Irfan Ahmed Nazir

National Identity and School Education in the United Arab Emirates Since 2008

Institution: Jawaharlal Nehru University, New Delhi – 110067, India

Status of the Research: Near Completion

Abstract:

Education has long served as a key instrument through which modern states seek to inculcate national consciousness and identity among children and young people. This doctoral research examines the construction and dissemination of national identity discourses in the United Arab Emirates (UAE), with particular attention to how the Emirati state mobilises schools to promote national narratives since the official declaration of 2008 as ‘the year of national identity.’ While an emerging body of literature has examined nation-building and identity formation in the UAE and the wider Arab Gulf region, relatively little attention has been paid to the role of schools as key sites of state-led national identity projects. Addressing this gap, the research primarily relies on field observations, archival research, semi-structured interviews, and qualitative analyses of school textbooks and official documents. The findings demonstrate that the Emirati state actively intervenes across all school sectors in the UAE, including private schools offering international curricula, through the introduction of Arabic language, Islamic education, UAE social studies, and moral education as mandatory subjects, alongside curriculum and textbook reforms, curricular adaptations, inspection regimes, and the embedding of nationalist symbols and practices in everyday school environments. These interventions form a part of the state’s broader national identity projects designed for preserving cultural identities while embracing cosmopolitanism, maintaining political stability, and supporting economic diversification. The findings also reveal that the state’s national identity projects in schools target not only Emirati citizens but also expatriate populations, offering insights into how national identity is imagined and invented by states in highly multicultural, non-citizen-majority societies of the Arab Gulf.

Grants:

Doctoral Research Grant for Data Collection in the UAE, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research, Ras Al Khaimah, 2023–24.

Travel Grant for Conducting Research within NYUAD Archives and Special Collections, Humanities Research Fellowships for the Study of the Arab World, New York University Abu Dhabi (NYUAD), 2023.

Related Publications:

Related Blogs:

Unity in Diversity: My UAE Identity Journey, Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation for Policy Research, 1 July 2024, read here.

Related Podcasts:

Irfan Nazir: Unity in Diversity, Muhadatha: In Conversation with Tiffany and Abdullah, A Monthly Podcast from the Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi Foundation, 23 January 2025, listen here.