Accreditation and the Standardization of Syllabi: Critical Reflections from the College of Education at Qatar University

Abstract

Scholars studying international accreditation practices traditionally assess the successes and failures of such programs (e.g., Collins, 2015; Altbach & Knight, 2007). Still, others investigate the reasons behind the spread of educational accreditation practice pointing to issues of legitimacy and quality control needs within the region (e.g., Badry & Willoughby, 2016; Morgan, 2017). With regard to the Arab region, a search in an Arabic database such as e-Marefa for Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) states and higher education returns with studies similar to those described here. Such studies examine higher education issues in the GCC states in attempt to explore and/or maximize the benefits of educational quality assurance in the region (e.g., Al-Qubaisi, 2000; Al-Samara, 2012; Al-Sketabi & Al-Zabun, 2014). Mazawi (2005) makes a similar observation: there is a "discussion [of] questions of efficiency, accountability, and systemic growth, neglecting the impact of broader power configurations on state-higher education relations (external governance) and on the internal formal and informal decision-making structures within which higher education institutions operate (internal governance)" (p. 134). In addition, such research often focuses on the state-level case studies and neglects the "broader geopolitical dynamics associated either with Western dominance and hegemony or with inter-Arab conflicts and competition" (Mazawi, 2005, p. 134). In an attempt to address this concern, we ask in this chapter: How is the race for accreditation and international recognition enacting regimes of coloniality in the context of the College of Education at Qatar University (QU)? How are policy changes introduced by international accreditation processes, especially the process of standardizing courses and syllabi, experienced by academics such as ourselves? And how might we as researchers stuck in our organizations' race of accreditation respond to, negotiate, and challenge the dogma of educational accreditation?