This paper pinpoints and discusses key aspects of the current approaches to school reform in the Arab world against the backdrop of what is accepted as the best practice in the international literature on effective school reform and educational change. The main goal of the paper is to highlight deeply ingrained assumptions and practices that are likely to create barriers for reformers who are interested in effectively implementing educational reform in the Arab region. The paper concludes with a list of recommendations informed by the current international literature on effective school reform, and deemed promising for overcoming the identified barriers and achieving effective and sustainable reform in the region. While the case of reform in the Arab region has its unique characteristics, it shares with other developing countries many of the challenges it faces. Lessons learned in this region offer promising insights to reformers in other developing regions of the world.
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This paper discusses current educational reform attempts in the Arab world and their characteristics from the standpoint of international literature on effective large-scale school reform. The study followed a qualitative design using three main sources of data: 1) regional reform plans, 2) regional and international reports on education in the Arab world, and 3) journal notes and observations obtained from our work as consultants on educational reform in the region. The paper concludes by highlighting key lessons that Arab reformers can learn from international literature on effective school change in order to achieve effective school reform in the Arab world.
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