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 with, under the European funded three-year Erasmus+ (STEAM), Global Citizenship (GC). Hence, this kind of project ‘School and University Partnership for Peer partnership between the university and schools is significant Communities of Learners (SUP4PCL)’. A strong for the success of this transformation whereby the former consortium of universities both national and European equips practitioners with the theoretical knowledge behind have been carefully selected for this project, where the their practice and where schools are the perfect context latter offers technical support. One of these universities where these theories and ideas are enacted in practice. is Alexandria University (AU), represented by the For decades, teacher training, in the Egyptian context, Faculty of Education, which has a specific partnership provided by faculties of education and the Ministry of with the University of Northampton (UoN), has adopted Education has largely adopted traditional approaches, five (PD) neighbouring schools. These schools were which mainly centered on engaging teachers in one- selected based on the following criteria as set by the shot sessions. This, in turn, has led to a waste of time, project management team at the American University resources and efforts of all involved parties and in particular in Cairo (See Appendix 1 for more information on the contributed to unsatisfactory teacher performance. These selection procedure and criteria). culturally set traditional approaches to teacher education § Public schools have often been criticized. An attempt for transformation has been initiated by AUC through the current project: § Convenient location School and University Partnership for Peer Communities of Learners (SUP4PCL). It has clearly acknowledged § Has an effective quality assurance unit the importance of transforming teacher professional § Has technological infrastructure development to cope with the recent trends in this area, through equipping teachers with approaches such as § Has qualified teachers and supportive mentoring, action research and learning communities. administration The present study aims at answering the following § Offers initiatives for parents and the local research questions: community 1- How does the SUP4PCL project enhance the Research on teacher education has emphasized the development of Professional Communities of significance of school-based continuous professional Learners (PCLs) at the school level? development as an effective approach to teacher education. During the last few decades, teacher training has long 2- How has the PCL impacted on the made use of traditional approaches that dominated and transformation of professional learning hindered teacher development in the Egyptian context. practice at the school level? With the advent of the school and university partnership 3- What are some of the tensions between project, various types and levels of partnerships were beliefs/ values and practice? formed to enforce gradual change of the mindsets at the university as well as the school level through imparting The study is divided into seven sections. Section one concepts that are new to the Egyptian educational system “The Conceptual Framework” starts by highlighting the such as Professional Communities of Learners (PCLs), theoretical framework of the research by explaining the mentorship and action research. It was hoped that by the communities of practice model and describing the different end of the project both teachers and the AU team would roles played by its members. Then, it focuses on both the have developed improved knowledge and skills pertinent structural and conceptual limitations to the possibility of to teaching and learning. teachers building knowledge amongst their colleagues,
11 followed by a brief overview of the challenges faced in teams under the supervision of the FoE were formed developing and sustaining different types of professional and coached. Careful documentation of the current communities. Finally, after mentioning the benefits behind practices has also been undertaken, which helped in forming school clusters, the use of social networks at tailoring the contextually suitable type of technical various educational levels is highlighted. assistance needed to bring about change in behavior and mindsets. In Section two “Context”, the five core PD schools are described, with a focus on the schools’ culture and The next sections “Data Analysis and Discussion” values, together with their position within the larger comprise the body of this work, shedding light on context of the whole Egyptian educational system. data analysis with thorough interpretation, supported by quotes with commentary on them. This is followed In section three “Methodology”, the methodological by a “Recommendations” section, proposing some steps taken are explained, presenting the various solutions to achieve professional development (PD) sources and tools used for gathering relevant data. in schools. The last section is the conclusion, which Special attention was given to the “Intervention”, offers a summary of the research results. where a comprehensive description of how the school
12 Conceptual Framework knowledge and skills as well as support their students. The upcoming conceptual framework will inform the In his seminal work on ‘learning organizations’, Senge study and frame the analysis; however, it will not be (1990) sought to illustrate and conceptualize them, directly visible in the analytical section. indicating that in such organizations “collective as- piration is set free and where people are continually This section provides the theoretical basis for under- learning how to learn together’ (p.3). He found that standing the notion of learning communities and their being a member of an organization would largely con- influence on the professional development of teachers tribute to empowering individuals as well as collective and students at various grade levels. learning. Consequently, Senge’s conceptualization has given rise to the notion of ‘Schools as Learning Orga- Teachers today are constantly challenged by the nizations’ where later research capitalized on forming global advancements, the successive reforms in the collaborative relations among school staff, stressing educational context as well as the rigorous teaching that eventually progress and change would be attained standards they have to meet. Within this multifaceted ((Biesta, 2012; Giles & Hargreaves, 2006; Lingard, and demanding educational context, quality teaching 2009; Mulford, 1998). Based on that perspective, the becomes essential for promoting quality learning professional learning community ‘model’ of school or- outcomes and it is thus deemed necessary for teachers ganization has been developed to ensure and support to seek continuous professional learning to cope teachers’ ongoing, collaborative learning within and with the ever-changing professional and educational across schools (L. Matthews, Crow, & J. Matthews, demands. 2009; Murphy & Lick, 2005).
Though professional development is critical to teachers’ It is also important to note that one of the challenging progress, most programs targeting that are traditional, goals of this model is to change the mindset and one-shot sessions; thus, they are useless and ineffective conventional norms of the school culture that are often (Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson, & scrutinized by the advocates of the school as a learning Orphanos, 2009). In this respect, the prevailing organization. Since teachers are considered, in current ‘eggcrate model’ of schooling, where teachers hardly literature, agents of change, this emphasizes how interact with each other, has had negative influences changes in their mindset could enhance their teaching on teachers as it led to their isolation within their and the success of their students. classrooms and unfortunately prevented them from interacting with one another (Little, 1990). By focusing The model of professional development has been care- on the Egyptian context, the majority of teachers in fully shaped and widely acknowledged by specialists in public schools indicate that busy schedules, large varied disciplines and specifically in education where classes and lack of support are among the principal communities of teachers and/or learners are constituted reasons for avoiding collaboration and preferring and maintained to achieve common goals and promote isolation and focusing on their individual practices. best practices (DuFour & Eaker, 1998). More recent These conditions could also result in an increase in the research (Kools & Stoll, 2016; Stoll & Kools, 2017; level of teachers’ burnout rate. E. Wenger-Trayner & B. Wenger-Trayner, 2015) has explored and detailed the features representing the Following from this complex setting, abundant re- community as the core of ‘Schools as Learning Orga- search has been evolving and experimenting with var- nizations’. These features include developing shared ious pathways to teacher professional learning and de- goals, exchanging knowledge, enhancing collabora- velopment, one of which is the community of practice. tion and distributing leadership among the school staff. It has been much debated in literature with a dual focus Additionally, promoting a culture of inquiry and rich on how it leads to teacher professionalism and school learning opportunities is integral to successful learning improvement (DuFour, 2004; Mullen & Schunk, 2010; communities in schools. Wenger, 1998). This professional learning model is based on viewing schools as places where teachers can successfully interact and learn together to enhance their
13 Although the concept of the community of practice was community is not only limited to receiving knowledge coined differently in literature and many definitions from experts, but it does also extend to embrace the have been proposed, much research on this topic has prospect of teachers as “creators, disseminators, and focused more on introducing defining attributes for preservers of it” (p. 281), as they observe one another, such communities so that educators can effectively analyze classes and students’ work. Hence, research implement them in their context (DuFour & Eaker, indicates that school effectiveness is to a large extent 1998; Turner, 2015). In attempting to understand the dependent on the efficacy and collaboration of the attributes of PCL, DuFour, Eaker, and R. DuFour (2005) community of teachers and leaders who have shared have indicated that the community of practice has a vision, goals and leadership that would, in turn, sup- common desire to change and share vision, leadership, port the learning of students. and goals aiming to enhance the educational setting in which they work. In conclusion, the community of practice is an inno- vative model for school reform and academic progress The extent to which teachers develop professionally of its staff which needs to be widely implemented in due to their engagement in PCLs has been much exam- Egypt if we seek improvement in education. In spite ined. There is growing evidence of the positive impact of the challenges that might stem from using that of these communities, which currently lies at the heart model, schools have to encourage the development of of school improvement, on promoting quality teaching such communities and provide the supportive context geared toward enhancing student performance (Hord, required for their sustainability. Furthermore, partner- Roussin & Sommers, 2010). To illustrate, Wood (2007) ships among schools have to be highly stressed since contrasts between two learning communities of teach- they lead to significant change and development at a ers; his research concludes that teachers’ professional large scale within and across them.
14 Context Consequently, it can be claimed that the teachers were rarely empowered and felt marginalized. They were not Having set the framework for analysis and giving some also given enough time to engage in systematic reflection. background information about the schools themselves That impression was based on close observation by the was beneficial. Gaining access to work with the five PD AU team members as mentioned in their school visit schools, was a challenging and long process reflecting reports which were written during the visits that took the centralization that some institutions suffer from. place between October 2017- February 2018. The first round of correspondences between the FoE and the Ministry of Education Directorate (MoED) The school made a considerable effort throughout the went on from January to September 2017 to ask for year to include parents in meetings to discuss their official approvals to work with the selected five children’s performance and the methods employed PD schools. Fortunately, the signed Memorandum for teaching them. Parents were also asked to provide of understanding MoU between The Ministry of financial support when necessary. Education and Technical Education (MoETE), and the Regarding the main pillars of the project, namely Ministry of Higher Education and Academic Research mentorship, PCL and action research, the teachers (MoHE), and the Middle East Institute for Higher neither had prior knowledge of any of them, nor were Education (MEIHE) at the American University in they offered any trainings in these fields. Hence, once Cairo (AUC) facilitated the upcoming steps. Another more this made it quite challenging to introduce them round of correspondences between FoE and MoED to these new concepts and raise their awareness of their took place from September till October 2017. Once significance in the educational process. the AU team got approvals from the MoED, intensive visits to the schools took place to orient the schools Iris School about the project’s aims and activities and set a plan It is a primary governmental school with 17 teachers, for AU to work in collaboration with these PD schools in which 6 teachers are in the PCL, and with two A similar process took place starting from June 2018 to educational stages: kindergarten and primary stages; get approvals for creating school clusters. only the latter is participating in the project. The school It is worth mentioning that the bureaucratic routine pre- is far from being well-established, having only one sented a great challenge to the progress of the project, computer lab to serve a big number of students, 407 together with the idea of putting on hold all activities students. in their mid-term and end of year examination time. Based on the dominant attitude prevailing, even in the The following section introduces the context of the presence of AU members, it can be claimed that an five different core schools on which the case study has authoritarian leadership style is spread throughout the been built. Schools were given pseudonyms to align school, as the principal is very demanding. He himself with research ethics. They cover various educational believes that without being a tough leader, nothing stages, from KG to the senior stage. The following would be achieved. Although they felt pressurized, includes factual information and presents the cultural they were satisfied after seeing the outcomes. background of each school. As for the parents in general, they are not involved Heather School in any of the school activities, whether fundraising, volunteering in projects, exhibitions or trips. However, Heather School is a KG school with a total number of some are interested in educational aspects such as 409 students, distributed among the two stages, 233 homework, classroom activities and extracurricular KG1 students (3 classes), and 176 KG2 students (2 activities, and very few are part of the school committee. classes) and 9 teachers, in which 4 teachers are in the PCL. These classes are equipped with smart boards.
The leadership style tends to be mainly autocratic, having some negative impact on teachers’ job satisfaction.
15 Clover School In general, the school has a very high self-image, The school has two educational stages: primary and considering itself a leading school and a model that kindergarten. It includes 20 classes in the primary could be followed. It participates in many competitions stage whereas the KG comprises of only one class. The and activities and is always visited by those working capacity of the class is 40 students. The total number with the Ministry of Education. As a result of its good of students is 821 students, including 4 students with reputation, it is always consulted when it comes to special needs. The total number of teachers is 45 community service projects. Moreover, a friendly teachers, in which 5 teachers are in the PCL. atmosphere dominates the scene.
