AU Case Study Alexandria University and University of Northampton Leading Change through Peer Communities of Learners: A Case Study between Egypt and The United Kingdom Authors Dalia Elhawary Amanda O’Shea James Underwood & Salah Elkharashi, Dalia E. Hammoud, Nevien H. Elkhaial With contributions from: Heba Makram Sharobeem, Maha M. Elkomy, Elshaymaa E. Abdulgawad, Saher M. Elghanam, Rania A. Ragheb & Alsaeed Alshamy Edited by the Peer Review Committee: The American University in Cairo and The University of Leicester The Project Number: 573660-EPP-1-2016-EG-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP The Project Title: School-University Partnership for Peer Communities of Learners (SUP4PCL) The Project Website: SUP4PCL.aucegypt.edu Disclaimer This work has originated through the School-University Partnership for Peer Communities of Learners (SUP4PCL) Project that was initiated by the Middle East Institute for Higher Education (MEIHE) at the American University in Cairo in partnership with Ain Shams, Alexandria, Helwan, Leicester, Limerick, Martin Luther and Northampton universities. The project is an Erasmus + initiative funded and supported by the European Commission. This and any communication or publication related to the action, made by the beneficiaries jointly or individually in any form and using any means, shall indicate that it reflects only the author’s view and that the Agency and the Commission are not responsible for any use that may be made of the information it contains. Table of Contents List of Tables 6 List of Acronyms 7 Preface 9 Chapter One: Introduction 10 AU Context 10 Chapter Two: Conceptual Framework 11 Defining Professional Learning Communities 11 Affirmation, Empowerment, Professional and Community Development 11 Benefits of Community Membership 11 Challenges and Limitations of Community Membership 12 Creating and Recognising Boundaries in Communities 12 Community Boundaries and Building Practitioner Self-Efficacy 13 Building Community Relationships 14 Teacher Engagement in Professional Communities 14 Conclusion 15 Chapter Three: Methodology 16 Research Background and Questions 16 Overall Design 16 Data Analysis 18 Ethics 25 Chapter Four: Findings 26 Introduction 26 The Culture of PCL at AU: Findings from the Interviews with AU Faculty Members 26 The Evolution and Impact of PCLs at AU: Findings from the Journals, Focus Group Discussions 26 and Vignette Findings from the Journals 27 Communication and relationships 27 Values and valuing differences 29 Professional and personal impact: Affirmation and empowerment in the community 32 Leadership and mentorship 34 Knowledge sharing, building and reflection 35 Challenges and solutions 36 Findings from AU PCL Focus Group Discussion 37 Communication and relationships 38 Values and valuing differences 38 Impact: Affirmation and empowerment in the community 39 4 Leadership and mentorship 40 Knowledge sharing, building and reflection 42 Challenges and solutions 42 Findings from the Vignette 43 Comment 45 Findings from the Undergraduate Student Teachers’ Focus Group Discussions 45 Communication and relationships 45 Impact: Affirmation and empowerment in the community 46 Leadership and mentorship 46 Knowledge sharing: Reflection and knowledge building 47 Challenges and solutions 47 Conclusion 47 Chapter Five: Discussion 48 Introduction 48 The School-University Partnership and Development of the PCL at the University Level 48 Impact of the PCL on the Transformation of Professional Learning Practice at the University 49 Level Tensions Between Beliefs, Values and Practices 51 References 53 Bibliography 57 Appendices 58 5 List of Tables Table 1. Summary of data sources used in this research study 17 Table 2. First stage analysis: Examples of the data with initial coding notes 19 Table 3. Second stage analysis: Examples of the data with coding categories 21 6 List of Acronyms Partners Acronyms AU Alexandria University UON University of Northampton Other acronyms and abbreviations COP Communities of Practice CPD Continuous Professional Development FOE Faculties of Education M&E Monitoring and Evaluation MEIHE Middle East Institute for Higher Education PAT The Professional Academy for Teachers PCL Peer Communities of Learners PD Professional Development PLC Peer Learning Communities STEAM Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics STEM Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics School-University Partnership for Peer Communities of Learners SUP4PCL (Title of this ERASMUS+ Project) 7 List of Appendices Appendix 1: Semi-structured interview schedule 58 Appendix 2: Reflective Journal 60 Appendix 3: Student teachers semi-structured focus group interview schedule 62 8 Preface The partnership is the result of an Erasmus+ project that was awarded to the Middle