Western Education System Research Articles

Africanizing Inclusive Education: Why, How, Who, Where and What to be Included

Although a lot of attention has been given to inclusive education (IE) both as a human right and a means of achieving equality and education for all goal, there has been controversies and complexities in its implementation. Moreover, there has been concerns on the need to decolonize/contextualize it to increase its relevance in African settings. The purpose of this study is to review relevant literature on IE in the African region. It aims at exploring IE progress and challenges in Africa as documented in existing literature and thereafter propose mechanisms of Africanizing education to ensure inclusion of African philosophy and culture to make education more accessible, meaningful, and productive. Integrative literature review was employed to analyse and synthesize database, publication, and online sources to present a more comprehensive understanding of the concept. Reference was given to the theories of inclusion and exclusion models to amicably conceptualize inclusion in a school setting. The focus was on African countries: Lower income countries are reported to adopt the western education systems with little regard to their context and as influenced by colonialism and globalization. There is therefore the need of an education system that addresses African-centred knowledge and values. The author therefore attempts to identify education elements in need of Africanization and strategies of achieving it. The study recommends restructuring policies and curriculums to make them more relevant and applicable to their regions of implementation, redefining diversity in an African setting, improving school conditions, and equipping teachers to accommodate a diverse population of learners, diversifying methodologies and adapting a whole school and community approach.

Imaginative Reflexivity in Decolonizing Expert–Client Relationships. A Response to J. Vink: Designing for Plurality in Democracy by Building Reflexivity

Imaginative Reflexivity in Decolonizing Expert–Client Relationships. A Response to J. Vink: Designing for Plurality in Democracy by Building Reflexivity

The Influence of Islamic Religious Education and British Administrator's Views on The Education System in Malaya

The majority of British administrators adhere to the philosophy of logical positivism (later known as logical empiricism), referred as an understanding that emphasized on the use of the intellect as the main approach to obtain accurate scientific facts based on meticulous and systematic research methods. This philosophy rejects the proof of a fact from the source of revelation as it is considered not relevant in proving the history and has created a bigoted and queried views towards the Malay community in Malaya. This article focuses on the analysis of the British administrators’ views on the system of education in Malaya, which include religious and secular education, and to determine the influence of Islamic religious education on the community. The methods used were historiography, comparative method and content analysis. The study found that the British administrators had underestimated the contribution of Islamic education system in Malaya and considerered the failure of Malaya in achieving its high civilization was due to the adherence to Islam which was considered as irrelevant and outdated. Hence, to improve these weaknesses, Western education system was seen as an appropriate step to internalise secularism into the thinking of the Malays in Malaya.

KONSEP PENDIDIKAN MULTIKULTURAL DI LEMBAGA PENDIDIKAN MUHAMMADIYAH (Studi Pemikran Prof. Dr. Abdul Mu’ti, M.Ed.)

This research focuses on "MULTICULTURAL EDUCATION CONCEPT IN MUHAMMADIYAH EDUCATIONAL INSTITUTIONS (Prof. Dr. Abdul Mu'ti, M.Ed.) Thought Studies", literature review. The aim is to find out and examine how Prof. Dr. Abdul Mu'ti, M.Ed.The benefits obtained from the results of this research are that, for the author, it can be used as material for scientific studies in order to increase insight and analytical skills on problems that are directly related to the scientific field that the author is engaged in in college. Then, for educational institutions, it can be used as a vehicle for the development of knowledge according to the mission it carries, as well as an effort to increase its role in the field of community service. Moreover, for the community, it can be used as reference material and useful information for improving the quality of human resources through increasing the development of children according to the demands of Islamic teachings in the context of full human development in the current multicultural era, and the development of a whole society that is physically and mentally prosperous. safe and happy world hereafter. The method used in this research is to use the library research method, or what is called literature study is a method that the author uses to explore various library materials that have to do with the subject of study in writing this thesis.From the results of this study, it was concluded that the main research findings of Prof. Dr. Abdul Mu'ti, M.Ed stated in the Muhammadiyah Christian Book there were several points of thought that Prof. Dr. Abdul Mu'ti, M.Ed. present among others that Muhammadiyah is present as a movement that welcomes religious plurality, in the opinion of Prof. Dr. Abdul Mu'ti, M.Ed Muhammadiyah, despite its pure and modernist Islamic status, is able to answer the challenges of the times even in areas where the majority are non-Muslims. According to Prof.Dr. Abdul Mu'ti, M.Ed Muhammadiyah accepted social institutions from the West and adopted the Western education system. If this attitude continues to be carried out, it will strengthen optimism about the future of religious pluralism in Indonesia and focus on being a central role in building a strong national character, open to differences, and strong Indonesian integrity as well as educational progress, especially in Muhammadiyah educational institutions. This finding is certainly a reference for Muhammadiyah schools, especially those in Muslim-majority circles, which should be more advanced and developed when referring to the research findings of Prof. Dr. Abdul Mu'ti, M.Ed. so that there are no more cases of closing Muhammadiyah schools due to the absence of students such as the example in SMA Muhammadiyah Ciampea Bogor, Muhammadiyah schools need to be more welcome from any aspect that is positive and adopting the system or following the times as well as strengthening cultural propaganda.Keywords: Concept, Multicultural, Muhammadiyah

