Graphic by Megan Eloise/The Gazelle

NYU Abu Dhabi employs Eric Hilgendorf to bridge the gap between the K-12 continuum and the higher education spectrum in Abu Dhabi. In place of this official description, he prefers a term coined by his young daughter: knowledge architect.

“Historically, the two [K-12 and higher education] have been isolated … higher ed consumes the deliverable of K12, and K12 has to be aligned with higher ed. So really, there should be a bridge between the two, and it should be a freeway of thought … and it needs to be going both ways," he explained.

Hilgendorf spoke highly of the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC), and the New School Model which turns the existing learning system on its head. The new model replaces didactic learning practices with student-oriented initiatives in which the child takes centre stage.

“Prior to the new school model, they had rote learning and a lot of instructor-driven classes where the instructor stands in front and disseminates all the knowledge ... The new school model now flips it ... [It] is designed to provide creative thinking, creative reasoning and independent thought,” he said.

In addition to these ideological changes, the physical learning spaces in public schools have seen just as much, if not more, of a reform. Classrooms are designed specifically to reflect the new model of schooling and to strengthen the emphasis placed not only on the student but also on the accountability and transparency of the entire schooling system.

“[ADEC] also built these brand new schools … You walk down the corridor and each classroom has a glass wall that faces into the interior of the school … Every classroom has a wall facing the outside and a wall facing the inside. That works on a couple different metaphors; every time [someone from the administration] or anybody is walking down the hall ... they can see anything that’s going on inside the classroom.”

Hilgendorf also spoke of the unique opportunity afforded to the UAE as a nation because of its youth. He said that, though often seen as an economic and political weakness, this youth, and its concurrent lack of precedents, actually afford the best possible opportunity for novel ideas to be implemented. There are few instances outside the UAE in which the building can be constructed around the curriculum, instead of the other way around.

In another unprecedented move, many of the new schools are completely co-educational. Despite liberal changes such as this one, the model takes into account the vital importance of culture. The leadership quotient, the ratio between national and non-national teachers, was designed to allay fears of excessive Western influence in schools.

Hilgendorf also noted that in the eighteen schools at which he has worked, they had a system in which if there was a Western principal, there would be an Emirati vice-principal, sometimes two, and vice versa.

The schools are incredibly diverse in terms of demographics; many teach in not just two, but three languages.

“You know there’s a Chinese-Arabic school here? You walk into a classroom, and there’s a teacher teaching Chinese calligraphy, storytelling in English and math in Arabic.”

Hilgendorf also believes in sequential change, or what he calls the trickle-down effect: changing the immediate environment of NYUAD and the subsequent changes enacted on Abu Dhabi by NYUAD as a part of this nation. He also spoke of the GNU as a resource with which these changes can extend even further in a global context.

Concerning the criticism directed toward the sometimes slow implementation of change, Hilgendorf was indifferent. He explained that this criticism fails to take into account the human side of development and the context in which these changes are occurring.

“Some people like to compare turnarounds in general. [For example] you look at a business in the States and the turnaround window is a 90-day horizon between quarters. Education isn’t like that. You’re not making widgets … you’re changing people, and values, habits, and intuition and characteristics they’ve held onto deeply.”

In terms of eligibility, only children with at least one Emirati parent are accepted. Last year, a zoning system was started for public schools; its usefulness has been compromised by the way that Abu Dhabi is structured geographically. Zoning becomes difficult when there are no street numbers.

On the positive side, however, public schooling is completely free: According to Hilgendorf, the only thing you have to pay for is lunch.