Alexandria University's Schools

A Journey of Transformation: The Case Study about Alexandria University’s Partnership with Schools to Build Peer Communities of Learners Alexandria University Schools’ Case Study Authors Dalia E. Hammoud Maha M. Elkomy Elshaymaa E. Abdulgawad Dalia Elhawary Heba Makram & Salah Elkharashi, Saher M. Elghanam, Nevien H. Elkhaial, Rania A. Ragheb, Alsaeed Alshamy Edited by the peer review committee: The American University in Cairo & 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 Acronyms 6 List of Tables 7 List of Figures 8 List of Appendices 9 Preface 10 Introduction 11 Research Background and Questions 11 Conceptual Framework 13 Context 15 Heather School 15 Iris School 15 Clover School 16 Gardenia School 16 Buttercup School 16 Methodology 19 Ethics 19 Data Sources and Tools Used 19 Semi-structured interviews 19 Schools baseline reports 19 School visit reports 19 Survey 20 Focus group discussion (FGD) 20 Content analysis of vignettes 20 Content analysis of WhatsApp platform discussions 21 Intervention 22 Data Analysis 27 Survey 27 Findings 33 Findings from the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) 33 Findings from Vignettes 40 Findings from WhatsApp Platforms 42 4 Challenges 47 Discussion 48 Recommendations 51 Conclusion 52 Appendices 53 References 64 5 List of Acronyms ARAS Action Research for All Schools AU Alexandria University AUC American University in Cairo CPD Continuous Professional Development EKB Egyptian Knowledge Bank FGD Focus Group Discussion FoE Faculty of Education MoE Ministry of Education MoED Ministry of Education Directorate MoHE Ministry of Higher Education QAU Quality Assurance Unit UoN University of Northampton PCLs Peer Communities of Learners PD Professional Development SC School Clusters SUP4PCL School and University Partnership for Peer Communities of Learners 6 List of Tables Table 1: Comparison among Five Core Schools according to Various Factors 18 Table 2: Tools used to Gather Data in Different Stages of the Project 20 Table 3: Professional Development Topics Covered at Schools by AU Team 24 Table 4: WhatsApp Group Documentation 43 7 List of Figures Figure 1. Shared principles and values 27 Figure 2. Building trusting relationships 27 Figure 3. Collaboration in PCLs 28 Figure 4. The impact of PCL on teaching practices 28 Figure 5. Respecting different opinions within PCLs 28 Figure 6. Level of satisfaction with decision-making 29 Figure 7. Respecting differences in opinion 29 Figure 8. Activities within PCLs 29 Figure 9. Improving teaching practices 29 Figure 10. Improving teachers’ professional development 30 Figure 11. Impact on students learning 30 Figure 12. How teachers feel about participating in PCLs 30 Figure 13. Peer pressure in PCLs 30 Figure 14. Willingness to participate in PCLs 31 Figure 15. Time allotted for PCLs 31 Figure 16. Sufficiency of the available tools and resources 31 Figure 17. Sharing teaching practices with colleagues 31 Figure 18. Sharing resources with colleagues 32 Figure 19. Sharing articles in the group 45 Figure 20. Influence on English teachers 45 8 List of Appendices Appendix 1: Procedures and Criteria for Selecting the Five Professional Development Schools 53 Appendix 2: Memorandum of Understanding 55 Appendix 3: Procedures for Creating School Clustering 59 Appendix 4: Sample of School Visit Reports 61 Appendix 5: Online Survey 62 Appendix 6: Focus Group Discussion Questions 63 9 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 10 Introduction Over three years (2017-2019) - the lifetime of the project teachers have engaged in a series of rich professional Research Background and Questions development sessions that focused on core concepts The current case study covers the five public schools including education for sustainable development (ESD), that Alexandria University (AU) team has worked Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics

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