Rethinking Mindfulness in Education within Two Frameworks: Articulating the “Threefold Model of Mindful Wisdom” with the “Theory of Mental Interference”

The existent trend of implementing mindfulness-based programs (MBPs) into public education came along with an increasing scientific record regarding the definitional construct of mindfulness, effects of various mindfulness-based interventions and their basic mechanisms. In terms of the rising definitional discourse in the interdisciplinary field of mindfulness, the “threefold model of mindful wisdom” (TMMW) was proposed. In the present paper’s quest of rethinking mindfulness in education, the relevance of the TMMW for didactics in modern Western educational systems (with special interest on the region of Germany) is examined, affirmed in several points and—with the aid of the “Theory of Mental Interference” (TMI)—methodically linked to individual learners’ needs. The TMI has been developed at the University of Hamburg since 1984 by Wagner and colleagues. This is compatible with the TMMW with regard to the concept of self and basic psychological mechanisms of “mindful exercises”. Its basic approach conceives the epistemic level of cognitive processes (1) to be unbiased by affect and (2) to be different from a level of mental interference, which in case of an arising default habitually interferes with the cognitive processes. Implications for further research, for modern educational systems and for MBPs in education are discussed.

Science and Knowledge as a Tool of Subjugation: Perspectives of European Colonialism in India

The development of science as an integral part of society is evolutionary and goes hand in hand with the prosperity of the human intellect, resources available and the freedom accorded the society to think and prosper. India’s scientific heritage had reached its pinnacle in its own perspectives that are difficult to compare with western philosophy and thinking. The underpinning of India-centric eastern philosophies that knowledge i.e. truth can be approached by diverse means had epistemologically led to the evolutionof wide array of methodologies and inculcation of multidisciplinary learning processes in India’s indigenous education system. Hence science has historically been an inevitable aspect of India’s education curriculum since the ancient and medieval periods. Though the Islamic invasions and European colonisation of the Indian sub-continent during the medieval period were resisted, they had caused tantrums in the regular and active functioning of society and had therefore disrupted societal components such as education, economy and trade, culture, polity, agriculture, taxation system, etc. as there had been various external factors and tools such as colonisation, imperialism, mercantilism, exploitation, monopolistic trade, loot, slavery, inquisitions, violence, genocide, etc. that influenced the internal affairs thereby causing subjugation of the Indian minds. The pursuit of science and technology as a tool with an unethical intention to subjugate the Indian sub-continent and its polity has been explored in this paper. The introduction of the telegraph, railways and steam ships as a means of faster communication and transportation for militaristic, political and trade purposes proves that scientific superiority wasalso a means of subjugation by the European colonial powers, particularly the British. The paper also explores how the distortion of history, unethical misappropriation of India’s knowledge systems and dismantling of indigenous education concepts and structures such as gurukulas and patshalas by cutting off rural financial mechanisms through the adverse taxation system and the introductionof urban-based western education system had ultimately led to the subjugation of India’s national conscience.

Polishing the pearls of indigenous knowledge for inclusive social education in Ghana

The goal of my paper is to argue for the need to polish the pearls of Akan indigenous wisdom as creative cultural eclecticism to constitute a theoretical base for destabilising cultural imperialism and ontological individualism in favour of inclusive social education. Since the sixteenth century, European expansion to the rest of the world, particularly, Africa has imposed an European single narrative on Africans. This is to the extent that, as a result of the colonialization of Africa, western cultural values have been homogenised and hegemonized as a template for the rest of the world. Consequently, the cultural uniqueness of different African societies has been marginalised – leading to the imposition of a western education system that undermines indigenous knowledge systems of Africa for collective living. And as part of the western dualization of time into “modernity” and “tradition”, African cultures have been profiled as “tradition” and concurrently relegated to the background. Through the deployment of the Akan historical philosophy “Tete wo bi kyere” and “Sankofa” as creative cultural eclecticism given Ghana's cultural pluralism, my paper provides a theoretical foundation for the need to integrate the Akan indigenous values of inclusiveness to foster inclusive social education. I argue that theory is as important as practice and activism in re-imaging social justice education that upsets neoliberal individualism embedded in western education.

