Saudi Cultural Missions Theses & Dissertations
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Item Restricted Investigating the Treatment of Culture in English Language Education within a Saudi University Setting(University of Southampton, 2024-07-31) Altheebi, Jaber; Baird, RobertIn the rapidly evolving landscape of global education, the treatment of culture in English language education (ELE) plays a pivotal role, particularly in contexts undergoing significant transitions. Saudi Arabia, with its ambitious Vision 2030, finds itself at the intersection of tradition and transformation, providing a unique context for examining culture within ELE settings. This PhD thesis delves deep into the intricacies of culture and its role in ELE during this transformative period in Saudi Arabia, underlining the challenges and opportunities it presents. It critically examines such treatment through an ecological lens, capturing the interplay of cultural constructs across educational ecosystems. Such an exploration not only enriches the field of applied linguistics with insights from the Saudi context but also offers theoretical advancements regarding the intertwined relationship between culture, language, and education. To elucidate this relationship, this study delves into educational policies, textbooks, observational data, and insights gathered from interviews. This multifaceted approach seeks to unravel various treatments of culture at various ecosystem levels that constitute the researched setting. The findings of this study reveal diverse, and sometimes contradictory, treatments of culture within the selected Saudi ELE setting, illuminating a divergence between educational policies and textbooks, and actual teaching practices. While educational policies and textbooks used within this setting call for inclusion of cultural discussions, the actual classroom interactions often prioritise traditional language instruction over cultural discussions. This observed divergence can be attributed to discrepancies between policy interpretations, teachers’ and students’ sociocultural affiliations, and overarching perceptions of the role of culture in education. Such divergence prompts critical questions about the forces influencing this shift. This tension not only underscores the intricacies of integrating culture in ELE, but also offers broader insights into the complex and emergent relationship between policy, pedagogy, and real classroom practices.26 0Item Restricted An Investigation of Islamic Middle School Teachers' Responses on Scales of Creativity, Constructivist Beliefs, and Creativity Fostering Behaviors: A Saudi Arabia Context(2023-07-14) Alotaibi, Sultan Khalaf G.; White, StevenThe field of education has undergone significant changes worldwide, challenging traditional beliefs about teaching and learning (Alshahri, 2016; Ambrose & Sternberg, 2016; Robinson & Aronica, 2015; Starko, 2018). Creativity and education are crucial in allowing teachers and students to reshape the power dynamics that influence the learning process and ultimately improve student living conditions (Robinson & Aronica, 2015; Sholan, 2019; Starko, 2018). Creativity in the 21st century has been identified as an essential skill (Ahmadi et al., 2019; Cho et al., 2017; Guo & Woulfin, 2016; Mishre & Mehta, 2017). The current study has two main objectives: first, to identify the mean scores of creativity, constructivist beliefs, and creativity fostering behaviors self-reported by Islamic middle school teachers; and second, to examine group differences in these variables (creativity scale responses, constructivist belief responses, and creativity-fostering behavior responses) based on teachers' years of teaching experience and gender (male and female). A sample of 237 Islamic middle school teachers in Riyadh City volunteered to participate in this study. The current results of this study showed that the majority percentage of Islamic middle school teachers perceived themselves to have a high inclination toward creativity. There were no statistically significant differences on the scales of Creativity, Constructivist Teaching Beliefs, and Creativity Fostering Behavior based on the years of teaching experience and gender, both male and female of Islamic middle school teachers (p > .05). Descriptive statistical methods were used to calculate the mean score for each participant on the three survey scales used in this research. One-way ANOVA was used to determine if there are differences in the scores of the Creativity Scale, Constructivist Beliefs Scale, and Creativity Fostering Behavior Scale based on the years of teaching experience of Islamic middle school teachers. An independent-sample t-test was run to determine whether there are differences in the scores on the Creativity Scale, Constructivist Beliefs Scale, and Creativity Fostering Behavior Scale based on the gender of both male and female Islamic middle school teachers. In this study, all analyses were performed using a level of statistical significance of p < .05. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS) software, Version 28.30 0Item Restricted General Education Teachers' Attitudes Toward Students With Learning Disabilities In Regular Education Classrooms In Ha’Il, Saudi Arabia(2023) Alshammari, Mohammad Basheer; Wood, JodyThe present study aimed to examine the attitudes of general education teachers toward teaching students with learning disabilities in regular education classrooms in Ha'il, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The study was based on a sample of general education teachers in elementary schools and analyzed their attitudes in relation to their age, length of experience, and level of education. Results showed positive attitudes among teachers towards inclusion, with more advanced degrees and less teaching experience correlating with slightly more positive attitudes. Recommendations for practice and future research include enhancing teacher training, encouraging collaboration, and exploring factors affecting teachers' attitudes. Limitations such as small sample size and cross-sectional design were acknowledged, guiding future research to improve the quality of research on general education teachers' attitudes towards inclusion.68 0