Understanding Emirati teachers’ challenges in fostering problem-solving skills development in early years – A preliminary study

Emirati teachers, particularly those teaching in early years classrooms, encounter significant obstacles with 21st century pedagogy in support of the United Arab Emirates' (UAE) goal of moving towards a more knowledge-based economy. As improving students' problem solving-skills development takes precedence, policy makers' need to understand how best to support teachers becomes a priority. Through survey responses and interviews, this exploratory study aims to better understand Emirati teachers’ pedagogical content knowledge, teacher self-efficacy beliefs, and to gain insight on how to best support teachers in acquiring the kind of child-centered instructional practices needed to foster problem-solving skills development in their students. Results showed low teacher self-efficacy and teachers lack of proper exposure to pre-service training as well as professional training on problem-solving skills development pedagogy. Participants indicated their willingness to learn about how to best foster problem-solving abilities of their students to support the aspirations of the UAE education reform policy. A focused social cognitive-oriented professional development model for instruction grounded in the educationally relevant research from the cognitive sciences is recommended.