East Institute for Higher Education at the Graduate School of Education in the American University in Cairo entitled School-University Partnership for Peer Communities of Learners (SUP4PCL) in November 2016. The partnership was created within a context where Egypt has shown a keen need for reform at the school and university levels and where Faculties of Education have acquired the reputation of operating in an ivory tower divorced from the practical field of school improvement. A continued debate has called for the abolition of faculties and schools of education at the undergraduate level and the relegation of their work to the graduate level; hence, the eternal struggle between sequential and concurrent teacher education programs. The partnership was therefore viewed by Egypt’s Supreme Council of Universities and Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research as a welcome step in the direction of creating cost-effective means of stimulating a reform environment. For several decades, the international reform community has recognized the importance of school-university partnerships and the creation of Professional Development Schools (PDS) in offering an effective method of creating collaboration, continuous professional development, research, and pedagogical innovation. The proponents of this approach have claimed that it can simultaneously reform school practices and teacher education programs. It is the intention of the SUP4PCL consortium in Egypt to introduce such an approach with the support and creation of Peer Communities of learners (PCLs) at the university, school, and cross-cultural levels. Due to some bureaucratic delays, it is only in late February of 2017 that the partnership was enacted with the first Kick-off meeting of the project. During this initial first phase, partnership teams were being constructed within the eight institutions of the consortium; Ain Shams University ANSU, Helwan University HU, Alexandria University AU (from Egypt), University of Limerick UL, (from Ireland) Martin Luther University (from Germany), University of Northampton UON, University of Leicester ULEIC (from UK), and the American University in Cairo AUC, coordinating the consortium from Egypt. Moreover, the various institutions with very diverse cultural and political backgrounds were beginning to know each other. The early stages of consolidating this layer of the partnership were animated with meetings and much mobility to learn about each other in live natural environments. During this preparatory preliminary phase, another layer was added to the partnership namely that between Egyptian Faculties of Education and Professional Development Schools (PDSs). The first step in that direction was a signed Memorandum of Understanding MOU between the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research and the Ministry of Education and Technical Education. Under this protocol, three faculties were to partner with a total of 15 public governmental schools at a ratio of 5 to each faculty later to expand to a total of 45 schools at a ratio of 15 schools per faculty. The MOU was followed by signed letters of agreement with the Ministry of Education local directorates. After some months, more closeness was established between the partners through exchange visits, activities, communication and meetings in the summer of 2018. Halfway through the project, another dimension to the partnership was added, namely a twinning process was introduced with the following arrangement: AUC twinning with ULEIC for quality assurance and monitoring purposes, AU with UON twining for capacity development and the write up of case studies, similarly for the same purposes HU twinned with MLU and ANSU with UL. Finally, in 2019 yet another dimension was added to the partnership with the clustering of PDSs thus allowing for these to expand to 45 with a ratio of 15 per each Faculty of Education (FOE). The various case studies of this project will cover all the layers and dimensions of the enhanced and expanding partnership. All the participants in the expanding partnership/consortium reached consensus on a research framework with set questions shaping the work of each of the case studies. Together, the various case studies constitute a level of triangulation that supports and assures the integrity of interpretation, especially that the collection of data was done at different points in time by different research teams in similar settings. The total data generated from this project has the potential of being utilized for grounded theory and to further refine concepts and comparative approaches to school-university partnerships, and Peer Communities of Learners PCL. Malak Zaalouk 9 Chapter One: Introduction ● Faculty strategic goals: The Faculty works to ensure the