Education Systems Change at the University of King Abdullah - Report Example

Running Head: INTRODUCTION TO THE UNIVERSITY OF KING ABDULLAH Introduction to the University of King Abdullah Name Institution Date Introduction As society faces unpredicted and progressively more urgent challenges linked to the increased environmental change, rapid technological change, high incidences of inequality and injustice as well as resource scarcity, there is emergence of new opportunities for institutions of higher education to adjust their education systems. This is to develop the institutions of higher education across the globe, in distinctive cultures and contexts to become change agents for sustained management in education sector (Sorlin, 2006). The study examines the general or social approach to democratic changes, particularly gender mixing in King Abdullah University Science and Technology (KAUST) and the entire education system of Saudi Arabian Kingdom, explicit description and analysis of the success of education system’s change episode, analyze the importance of the social or general systems thinking approach in KAUST, identifying some the challenges and opportunities for considering higher education as a key change agent. Make some arguments on transparency and neutrality as important aspects of democratic perspective which provide insights into opportunities for considering higher education as the change agent. Education systems change episode at the University of King Abdullah King Abdullah Gender mixing (ikhtilat) has been identified as an ideal illustration of the convoluted process of education reform. This implies that gender segregation within schools, universities and other public spaces has emerged to be one of the key defining features in Saudi Arabia since it is not a traditional practice within Saudi society. Revision of the issue of strict gender segregation is perceived to be on the agenda for over 10 years. However, what most triggered the current crash of interests concerns the decision made on February 14, 2009 to refurbish the personnel of the uppermost government agencies. For example, the establishment of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology in 2009 that has turned out to be a symbol of reform and acceptable gender mixing intensified the already profound anxiety of the conservatives. Today, the national government of Saudi Arabia Kingdom has developed some rising expectations for all the universities. The government advanced such expectations through a number of concrete ways that include the establishment of KAUST to represent the new extent of excellence aimed at improving the higher education system within all the universities found in Saudi Arabian Kingdom. This foundation stone was laid by King Abdullah in October 2008, a facility that is commonly known as Princes Noura bint Abdulrahman University that is identified with the ability to enroll about 40,000 female students. The institution is expected to become the leading center of higher learning for women with a promising academic freedom for both male female from diverse parts of the world as it is reported by the Arab News. King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) are considered an important turning point within the higher education in Saudi Arabia. The university laid its scientific and professional management so as to improve the people and promote a service of humanity. Through the application of these social systems in the management of its education systems, KAUST is committed to its vision to deliver a sustainable message of peace across the world in order to build civilizations, access to happiness and create a freedom to for individuals from diverse parts of the world to advance in scientific research. KAUST operating as an international and graduate-level research university is dedicated to inspiring open and new age of scientific development within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia which will also benefit the whole world. However, the role played by institutions of higher learning through their various activities such as teaching, extensive societal engagement and research, it is still not explicitly explored in the change management literature (El-Rashidi, 2007). Explicit description and analysis of the success of education system’s change episode Initially, the opponents of mixed education idea were against it as they warned that the move could lead to a drastic fall in the degree of women’s education. They argued that a number of conservatives would consider keeping their girls illiterate rather than taking them to schools where they could be expected to sit with boys. However, this conservative was provoked by the ministry of education where a proposal was made on women teachers to teach boys within primary schools as well as men and women to learn together in same institution. This suggests that economic benefits achieved from having joint classes as well as the need to secure more equality for women in professional and political activities have greatly influenced the spread of coeducation in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. At the initial establishment of King Abdullah University, the whole idea was to be for men only. However, in the reign of King Abdullah changes were made in many areas such as, the interest to have a democratic education system and the idea of gender mixing in King Abdullah University education. Based on the democratic perspective, it can be analyzed that the majority of the people who made KAUST a success are intellectuals who must have studied within the foreign countries. The university was welcomed by many Saudi academics, already called for mixing so as to achieve some scientific competition between men and women. Due to the importance of institutions of higher education within the society as well as the opportunity for mutual learning, organizations that promote higher education programs have unique potential to accelerate the societal transition toward the achievement of democratic and sustainable management. As a result of the diversity activities undertaken by the institutions of higher learning, a number of possible mechanisms or social systems are applied which contribute to both the social change and sustainable transition. This implies that a consideration must be given to critical factors such as the level of democratic processes, communication and the interaction made with society, institutional organization, the financing position of the institution and the main sustainability challenges faced institutions of higher education in their regions. The contemporary organization and the structure of education systems in higher institutions of learning in diverse contexts ought to be evaluated in order to assess both the challenges and opportunities. This is should be aimed enhancing their role as change agents. Most universities are naturally traditional and conservative, and thus changing the increased expectations of various students, institutional priorities as well as institutional norms to the extent that societal engagement present itself as a major challenge. Additionally, the manner in which most of the institutions of higher learning are divided into distinctive traditional disciplines is a significant structural challenge (Sorlin, 2006). The contemporary academic systems in various places do not reward the public engagement, nor create some time for the academic researchers to involve in reach out to the non-academic stakeholders. This provides the view that the modern and dominant education systems explicitly discourage the trans-disciplinary collaborations, complex as well as integrated systems approaches to undertake the use-inspired research. Although some specific examples of institutions of higher learning that exist have recognized such challenges and made their attempts to change the currently applied social system, the challenges that are associated with the conventional educational