Howard Stevenson, Saeeda Shah, Lucy Bailey, Lucy Cooker, Emily Winchip and Maamon Karak—School of Education, University of Nottingham
This study focused on school experiences of providing the Middle Years Programme (MYP) in the context of the United Arab Emirates (UAE). The intention of the study was to generate an overall picture of the value schools, students and parents place on the MYP in the UAE. The research was undertaken in seven schools offering the MYP: five schools in Dubai and two schools in Abu Dhabi. At each school, researchers conducted individual or group interviews with school leaders, teachers, students and parents. Some of the main benefits of the MYP that participants highlighted included the flexibility of the programme, its adaptability to the local context and its focus on international-mindedness. One of the main challenges that the study identified was integrating two curriculums and sets of requirements simultaneously while also attempting to foster a unified school culture.
