Examining educational leadership preparation and development programmes in the Gulf Region:a comparative study of Bahrain, Kuwait and Qatar

This abstract is based on a comparative study that addresses signature pedagogies in leadership preparation and development policies and programmes in Kuwait, Qatar, and Bahrain. The three countries initiated an educational reform movement in the early 2000s, which unfolded in several phases and included a significant focus on school improvement and leadership development. The development of current and aspiring school leaders and recognising their crucial role in leading change and improving student learning were some of the main pillars of the reform agendas. Studies conducted over the last ten years provided multiple evidence that there still exist gaps in leadership preparation programmes, which impact their role in fulfilling the ambitious reforms (Alhouti and Male, 2017). This study uses document analysis, draws on the work of Walker et al. (2013), and explores the potentials of significant signature pedagogies (Shulman, 2005) as key drivers for leadership professional learning programmes. Walker et al. (2013) studied the key features of educational leadership programmes in different countries by mainly addressing theoretical (research-based) foundation, coherence of content, and program profiles, including structure, methods, and pedagogies. The findings revealed major commonalities and differences between the three contexts and raised questions in relation to the limited prospects of signature pedagogies (Shulman, 2005) for the school leadership profession. Based on a critical examination of the findings and the limited prospects of signature pedagogies, the study offers insights and recommendations for an empirical study that sheds further light on the potential development of signature pedagogies for school leaders in the Gulf countries.