The leadership style seems to be a democratic one. The By looking at the management and leadership style decision-making process in the school is shared by of the school, it can be claimed that it is mainly all stakeholders including the board of trustees who democratic and fair, but sometimes authoritarian when diagnose the problems and develop a plan to resolve crucial decisions are made by the principal. Such a it. There is a positive atmosphere prevailing among leadership style depends on the teachers’ experience, teachers, and they exchange learning and teaching their characters, and the kind of relationship they experiences. Moreover, parents are involved in solving have with the school principal. Parents’ involvement some problems related to students and providing some is clear when it comes to encouraging their children needs for the school. to participate in school exhibitions, competitions, and trips. Few are part of the board and thus help in One of the strengths at the school worth mentioning solving some of the problems whenever possible, like is the community partnership represented in the providing the school with benches and hiring a janitor. committee board, resulting in exchanging experiences with other schools in reading skills. Despite this The initial exploration of the school has shown that it relationship among schools, it cannot be considered did not have systematic functioning PCLs. There were clustering since meetings were not formal nor regular. efforts, mainly on individual levels, to collaborate and Furthermore, it has received quality assurance and exchange experiences when faced with a challenge. In accreditation two consecutive times, thus standing out addition, mentorship was done informally whenever as a role model for other neighbouring schools. The needed. Hence, the topics which the project focuses school also introduces services for talented as well as on have not been formally introduced to them; like the special needs students. In addition, it has access to the other schools, they did not receive any training in these internet, and twenty-two computer sets are available. fields. There is also a projector, TV, and VCR. Other facilities Buttercup School include a lab and meeting room. The school provides PD services for teachers within it, and teachers are It is a secondary school with a total number of 1704 selected for training. Similar to the above mentioned students and 115 teachers, in which 5 teachers are in two schools, the teachers were not familiar with the the PCL. It is a PD school and has received a certif- themes of the project; nor did they receive any training icate of appreciation for quality performance. Being regarding them. in a central location, near some academic institutions and cultural places such as the Faculties of Education, Gardenia School Science, Engineering, Agriculture, Law, Commerce, It is a school for girls that has all stages from kindergarten as well as various museums, the school provides the to secondary stage, yet the focus in this project is only students with opportunities to make field visits to all on the middle stage. The total number of students is 520 of these places. Furthermore, the school has obtained and 43 teachers, in which 5 teachers are in the PCL. quality assurance and accreditation certificates certifi- Other than the well-equipped classrooms, there are 2 cates twice in 2009 and 2016. computer labs and one science lab. There is also the The management and leadership styles are democratic discovery center to dig for talents in Alexandria (in the as evident through teachers’ participation in decision- school and the surrounding areas), and it has a website. making. As for the strengths of the school, the availability
16 of various units in the school such as the Training and among teachers. However, concepts such as PCL, Quality Assurance Unit, Active Learning Unit, Equal mentorship and inquiry-based approaches to teaching Opportunity Unit and gifted learners’ unit promote the and learning did not appear to be an integral part of the outstanding performance of the school. Finally, working school’s culture and practices. with the local community provides opportunities to conduct field visits to companies, factories, hospitals or others, To conclude this section about the context of the which can be regarded as an asset to the school. core five PD schools, it can be claimed that an initial overview of the situation of the five schools at the In general, the school community tends to work beginning of the project reveals that none of them had cooperatively rather than individually. Through the a comprehensive understanding of the main themes of initial investigation, the AU team could not document the project nor had they received any form of formal the existence of formal Professional Learning training on them. However, there are differences among Communities that meet regularly to enhance their schools regarding PD practices. Some of them created professional work and impact on students’ learning, informal PCLs through exchanging experiences or in spite of informal forms of collaboration that exist sharing advice without being aware of the term.
17 The following table offers a summary of the general context of the schools:
Table 1 Comparison among Five Core Schools according to Various Factors
Schools Factors Heather Iris Clover Gardenia Buttercup
No. of Students 409 407 821 520 1704
No. of Teachers 9 17 41 43 115
Arabic 21 Math 12 English 13 French 3 Arabic 5 German 1 Arabic 6 Math 2 + 1 part- Italian 1 Math 5 time Spanish1 Social Studies 3 Social Studies 1 Arabic 7 Physics 8 Science 2 Science 1 Math 6 Chemistry 10 Distribution acc. to English 2 Class teachers 9 English 2 Science 2 Biology 6 Subjects French 1 P.E. 1 Social studies 2 Geography 5 Computer Domestic Economy1 History 4 Science 1 Computer 1 Philosophy 7 Domestic Art 1 P.E. 3 Economy1 Agriculture 1 Agriculture 2 Industry 4 Music 1/ Art 1 Computer 5 Domestic economy 3
Type of Leadership authoritarian authoritarian authoritarian democratic / democratic authoritarian
Equipment well-equipped poorly-equipped well-equipped well-equipped well-equipped
Quality exists exists exists exists exists Assurance Unit
School culture at the No formal PCL, No formal PCL, No formal PCL, No formal PCL, No formal PCL, beginning mentorship and mentorship and mentorship and mentorship and mentorship and inquiry-based inquiry-based inquiry-based inquiry-based inquiry-based approaches approaches approaches approaches approaches
18 Methodology Data Sources and Tools Used In the present case study, data has been collected in The current study explores in depth how the SUP4PCL three phases corresponding with the three main stages project impacted on the evolution of PCLs at the of the project (See Table 2 for more details). It is school level. It examines the possible transformations necessary at that point to mention that the data sources in professional practices that PCLs can trigger, and for this study were varied and included: a) school the tensions between beliefs and practices that can visits report), b) base-line reports, c) semi-structured challenge such transformations. interviews (5), d) a survey, e) a focus group discussion, The study aims to provoke thoughts and conversations f) vignettes and g) WhatsApp platforms. The total among educators, that might lead to changed data collected turned out to be 344 items. These data educational practice, and to give the participating sources are summarized in table 2 schools an opportunity to reflect on their learning and Semi-structured interviews development. The AU team held semi-structured interviews with dif- Our methodology is interpretivism whereby we ferent stakeholders; these included: the school head, value and explore the interpretations and meanings the heads of the quality assurance and training unit, emerging from the different data sources. We aim to and teachers from different subject areas. The inter- challenge our pre-set assumptions about teachers’ views aimed at understanding stakeholders’ expec- and schools’ professional development by listening tations, needs and concerns and gaining insights into to teachers’ stories, analyzing documents and looking the school’s culture. We have also asked about their into reflections of participants. Consequently, mixed- experience of sharing knowledge and having system- method approaches are used in which we triangulated atic professional learning meetings across and within quantitative and qualitative data in terms of involving subjects. both teachers and AU team members as respondents Schools baseline reports and relied on multiple sources of evidence. These reports helped with collecting data in a A large amount of data collected in this study was systematic and comprehensive manner across the dealt with in a systematic and organized way proposed different five schools. They also aimed at presenting in the literature on implementing content analysis a comprehensive overview of the different schools’ to rigorously interpret and present trustworthy professional development needs, their teachers’ conclusions obtained from case studies (Bengtsson, aspirations and expectations as well as the prevailing 2016; Erlingsson & Brysiewicz, 2017). This data has culture. Meanwhile, they functioned as a reference been gathered from three main sources, semi-structured point that can be used to document changes and interviews with a relevant sample, School Baseline development in the schools at different stages in the Reports and School Visits Report (See Appendices 4,5, lifetime of the project. They also present a ‘profile’ and 6). for the schools that helps the research team better understand the needs of the schools and how to best Ethics cooperate with it to fully achieve the aims of the In general, this project has been written and the project and ultimately empower the schools to develop research for it conducted in reference to the British and flourish as models of professional communities of Educational Research Association Ethical Guidelines learners. (BERA, 2018). As for the anonymity and dialogues, School visit reports the interviewees were asked to provide consent regarding the use of the focus group transcript for this Each school was visited around 10 times in 2017. The paper and possible further publication orally before duration of these visits varied from one hour to three the discussion had been completed. Pseudonyms were and was attended mostly by the headteacher, quality used for schools and individual respondents. assurance and training unit heads, and teachers from different subject areas (See Appendix 4).
19 Table 2 Tools used to Gather Data in Different Stages of the Project
Stage Target Tool Used Number
One Knowledge about ü Semi-structured Interviews with ü 5 Oct-Dec 2017 the school’s needs teachers and stakeholders at and culture and schools ü 5 Building trust ü Schools Baseline Reports ü Schools Visit Reports ü 50
Two Professional ü Survey ü 46 Jan – Oct 2018/ Development ü Focus Group Discussion with ü 6 T. ongoing teachers
Three School clusters ü Content Analysis of Vignettes ü 2 Dec 2018 - 2019 ü Content Analysis of WhatsApp Discussions ü 230
The aim was three-fold: first, to introduce the project Focus group discussion (FGD) and its key outcomes to the target group, stressing the In order to further probe the teachers’ responses, collaboration between the schools and the university, a focus group discussion was conducted with five and second, to build trust amongst the schools’ teachers, belonging to three different schools covering stakeholders, including teachers, and the AU team. various stages. This was done after the validation of the A third aim was to gain a better understanding of the interview; three AU team members read the interview schools’ culture and needs. for proofreading before approaching the teachers. Survey There were 20 open-ended questions (See Appendix 6), tackling the same four dimensions covered in the One of the major challenges that the project team survey. encountered was to meet and work with teachers during school examination time. Consequently, as a Content analysis of vignettes step to collect information about teachers’ evaluation To have a better perspective of the influence of the project of their PCLs, an online survey was implemented with on the schools, especially after forming clusters, teachers 46 school teachers addressing four dimensions, namely were encouraged to write vignettes describing their whole vision and shared values, acceptance of differences experience. However, only five responded. Three turned and decision making, support and influence, and out to be more or less similar to their responses to the challenges. The survey included 18 closed questions survey questions and the other two wrote their stories. and four open-ended ones. Teachers were asked to Hence, these were the only ones examined. Their target respond to a five-point Likert scale, selecting a suitable was primarily to disclose how participating in this project response (See Appendix 5 for questions). and being part of a school cluster might have impacted them, and their professional learning practices. The content of these vignettes was analyzed in light of the teachers’ experience throughout the journey of the project.
