Teachers’ professional development as a pathway for educational reform in Egypt

Abstract

This study explores teachers’ reflections on the professional development (PD) provided by the Egyptian Ministry of Education as part of a national reform plan implemented right before the political changes in Egypt. The study took place in three national language schools and focused on English as Foreign Language teachers’ perspectives on the PD and the successes and challenges they faced implementing it. Results highlight teachers’ critical reflections on the quality and duration of the PD. Despite the effort, they expressed dissatisfaction with the lack of support and follow up from the administration, in addition to the lack of practical examples that characterized the PD.

Keywords:

• Professional development
• active learning
• international setting
• reflective practice
• education system
• reform
• cultural context

Notes on Contributors

Nora H. El-Bilawi is currently an Assistant professor of education, adjunct professor, George Mason University, Fairfax, VA. The author was formerly an assistant professor of education, American University in Dubai, UAE. His research interest is molded and shaped in the area of teacher preparation and professional development especially within the frame of diversity and multicultural content, second language teaching and learning between theory and practice, principles of teaching English for speakers of other languages, education reform and social justice, achieving the gap in the realm of globalized education, differentiated strategies to teach reading and writing, international education-the cross cultural paradigm of education. The dissertation topic,which is published in a referee journal, is about the importance of contextualized teacher professional development and the importance of critical examination of our practice as teacher trainers. Her selected publications include Globalization and classroom management in the Middle East: A cross-cultural analysis. International Journal (2016), Egyptian teacher’s perspective on the use of MI theory: The use of MI in ESL teachers’ schooling and cultural context within the framework of Egypt’s educational reform (Lambert Academic Publishing, 2013).

Ilham Nasser is currently Education research consultant, Salam Insitute. The author was formerlyan associate professor of education, Geprgem Mason University, Fairfax Va. The author’s international research interests include  international early childhood development, teacher preparation in cultural and political contexts, teacher professional development, civic education and education for citizenship, forgiveness education. She has spent over twenty-five years in teaching and research in different educational settings. She has researched and published on the topic of teacher development including teachers’ motivation, teacher preparation and professional development and teaching for peace with focus on foreign language teaching and bilingual education as means to promote peace education in early childhood settings. The author’s works include Pathways to Peace: The Transformative Power of Children and Families (The MIT Press, 2014), Head Start classroom teachers’ and assistant teachers perceptions of professional development using a LEARN framework. Professional Development in Education (2014).

Notes

1. Arab Spring refers to the democratic uprisings that arose independently and spread across the Arab world in 2011. The movement originated in Tunisia in December 2010 and quickly took hold in Egypt, Libya, Syria, Yemen, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, and Jordan.

2. TIMSS 2007 is the fourth in a cycle of internationally comparative assessments dedicated to improving teaching and learning in mathematics and science for students around the world.

3. A governmental association that monitors what the government had enforced in their reform about integrating multiple intelligence and active learning in classroom teaching.