From Bowls to Arms: The Almajiri School System and the Challenges of Internal Security in Niger State, Nigeria.

Background: insecurity has become a watchword in humanities; social sciences and a societal problem that has led to the destruction of human lives and acquired property worth millions of dollars. Historically, periarticular in pre-colonial Nigeria, practical modalities were put in place and monitored the welfare of the Almajiri children. Unfortunately, this beautiful system was later shortened by western colonialism. The paper x-rayed the nexus between Almajiri and internal security in Niger State, Nigeria.
 Objective: The paper x-rayed the nexus between Almajiri and internal security in Niger State, Nigeria.
 Method: The paper used a survey design in which data were gathered through personal observations by the authors and also the use of an in-depth interview of selected respondents.
 Findings: The study discovered that the cultural practice in which parents especially from the countryside send their children at a very tender age to the cities under the Almajiri school system paves way for the concentration of a large youth cohort with a strong sense of identity in those cities, in which factors such as unfavorable economic, poverty and political atmosphere combines with the prevailing cultural resistance against western education and value system to facilitate the process of radicalizing these youths.
 Implications/Originality/Value: the study argued that it is important for the Nigerian state to come up with a policy for compulsory and free primary and secondary school for all the Almajirai and not in separate schools as it is at present being practiced but in an inclusive one.

The Pre-colonial Yoruba Education System: Catalyst Against Immorality

The notion that Africans in general have no literature of their own has been severally debunked as false assertion. Awólàlú (1979) describes it as ‘erroneous’, a thought borne out of prejudice, malice and bias (3). Among these is their method of training both the young and old in the ways and traditions of the people. The Yorùbá had a system of education referred to as ìlànà ètò è̩kó̩ ìbílè̩ (traditional or indigenous system of education). Even though the said system of education was not documented, it is not only flexible enough to conserve the tradition and culture of the people, it has also proved adequate in transmitting the cultural heritage from generation to generation using the mother-tongue as a tool. Tis paper examines the effectiveness of this traditional system of education in the development of the pre-colonial Yoruba society especially in terms of moral diligence. The paper critically analyzes the system and concludes that a society that is morally bankrupt cannot develop, hence the need for a system of education that emphasizes moral training such as the Yorùbá traditional system of education as compared with the Western system of education, which lays emphasis on jobs. The paper concludes that if the formal education system can prioritize moral training by tailoring the curriculum towards this objective, the problem of high moral decadence level currently ravaging our various societies may continue and this will not do the societies any good.

Celebrating Indigenous Culture and Identity in Ice Candy Man: A Postcolonial Critique

To justify colonialism and perpetuate colonial rule the colonizers appropriated their political, cultural, academic, literary, and linguistic supremacy which left a tinge of mimicry and hybridity among natives. The colonizers, being in the center, employed colonial discourse, Eurocentric historic construct, western education system, English language, missionary, and creative literature to portray the periphery, the colonized, as uncivilized, accultured, incompetent, uncouth, and diabolical evils. To rebut this, the postcolonial writers rejected colonialist ideology and cultural supremacy by asserting native culture, identity, language, and societal values. They actually disassociated themselves from cultural imperialism and celebrated their indigenous culture. The undertaken study analyses the portrayal of celebration of the indigenous culture and identity in Bapsi Sidhwa’s novel Ice Candy Man (1988-89) from the vantage point of postcolonial theory. It has been found that Sidhwa celebrates indigenous culture, identity, tradition, language, and localization in the novel. To this effect, she employs code-mixing to add indigenous semantics, delineates characters from the locality, asserts her Pakistaniness, and objectifies Pakistani leadership and narrative in the novel and thus she continues to live as a postcolonial writer.