20 Content analysis of WhatsApp platform ing had been established, a wider network was shaped discussions and activated across the 15 schools. Now, each indi- Various WhatsApp platforms were created along the vidual school cluster, together with AU members, is life-time of the project, for sharing and documenting formed. It was agreed upon that these platforms were information relevant to the different stages that teach- strictly professionally targeted groups without personal ers went through. For instance, at the very early stage ideologies involved. of the journey, each individual school had a WhatsApp platform with the presence of its AU members for ease of scheduling visits. Further on, when school cluster-
21 Intervention questionnaire that consisted of closed and open ques- tions. It was made up of three sections: section one Gaining access to schools and building a sustainable asked for participants’ personal data in terms of subject and collaborative relationship between University and area and years of experience; section two included six- school is a delicate matter which turned out not to be teen questions focusing on the teachers’ professional an easy task. It required good understanding of school needs and used a four-point Likert scale ranging from contexts, planning and employing different procedures. very high to weak, and section three included four The following section outlines them. closed and open questions focusing on the execution of the professional development programme. Doing Late October 2017, after gaining a verbal consent from so empowered teachers and gave them a role in de- the MoED, AU team had its first informal visits to the fining their needs. This was meant to make up for the schools as an ice-breaking stage. Indeed, this was the deficiency of previous trainings where teachers were beginning of our work at schools. Two to three members forced to attend sometimes unneeded trainings. Once of the AU team visited each of the schools ten times as more, this contributed to fostering the feeling of equal- a group. The duration of these visits varied from one ity, trust and respect in the school teachers-university hour to three hours, and they were attended mostly by professors’ relationship. the principal, Quality Assurance team, subject leads and some teachers of different subjects. First, the aim Stage three aimed at gaining an in-depth understanding of these visits was to introduce the program to the of teachers’ needs through the use of interviews. It is target group, stressing the collaboration that will take worth mentioning that the open-ended questionnaire place between the school and the university. Building was distributed to the teachers in the schools during the trust amongst the teachers was another aim we worked last week of November 2017 and was collected a week at achieving. The most significant outcome of these later. After analyzing the data from the first question- visits was creating a feeling of equality and respect, naire, the second one was developed and administered an important issue that often complicates relationships (third week of December 2017) to teachers in the same between school teachers and university staff members. way. The common feeling among school teachers is that university members live in their own ivory tower and In order to help us with developing the materials, and often look down upon those working in schools. as part of the partnership between Alexandria FoE and UoN, a three-day workshop was held in December We then attended lessons to have an idea of the 2017, during which the principals and teachers from the environment teachers work in. Meanwhile, the MoED five schools attended and collaborated actively. Rich sent preliminary demographic data about these discussions on developing materials constituted the core schools, which required updating; consequently, the of this workshop. Leadership styles and how these will visits targeted creating school profiles. Finally, we impact the school culture were also a significant part of met teachers to learn more about their needs through the workshop. In a session about proposing a change in informal chats. the school context, teachers shared the challenges that they might encounter when they propose new ideas. We carried out a needs assessment to collect data about The schools’ active participation in this workshop was the teachers’ professional needs. We planned to conduct one important step in narrowing the gap between them that assessment through three consecutive stages. and the university, creating a stronger feeling of mutual Stage one aimed at collecting general qualitative data respect and understanding of the project themes and through the use of an open-ended questionnaire, which aims. It also made school members feel like agents of consisted of two questions that required the participants change in the project with an indispensable role to play. to identify their prior training needs and the possible challenges that may limit the success of the training In February 2018, a number of events took place. program. First, it was essential to select five mentors from each school to attend the workshop held later in the month, Stage two aimed at collecting more specific quanti- nominated by the school principal, taking into account tative and qualitative data through the use of another
22 the presence of the Quality Assurance Unit (QAU). professional development sessions, which ended Second, on the 21st and 22nd of February 2018, all the in mid-September, with the beginning of the new mentors of the five schools attended PD workshops academic year. The sessions were forms of TOTs held at the Faculty of Education. During the first day, that aimed at capacity building of mentors at schools. they were introduced to the three basic concepts of It is worth mentioning here that the QAU of each the project: Education for Sustainable Development school was given a CD including the PowerPoint (ESD), STEAM, and Global Citizenship (GC), thus presentations of the summer professional development establishing a strong theoretical basis. On the second sessions used and the materials designed, to help with day, the workshop was more practical; teachers from their implementation at their schools. Doing so was various schools formed clusters and were required to another milestone on the journey of building trust design activities addressing these three concepts, which among schools and university members. turned out to be a great success. Assessing the influence of the workshop was important, at this stage, to make The following sessions mentioned depended mostly on sure whether teachers gained the target knowledge. active learning, where activities were included to help Teachers showed a high level of satisfaction concerning teachers apply concepts and themes in their classes the theoretical content knowledge, discussions and later on, based on their requirements. However, certain activities. topics required partial lecturing due to their nature, and yet discussions were also used in those classes. To follow-up on the impact of the workshop on The whole experience was mostly a great success. All both teachers and students, several procedures were participants were involved and seemed enthusiastic followed. First, the AU team paid several visits to the about participating in each session. Positive feedback five core schools to monitor the extent to which teachers was usually given. However, they expressed their gained sufficient knowledge of the main concepts. fears concerning the application of all these ideas, Second, teachers responsible for the QAU were asked taking into consideration the long curriculum content, to incorporate these concepts in the training schedule the time stress, lack of understanding and rigidity of of the school in order to disseminate this knowledge their supervisors, some of whom do not understand amongst teachers in the school and across schools when or welcome any form of innovation and creativity, clusters are established and by doing so they started to insisting on the strict traditional form of lesson practice their roles as mentors. Third, teachers were planning. required to design activities that implement these concepts to ensure that they are integrating them into In order to help in the schools’ transformation and the curriculum of different stages. to counter the deep-rooted resistance to change, experiential learning had to be encouraged. Adults From March to April 2018, the job was mainly done normally learn a great deal better if they are fully by the mentors, at their own schools, under the AU engaged in the experience of learning and doing and if team guidance. They were asked to disseminate the the topic of the new learning is relevant to their lives and project culture and the associated concepts among professions. Moreover, they tend to learn and change their colleagues in a collaborative fashion. As a result, when well supported and accompanied during the the team met with more teachers to see how well challenging process of transformation. Consequently, they understood the project’s purpose and concepts, in November 2018, after a number of school visits, in addition to applying the three concepts on lessons teachers were asked to form PCLs and systematically they actually teach. The next step was following up the document them. By being able to study and collectively activities designed by the teachers with their students, reflect on their practices as a comprehensive school which were documented in the light of an agreed community in a prolonged ongoing fashion, the format. expected outcome would be the improvement of teaching and learning. Sharing our own experience in Unfortunately, work at schools was suspended for having a PCL at the FoE was beneficial as they were two months due to examinations and official holidays. able to realize that the challenges they face are normal, Then it was resumed in July 2018 to start the various and in turn, they learnt how to overcome some of them.
23 The following is a table presenting all the topics covered in the above mentioned professional development programmes:
Table 3 Professional Development Topics Covered at Schools by AU Team (July 2018- Sep 2018) N Topic 1 Building professional communities of learners PCLs.
2 New roles for teachers.
3 Professional Development schools.
4 Effective Mentorship.
5 Egyptian Knowledge Bank & Edmodo.
6 Active Learning Techniques.
7 Teaching to develop thinking and problem-solving skills.
8 Teaching/designing activities for students with special needs.
9 Lesson Study
10 Quality Classroom
This again was very important in deconstructing their between the schools and the university. It started to take stereotype of university staff members as people place among every three schools to form a cluster and who have no problems in their own work, who live facilitate the exchange of the lessons learned. This helped in an ivory tower and face none of the challenges create PCLs across the various schools and to create the school teachers suffer from. Once more, this a consortium of QAUs within each cluster of schools. narrowed the gap between school and university. The Such an addition was done in two phases: (November team members attended some and also followed up on 2018-April 2019) and (July 2019-December 2019). the documentation of the activities designed within the project. Furthermore, one of the most important In phase one, the AU team held a meeting with all th, trends that the AU team introduced was activating that 15 schools on November 24 2018 at the Faculty of concept among students, thus leading them to form Education to follow up on the development of the their own PCLs. individual school work and the challenges they face. During these meetings, school members were given Starting mid-November, to fulfill another aim of the project, enough time and chance to speak their minds, express forming school clustering was the focus. Many official their fears and concerns, and share their experience as a correspondences (25/6/2018- 31/10/2018- 15/1/2019- way of building on the trust and sense of equality, which 18/7/2019) between the FoE and the MoED took place we aimed at and worked on from the beginning of the to obtain permission to agree on connecting two new project. Besides, these meetings made the concept and schools with the five main ones. aim of the project clearer to the teachers as well to the AU team members, knowing exactly what to focus on At that stage, in order to extend the scope of the project, or give more attention to. the partnership began to take a new form after it was
24 Moreover, it was essential to raise their awareness teachers of the school clusters to this concept, they about their new roles after the inclusion of two other were invited to attend a series of sessions to understand schools with their own school and to highlight the new the role of action research in solving problems related professional learning communities that would form to their practices and enable them to implement among these three schools. A new PCL was formed this approach effectively to improve their teaching. within each of the ten schools linked with the five This new experience provided teachers with varied PD schools. Now we have an extension of the PCL opportunities to share and create knowledge within concepts from the core school, PD school, to PCL on their PCLs. At the beginning of this process, each the cluster level (three schools). school cluster engaged in diagnosing and selecting a problem that would need investigation. In this phase, The school clusters met at Alexandria FoE and attended teachers undertook the role of researchers who actively regular meetings during the two academic terms. enquired and investigated their own practices to reach They were fruitful ones where teachers were able to practical approaches and solutions for the problems learn more about the idea of learning communities they encountered. Problems were then recorded and how they could go beyond s c hool walls to be on the whiteboard. Some modifications have been with other schools. They exchanged experiences and made through general discussions. Meanwhile, some discussed the challenges they faced. Furthermore, in problems were rejected because they were either vague these meetings, teachers were able to consolidate their or too broad or irrelevant to teaching. At this point, learning on topics related to p rofessional learning principals provided teachers with the needed support communities, active learning and the use of databases and encouragement by attending regular meetings available on the EKB, as well as employing technology and offering advice. Then, teachers shared links and in teaching and evaluation through the use of Google resources that would allow them to state their study virtual classes. appropriately.
In December 2018, three of the mentors, within each Teachers worked on writing their specific research questions, of the core schools, were selected, by the school providing a theoretical background, choosing the desired administration, and trained on Action Research in tools, selecting and analyzing data, and interpreting the the context of linking the two projects: Erasmus+ results. With time, more challenges emerged. Other than partnership, and Action Research for All Schools the shortage of time and lack of resources, which have (ARAS) to transfer this experience to their colleagues been dealt with efficiently, unforeseen conditions such in schools in this field, thus spreading that new concept as severe weather conditions caused unexpected high within their school and at the same time activating their absence rates of students at some schools. Teachers were role as mentors. This paved the way for the coming forced to put off implementing the activities designed for PD sessions. The ARAS project is also an initiative their action research. However, with flexible planning, that was introduced by MEIHE at the AUC since 2012 all schools were on track again and these have now new and has continued to train teachers and FOE faculty deadlines to finish their research and inquiry work inside on Action Research. In 2018, MEIHE brought the two their classrooms. initiatives closer by training teachers in the PD schools on Action Research with the support of Alexandria Drawing on the benefits of social networking applications, University’s alumni/ alumnae of ARAS, who had been the present case study made use of WhatsApp application previously trained to become trainers. for several reasons that were mentioned earlier. Most importantly was the fact that it is a convenient means of In the second phase of school clustering (July 2019 – communication and interaction among teachers at each December 2019), the main focus was on implementing individual school as well as among teachers across the action research and documenting all its procedures and five core schools, as they all had access to this application. outcomes. Action research is an important approach Furthermore, when school clusters were established, each that helps to support and further teachers’ professional cluster formed a new WhatsApp group to discuss ideas expertise through investigating the teaching and related to selecting a problem for collaborative action learning processes in a systematic way. To introduce research. Consequently, a wider network of teachers
25 was activated. One large group including the fifteen encouraging comments. AU team members were schools was established to share training materials in often invited to attend events at the targeted schools. the form of links, notes, plans, presentations, materials, For instance, in March 2018, the AU team attended references, photos, and videos. At that phase, the role of a farewell party at Heather School. Also on the 23rd AU members was highly effective by providing technical of March, three members were invited over an event support throughout that process. organized by the Ministry of Education Directorate to reward the winning teachers and schools in Collegiality among schools’ communities was governorate competitions. The top Gardenia School, another important outcome resulting from the flexible one of the five core schools in the project received an environment created by this social networking. award. Another event was held in January 2019 where Social occasions and encounters taking place in the water recycling project took place in Iris school. different schools constituted part of the experience. Documentation for these events was shared via the Teachers showed respect, appreciation, and support school Facebook page. for their colleagues’ contributions by adding positive,
26 Data Analysis This section includes an analysis of the data obtained by the four instruments used in the study. These instruments, which were developed by the AU team, involved an online survey, a focus group discussion, documents, and WhatsApp platform discussions. To analyze the qualitative data in this case study, due to its nature, content analysis was performed by coding and categorizing the responses and quotes of the participants. Based on this categorization, the emerging themes related to the questions of the study Figure 1. Shared principles and values were drawn and examined. As for the quantitative analysis, frequencies of responses were calculated When asked about the extent to which they believe that for both the survey and the WhatsApp platform there are shared principles and values between them and their coworkers in the PCL, as shown in figure (1) discussions. The themes, derived from the study sixty-three percent of the teachers selected very good. tools, were the objectives mainly stressed in the This finding emphasizes that teachers within their PCLs SUP4PCL project. It is hoped that enabling teachers have developed shared principles, values and mutual to pursue their professional development through trust. These features contribute to the evolution and at these current approaches would pave the way for a later stage the establishment of PCLs. When values systematic transformations within the school context, and principles are shared, learning among teachers is and particularly give teachers opportunities to improve promoted and cooperation is facilitated. their practices. Moreover, reviewing the literature to look at how these current trends in teacher professional development impact teaching and learning provided another channel for framing and broadening the analysis of the study themes.
