Teaching Reading and Writing in Early Childhood in Arab Countries

Introduction

     The conceptual paper is based on the vision of the UNESCO Regional Center for Quality and Excellence in Education as a reliable regional reference for the quality and excellence of education and its mission to provide creative services to improve education in Arab countries. The purpose is to create a pioneering impact through innovative systems, standards, and sustainable regional and international relations to disseminate knowledge and best educational practices. The aim is to support and prepare high-quality research concerned with issues of quality and excellence in education to meet the needs of Arab countries, in addition to responding to and supporting the targets and indicators of the fourth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030. To achieve them in Arab countries, A study entitled (Teaching reading and writing in early childhood in Arab countries) was prepared under the supervision of the Center.

    This conceptual paper summarizes the study and its appendices, analysing the reality of early childhood reading and writing in Arab countries to reveal the Arab reality and identify gaps in practices in Arab countries. In light of global experiences, the aim is to arrive at a proposed framework for developing early childhood education programs in Arab countries based on international best practices.

    There is an urgent need to develop the teaching of reading and writing in the early childhood stage through best practices that enrich the education of students at this critical stage to raise their level of capability. In the future, in subsequent stages of learning, which require high mastery of the basic skills in reading and writing, such learning will help provide differentiated and quality teaching efforts. Setting the educational outcomes needs to be mastered within a unified vision to reach the quality of education, accelerating the economy these children will lead. Armed with solid foundations in their language and identity, they will ensure a decent life for children through a proposed framework.

The Center pays special attention to supporting the early childhood stage as it is the first building block for quality education and what the student builds on for lifelong learning. To achieve this, the study “Teaching Reading and Writing in the Early Childhood Stage in the Arab Countries” is an essential step in the right direction. As the Center seeks to provide support for systematic planning in developing early childhood programs in Arab countries, this study comes as a response to identify the reality of developing early childhood outcomes and understand its immediate needs on the path to achieving the fourth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals 2030, which is: “Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong learning opportunities for all” by 2030.

UNESCO’s support for actions to achieve this goal is part of the centre’s main projects (teaching reading and writing in early childhood in Arab countries), which is the issue on which this project focuses. Accordingly, the regional workshop will be held in cooperation with the Ministry of Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia, under the sponsorship and in the presence of His Excellency the Saudi Minister of Education, Chairman of the Center’s Board of Directors, to review the outcomes of the project study and discuss recommendations and proposals that will enable decision-makers to take what suits their countries with their different circumstances affecting educational policy decision-making and working to develop them, mainly because they have comparative frameworks that have undergone extensive scientific study and whose findings can be trusted. Embedding evidence-based practices from research allows for the best current global experiences and practices to be shared, offering solutions to the problems encountered when teaching reading and writing to young children in Arab countries. This opens new horizons for identifying different methods that may be innovative and applicable, and that may benefit Arab countries in developing their early childhood educational programs in line with the changes of the twenty-first century.

Objective

• Identifying the reality of teaching reading and writing in the early childhood stage in some Arab countries, the subject of the study sample.
• Identifying the factors influencing teaching reading and writing in early childhood in the Arab countries, the subject of the study sample.
• Contributing to supporting the efforts of Arab countries to achieve the progress achieved in reaching the indicators of the fourth goal of the Sustainable Development Goals for the year 2030.
• Contributing to supporting the efforts of Arab countries to improve the competitiveness of Arab students in international studies (PIRLS), for example.
• Arriving at a proposed framework to ensure the quality of early childhood reading and writing education in Arab countries.

Topics

1.Project objectives, project methodology, and sample.

2. Presentation and analysis of the practices of leading reference countries in developing early childhood education programs.

3. Presentation and analysis of the overall results in the Arab countries targeted by the study.

4. The proposed framework for developing early childhood education in Arab countries.

Participants

Many thinkers, experts, researchers, educational decision-makers, academics, teachers, school principals, and representatives of ministries of education, national committees, and national, regional, and international institutions at the national, regional and global levels concerned with the quality and excellence of education, will meet in person and virtually.

Workshop Strategy

The regional workshop will be held over one day to review the outcomes of the study of the project (Early Childhood Reading and Writing Education in the Arab Countries) under the supervision of the UNESCO Regional Center for Quality and Excellence in Education to present a proposed framework for developing early childhood reading and writing education programs in the Arab countries according oto best international practices, in line with the reality of those countries, including quality interventions. Participants are also encouraged to engage in dialogue and exchange various best practices. Notably, participation in the workshop will be open to specialists, experts, and all interested parties.

Workshop Language

The workshop’s language will be Arabic, and simultaneous translation will be provided in English.

Organizers

UNESCO Regional Center for Quality and Excellence in Education in cooperation with the Ministry of Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia.

Invited Organizations

1. UNESCO regional centers and offices.

2. Regional and international organizations.

3. Ministries of Education in Arab countries.

4. Universities in Arab countries.

5. National Committees for Education, Culture and Science.

6. Education Assessment bodies in Arab countries.

7. Experts, specialists and interested individuals.

Expected Outcomes

The significant expected outcomes of this workshop:

1. Common perceptions about the reality of (Teaching Reading and Writing in Early Childhood in Arab Countries).
2. Identify and expand recognition of best practices (regional and global) in developing early childhood literacy education programs.
3. An educational approach to formulas for applying the project’s outcomes to maximise the benefit of its results in development in Arab countries.