Implementation of autonomy principle in educational institutions of the Russian Federation

Introduction. Contemporary challenges to the development of education imply the search and understanding of highly effective approaches and management methods. Experts who have conducted PISA studies in Western educational systems have identified a direct correlation between the autonomy of an educational institution and the results of its activities. The extrapolation of PISA results in the Russian education system is possible only with unified theoretical approaches to understanding the conceptual unit of "autonomy", the category "autonomy of an educational institution" and the principle of autonomy, as well as a sociological study, the respondents of which are the heads of educational institutions in Russia. The purpose hereof is a conceptual analysis of existing approaches to understanding the phenomena of "autonomy" and "autonomy of an educational institution" in the legal framework of the Russian education system, in domestic and foreign sources. A certain set of indicators of the phenomenon of autonomy in the Russian educational environment was used in this research as the main toolkit for achieving this goal. Materials and methods. The ideas of the systemic and activity approaches, the general scientific method of comparative analysis serve as the methodological basis of the research. The content-invariant foreign and domestic sources served as the platform for quantitative and qualitative content analysis. In addition to general scientific methods, within the framework of this research, a private scientific survey method was used in the form of a questionnaire survey of the heads of general educational institutions. More than 10 thousand school principals from 84 constituent entities of the Russian Federation took part in the experiment in the course of the sociological research "Autonomy of educational institutions: results and prospects". Research results. The study reveals the theoretical and practical aspects of the implementation of the autonomy principle in the educational system of the Russian Federation. The analysis of domestic and foreign thesaurus on the problem of the autonomy of an educational institution was carried out. The authors dwell in detail on the mechanisms for introducing the principle of autonomy in the educational process in Russia, identify existing obstacles to the implementation of the provisions declared in the legal field. Clustering of elements (indicators) that determine the degree of autonomy is significant for further research of the phenomenon of "autonomy of educational institutions".

Doctoral writing: learning to write and give feedback across cultures

PurposeThis study aims to broaches several endemic challenges for academics who support doctoral writing: writers are emotionally protective of their own writing; writing a thesis in English as a second language is a challenging, complex task; and advising across cultures is delicate. Giving constructive feedback kindly, but with the rigour needed to raise writing quality can seem daunting. Addressing those issues, the authors offer a novel way of working with writing feedback across cultures.Design/methodology/approachThe case study research team of two candidates and one supervisor stumbled onto an effective way of working across cultural and institutional difference. What began as advisory feedback on doctoral writing became an effective collaborative analysis of prose meaning-making. The authors reflected separately and collectively on how this happened, analysed reflections and this narrative inquiry approach led to theories of use to writing feedback practice.FindingsThe authors cross between theory and praxis, showing that advisors and supervisors can create Bhabha’s post-colonial third space (a promising social space that sits between cultures, beyond hierarchies, where new ways of thinking can be collaboratively generated) as a working environment for international doctoral writing feedback. Within this zone, Brechtian alienation, a theory from theatre practice, is applied to prompt emotional detachment that enables focus on writing clearly in academic English.Research limitations/implicationsArguably the writing feedback session the authors described remains bound by the generic expectations of a western education system. The study is exegetical, humanities reading of practice, rather than a social science gathering of empirical data. Yet the humanities approach suits the point that a change of language, attitude and theory can give positive leverage with doctoral writing feedback.Practical implicationsThe authors provide a novel practical method of supporting international doctoral candidates’ writing with feedback across cultures. It entails attracting the writers’ interest in theory and persuading them, via theory, to look objectively and freshly at their own writing. Also backed by theory, a theoretical cross-cultural space allows for discussion about differences and similarities. Detachment from proprietorial emotions and cross-cultural openness enables productive work amongst the mechanics of clear academic English text.Originality/valueUnderpinned by sociocultural and metacognitive approaches to learning, reflection from student and supervisor perspectives (the data), and oriented by theory, the authors propose another strategy for supporting doctoral writing across cultures. The authors demonstrate a third space approach for writing feedback across cultures, showing how to operationalise theory.

Auto-decolonisation: Lifelong education for decolonisation

ABSTRACT In this article I will first address what decolonisation is with specific reference to the colonisation and enslavement (Nelson, 2006) of Indigenous peoples, specifically my own people, the Indigenous Amami of the former Ryukyu Kingdom. According to Laenui (2006), there were five steps of colonisation, many of which I suggest are not yet complete. These steps, as a linear progression, are based on the colonisers’ viewpoints rather than the perspectives of the colonised (Nakagawa & Kouritzin, 2018). While Laenui puts forward five steps to decolonisation, I suggest that Indigenous peoples must live more than one lifetime to overthrow the mental shackles of colonisation, in particular our reliance on capitalism and its ideologies. Specifically, Indigenous peoples must first learn everything there is to learn from their oppressors, and then we must come to the limits of their knowledge and overcome the colonial mindset. I will address this, our collective lifelong learning project of auto-decolonisation, citing examples from my People’s encounters with the impact of Western education systems.