Survey As mentioned earlier, to collect information about teachers’ reflections on their PCLs, an online survey was implemented on forty-six school teachers addressing four dimensions: 1) shared values, 2) decision making, 3) support and impact, 4) challenges. The survey included both closed and open-ended Figure 2. Building trusting relationships questions. In answering the first part, teachers were asked to respond to a five-point Likert scale, selecting Concerning trust amongst them, figure (2) shows a suitable response. In the second part, four open- that twenty-six percent of the respondents chose ended questions were added to further probe and excellent and fifty-four percent very good, adding up clarify teachers’ responses. The results are presented to eighty percent, giving positive feedback in relation as follows. to that topic, a very important and sensitive issue. The establishment of trusting relationships among teachers has been one of the cornerstones for building and nurturing the PCLs in which they engaged. This significant result obtained from the online survey indicates the impact the project has on promoting trust amongst teachers of the fifteen schools-
27 At this point, it is important to note that building trust has been a challenging process that would need transparency and commitment from all parties involved in this relationship. However, challenging and hard as this issue can be, the above figure proves that trust can be gained when enough effort and time are spent and dedicated to this issue.
Figure 4. The impact of PCL on teaching practices
As shown in figure (4), teachers responded positively when asked about how being part of a PCL influenced their teaching practices with 80% of the teachers strongly believing in that. This response demonstrates the impact of the project and the involvement of teachers in PCLs in shaping their teaching practices. Figure 3. Collaboration in PCLs They became more willing to work in a collaborative manner rather than working individually. Once Regarding collaboration, improvement among teachers more this was a natural outcome of building trusting due to PCLs, again as shown in figure (3) about relationships, leading to collaboration, which is the eighty-three percent expressed their strong belief in cornerstone of a PCL. Besides, this positive response the power of collaboration that emerges from PCLs. was due to holding PCL meetings where mentors and This emphasizes the need for cooperation among the mentees share instructional practices and experiences, members of the PCLs. Without cooperation, each in spite of the fact that the mentor might be younger, but member will work alone and experience will not be simply more experienced. Prior to that, teachers have shared among members and will not allow the practice developed a strong and trustworthy relationship with of mentoring skills. This was evident through the the university mentors, something which was missing collaboration of teachers in designing activities for before, yet it strongly helped in promoting mentorship their students, as well as in designing collaborative within schools. action research projects with school clusters; thus, cooperation has taken an expanded form, from mere school-level collaboration to network-level schools. Besides, it is interesting to note the similarity of the percentage of building trusting relationships and collaboration in PCLs (eighty percent and about eighty- three percent). This indicates the interrelationship between both trust and collaboration; acquiring the first led to the establishment of the second.
Figure 5. Respecting different opinions within PCLs
Concerning the worthiness of their opinion in the PCL, figure (5) shows that sixty-three percent of the teachers felt that that was the case. Yet thirty-seven percent expressed their belief that their opinion is not that worthy. This response raises some questions. While
28 they stated that there is sharing of principles and values once again shown to a high degree that the difference and mutual trust among them within the PCLs, a large in opinion is valuable and helpful. This contradiction number of the respondents (sixty-three percent) stated can be explained on two levels; on the one hand, while that their opinion is taken into account and the rest dealing with the administration, their opinions might not (thirty-seven percent) specified that their opinion is not be taken into consideration, due to the top-down system taken into account, which is a significant percentage. followed by most institutions. On the other hand, within This may be due to the model of leadership within the their PCLs, they have been encouraged by the AU team learning community; it may be an authoritarian model to share and respect each other’s opinions. that does not allow for differing opinions.
Figure 8. Activities within PCLs
Figure 6. Level of satisfaction with decision-making Figure (8) shows that only about seven percent feel that the PCL activities do not meet their needs, which It is worth noting here that about ninety-eight percent is a very low number, reflecting a positive image of of the teachers as shown in figure (6) were satisfied the PCL they participate in. Such a finding reflects with the way decisions are made in their PCLs. Such the desire of teachers to become active participants in an outcome contradicts the previous point of the the PCLs through designing activities collaboratively. worthiness of opinion. These activities that have been designed in light of the main concepts of the project are compatible with the requirements of the present curricula.
Figure 7. Respecting differences in opinion Figure 9. Improving teaching practices Except for one (two percent), all the teachers (about ninety-eight percent) as shown in figure (7) feel that Figure (9) shows that about ninety-eight percent of differences in opinion are beneficial. This result also them believe that being part of a PCL improves their reflects a contradiction in their responses. Though they teaching. This high response emphasizes the significant stated that their opinion is not taken, their responses have impact of the project and the formation of PCLs on
29 teachers’ professional development and in particular, influences their students’ learning. Needless to say, their teaching practices. Teachers took part in several students’ learning is greatly influenced by their teachers’ training sessions tackling various topics such as active efficacy. It must be stated here that due to the project, learning strategies and strategies to develop thinking teachers were encouraged to try out new activities and skills as well as the use of technology in teaching strategies in class, which in turn have had an impact on through using the EKB in the educational process. All the students’ learning. of these themes and topics were discussed and done with them in the summer of 2018. After forming the school clusters, there were weekly meetings at the Faculty of Education where they got to learn more about teaching strategies and the use of Google’s virtual classrooms in teaching and the assessment of their students’ learning.
Figure 12. How teachers feel about participating in PCLs
Only about four percent as shown in figure (12) chose poor, while feeling extremely happy for being part of a PCL was the choice of thirty-nine percent of them, together with another thirty-seven percent voting very good. This represents a very high percentage having a Figure 10. Improving teachers’ professional development positive attitude.
Only about four percent as shown in figure (10) felt that being part of a PCL did not help in their PD. This is a logical result that is fully consistent with the previous one in terms of viewing teaching as part of teachers’ professional development, by acknowledging that their engagement in PCLs has influenced their teaching and consequently their PD.
Figure 13. Peer pressure in PCLs
Significantly, figure (13) shows that eighty percent of the teachers feel somewhat pressurized by their colleagues in a PCL, with a high percentage choosing good. This can be interpreted according to some reasons; in general, Egyptian teachers are not used Figure 11. Impact on students learning to working in teams; in the presence of others, they always feel that they are monitored and evaluated; Figure (11) shows that a great number of teachers, in they are already overloaded with work, so they do not fact, the majority, agreed that being part of the PCL need to be compelled to work with their colleagues
30 as well. Finally, they might not feel at ease because it is a new practice. This is also related to the idea of competition among teachers, their personal self-image and confidence as well as the empowerment they are offered.
Figure 16. Sufficiency of the available tools and resources
In reference to the sufficiency of the available tools and resources, Figure (16) shows that about eighty-three percent of them agreed to that. Such a choice contradicts with their answer to the open-ended questions where Figure 14. Willingness to participate in PCLs they expressed their need for resources to encourage collaboration among teachers. This might be due to Fortunately, most teachers as shown in figure (14) the nature of open-ended questions where opinions claimed that they participate in their PCLs willingly. are expressed freely, without restriction or numerical This is a good result which shows that their participation limits to the response; thus, they identified their needs in the PCLs was without any pressure, but rather in detail and what was required to make the PCLs more voluntarily and of their own will. Hence, they show up effective. in meetings and workshops regularly. This was also an important thing for the sustainability and spread of the concept of the PCL, in contrast to other practices that the teachers were forced into. This also might be due to their need to cope with recent trends.
Figure 17. Sharing teaching practices with colleagues
Surprisingly, except for one, as shown in figure (17) Figure 15. Time allotted for PCLs all the teachers said that they feel that they could share their teaching practices with their colleagues. Figure (15) shows that the time allotted for the PCL is It could be claimed that the project has succeeded in said to be sufficient by the majority of respondents with fostering a culture of sharing experiences and teaching the exception of about twenty percent votes. Contrary practices among teachers, unlike the dominant culture to that, in the open-ended questions, time insufficiency of monopolizing and retaining knowledge without was a recurrent hindrance in the teachers’ responses. attempting to transfer it to others. This is a vital role of This incongruity is rational because open-ended a mentor who transmits his/her experience to mentees questions always provide the opportunity to express as well as a member of the PCLs who transfers his/ opinions freely, without restriction or numerical limits her experience to his/her colleagues so that they can to the response. improve their performance.
31 for traditional teaching methods that do not take the same amount of perceived time and effort required by innovative methods. What makes this issue more challenging is the routine and ministry regulations imposed by many of the supervisors, many of whom do not have an idea about the themes and concepts introduced by the project as well as are unwilling to understand or accept them. Other factors included individualism among teachers and their inability to work in teams for all the previously mentioned reasons. Authoritarian leadership and large classes were also Figure 18. Sharing resources with colleagues among the most important elements that hindered having a good PCL. Strikingly, figure (18) shows that more teachers are strongly willing to share resources with their colleagues Professional Learning Communities can be regarded as than sharing their teaching practices. Similarly, more cycles where learning is normally rooted in the daily teachers chose fair when it comes to sharing resources. routine; teachers gain new knowledge, practice using This might be logical if we take into consideration it, and, from the experience, gain more knowledge. the highly competitive environment they work in. In This is done through the interaction amongst them, addition, many teachers tend to give private tutoring, by working collaboratively. This cycle is strongly and by sharing their practices with their colleagues, influenced by both structural and cultural factors which they might lose the students who seek their help. cannot be ignored. Consequently, it is essential to shed However, it can be claimed that if the same teachers light on the teachers’ responses regarding that point. were to be asked about such a concept at the final stage When the respondents were asked about elements of the project (forming clusters and writing the action influencing collaboration among teachers within a PCL, research), their answer would have been different. they proposed many suggestions, putting most of the Through the WhatsApp groups and even the training burden on the school administration. After improving sessions, it is evident that more sharing has been taking their infrastructure and resources, schools are required place due to showing more trust and having one final to allot specific time for the regular meetings with target. clear assigned roles to teachers, provide them with continuous PD, lessen their workload, encourage In an answer to open-ended questions, the teachers’ project-based learning, and finally, integrate various comments were expressive and highly informative. subjects together. To have a clearer and more accurate They believe that for a PCL to be effective, collaboration picture, a focus group discussion was carried out. of parents, school administration and co-workers is the main factor required for success. Furthermore, allotting specific time for meetings, passing regulations, exchanging expertise, and encouraging teachers to be creative and innovative are other important elements for the efficiency of the PCL. Together with these, teachers expressed their strong desire for monetary and non-monetary incentives to have an efficient PCL.
