A study investigating the factors influencing predominant teaching strategies used in American curriculum schools in the United Arab Emirates

Abstract

There has been a great emphasis on the relationship between teaching strategies and curriculum implementation processes where teachers are the actual implementers of the curriculum. Thus, their choices of the suitable teaching strategies represent the quality of teaching offered to learners. The purpose of the study is to investigate the predominant teaching strategies used by science, mathematics, and technology (SMT)-teachers in US curriculum schools in UAE and to identify the most effective factors that influence their way to select these SMT-teaching strategies. A mixed method approach is adopted to fulfil the purpose of the study by conducting an online questionnaire for teachers and a face-to-face interview with the schools' academic supervisors. The results revealed that teachers in UAE are recently applying what is called 'engaging lectures' where both traditional and innovative teaching strategies are combined. Additionally, the main factors that drive teachers to select their teaching strategies are identified.