CONTEMPORARY EDUCATION SYSTEM AND ISLAMIC STATE: REFLECTIONS FROM INDO-PAKISTAN

Purpose of the study: This paper will discuss the gaps in the current and Islamic education systems, focusing on Indo-Pakistan. Islamic education aims to bring attitudinal changes and build a value system among humans that should transform society by promoting love, peace, equality, purity, integrity, forgiveness, and justice.
 Methodology: This is descriptive research where Islamic education and Contemporary education have been analyzed. Emphasis has been placed on Indo-Pakistan, the Western education system, and the Islamization of education in Pakistan and its future.
 Principal Findings: As a state, Pakistan comprises politically, geographically, culturally, linguistically, and educationally diverse people. They cannot trace their origins by calling themselves Arabs or Indians. That conflict is reflected in Pakistan's education system – which has lost its identity to be called either religious or contemporary. The moral and ethical standards to bring any positive behavior change are hardly maintained to groom the graduates in the current education system. The Western education left by the British in the Subcontinent, including Pakistan, has its colonial drawbacks, which need to be addressed.
 Application of this study: In Pakistan and other Islamic states, it is essential to instill Islamic values within the current education system. One of the viable solutions that could make the Muslim world, including Pakistan, move forward is to accept modern-day learning practices and introduce a hybrid education system. A system that safeguards Islam's values and principles and has rich content of research and development in various fields carried out by the West, irrespective of religious affiliation. This study would benefit researchers and policymakers in framing such an education system.
 The novelty of this study: The paper frames some recommendations to tailor the existing education system according to the Islamic education system.

Traditional Revolt against the Modern Science (Philosophy in the Inter-war Period)

The article presents the views of traditionalists of the interwar period on science and education. Traditionalist philosophy is characterized by a turn to the past and a desire to return to the old world; the modern era is severely criticized. From this perspective, traditionalists contest the science of the modern world. According to them, it is characterized by a one-sided development, which has also affected the Western education system. Traditionalist philosophy denounces the rationalism and pragmatism inherent in modern science, proposing an alternative vision of traditional science based on wisdom rather than expert knowledge. According to traditionalists, science based on the affirmation of novelty and the unknown can threaten tradition – the transmission of the highest values, ideas and goals, without which no culture can survive.

Indigenous Knowledge in Mundum and Suptulung

The dominance of formal education over the indigenous education along with the language and culture has been a pressing issue in almost all cultures of the world. The Nepalese education system is also largely influenced by the western education system. So, it is inevitable that Nepalese students too are influenced by the western education. Rai community is one of 125 indigenous groups having rich indigenous knowledge. Particularly, they have vocational education of the food security that transforms the knowledge through the cultural practices, which is close to nature and thus a unique one. The significance of the food security means survival for the whole year. Mundumic education focuses on the survival in nature and to reduction of poverty. However, such indigenous type of cultural activities as part of education have not been recognized and put into priority in the government’s curriculum. This is an example of a missing link of such cultural heritage in our curriculum. Therefore, I propose here to explain a typical Binayo Movie thematically having indignity in its content suitable for inclusion in national curriculum. This Movie is a key to establish the Mundum and Suptulung identity within this community contributing to indigenous identity for the future generations. Thus, this article explores some significant aspects of Mundumic cultural education which helps conserve indigenous knowledge on the one hand, and on the other, reduce poverty through indigenous skills of food production and security.

‘Are you crazy? Why are you going to Poland?’ Migration of Western Scholars to Academic Peripheries

In this article, we discuss the issue of migration of highly qualified academics who developed in the Western education system and decided to work in Poland. While the migration flows between global centres and aspiring higher education systems are increasing, the flow of academics to the peripheries remains largely under-researched. Poland is certainly not the centre of knowledge production, but its peripheral status should be further theorized. Polish universities are unable to compete with their Western counterparts. Thus, the first research question of this paper is: Why do scholars educated in Western Europe and Northern America decide to work in the peripheries? The second one is, how do they adapt to the working conditions that are significantly different from what they were used to? This paper presents the results of nationwide research carried out among foreign-born academics working at Polish universities. The interviews (in-depth biographically-focused interviews) concerned their motivation to move to Poland, their career paths, research productivity, the perception of Poland as a place to live, future plans, among other topics. The overarching framework for this paper is the ‘employment lifecycle’ theory introduced by John Lavelle (Lavelle, 2007).