The factors that hinder having a good PCL are various and can be summarized as follows: work overload due to the long content of the curriculum imposed by the Ministry of Education which is always challenging to cover because of the insufficient time of the term/ academic year. Besides, there tends to be a preference
32 Findings In our school, decisions are taken in a systematic way taking into consideration the hierarchical status of Findings from the Focus Group Discussion (FGD) the school administration. The first step is to obtain Lasting 80 minutes, the FGD, conducted by two AU the approval of the principal and administration team members, was held near the end of July 2019, and staff. The school board may also participate in the before starting working on the action research projects. decision making. Then, these decisions could be Prior to questioning them, verbal consent to be part shared with us later. On the other hand, if decisions of this interview was obtained and permission for are related to the development and implementation recording responses was also taken. The participants of new materials, teachers are not allowed to share were five teachers who belonged to three different in this process. (Teacher 1, Buttercup school, July th schools (kindergarten, preparatory and secondary 29 , 2019) stages). It was confirmed that the responses would only Another teacher, in the Heather School, reported: be used for academic research purposes. In our case, decisions are shared among the school This discussion aimed at gaining a deeper understanding staff. If one of us faces a problematic issue in the and insight into the responses from the online survey. A classroom and can reach a solution, then it is definitely total number of twenty open-ended questions, touching shared with her colleagues. I myself do this to help on the dimensions covered earlier in the online survey others solve the problems they encounter. (Teacher1, formed the content of the interview. At the beginning of July 29th, 2019) the interview, the researchers informed the interviewees of the dimensions that would be discussed, they were A teacher from the Gardenia School commented: as follows: “We mostly share in taking decisions. Last year, while • Decision making in the PCL two teachers” were teaching the first preparatory, another two were teaching the second preparatory. • Benefits of PCLs, and how they affect their They had to sit together to discuss some of the issues teaching practices they have encountered (Teacher 5, July 29th, 2019). • The extent to which teaching practices are A teacher from the Buttercup School further shared with peers commented: • The level of satisfaction with the participation When using tablets during tests, students were in PCLs resistant to change and complained about the • Challenges facing teachers in PCLs difficulty of questions. Consequently, the principal held a meeting to give them opportunities to The next section includes an analysis of teachers’ express their opinions freely. In doing so, a responses to the focus group discussion questions. random sample of students was chosen to give Moreover, some quotes and commentary on them are reasons for their agreement or disagreement. I see presented to provide a better understanding and more this as evidence of the democratic way adopted for profound insights into the collected data. making decisions in this school. (Teacher 2, July 29th, 2019) Theme (1): Shared decision making in PCLs Question One: How are decisions taken in the PCL? Commentary Question Two: Are decisions made by the principal In analyzing the abovementioned quotes, a common or more experienced and older teachers? Do you theme here is that various ways and levels of taking take part in this process? decisions exist. The teachers’ comments show that two levels of decision making are manifested, namely, One teacher, in the Buttercup School, said: at the school level and within the newly established PCLs. In the former, important decisions are made
33 by the principal, the administration board and subject ever, other decisions could be taken individual- coordinators whereas the latter indicates the powerful ly when they touch on a specific content area in influence of engagement in the PCLs developed during which a teacher is specialized. These problems the lifetime of the project as they started to change may include changing the learning environment or from being passive participants stereotypes to active choosing a suitable teaching strategy. ones who share the process of making decisions even with their students. It seems that teachers have Commentary developed a greater awareness of how decisions are Individual decisions are sometimes essential when made. It is interesting to note that all the teachers from sudden urgent problematic situations occur during the these different schools agreed that the decisions were process of teaching which indicates a third level of shared when it comes to their engagement in the PCLs. decision making: the classroom context. Later, these decisions can then be discussed with peers to make sure One of the most beneficial aspects of bringing different of their efficacy and consequently, can be generalized people to decision-making is having several and in similar situations in other classes. various perspectives. Every stakeholder usually has a point of view of his own based on his affiliation with Theme (2): Collaboration the school. Someone may foresee a possible problem/ Question Five: Have you ever discussed the teaching hindrance or benefit that someone else may not have strategies or lesson plans with your colleagues? If thought of. Having multiple perspectives can only so, do you ask for feedback? boost any decision-making effort and lead to healthy discussions that in-turn lead to improvement. When A teacher from the Heather School commented: decisions are made through a process that is genuinely inclusive and transparent, people tend to support them. This happens quite a lot. If I have a challenging lesson, I might ask my colleague for an appropriate Collaboration often leads to better decision making. strategy or I might be invited to observe how it When a group comes together with a common goal, is used in her class. It often happens during the they are able to explore all the options more in-depth. PCL meetings as we meet at the beginning of the They can take their time, bounce ideas off one another, school day for a quarter or half an hour… .Before research the pros and cons of each option thoroughly, the project, if I came across a challenging part of and ultimately make a decision that will produce well- a lesson, I could have asked my colleagues about thought-out outcomes with the least resistance. Better ways to explain it and vice versa, so that we share decisions yield better results. In a school environment, experiences. (Teacher 4, July 29th, 2019) this is extremely important. A top priority for every school is to maximize student potential. This is partially Commentary done by making the correct, calculated decisions. The above quotes need to be interpreted with some caution. As teachers reported, they do not shun Question Three: What are the general issues for away from asking for advice, an asset that should be which you have to make decisions in the PCL? encouraged. This makes it clear that those teachers have tendencies to work collaboratively, though it Teacher 4 in Heather School indicated that “The is not a common practice in the Egyptian culture. It main issue is to help children learn and overcome the should be emphasized that teachers have gone through challenges they meet at this early age.” various collaborative tasks over the lifetime of the Question Four: If you are teaching the same class project. Planning PCL meetings, presentations, STEM but you belong to different specializations, do you and Global Citizenship activities and action research share decisions when facing problems with this projects are instances of the collaborative tasks class? which teachers have engaged in not only within their individual schools but also among the school clusters. All teachers agreed that “they do share decisions when it comes to teaching the same class…. How-
34 Theme (3): Sharing knowledge and practice constructing and exchanging knowledge and practices.
Question Six: Has your participation in the project, Theme 4: Commitment and more specifically in the PCL, influenced the sharing of teaching practices? A teacher from the Heather School reported that “the project has undoubtedly impacted their performance Although we had a PCL even before joining the project, through the workshops held at the FoE, for the five we benefited from sharing experiences with AU team schools participating in the project and the new school members. For example, Sherine had presented some clustering”. She further explained that her “colleagues new teaching strategies in a workshop that I attended are now showing greater commitment regarding in the Faculty of Education. Based on that, I selected holding regular meetings to discuss the problems they one strategy entitled “The Four Corners” and tried face and attempt to find solutions.” it out in class. My students were pleased with their performance, and their confidence increased while “One of the most important and useful workshops”, as participating in the activity. The lesson was about the mentioned by a teacher in the Buttercup school, was the nd problems of overpopulation and the challenges that one held on Saturday, 2 of March 2019. It was about may face the family or the country. True stories were the use of the EKB “Discovery” database in teaching told by students and there was a real debate where some and the new relevant strategies that would increase agreed and others objected. One student commented students’ motivation which is considered a problematic that her mother is illiterate so she gave birth to six issue for most teachers. Some teachers have applied children, while her cousin’s daughter had two children. these strategies and shared their experiences through The other student objected saying: my neighbor is a the WhatsApp platform “School Network Group.” doctor, yet she has five children, because she gave birth An outstanding example of commitment has been to girls, and she wanted to have a boy. This strategy witnessed by the AU team members during individual was useful, and influenced my teaching, said teacher 2 school clusters. On a weekly basis, teachers willingly in the Buttercup School on the 29th of July, 2019. attended meetings at one of the schools, starting at 9 Commentary in the morning. Being highly motivated, they would This quote shows how teachers value sharing go and sign at their own schools, then move to the knowledge and expertise as they consider doing so other school in order to participate in discussions and effectively for their professional learning. However, decision making for two hours, without any official they used to do this hastily and unsystematically papers to force them to do so. Moreover, some had to at schools prior to their engagement in the current give extra lessons in order to be able to carry out the project. This shows that we may do things intuitively required intervention to their best ability. or out of the experience without being aware of the Question Seven: Have you exchanged this successful proper academic or theoretical framework of whatever experience with your colleagues? practice we do. With the advent of the SUP4PCL project, the partnership between the FoE and schools “We do share successful experiences with our colleagues has developed over time through the mutual visits using the school Facebook page. We publish new ideas between the two parties. This allowed for more that we have implemented in teaching on that page”, th opportunities to address the themes and practices that reported teacher 5 at the Gardenia School on the 29 teachers need most and to put some of their practices of July, 2019. in the right perspective and in a more systematic way. Question Eight: Was this due to the impact of the Despite the fact that the theoretical underpinnings project? and the pedagogical practices have been initiated by the Faculty of Education, teachers were eager to try “No, we have already practiced this experience before them out at the school site and thus contextualizing the project”, explained teacher 5 at the Gardenia School the knowledge and expertise they gained as well as on the 29th of July, 2019. linking theory to practice. Professional learning has gradually changed to embrace more systematic ways of
35 Commentary Theme 5: Changes in Teaching and Learning. It seems that the culture of sharing successful experiences Question Ten: Describe some examples of activities with peers - especially through social media– has already you designed and implemented in your class due to been there among teachers, but the project has further participation in your school PCL? refined this process. Knowledge creation collectively in the cluster, and knowledge sharing have been a valuable A teacher in the Clover School described their own outcome of the project. Through one of the clusters, experience: teachers were capable of designing and writing their own questionnaire based on their needs. The usual procedure We designed an activity entitled ‘The Beehives’ was adapting an existing one or using it as is. All this through which the children recognized the im- shows once more that sometimes we learn many things or portance of bees and benefited greatly through acquire them intuitively or from the experience, we gain learning by doing…Another example included with time. Yet when we professionally and academically moving students outside the confines of the class- learn about them, these concepts are put in the right room while teaching the lesson. Thus, changing frame and practice, which leads to affirmation, feelings the learning environment had a significant impact of empowerment and confidence, important elements on students’ learning and increased motivation to th of – as mentioned in the conceptual framework- the learn. (Teacher 5, July 29 , 2019) communities of practice model. By encouraging teachers In addition, a teacher at Buttercup School reported, to fill in PCL templates every meeting, much reflection takes place, which in turn positively influences the teachers. I taught a geography lesson about the geological They started to think out of the box and attempted new formations of different stones. To illustrate these strategies. Doing so had a positive impact on their students’ formations clearly, I made use of some stones such performance and learning. as granite, basalt, and sandstone which I often collect during my trips to Sinai. Doing so helped In addition, to further activate and systematize students to identify and contrast the varied types of interaction and sharing of expertise, a WhatsApp group, stones in this challenging lesson. (Teacher 1, July led by AU team members, was created for each school. 29th,2019) Similarly, a larger group, including all teachers from the five schools and all AU team, was also established Commentary for publishing general announcements, discussing Though these activities are rather simple, the interview- related project themes or sharing new experiences. ees agreed that they have influenced their students’ After forming school clustering, teachers have had learning and increased their motivation to learn. When access to a platform through which they can share their these strategies are displayed and shared via WhatsApp collective work, and by doing so, teachers are expected or during workshops, teachers are most likely going to to strengthen and maintain their relationships across increase their repertoire of teaching strategies, which schools. in turn will save time and effort. Examples of these activities can be seen as evidence of PCLs evolution Question Nine: Has this communication tool among school teachers. The integration of different impacted your students’ learning? subjects has not been a common practice in the Egyp- Certainly, it has a positive impact on my students. We tian context. Yet after seeing the outcome and feeling experiment with the ideas and activities in our classes the difference, teachers expressed their preference for and this consequently enhances students’ learning. such a technique. We have benefited a lot from the PCLs because it encouraged us to apply new methods in teaching. We started to focus on teaching on the application; something that was never done before. (Teacher 2, Buttercup school, July 29th, 2019)
36 Question 11: In a professional learning community shortly after the training, reported teacher 4 at the we share experiences together. Have you benefited Heather School on July 29th, 2019. from the mentor/ mentee relationship? Commentary In my opinion, the experience is important as The teachers’ views about formal training programs older and more experienced teachers can easily should be taken into consideration as they regard them help those who are not so experienced. Their as irrelevant and ineffective. However, in the current considerable experience helps them to see the project, teachers’ needs were first assessed to get to problem from various perspectives; thus, they are know their professional training priorities. Teachers able to solve pedagogical problems adequately, from the five core schools participated in designing and mentioned teacher 3 at the Clover School on July structuring the professional development programmes th 29 , 2019. that addressed their needs. Furthermore, they took Commentary the lead on making decisions about their engagement It should be noted that experience is a crucial factor also got engaged in activities and projects (e.g. action when choosing the mentors, as they give helpful advice research projects). to novice teachers to improve teaching methods and On another note, the full involvement and support of practices. Open communication between the mentor the MOETE are required and essential for facilitating and the apprentice is vital to improvement and the work of the PCLs at schools. Teachers involved achievement. Therefore, selecting mentors carefully in these PCLs need time and space, and support to ensures their success in performing the tasks of collaborate, reflect, and experiment with new ideas. If mentorship. It is important to highlight here that age is the schools fail to provide teachers with the time and an issue. Sometimes in our culture, we do not seriously space they need, to show support and appreciation take younger and less experienced persons into and acknowledge their PCLs work as a valuable consideration. Besides, many of the older and more form of professional learning, sustaining these PCLs experienced people may have an issue with their ego becomes challenging. It is the main responsibility of and their willingness to learn from and interact with the MOETE to support schools and encourage them on younger and less experienced peers. both the formal and informal levels to host and embrace Question 12: What are some suggestions for all different forms of PCLs within or across schools. ensuring the effectiveness and continuity of the Question 13: My question now is about the level PCL at your school? of satisfaction. How far are you satisfied with the In response to this question, teacher 5 at the Gardenia PCL? School commented said, “If there is a mandate that “The most important thing I care about is the knowl- views the learning community as a formal activity, edge of new teaching strategies. I am satisfied 75% th then it can be easily implemented” (July 29 , 2019). with whatever I learned”, explained teacher 5 from the th “If this meeting of the community is formal, we will Gardenia School on the 29 of July, 2019. not be held accountable by the supervisor for wasting Commentary th time”, said teacher 1 at the Buttercup School (July 29 , Such a remark is of great significance as it reflects 2019). one of the benefits of the project, which is exposing Although lots of training programs are offered, teachers to new knowledge. It is important for teachers most of them are inadequate and mainly focus on to learn new teaching strategies in order to be able to theoretical aspects. In particular, when we receive cater to the needs and learning requirements of their training in technology, we need at least a week to students in the classroom. By doing so, they succeed in master related skills. Another challenge is the place grasping the attention of the students and at the same being used for that training- the school- which time, enhance their learning experience especially lacks the facilities, such as access to the Internet. because in the classroom there are different students Unfortunately, the content is easily forgotten having different learning styles.
