ABSTRACT
This chapter will discuss occasions of conflict and harmony between traditions and modernization in formal educational systems in Muslim countries. The focus will be on the case of Oman, which represents one of the Muslim Arab Gulf countries. The aim of the chapter is to develop a better understanding of the socio-economic and cultural context in which conflict and/or harmony between traditions and modernization in educational systems was/were created. This is obviously important in countries where the majority of the population is Muslim, and the process of development and modernization is undertaken by people and governments committed to preserving their identity and traditions. According to Mahbubani (1992, cited in Huntington 1993, 41), non-Western countries and civilizations’ response to Western values is one of, or a combination of, three reactions; an attempt to pursue a course of isolation; an attempt to join the West and accept its values and institutions; and/or an attempt to “balance,” by modernizing but not Westernizing.
