The Balancing Act

"Why is it important to learn about higher education in international contexts? Why learn about curriculum, teaching, and learning at Dubai Womens College of the Higher Colleges of Technology? Global education systems have remarkable contributions to make to understandings of 21st century curriculum, teaching, and learning. Adult educators across the globe are exploring how to make learning meaningful in a world that is experiencing change, global migration, rapid development, cross-cultural communication demands, and systems with mandates for accountability and international standardized measures of quality. Dubai is an Emirate in the United Arab Emirates that has experienced these issues, which have had a profound impact on higher education for Emirati women. The international educators who contributed to this book reveal how they designed and implemented a curriculum that represented a complex balancing act repletewith recognition of local, global, religious, cultural, and societal implications. There is no other book like The Balancing Act: International Higher Education in the 21st Century. It reveals the nature of a highly devoted team of international educators who designed a contextually and globally relevant transdisciplinary, 21st century curriculum. Dr. Mary Gene Saudelli has tremendous knowledge and experience with delivering world class education in the Middle East. She has a deep commitment to progressive education and an understanding of global mindedness. It is wonderful that she shares her research on a wide range of topics in educational curriculum and global issues. In The Balancing Act: International Higher Education in the 21st Century, Dr. Saudelli opens the dialogue of reciprocity in learning from higher education in diverse contexts. This book honours Emirati womens backgrounds and differences, yet cherishes the uniqueness of the international educators involved in this study. Kim Critchley, Dean and CEO, University of Calgary in Qatar".