37 Theme 6: Benefits and challenges of PCLs in which they ask questions, discover answers, apply Question 14: What is the benefit of the PCL? what they learn, and think of creative solutions. A teacher at the Gardenia School highlighted such a Being part of Professional Learning Communities positive effect. empowers teachers. Working with colleagues allows teachers to reflect on their own processes and develop We benefited greatly from it because our curric- their skills. They receive insight from other teachers ulum was new. We had to meet and consult each as well as provide it, thus helping them develop their other on many issues. This year’s “Discover” practices in new areas. Vescio, Ross and Adams (2008) book is in English, and we are not all specialized found that PCL participation resulted in improvement in it. One of our colleagues holds a Bachelor of in student learning as measured by increases in test Arts and Education from the English Department, scores and other measures of student achievement. so we take advantage of her in the half-hour we The researchers concluded that student achievement meet in the morning. She actually explained to me increased the most where PCLs were highly involved many things without which I could not work well. and teachers focused persistently on student learning th (Teacher 5, July 29 , 2019) and achievement data.
According to another teacher at the Clover School, the Question 15: What challenges did you face in the PCL was very effective. PCL? When we were trained in the project on “STEAM”, “Fear of inspection” was a concern pointed out by all the teachers entered the classes and explained their the focus groups. lessons in the new curriculum in a totally differ- ent way from the other schools. Indeed, we have Commentary become the best school to succeed in applying the School/ teacher Inspection has always been considered new curriculum compared to all the schools of the a psychological burden on Egyptian teachers. These central administration. Our supervisor pinpointed visits do not seem conducive to supporting the that this is because of the background knowledge development of the teachers’ instructional practices we have built through the project. (Teacher 3, July and pedagogical reasoning, with the feedback mainly 29th, 2019) evaluative and directive. Hence, they always raised a negative feeling, “fear” as has been mentioned by the Commentary teacher, since teachers could be penalized if they did What these teachers have mentioned explained the not adhere to their set lesson plans. Consequently, they great benefit of their participation in the project; the feel that their career is threatened by these inspections. meetings of the learning communities contributed to This approach should be totally avoided as it might the transfer of experiences and to activate the role of curb any attempt of being creative and innovative. the mentor and the mentee in these meetings which had Indeed, teachers might think twice before taking any a significant impact on the students’ learning. risks or thinking out of the box.
For instance, training teachers on “STEAM” has helped Other teachers talked about the challenges the PCLs them in their implementation of the new curriculum for face; their comments included these points: workload, the kindergarten this year much better than their peers withdrawal of some teachers from the PCL, absence in other schools which should lead to a better impact of coordination at the level of the MoED, and time on the students’ learning. Since many STEAM projects constraints. involve teamwork and relevant dialogues in which students exchange ideas and discuss ways to problem- Commentary solve, students learn how to divide up responsibilities, The quotes above highlight several issues that can compromise, listen to and encourage each other. When challenge the sustainability of the PCLs. Teachers students participate in activities that combine different definitely need time and space to be able to form, elements of STEAM, they experience guided inquiry develop and sustain PCLs. Teacher workload is a real
38 problem in Egyptian schools as teachers have many Question 19: If you have the opportunity to post lessons per day to prepare due to the huge syllabus something to the group, will you participate? that has to be covered per term/academic year. They are also burdened with marking classwork and exams, “Yes, I will “admitted teacher 5 at the Gardenia School th attending professional development training sessions, on the 29 of July, 2019. and organizing school activities. All this has a negative Question 20: Do you have another suggestion, or impact on teachers’ performance. This is evident since another medium that can be used, that would be the teacher does not have enough time to prepare better, or would make communication easier? well and teach the students efficiently; in addition, individual student’s problems might not be catered “WhatsApp is the easiest way”, agreed on all members for especially the slow learners because of the large of the sample. classes and the short lesson periods. Commentary Furthermore, when teachers participate in a demanding All the above responses under the theme “Use of Social long-term project like this one, the MOETE needs to Media” highlighted the benefits behind using WhatsApp as take this into consideration to ensure that participating a medium of communication in the project. It is a known in one project does not clash with other activities run by fact that WhatsApp has become the largest messaging the MOETE. Teachers also need to be involved in the platform all around the world. Hence, as most teachers decision-making process with regards to timing, aims, have smartphones, this is definitely the quickest and activities, and content of professional development easiest way to share information, experience, material, activities. and opinion. Theme 7: Use of social media Question 16: Does social media represent a challenge in PCL?
All the teachers in the focus group expressed their pos- itive opinion concerning the use of social media in the PCL. They said, “on the contrary, it is very useful… Since it was not easy to meet with the rest of the clus- ter because of summer, the WhatsApp group facilitated many things and saved much time. We were also able to get hold of the lectures we have missed”(29th July 2019).
Question 17: Did you share any particular experience in the school’s WhatsApp group?
“No, I just read comments” replied teacher 2 at the Buttercup School on the 29th of July, 2019.
Question 18: Did you benefit from what was posted on the WhatsApp group?
“Yes, “ said all members of the sample.
“Just reading what is published on the group has benefited me, especially as it presents something already applied, and realistic” explained teacher 1 at the Buttercup School on the 29th of July, 2019.
39 Findings From Vignettes outcome and feeling the difference, teachers expressed their preference for such a technique. Vignette 1 This partnership initiative is considered an innovative In addition, for this teacher, participating in school thought. It reflects an on-going progressive project. My clusters to carry out action research as part of the school had an influential role in it and so did the project project was a turning point. This teacher was strongly on us. For the first time, we started thinking differently. motivated to exert much effort in an attempt to have After attending the professional development session their action research paper accepted and presented on STEAM, we took the decision to implement it in at the intended conference in March. He showed a our teaching. Many subjects were connected together. willingness to meet with colleagues in other schools There was a lesson in the English syllabus about touristic on a regular basis to discuss materials, distribute work sites in Alexandria; this was connected to another topic amongst them, to agree on the steps to be followed, covered in Social Sciences covering the most important to implement strategies and to finally write about their battles in Alexandria’s Citadel area. Even Science was experiment. Working on that action research resulted included in the activity by talking about the importance in high collaboration among the members of the team. of water in our lives and how water condenses. Finally, They started sharing articles relevant to their research. Mathematics was also connected to the other subjects It is worth mentioning here that without building trust, by trying to measure the height of the Citadel using this would not have been achieved. a pencil. Doing so increased passion and motivation amongst the students. In addition, a team spirit has begun to emerge not only within the same school, but also among different The successes that have been attained from the beginning schools in the form of constant communication to led to the addition of more schools, thus ending up with an exceptional team of three schools. A team that is exchange activities, tests, and coordinate the dates of working collaboratively implementation of the experiment together. Teachers began to encourage each other in terms of praise and and with excellence. Now we are working on our action encouragement on the WhatsApp group. Their posts research in order to improve our students’ learning and participation highly increased on the WhatsApp process. Such a study is authentic and its outcome will group by responding to any inquiries and sharing be objective, resulting from that partnership between photos of their application of any activity to their the university and the schools. What is important is classes as they strongly care to document their work. that all of us have the motivation to work and excel. (Mark, Gardenia school, 5th October 2019) An effect that should not be underestimated is the emergence of new terms in the teachers’ cultures such Commentary as PCL, Action Research, exploratory experience, pre- According to the teacher, that project was a kind of test application, post-test application, control group, lifechanging experience. It introduced him and his and experimental group. It is also important to highlight colleagues to new ideas which have influenced their the fact that the teachers started to write reflections on students’ learning and increased their motivation to their professional learning in the project; reflective learn. These activities can be seen as evidence of PCLs practices are quite a new area in our schools’ culture. evolution among school teachers. The integration of different subjects has not been a common practice in the Egyptian context. However, after seeing the
40 Vignette 2 Commentary The above vignette depicts a very realistic picture of On 5th October, 2019, Mia, who is working at the journey this teacher went through when her school Lotus school, said, “My school joined the project in joined in the school clusters. It reflects the different December 2018. In the beginning, we didn’t know the purpose behind that partnership. Is it training? Is stages she encountered and her various feelings as it community service? Later on, we realized that it well. It all started with her uncertainty not knowing was a sort of professional development for teachers”. what this project was about, then frustration after attending first PD sessions, followed by doubts to write “When the training sessions started at the Faculty action research, and ended with her satisfaction on of Education, we hoped that they would offer seeing her students’ progress. She began to believe in something special, they turned out to be repetitive, her capabilities and her power to change things around nothing new”. her. Her motivation to influence her students drove her “Frustration and boredom took over, then something to exert much effort to leave a mark. happened. The AU members introduced ‘action research’, which has aroused our interest. Then what? Based on the teachers’ observation, the students We were required to write our own action research. have been very happy with the activities and have Are we capable of doing that? I doubt it”. participated in them with enthusiasm as revealed through the photos shared on the WhatsApp group It all began after sitting together and agreeing on a which show the students’ interest in the activities and common problem among all of us so we can focus on it. We chose a significant issue; we even prepared our their joyful faces as they complete them. Furthermore, own questionnaires. With the students’ involvement, after performing the activities designed to overcome we felt there is room for change. specific learning hindrances, the students were able to learn the lessons effectively and to acquire new When the students saw the pre-test, they were strategies. Their fear of the unknown was broken. They shocked. Then they were assured that it was just a were able to manage new items that they have not seen proficiency test with no marks and that there was no before. To students of that age, that would have been need to worry. At that moment, they started to relax and began answering the questions. Looking at their very alarming and even frightening as well. It is worth answers, it was found that the students were capable mentioning here that another science teacher stated of answering some of the questions measuring that after implementing some activities on “Force lower-order thinking skills. However, when it came and Motion Unit”, the students executed the tasks to higher-order thinking skills, they failed to answer exceptionally well any. The teachers were shocked as these students got in the previous year, above 90%. After introducing basic exercises that focus on improving guessing the meaning of words from the context clues, the students seemed to be involved. Gradually, some improvement could be felt after they succeeded in guessing the meaning of the words when given new sentences. At least, their panic when they first saw new words is no longer there. Really, things started to change. If you see the photos, you’ll get what I mean. Having the students respond to our improvement attempts, this implies that our intervention has succeeded and so did our action research. Even if the results, after we finish the post-test, turn out to be not as expected, at least we as teachers got to know the importance of action research.
