In this chapter we examine some of the contextual factors that have shaped the development of the student teachers' evolving community of practice. This is carried out on two levels: first, by providing an overview of the historical development of the contemporary UAE from a socio-discursive perspective and second, by examining the content and structure of the HCT B.Ed. degree from a perspective of teaching as an 'amalgam' of discourses (Coldron & Smith, 1995). Finally, the research processes underpinning the book are briefly outlined.

Discourse and the Formation of the UAE

The above passage from the website of the UAE Tourism Bureau (http://www.uae.org.ae/general/contents.htm) reflects many of the discursive threads that are key to any understanding of the contemporary United Arab Emirates, including reference, through terms like 'network' and 'communications', to the discourse of globalization, to which the unchanging local world is presented as a calm backdrop offering peace and relaxation. The word 'silent' reinforces the notion that prior to oil-driven, modern development, the geographic area now the UAE was an 'empty quarter' without a significant voice or presence in regional social or economic affairs, even though it has since become an 'ode to progress', a phrase which positions the UAE as striving to catch up with ideas of modernity issuing from elsewhere.