School-University Partnership for Peer Communities of Learners (SUP4PCL) Case Study: Helwan University Martin Luther University The Evolution of Peer Communities of Learners (PCLs) at Helwan University and Its Impact on the Transformation Of Professional Learning Practice Authors Ahmed Ismail Heggi Magda Mostafa Elsayed, Mohamed Abdel Salam Ghonem Lubna Mahmoud Shehab, Hanan Kamal Morsy With contributions from Martin Linder 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 Figures 6 List of Tables 7 List of Appendices 8 List of Acronyms 9 Preface 11 Introduction 12 Context 13 Points of Strength 13 The Vision 13 The Mission 13 Academic Study Programs 13 Organizational Structure 14 Community Outreach and Partnership 14 Leadership Styles 14 Points of Weakness 14 Methodology 17 Research Questions 17 Qualitative Research 17 Case study research 17 Data Collection 17 Focus group discussion 17 Observation 19 Semi-structured interviews 19 Data Analysis 19 Toulman's argumentation approach 19 Content analysis 19 Description of Data Analysis 19 Ethical Approval 20 Conceptual Framework 22 Core Activities 22 Theoretical Background: Eight Core Principles 23 4 Based on teachers’ needs and interests 23 Views learning as a social process 24 Inclusion of collaborative opportunities 24 Is ongoing and sustained 26 Treats teachers as active learners 27 Enhances teachers’ pedagogical skills and content knowledge 28 Facilitated with care 29 Focuses on improving learning outcomes for students 30 Findings 33 Commentary and Analysis 39 Challenges 40 Conclusion 42 References 43 Appendices 45 5 List of Figures Figure 1. The organizational structure of the Faculty of Education 15 Figure 2. Timeline of data analysis 20 Figure 3. The university website 26 Figure 4. Newspapers disseminating the SUP4PCL project 27 Figure 5. Implications 31 6 List of Tables Table 1. Research methods instruments 18 7 List of Appendices Annex (1): Focus group discussions 45 Annex (2): Observation sheet 50 Annex (3): Interview schedule 53 Annex (4): A designed questionnaire for school needs 54 Annex (5): HU PCL meeting 60 Annex (6): Links of WebQuests for STEAM, citizenship, Erasmus+ projects and research 68 proposal writing to exchange the experiences among teachers and school mentors Annex (7): HU/MLU memorandum of understanding 69 8 List of Acronyms Partners Acronyms AUC American University in Cairo ANSU Ain Shams University AU Alexandria University HU Helwan University ULEIC University of Leicester UON University of Northampton UL University of Limerick MLU Martin-Luther University Other acronyms and abbreviations School University Partnership for Peer Communities of Learners SUP4PCL (Title of this ERASMUS+ Project) Education Audiovisual and Culture Executive Agency EACEA (European Commission) MEIHE Middle East Institute for Higher Education FOE Faculties of Education MOE Ministry of Education MOHE Ministry of Higher Education 9 MOU Memorandum of Understanding QA Quality Assurance PCL Peer Communities of Learners PD Professional Development PLC Peer Learning Communities STEAM Science, Technology, Art, Engineering and Mathematics ICT Information, Communication & Technology 10 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 11 Introduction community. It consisted of 23 members, ranging from 25 years to 75-year-old, who were interviewed. The idea of peer communities of learners (PCLs) was Subsequently, a coordinator for each school team was developed as a result of the tendency for forming selected, in which the relationships among the members networks and clusters by connecting learning was taken into account. The Helwan management team communities across various educational institutions. encouraged each team to select their colleagues based Although borders existed between those