“Rooted” and the question of identity in school… How can the international curriculum take root? | Lifestyle

Enrolling your child in an international school in the Gulf means, in most cases, betting on a future in which he masters the language and standards of the world, but the same bet carries a concern that has become familiar to many families, which is that the child will return from his school more fluent in the language of the curriculum than in the language of his home, and that his connection to his language, values, and surroundings will decline as he advances in the ranks.

Between these two extremes, openness to the world and the fear of losing one’s roots, moves an old educational question that seeks a practical answer.

In contrast, the Qatar Foundation is proposing a school accreditation framework that attempts to reconcile global academic standards, the Arabic language, and local identity.

Qatar Foundation provided one of these answers when it launched the accreditation framework for the “Rasikh” initiative, one of its pre-university education initiatives.

The announcement came at a strategic forum in the “Multaqa” building (Education City Student Center), attended by the Foundation’s CEO, Yousef Al-Naama, leaders from private international schools, and education partners from Qatar and the world, and in which the first batch of schools that will follow the path was introduced.

A framework, not a method

The idea upon which “Rasih” is based is almost self-evident, but implementing it is more difficult than declaring it.

It is not a new curriculum that is added to what is in schools, nor a substitute for the International Baccalaureate or Cambridge programs, but rather an accreditation framework that measures a school’s ability to adapt what it offers to its local context without compromising its global standards.

In this way, it is closer to an educational mirror than a ready-made recipe, which confronts the school with questions about its language, values, and connection to its surroundings, and demands measurable answers.

The framework is based on four standards that translate the idea into practice. The first is the Arabic language as a language of learning and knowledge production, not a subject on the sidelines of the school day. The second is “localization of the curriculum” by grafting international standards onto national priorities and examples from the learner’s environment. The third is the system of moral and citizenship values, and the fourth is directing students’ innovation toward the challenges of their society and not toward borrowed models.

Schools that meet these standards receive an accreditation certificate and the right to use a quality mark called “Rasih,” and join a network that brings together schools on the same path. Thus, the framework attempts to transfer phrases that are easy to agree upon, namely language, values, and identity, into standards that can be reviewed and measured, which is the most difficult transfer in every educational project of this kind.

A question beyond language

What makes the initiative more than an administrative measure is the question it raises about the meaning of “quality education” itself.

In her opening speech, Sheikha Nouf Ahmed bin Saif Al Thani, Vice President of Strategic Educational Initiatives in Pre-University Education at Qatar Foundation, linked quality to the student’s self-image. Then it is not measured by what students learn alone, but by how they “see themselves within the learning process,” and their connection to their language, environment, and values.

The accompanying awareness campaign, called “Roots,” is based on this meaning.

The campaign summarizes its message in three sentences saying that roots empower the Arabic language, instill values, and consolidate identity, under the slogan “Towards education that consolidates roots and creates impact.” The chosen metaphor, that is, the root that stabilizes the tree and nourishes it, summarizes the whole bet, which is that openness to the world should be growth at the top, not uprooting from the bottom.

The issue of reconciling the global and the local was not left to the Qatar Foundation alone; In a dialogue session that included representatives of the International Baccalaureate Organization, the UNESCO Regional Office for the Gulf States and Yemen, Cambridge University Press, Evaluation, and the Tarsheed Foundation, the partners tried to explain how their programs expand on this trend.

According to what was presented by Mary Tadros of the International Baccalaureate Organization, the organization’s programs are based on multilingualism and learning in more than one language, in line with a framework that connects learning with Arabic, culture, and values.

In the same vein, Fatima Hassan Fadlallah, Director of the Qatar Branch at Cambridge University Press and Evaluation, described the Foundation’s programs as flexible frameworks that allow schools to adapt content and incorporate national language and culture without compromising academic standards.

As for Farida Abudan, Education Programs Specialist at the UNESCO Regional Office for the Gulf States and Yemen, she saw the organization’s partnership with Qatar Foundation as a bridge between global knowledge and local experience, enhancing bilingual education and expanding the participation of families and communities in their children’s education.

From application to accreditation

The accreditation process proceeds in gradual stages that begin with the school’s introduction and institutional commitment, then self-evaluation, then external review and evaluation, granting accreditation, followed by periodic reviews that keep the door open for development. The relationship does not end when the certificate is granted, as the framework accompanies schools with continuous professional and educational support, which distinguishes a follow-up accreditation from a seal that is given once and then forgotten.

The first batch goes beyond the borders of Qatar. In addition to Qatar Foundation schools, the list includes Al Maha Academy for Boys, Al Maha Academy for Girls, Al Jazeera Academy, and the Arab International Academy in Doha and Lusail, in addition to the Baccalaureate School in Amman, Jordan, and Hossam El Din Hariri High School in Lebanon. In this regional expansion, there is something that hints at an ambition beyond the local experience, for “Rasih” to become a model adopted by Arab schools that face the same question about the place of language and identity in education that aspires to universality.