reward systems are the major barriers to the achievement of a more socially and engaged higher educational structures (Sorlin, 2006). Despite the existing challenges, various opportunities and positive trends are emerging in university’s structure and organization. Most of the universities have recently re-structured their institutional design in order to incorporate the enhanced social engagement to the achievement of a sustainable transition. Saudi Arabia King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) is one significant example, where the new school known as ASU School of Sustainability, was founded in 2007. This was put in place in order to bring together the multiple disciplines as well as various leaders in the creation and sharing of knowledge, training of a new generation of different scholars and practitioners so as to develop some practical solutions to the most pressing social, gender, environmental and economic challenges of sustainable education systems. Clear opportunities and the demand for these alternatives to socially engaged educational structures are perceived to be growing worldwide. KAUST) is a good example of the new institutions that are created with agenda based on the certain urgent societal problems that seems to be explicitly committed to an interdisciplinary or trans-disciplinary approach. This institution operates as a global graduate-level research university with the mission of inspiring the new age of scientific realization within the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia and the entire world. It is apparent that the implementation of social engagement of a university within the Saudi Arabian context is noticeably associated with diverse challenges and opportunities in comparison to the US and European contexts (El-Rashidi, 2007). The most critical question to be considered in assessing both the challenges and opportunities for considering higher education as a key change agent is to a larger extent linked to the level of democracy in the community or the learning region where such institutions of higher education are located. Focused on this general or social perspective, there are two main components that are worth considering. This includes accessibility and the rights to acquire higher education, transparency as well as a neutral stance to higher education. KAUST is a merit-based institution that is open to both men and women across the globe. The university adheres to its founding principles such as the creation of an international community of dedicated scholars willing to advance in science. In addition, KAUST welcome leaders in education, science business, commerce and technology practiced through engagements and partnerships. The university also offers researchers with freedom to become creative and experimental, embodying the highest international standards required of research, education, scholarship for learning. This means that KAUST is democratic through its practices of nurturing and protecting the freedom of research, thought as well as discourse connected to scholarly work. Sketch a diagram of the change episode Education systems change From the above illustration, it can be identified that education system in Saudi Arabian Kingdom has been transformed from no gender mixing of conservatives to eco-education moved by the national government of Saudi Arabia (Reformist). This resulted in the establishment of a democratic university called King Abdullah University of Science and Technology (KAUST) that promotes academic freedom through gender mixing. The double headed way arrows show how the gender mixing or coeducation affects the conservatives and the entire institutions of higher learning in Saudi Arabian Kingdom (El-Rashidi, 2007). . Importance of the social or general systems thinking approach in KAUST The ease of access to higher education is perceived to be a vital component in taking into account the potential for higher institutions of learning such as universities to facilitate the social change. This means that places identified with low accessibility to locations of higher education, universities are examined by a number of stakeholders as institutions associated with the primarily influence of empowering the elite. Based on this idea, there is an implication that the capability for higher education to develop a positive and more effective external impact outside the university grounds may be limited. Therefore, promotion of a transition toward the societal sustainability, broadening the academic scope and influencing the ease access to higher education is a critical goal to increase opportunities for considering higher education as agent for the social change. KAUST creates an enduring model necessary for advanced education in addition to the scientific research. The university provides a complete residential and academic setting that permits the staff, associates and students to enjoy a broad range of the educational programs as well as social amenities. Through the provision of a strong foundation for diverse aspects of work-life within the University, KAUST ensures its success in fostering economic development and the social prosperity of various people in the Kingdom and across the world. Another issue that is closely related to accessibility to the higher education is the rights. For instance, to what extent is the right to education is perceived to be a normative aspect of citizenship. It can be argued that the right to higher education is important to the achievement of a sustainable society (El-Rashidi, 2007). Transparency and neutrality are also important aspects of democratic perspective that provide insights into opportunities for considering higher education as the change agent. This implies that though university research evolves around the “peer-review” process of institutionalization based on a specific extent of neutrality. It is apparent that the level considered for actual independence varies in various cultures and contexts. To some degree of favoritism among academics as well as higher education is recognized in various places. However, there is existence of unique opportunities for considering higher education as an “honest broker”, suggesting that institutions of higher learning play a potentially valuable role as agents for change. This is particularly examined in their role of mediating the social discourse on both the complex and contentious societal exchanges perceived to be necessary in confronting the challenging sustainability issues (Sorlin, 2006). Conclusion The opening of King Abdullah University of Science and Technology contributed to the development of a democratic education system. The university provides the new graduate students with a high level of the scientific competence. The blending of students from Saudi Arabia with the foreign students enhances cultural exchange among the students. The ability of KAUST to mix students from diverse parts of the world and gender mix within the university creates a positive impact academic, research and friction type of atmosphere on the basis of a competitive academic level, particularly between men and women. The neutrality role for the higher education should be explored to a higher degree than it is at present all over the world. Universities can foster social change by providing the relevant neutral arenas for debate and providing neutral arenas for both social policy-making and activism. Transparency and neutrality are important aspects of democratic perspective which provide insights into opportunities for considering higher education as the change agent. References El-Rashidi, Y., (2007). Saudi Arabia Continues Expanding Higher Education. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 53(24), A51. Sorlin, S., (2006). Introduction: the democratic deficit of knowledge economies, in Sorlin, S. and Vessuri, H. (Eds), Knowledge Society vs. Knowledge Economy: Knowledge, Power, and Politics. New York. Palgrave Macmillan. Read More