Understanding sociocultural dynamics influencing the Foundation Programmes

United Arab Emirates, ID LLCE2015-171

Education is a complex enterprise that involves different stakeholders who at  times espouse divergent values. These differences in values can be even more pronounced when the stakeholders come from different educational and cultural backgrounds. The resulting socio – cultural dynamics can lead to some form of power game in which one side feels more vulnerable than the others. Our paper reports a preliminary study of this issue and expatriate teachers sociocultural navigation strategies in this complex relationship. We will rely on interview and observation data we gathered in a tertiary institution offering Foundation Program in the United Arab Emirates.