Education for the Future Improving learning environments in Jordanian public schools Lessons from school visits and community dialogue in Northern Jordan Svein Erik Stave, Åge A. Tiltnes, Zainab Khalil and Jalal Husseini Contents Introduction....................................................................................................................... 3 Learning environments in national policy.......................................................... 3 Learning environments in practice: conditions and challenges.............. 4 General challenges.............................................................................................. 5 Specific challenges for Syrian children.....................................................10 Current “best practices” to improve learning environments................... 11 Conclusions and recommendations....................................................................... 13 General conclusion..............................................................................................13 Potential areas of intervention.....................................................................13 References...........................................................................................................................14 Introduction This report from the project “Education for the Future” provides an overview of challenges and pros- pects of improving learning environments in Jordanian public schools in general. Available literature and public narratives on education in Jordan since 2011 highlight the many challenges to the crea- tion of a positive learning environment posed by the increased number of children attending Jordani- an public schools, and Syrian children in particular. The report observes how such challenges have affected the learning environment of Jordanian and Syrian children in the governorate of Mafraq (northern Jordan), where the number of Syrians refugees in the main town exceeds that of the indige- nous population (about 100,000 versus 80,000) (Al-Ghad, 2015). It also focuses on an often neglected dimension of the learning environment, namely parental involvement and the role of parent-school relations. The report is based on a literature review and fieldwork comprising, • Visits to 40 schools in Mafraq Governorate in May-June 2015, which included observation of the physical and social school environments as well as informal interviews with school staff and school children; • Seven focus groups and 15 individual/small group interviews with parents, school children and teachers in Mafraq town in December 2015 and May 2016; and • A questionnaire survey among Jordanian and Syrian households with children enrolled in public schools in Mafraq town. The questionnaire survey was carried out in October 2016 with the main objective of empirically testing many of the new insights obtained from the school visits and the semi-structured qualitative interviews held with groups and individuals. The survey comprised a total sample of 107 households with one or more children enrolled in a public basic school: 65 households with Jordanian nationals and 42 households comprising Syrian refugees. The majority of questions, however, covered some aspects of children’s education, parents’ perception of their children’s education and the relationship between the families, on the one hand, and the schools and their staff, on the other.1 Learning environments in national policy Chapter 6 in the Jordanian National Education Strategy 2006-2016 (NES) is fully devoted to the learn- ing environment, which is considered key to providing quality education for all. The NES states that “[l]earning environments that are safe, healthy, and conducive to learning, with appropriate ICT connectivity and equipment provide the optimal conditions for holistic growth and development of learners.” 1 Further details on survey methodology and results are available in a separate survey documentation paper. Åge A. Tiltnes, Fafo, (2017) "Basic education and parents’ relations with school: Findings from a mini-survey of Jordanian and Syrian refugee households in Mafraq city". 3 Furthermore, it says that, “[t]he provision of effective environments for learning is a primary invest- ment in the future of the country and students, who will be more able to contribute to society in the future.” (MoPIC, 2006: 26). To that end, the NES outlines a set of operational principles for the creation of a good learning envi- ronment (MoPIC, 2006:26-27): • General Infrastructure: safety and cleanliness of school facilities; • Classroom context: adequate class size, space per student and timing of classes; • Participation of students and school staff: valuable source of direct information, insights and support for the design and maintenance of new, better, learning environments; and • Central role of the principal: in her/his capacity as the on-site educational leader, she/he has a leading role in ensuring the creation and maintenance of positive learning environments. Finally, of relevance to the project’s focus on the relations between schools and parents/local commu- nities in education: • Participation of families and community: involvement of families and local communities in deci- sions concerning the design and improvements in the learning environment contribute to the establishment of positive places for learning and strengthen local commitment. In order to implement these principles, certain strategic steps are envisioned, including: boost the cooperation between students, teachers, principals, and the community around the development implementation, and maintenance of effective, safe, caring, and healthy learning environments; allocate financial resources to priority learning environment issues; improve transportation of students to schools; implement quality assurance standards and audit procedures; eliminate double shift and rental schools as well as reduce the number of underutilized small schools (less than 400 students); and monitor improvements and progress for each schools’ learning environment (MoPIC, 2006:27-28). These strategic orientations were developed further in operational documents, such as the Education Reform for Knowledge Economy Second Phase (ERfKEII), which provided for the construction of new modern schools, and the refurbishment and extension of existing schools in urban areas (MoE, 2013:33-34). Furthermore, in several governorates including Mafraq, community leaders were involved in setting up effective, school-based development processes as the main vehi- cle to deliver to all young people of the Kingdom education of high quality. These strategies and implementation plans have been derailed by the inflow of the Syrian refugees. Learning environments in practice: conditions and challenges The data gathering activities of “Education for the Future” have focused on three main aspects of the educational process: 1) general challenges related to learning environments in public schools; 2) specific challenges for Syrian children; and 3) local school initiatives to improve learning environ- ments. The main findings are presented in the following sections. 4 General challenges The general challenges outlined below are faced by both Jordanian and Syrian school children alike, and most of the challenges point towards structural causes within the Jordanian school system, which has become more exposed by the extra pressure caused by the Syrian refugee crisis. Although faced by both Jordanian and Syrian children and in most schools, the challenges are most severely experienced by children attending afternoon shifts in schools with double shifts, i.e. predominantly Syrian children. Overcrowding and uneven distribution of children As a result of the inflow of some 225,000 Syrian children to Jordan since 2011, classroom over-crowd- ing increased from 36 to 46 per cent in the period 2011-2015, while the number of double-shift schools (accommodating a majority of Jordanian students in the morning and a majority of Syrian students in the afternoon) doubled during the same period of time, from 50 to 98 schools (UNICEF, 2015). In the small questionnaire survey conducted in Mafraq, overcrowding in the classroom came out as a key concern and was mentioned as a priority area of improvement by 29 per cent of Jordani- an respondents (mostly parents) and 12 per cent of Syrian respondents. However, the “student bulge” is not the only factor explaining overcrowding. At the national level, the establishment and location of schools is uneven. According to a USAID report, 11 per cent of the student population of Jordan reside in 43 per cent of the schools, while 89 per cent of the student population occupy only 57 per cent of the schools (USAID, 2013). Because of lack of space in most schools this has traditionally resulted in crowding in highly populated urban localities endowed with an insufficient number of schools. Conversely, in some semi-desert areas villages are not endowed with any educational facilities. Nevertheless, it is the deteriorating impact of overcrowding on the quality of education, which came up as the main concern in most group discussions held in Mafraq. Here, the number of students per classroom frequently exceeds 40 children whereas the standard set by the Ministry of Education spec- ifies 25 children per classroom. Overcrowding is also said to lead to the overuse and ensuing degradation of the schools’ furniture and equipment and affect the overall quality of education. During focus groups, students