrete gifted education system in order to help gifted and talented individuals nurture their potentials to the maximum level possible.

As a final point, when looking in general at the similarities between all these six participating countries in this special issue collection, we may state that all of them share almost the same level of practice, knowledge, and awareness of gifted education. A typical similarity among them is their approach and perception of gifted Education. The six studies revealed that all countries recognize gifted education and possess positive attitudes towards the nurturing of gifted and talented individuals. Interestingly, all of them share the absence of official formal policies and the vague reference to the place of gifted education within the national educational system structure. Although all countries offer some sort of services and support for the gifted population, there is no indication of how the concept of giftedness is defined and understood in each state.

All countries have already made some progress in advancing the practice of gifted education, yet some of them have moved slightly faster due to the allocated budget and the quality of the available infrastructure to support gifted education. There is a collective agreement among all studies that the allocated budgets and the existing infrastructure need a significant review and reconsideration to meet the evolving needs to educate the elite generation in each state. Awareness, knowledge, culture, and appreciation of gifted education were highlighted by all studies to exist within the communities at not vastly different degree and level. Almost, students from all countries except Sudan participate in international exams (Science, Mathematics and Reading) such as the TIMSS and PISA. All the studies reported results of students in science, mathematics and reading from OECD’s scores, which in general do not demonstrate any significant differences among the students in all countries. Although some countries are ranked better than others in regard to the overall students’ scores in the three subjects (science, mathematics and reading), students’ results in all countries are still below the OECD’s overall average in these areas.

In relation to learning resources, the results in almost all studies did not show any significant differences. Gifted students in all countries, for example, were reported to hold positive attitudes towards their education, and they are motivated, interested, enthusiastic and enjoying the available programs they are attending. The evaluation strategies and processes of tracing gifted, and talented students’ learning progress were not highlighted in clear terms in almost all the research papers. All studies without exception underscored in one way or another that the existing systems of providing services and support for gifted and talented students need to be reviewed and improved in accordance with current trends and best practices in the field of gifted education and talent development. In summary, the similarities among those countries in their practice of gifted education are incredibly substantial with very few marginal differences relevant to the history of recognizing gifted education, resources, infrastructure, budgets, and the history of the practice of offering services to gifted and talented students.

Additional information

Funding

The authors received no direct funding for this research.