Educational Justice and Disability: The Limits of Integration

Integration as a requirement of social justice is generating much enthusiasm in political philosophy. In The Imperative of Integration (2010), Elizabeth Anderson defines integration as involving and furthering “the free interaction of citizens from all walks of life in terms of equality and mutual regard”(Anderson, 2010, p. 95). However, this idea of integration as a moral imperative is yet to be tested in the case of students with an intellectual or behavioural disability (I/BD), a small group with complex and diverse educational needs. While “inclusive” schools may be increasingly the norm in Western education systems, it is not self-evident that the imperative of integration ought to carry over into special education. ⁠Focusing on the unique concerns for integrating students with an I/BD into generalist classrooms, I aim to describe the moral constraints that ought to be imposed on the process of integration. The concerns for integrating students with an I/BD will be framed as a question of the just distribution of costs associated with bringing about integration. It will be argued that, within the context of education, the imperative of integration is unjust if it unduly burdens students with an I/BD, perpetuates the harms it proposes to resolve, or results in a failure to provide the educational goods owed to students. As schools are specially tasked with the provision of educational goods in society, educational costs are more ethically significant in the given context than the costs of not integrating. Educational institutions should still play a role in achieving an integrated society through just means. This must be done by shifting the burdens of integration off students with an I/BD and onto the education system.

Reimagining the Ever-Changing Construct of Saudi Writerly Identity: A Heuristic Approach

This paper takes on a heuristic approach (Crowley & Debra, 2004) to the study of Saudi writerly identity. In this critical review paper, the author argues that little work has been carried out to study Saudi English as a second langauge (ESL) writers' identity, for most of the empirical studies approach their writing as substandard writers. Therefore, this paper adds critical insights to the exciting literature about L2 Saudi writers and invite second language (L2) researchers to deconstruct the essentialized view towards peripheral writers. The paper also was guided by the question: how are ESL Saudi writers perceived in the Western educational system? Throughout the paper, the researcher problematizes that most studies about L2 Saudi writers are rife with references to phenomena in these student writings as negative transfers and linguistic errors. Other empirical studies were blinded from Saudi L2 discourse by the minutia of mechanism and look at students' writings as illegitimate. However, studies like Canagarajah’s (2013) and Saba’s (2013) can forward the conversation into a deeper understanding of these students’ writing identities and how they perceive themselves as writers and knowledge constructors. The article briefly explores the current definition of identity and how it is related to second language writing, followed by an explanation of Ivanic’s framework of writer identity. Then, the paper reviews previous research on how ESL Arab students negotiate and construct their written identities in Western educational settings. Finally, the author proposes directions for future empirical research and promising windows for studying the identity of Saudi ESL writers.

Reimagining the Ever-Changing Construct of Saudi Writerly Identity: A Heuristic Approach

This paper takes on a heuristic approach (Crowley & Debra, 2004) to the study of Saudi writerly identity. In this critical review paper, the author argues that little work has been carried out to study Saudi English as a second langauge (ESL) writers' identity, for most of the empirical studies approach their writing as substandard writers. Therefore, this paper adds critical insights to the exciting literature about L2 Saudi writers and invite second language (L2) researchers to deconstruct the essentialized view towards peripheral writers. The paper also was guided by the question: how are ESL Saudi writers perceived in the Western educational system? Throughout the paper, the researcher problematizes that most studies about L2 Saudi writers are rife with references to phenomena in these student writings as negative transfers and linguistic errors. Other empirical studies were blinded from Saudi L2 discourse by the minutia of mechanism and look at students' writings as illegitimate. However, studies like Canagarajah’s (2013) and Saba’s (2013) can forward the conversation into a deeper understanding of these students’ writing identities and how they perceive themselves as writers and knowledge constructors. The article briefly explores the current definition of identity and how it is related to second language writing, followed by an explanation of Ivanić’s framework of writer identity. Then, the paper reviews previous research on how ESL Arab students negotiate and construct their written identities in Western educational settings. Finally, the author proposes directions for future empirical research and promising windows for studying the identity of Saudi ESL writers.