Chapter 10: Growing Globally-Minded Citizens in the Desert: A Comparative Curricula Analysis of Two Schools in Kuwait

The winds of change are blowing. The 1980s carried the hot breath of international competition far across the globe, replacing the gentler breezes of international cooperation and understanding. And this force has stirred up dust in the Middle East. Since the 1990s the world has increasingly been understood as “global,” which has led to greater political, economic, and educational competition in the global market. The proliferation of information technology has stimulated world-wide communication, which has led to international technological advances, but it has also led to economically-driven international comparisons. The winds of change have given rise to the belief that a shift in the field of education is essential so that “the young will be able to live in the changing and uncertain future world in interconnected relationships” (Fujikane, 2003, p. 144). But much of the Middle East is desert, steeped in traditions, tribal pride, and loyalties. And the educational challenges facing Arabian Gulf countries demonstrate that such a change does not come about as effortlessly as that produced by the shifting desert sands.