41 Findings from WhatsApp Platforms function of that group, which goes with their misconception The various WhatsApp Platforms offered an overwhelming of using mobile phones. Their main concern seemed to amount of valuable data that had to be analyzed in order lie within the social realm which is evident in the high to gain a vivid picture of the influence of the project figure of the messages related to that field. On the contrary, on our teachers. It was essential to focus on two main within Group 2, teachers seemed to be much more focused groups for ease of handling. on their target, having encouragement and praise as the sole reason behind exchanging these messages. In order to have a better and more profound under- standing of the actual use of that social media platform, Examining the informative messages, for both groups, it was worth looking at the intensity of the messages, demonstrates that their function was coordinating their senders and the contents of the messages (see weekly activities, such as meetings at the faculty or Table 4). Though Group 1 had more participants and schools, together with set deadlines. However, Group lasted for a much longer period of time, the number of 2 had nearly thrice the number of messages in a messages exchanged was less with 76 than Group 2. smaller period of time. Furthermore, when it comes to This implies that the latter was highly motivated when knowledge sharing, there were three common fields of they started working on the action research and that sharing, yet the performance of Group 2 was better in they wanted to make maximum use of the time spent the sense that the teachers themselves shared articles, on their mobile phones. activities twice those by AU members. They were also involved in more exchanges, as they inquired much Regarding the content, the themes tackled can be grouped and also gave and received feedback and clarification. into three main sets: social, informative and knowledge sharing. Apparently, Group 1 misunderstood the presumed
42 The following table provides a comprehensive summary of WhatsApp Groups Documentation.
Table 4 WhatsApp Groups Documentation
Schools Network Group Individual School Cluster (Group 1) (Group 2) 1/2/2019-24/8/2019 17/9/2019 – 1/11/2019 (6 months) (1 ½ month)
No. of participants 55 Varies from 12 - 30
No. of messages exchanged 154 A Sample of one cluster: 230
Social messages 110 (mainly greetings/ 55 (mainly encouragement / condolences) praise)
Informative messages 32 (meetings / deadlines ) 13 (meetings / deadlines)
`Knowledge sharing 16 (Files from AU) 12 (Files from AU) 5 (Files from teachers) 25 (Files from teachers) 10 (photos of class activities) 40 (photos of activities) 30 (giving feedback) 20 (Inquiry) 11 (Clarification) 5 (Minutes of meetings)
In general, the two main groups created via WhatsApp with action research. Then the phase of knowledge have strengthened the evolving relationship between production follows and each has had a number of AU team members and school clustering teachers. At opportunities to write the literature review, design and the beginning of conducting action research, teachers implement the tools. across schools agreed that WhatsApp is a convenient channel for communication during the various phases It is important to note that teachers considered of this collaborative process. Specifically, in the WhatsApp an effective medium for supporting and preparation phase, teachers communicated regularly strengthening communication and interaction. The and actively to schedule time for meetings at the potential benefits of social media are evident, not only core schools and assign roles for maintaining work in terms of sharing knowledge but also in its impact on related to the chosen action research topic. During that promoting motivation to participate in this networking time, knowledge sharing was key to verify or discard platform. The bidirectional communication in this the assumptions that underlie their first encounter learning environment has given opportunities for both
43 teachers and faculty members to share materials such thus achieving one of the main goals of the project. as e-books and educational websites which have been This communication channel was used to send teachers widely appreciated by both parties. The platform has the PD materials immediately after conducting the been used to upload PowerPoint presentations, PDF series of workshops held from July to September 2018. files, and templates; namely, active learning strategies, Moreover, teachers’ best practices were also displayed Google Classroom, and Google form. In analyzing and shared (e.g. lesson plans, presentations, teaching the contributions of teachers in this study through this materials). Further advantages included snapshots taken platform, there is evidence that teacher interactions from various classrooms which were videotaped and increased gradually during the lifetime of the project forwarded to the school clusters and this was always as well as their satisfaction with the support provided followed by constructive feedback from peers and faculty by WhatsApp. team members.
AU team made use of WhatsApp to share some useful Indeed, after encouraging the exchange of experiences topics with teachers, such as free online courses through that channel, teachers expressed their satisfaction available through the EDRAAK platform. These and appreciation of the effort exerted to scrutinize and topics included principles, strategies, and applications support their genuine attempts to improve their practices. in education technology and action research. Thus, One teacher in Iris School reported, “communication, in various communities of learners evolved and were this way, was direct and faster, thereby promoting rich gradually established during the life of the SUP4PCL rapport among teachers and faculty members”. project. In addition, after sharing her own experience in After choosing Action Research as a driving factor for teaching writing for more than 25 years, one of the AU activating school clusters by the AU team, training in team members offered some solutions to overcome that field began. The fifteen schools were divided into the challenges that teachers face, giving them some five sub-groups and a WhatsApp group was created materials. The feedback was positive as seen in their to discuss the topic selected by each sub-group. In own words: the platforms, teachers and AU team members shared the required tasks, examples, models as well as useful What I liked most about the writing problem PCL references to support writing the various topics selected is that you have both the input to identify it and you for the action research. Whoever came across a relevant can have the output to deal with it carefully. Thank academic research paper would share it with the group. you for sharing that experience with us. We can In addition, AU team members offered professional work on that in our classes under your guidance. th guidance in relation to the actual writing process of the (Teacher 6, Gardenia School, 26 October 2019) research, designing the pre- and post-tests, as well as “Brilliant ideas for identifying mistakes and forming questionnaires and analyzing their outcomes. avoiding repeating them and this, in turn, will end Some teachers have learnt that they are capable of up avoiding them so as not to lose marks. I intend writing their own questions rather than using ready- to use this strategy next academic year”. (Teacher made questionnaires. Examples of the exchanged files 7, Gardenia School, 26th October 2019) are those related to context clues to guess the meaning of new words, research papers done on similar topics Another teacher, who designed a channel on YouTube of their studies, evident PISA and TIMSS tests, Pre- related to her own teaching practices, contacted the AU tests and activities. It is evident that with the individual team member, asking for feedback on her performance school clusters, closer ties have been formed and more and for help regarding authentic assessments. trust. Having one aim to come up with the best action research was the main driving force of motivation Commentary amongst those discussion groups (Refer to Table 4). This once more proves the effectiveness of this tool not simply for sharing successful/ unsuccessful practices, In the same context, WhatsApp has been basically used but also for identifying mistakes and correcting them, as a means of developing university-school partnerships, for standing as a rich reference site, a sort of catalogue
44 for the teachers. The remarks also show the teachers’ enthusiasm and willingness to share their experience (making them act as positive and active agents in the PCL) as well as seek the “guidance” of the FoE members with whom they have built a relationship of trust and equality during the lifetime of the project.
It is evident from the above response that the school teachers were in need of new perspectives in dealing Figure 20. Influence on English teachers with actual problems that they face in teaching. As English teachers, who encounter repetitive written The session today was really beneficial: spelling/grammatical mistakes all the time, they were • Many phonological errors, which I pleased to hear the AU team member’s experience personally made, were explained in overcoming such a recurrent frustrating problem. They started realizing that the issues they face are also • The information was concentrated and deep common at the university level. The outcome of such an at the same time, based on rules we’ve attempt might be reflected on the students’ performance already forgotten if the teachers do try it out this coming academic term. It should be highlighted here that such an exchange of • The presentation was fun which helped in experience between a university member and school stressing the information teachers would never have happened if it were not • I wanted to play tongue twisters today, but for the project, which paved the way for a strong there was no time partnership that is intended to continue. The following are screenshots of the activities done on the WhatsApp • The presentation was scientific. It presented groups: the problems and also offered solutions (a great thing), something not many do
• Thank you for an excellent and great effort
Commentary The individual initiative of the AU team member was a significant point for strengthening the ties between university and school. It led to building more trust and respect between the teachers and the university member, which in turn, has supported the gradual development of their PCL. The main objective was to point out the most common phonological mistakes made by Egyptians. These were classified into mistakes in vowel sounds, those in constant sounds and in misplacement of stress. Figure 19. Sharing articles in the group After the explanation of those mistakes, giving numerous examples, solutions were offered. Another positive influence on English teachers in particular, due to the strong ties between AU team members and During that session, the teachers were in their students’ the school clusters, is seen in the following screenshot: place. However, they were working in a less formal atmosphere, thus willing to express themselves freely and voice their concerns. They seemed to be motivated and willing to learn as long as it addressed the authentic problems they face. All of the six teachers spent two hours taking notes and thinking of their pronunciation.
45 In certain situations, they expressed their astonishment work more on improving her own pronunciation. What with the pronunciation of some words like ‘result’, was rewarding to the presenter is that the teachers felt ‘comb’, ‘faculty’ and a simple word as ‘were’. One of that they had learnt new things, and they expressed them even said in class that she realized that she had to their need for more visits like that one.
46 Challenges • Absence of action research culture After gaining access to the five core schools, there • Administrative restrictions that handicap the were several challenges that were faced. Surprisingly, work of mentors some were similar to those mentioned by Prenger, et • The hindering routine and slow procedures in al., (2018), thus showing the universality of such issues communication with Alexandria Directorate in the teaching field. These challenges are listed as of Education and the various schools follows: • Teachers’ low or lack of motivation to enhance • The bureaucracy of the school administration their performance and develop their schools. was not supportive at the beginning One of the reasons is the private lessons they • Time constraints give
• Teachers’ workload with both teaching and • Some teachers, after being trained, either training move to other schools or travel abroad for a better job opportunity • School culture • Resistance to change • Building trust among teachers
47 Discussion and social persuasion. Joint planning, peer reflections, and celebrations within PCLs reinforce collaboration In light of the data derived from the instruments of the and collegiality among their members. Indeed, getting present case study, several themes emerged and were involved in this new process of teaching each other the main points of concern in this case study, namely, about possible good practices, which they can adapt, has shared decision making in PCLs, collaboration, sharing been worth the time spent. They have learned to listen knowledge and practice, development in professional to one another, appreciate others, accept and respect practices and commitment to quality student learning, differences and be open and willing to learn from their benefits and challenges of PCLs, and use of social colleagues. Doing so has opened up opportunities for media. When the components of professional learning mentorship among all members and confirmed that communities are combined successfully, they are more each one can contribute to the community in his/ her likely to improve the performance of teachers and unique way. In other words, the project has succeeded the achievement of students. In this organized PCL in truly establishing the culture of mutual respect and structure, goals are set in place and collaboration exists acceptance of differences, concepts which have for on a regular basis (Bitterman, 2010). some time become simple clichés. Most importantly, by practicing these important values, the teachers can The project contributed to raising teachers’ awareness transfer this culture to their students. about PCLs by sharing principles and values, building trusting relationships, developing collaboration and The theme related to sharing knowledge and practices in enhancing willingness in participating in PCLs as shown PCLs is in line with Antinluoma, Ilomäki, Lahti-Nuuttil, in figures: 1, 2, 3, 14 of the survey. Moreover, results and Toom’s (2018) study outcomes which showed a high emphasized that teachers’ professional development, level of trust that existed among teachers while sharing teaching practices, and resource sharing have been instructional practices within which student learning was affected positively due to their participation in PCLs as the core dialogue. This affirms the influence of taking shown in figures: (4,9,10, 17,18). In addition, teachers’ part in the SUP project which teachers felt was conducive responses to the focus group discussion indicated that they to unique collaboration and shared learning. were keen on holding meetings of learning communities systematically and on a frequent basis, and on sharing Michelen’s study (2011) identified the positive impact experiences within these meetings or via the WhatsApp of participation in a professional learning community platform. Such positive outcomes would not have been on the professional life of a teacher. Such an outcome achieved if it were not for the establishment of trust was also reached in the present study. All participants among teachers, one of the milestones for building and agreed that as a result of their membership in a strengthening the PCLs in which they have engaged. This professional learning community, their professional significant result is appearing in the online survey (Figure lives were impacted in several ways. First, a new 2) indicates the impact the project has achieved in regard strong relationship among the teachers evolved, one to promoting and encouraging trust amongst teachers that was based on trust, equality and mutual respect. of the 15 schools. Definitely, it has been a challenging Prior to professional learning communities, teachers process that required transparency and commitment from met at either large school meetings or with teachers of all parties involved. their own content area. Rarely did they get in closer touch with university members and felt empowered or Findings of the survey and the focus group discussion agents of change as much as they experienced during indicate that collaboration is one of the essential the lifetime of the project. Besides, due to this SUP characteristics contributing to the establishment of project, the PCLs, which they are part of, provided successful PCLs. This ‘collaboration-friendly culture’ participants a yearlong experience of working with provides teachers with multiple opportunities to colleagues of the same grade level, and also exchanging learn together and share beliefs and practices freely expertise with university members. This new grouping (OECD, 2015). Collaboration allows staff members provided structured opportunities for participants to the opportunity to learn from one another; this type have professional conversations as they discussed their of opportunity is an example of vicarious learning students holistically, seeking advice whenever needed.
