The institutionalization of a global educational community: the impact of imposition, invitation and innovation in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC)

How does world culture impact the development of educational policy in the Gulf Cooperation Council countries? This paper begins by describing the ways that the development of the educational system in the GCC is shaped by the global community, and further impacted by the emergence of a global education governance structure. Legitimizing transnational actors frame national, regional and local policy options in GCC countries, which lead to a “global” perspective being the chief priority in GCC educational policymaking often in spite of regional and local needs. However, the global discourse has limits in GCC countries because of the unique ideological traditions of Arab and Muslim culture. Therefore, while ideological discourses frame education policy at each level in GCC countries based on international norms and values for both education and society, educational policy and reform balances these international norms and values with traditional and conservative norms and values. This paper concludes by analyzing how Western rhetoric is harmonized with Arab and Muslim norms and values with seemingly little contradiction and little educational impact as well in the GCC countries’ education systems.