48 Teachers looked to one another for new perspectives teaching strategies that they were trained on and have and understandings of students. Consequently, teachers enhanced their students’ learning. who never spoke with one another were learning and working collaboratively together. As a result of these The present study results are consistent with Marks’s relationships, a strong feeling of respect for colleagues (2009) which has proven that schools are not only emerged. They also shared a greater commitment to considered places to work in but they are also places their school and established a school environment that for professional development. Teachers and principals was more caring for students and colleagues. Finally, come together to ensure quality teaching and learning they gained a leadership voice and felt empowered, a in increasingly challenging contexts. Based on this, highly significant outcome of the project. students’ outcomes are improved when schools develop into communities of learners. Collective responsibility in PCLs increases teacher effectiveness through collaboration, communication, Collaboration allows staff members the opportunity to and relationships to support student learning (Learning learn from one another; this type of opportunity is an Forward, 2011). The resulting high expectations enable example of vicarious learning and social persuasion. teachers to bridge the gap between knowledge and Having structures in place that build trust, such as joint practice and implement deep change for individual planning time, time for peer reflection, celebration, students, teachers, and school systems. and recognition reinforces social persuasion and affective states, is extremely important and strongly Poovey’s study (2012) aimed at investigating recommended. Building upon success and mastery the teachers’ perceptions of their reflections after enhances collective efficacy. participating in professional learning communities (PCLs) as compared to the perceptions of reflections of In looking further at the results of the school-university teachers not participating in PCLs. Similar to Poovey’s partnership, it is worth noting that action research findings, this study indicated that the collaboration of has been one of the most challenging areas which teachers in their professional community to learn from provided teachers with opportunities to investigate each other, solve problems, interact, communicate, their own classroom problems and propose solutions. and reflect on experiences supports the sociocultural This required infusing the notion of action research theory and encourages PCL creation among educators which consolidates the themes of collaboration, trust, across communities. It is the collaboration and knowledge sharing and commitment among teachers communication of PCLs that may foster more in-depth from the fifteen schools. This consequently led to the reflective practices by participants as reported by this development of the teachers’ collective efficacy and research. This form of collaboration was absent in their positive attitudes towards PCLs. the school communities prior to the project and their According to the demands of the 21st century, teachers awareness of what a proper PCL is. Even when some are urged to become “high-level knowledge workers” sort of cooperation existed, it was not in the systematic (Schleicher, 2012, p. 11). They are expected to constantly way offered by the themes and training offered by improve both their own professional knowledge and that the project. Moreover, these findings are grounded of their profession. Through forming school clusters, the in sociocultural theory and encourage the creation participants in this case study succeeded in achieving those of PCLs among teachers. It is the collaboration and demands. First and foremost, the teachers felt empowered, communication in PCLs that can foster more in-depth as taking many decisions was their responsibility. They reflective practices by participants as reported in this were the ones who chose their problem, decided the research. approach and implemented the plan, let alone writing the Students’ learning has also been affected positively due research paper themselves. Second, a healthy professional to the effectiveness of their teachers’ teaching practices attitude among the school clusters and within individual which were influenced by participation in PCLs, as clusters was observed when they started working on their shown in Figure (11). These gains were obtained action research. Third, teachers willingly shared relevant through sharing their experiences and applying new articles, offered help to one another, and distributed work among them. Hence, the influence of the partnership
49 with the university on changing the schools’ cultures meetings were held; they therefore expressed their cannot be ignored. aspiration that such meetings should be officially recognized; so that they are not punished, and that the Finally, there were challenges faced by the teachers; workshops are in their spare time so that they can make they were consistently expressed in both the open- better use of them. ended survey and the focus group interview, including workload, lack of time and fear of inspections when
50 Recommendations Helping students improve socially and academically on a consistent basis is the number one goal for every educator and educational system. In order to achieve that target, many schools are working diligently to keep pace with new initiatives and trends. Indeed, one of the hallmarks of successful schools is their ability to implement effective school improvement plans that support the same mission in every school: effective teaching for academic improvement.
Consequently, in light of the findings of the study, a number of recommendations are suggested. First, prior to conducting professional development sessions, a needs assessment of teachers’ training priorities should be conducted and taken into consideration. In professional development sessions, the practical aspects of teaching need to be emphasized. Second, PCLs should be viewed by the Ministry as an integral activity of the teachers’ daily schedule, thus specifying a time for regular PCL meetings. Collaboration among teachers has always been linked to increased teacher effectiveness and improved student test-score gains, as well as teacher’s willingness to adopt new innovations. Consequently, the Ministry should encourage peer-to-peer classroom visits between teachers, with time for feedback, and meanwhile strengthen peer-to-peer instruction. Moreover, supervisors should support teachers and provide them with guidance and feedback. Doing so will motivate them to apply new skills and strategies more frequently and to adopt a more diverse range of instructional practices. All of this will lead to a better learning environment for the students.
It is highly recommended that a follow-up phase is maintained, after the end of the project, to ensure the sustainability of the themes introduced. One way of keeping this sustainability is to continue with the WhatsApp groups to make sure the university- school relationship continues and to help the teachers in case they need any form of advice or training. Besides, there should be a way to help the meetings of the university and school members take place in a regular form. They can be in the form of a monthly or bi-monthly conference, seminar or workshop to see how things are developing at the newly created PCLs at schools. Consequently, it is advisable that this kind of communication should be done both formally as well as informally, as teachers, along with the school managers, usually do not feel comfortable discussing issues related to school or its staff members with outsiders.
51 Conclusion With the current reform efforts in the Egyptian educational system, change is also needed in the culture of teaching and learning practices. Hence, it was essential to introduce schools to a new concept in the Egyptian system, namely Professional Communities of Learners. The present study investigated how teachers’ learning in PCLs has influenced the ways in which they learn, and develop their practice. This has been done by forming professional learning communities within and across schools.
Results of this study indicate that educators who participate in collaborative PCL practices such as observing peers, providing feedback on instructional practices, analyzing student work, and discussing student-centered educational issues are more likely to improve the quality of classroom instruction. Furthermore, PCL participation and improved instructional practices have resulted in increases in students’ learning outcomes as reflected in their performance in class and observed by the teachers themselves.
In addition to the professional gains and advantages in the educational process, this project was like a long journey during which the gap between school teachers and university staff members became narrower along the way. In the beginning, the teachers internalized so many stereotypes about university professors, seeing them as living in their own ivory towers, and unaware of the challenges faced by the school teachers. Meanwhile, the AU team made sure that teachers at schools were always in touch with them, asking for advice or help whenever needed. Gradually, they started to build trust and to realize that people in the field of education whether at school or university levels share the same concerns and challenges. This trust and feeling of equality are very important for the sustainability of the project. It is worth mentioning that the problem with many projects and training workshops is that usually by the end of them, the relationship between the trainer and the trainee comes to an end and with it the whole project, something that will be avoided in the SUP4PCL project.
52 Appendices Appendix (1): Procedures and Criteria for Selecting the Five Professional Development Schools
53 54 Appendix (2): Memorandum of Understanding
55 56 57 58 Appendix (3): Procedures for Creating School Clustering
59 60 Appendix (4): Sample of School Visit Reports
School Visit 11 Date: Wednesday 11th. of July 2018 Venue: Classroom + School manager’s office Duration: 3 hours and a half Attendees:
School manager and 12 participants / another group of English teachers around 8 Aim: (achieved( • Give first training session Sit with supervisors and getting to know their needs and the areas they need help with • Set final plans for summer work. • Choose schools to work with • Training: • The presentation was entitled “Teacher Roles in the Knowledge Society”. It was divided into 3 parts: the traditional roles of teachers. Factors that led to change in such roles and the new roles teachers have to play in the 21st c environment. There was also a definition of the knowledge society and stress on the top 5 skills needed in any job nowadays. • The presentation was based on some lecturing, supported by discussions and group work. • It covered two hours and there was much engagement from the 12 participants. Points of Discussion: • A teacher from the Discovery Centre came for advice. She plans on working on a project for developing teaching games for students based on theory and needs our help in planning and providing training. الموجهين Next Step: • We will visit them next Tuesday at 9 to give them the 2nd training session.
61 Appendix 5: Online Survey
البعد األول : القيم والمبادىء المشتركة 1- إلى أى مدى تعتقد أنه صار هناك قيم ومبادىء مشتركة بينك وبين زمالئك فى مجتمع التعلم PCL
2- إلى أى مدى ترى أن هناك مستوى من الثقة بينك وبين زمالئك فى مجتمع التعلم PCL
3- إلى أى مدى تحسن التعاون بينك وبين زمالئك نتيجة المشاركة فىPCL ؟
4- إلى أى مدى تعتقد أن تفاعلك وزمالئك فى مجتمع التعلم PCL أسهم فى تكوين مبادىء توجه سلوكم؟
البعدُ الثانى: احترام االختالف واتخاذ القرار 5- أى مدى تعتقد أن رأيك اآلن مأخوذ به فى مجتمع التعلم PCLبالمدرسة؟
6- إلى أى مدى تشعر بالرضا عن الطريقة التى يتم بها اتخاذ القرار فى مجتمع التعلمPCL؟
7- إلى أى مدى تشعر أن االختالف فى اآلراء داخل مجتمع PCL ذو فائدة؟
البُعد الثالث: الدعم والتأثير 8 - إلى أى مدى تشعر أن أنشطة مجتمع التعلمPCL بالمدرسة تلبى احتياجاتك؟
9- إلى أى مدى أسهمت مشاركتك فى مجتمع التعلم PCL بالمدرسة فى تحسين ممارساتك فى التدريس؟
10- إلى أى مدى حققت مشاركتك فى مجتمع التعلم PCL بالمدرسة تعلماً مهنياً لك؟
11- إلى أى مدى تشعر أن مشاركتك ومشاركة زمالئك فى مجتمع التعلم PCL بالمدرسة لها تأثير على تعلم تالميذك؟
12- إلى أى مدى تشعر بالسعادة لكونك جزء من مجتمع التعلم PCL بالمدرسة ؟
البُعد الرابع: التحديات 13- إلى أى مدى تشعر بأنك تحت ضغط أثناء مشاركتك فى مجتمع التعلم PCLمع زمالئك بالمدرسة؟
14- إلى أى مدى تشارك مع زمالئك بالمدرسة فى مجتمع التعلم PCLألنك تريد ذلك؟
15- إلى أى مدى يتم توفير الوقت الكافى لك لتحقيق تعاون فعال فى مجتمع التعلم PCL مع زمالئك بالمدرسة ؟
16- إلى أى مدى يتم توفير األدوات ومصادر التعلم لك لتحقيق تعاون فعال فى مجتمع التعلم PCL مع زمالئك بالمدرسة ؟
17- إلى أى مدى تشعر أنه يمكنك مشاركة خبرات التريس فى مجتمع التعلم PCL مع زمالئك بالمدرسة؟
18- إلى أى مدى تشعر أنه يمكنك مشاركة مصادر التعليم والتعلم فى مجتمع التعلم PCLمع زمالئك بالمدرسة ؟
19- إلــى أى مــدى يتــم تبــادل الدعــم واإلرشــاد Mentorship -باعتبــارك مرشــد Mentor أو مسترشــد Mentee - بينكــم داخــل مجتمــع التعلــم PCL؟
20- فى رأيك ما الذى يدعم مجتمع التعلم PCL بالمدرسة؟
21- فى رأيك ما الذى يعوق مجتمع التعلم PCL بالمدرسة؟
22- فى رأيك ما الذى يمكنك القيام به من أجل تحسين التعاون فى مجتمع التعلم PCL مع زمالئك فى المدرسة؟
62 Appendix (6): Focus Group Discussion Questions
1. How are decisions taken in the PCL?
2. Are decisions made by the principal or more experienced and older teachers? Do you take part in this process?
3. What are the general issues for which you have to make decisions in the PCL? 4. If you are teaching the same class but you belong to different specializations, do you share decisions when facing problems with this class?
5. Have you ever discussed the teaching strategies or lesson plans with your colleagues? If so, do you ask for feedback?
6. Has your participation in the project, and more specifically in the PCL, influenced the sharing of teaching practices?
7. Have you exchanged this successful experience with your colleagues?
8. Was this due to the impact of the project?
9. Has this communication tool impacted your students’ learning?
10. Describe some examples of activities you designed and implemented in your class due to participation in your school PCL?
11. In a professional learning community, we share experiences together. Have you benefited from the mentor/ mentee relationship?
12. What are some suggestions for ensuring the effectiveness and continuity of the PCL at your school?
13. How far are you satisfied with the PCL?
14. What is the benefit of the PCL?
15. What challenges did you face in the PCL?
16. Does social media represent a challenge in PCL?
17. Did you share any particular experience in the school’s WhatsApp group?
18. Did you benefit from what was posted on the WhatsApp group?
19. If you have the opportunity to post something to the group, will you participate?
20. Do you have another suggestion, or another medium that can be used, that would be better, or would it make communication easier?
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Project number: 573660-EPP-1-2016-EG-EPPKA2-CBHE-JP Project title: School-University Partnership for Peer Communities of Learners
(SUP4PCL)
Project website: SUP4PCL.aucegypt.edu
The SUP4PCL Partnership: Foundational Principles The Partnership is about Change and Transformation The Partnership is a Collaborative and Collegial One The Partnership Constitutes a Community of Learners The Partnership is a First Step in Long Lasting Relationships and Friendships The Partnership Respects Diversity, Multiculturalism and Internationalism