Active-Learning Pedagogies as a Reform Initiative ... - EQUIP123.net

Active-Learning Pedagogies as a Reform Initiativeidentified the following among the indicators of “upgrading teaching skills:” a) “teachersimplement skills learned in training and b) students demonstrate increased proficiency in problemsolving skills” (USAID/Egypt, 2001, p. 12). In the “Status Report,” which was distributed halfway through the second school year of the project, USAID/Egypt (2002, p. 8) calls positiveattention to the training courses provided for teachers, including: Effective Teaching Methods,Student-Centered Methods, Advanced Student-Centered Training—U.S., and SupervisingStudent-Centered Classes.The phrase President Mubarak used in his address to the 2000 Dakar EFA conference, “educationfor excellence and excellence for all,” is repeated in the MOE publication, Mubarak andEducation: Qualitative Development in the National Project of Education (MOE, 2002, p. 6),calling this “a major national target that directs its march according to the criteria of total qualityin education.” This MOE (2002; emphasis added) publication also identifies the following as twokey elements of the “future vision of education in Egypt:”• Achieving a Learning Community … Moving forward from a culture ofmemorization and repetition to that of originality and creativity. … Such acommunity is also marked by the individual’s active role in the teaching/learningprocess” (p. 140).• Revolution in the Concepts and Methods of Education … The student’s role is notthat of a passive receiver, but of a knowledge-producing researcher and aninnovative explorer of technology. These methods addressed all types of intelligenceas well as the senses and emotions of learners.” (p. 148)Also in 2002, the World Bank published its Sector Review of Education in Egypt. In discussing“challenges ahead,” the document reports: “ hile Egypt has embarked on an ambitious andcomprehensive education reform program, it faces numerous challenges to attain its educationalgoals. Foremost among the challenges is to improve the quality of schooling … to create theknowledge and problem-solving skills required to improve global competitiveness. [This can beachieved] by changing teaching practices, modernizing curricula, and creating the feedback loopbetween secondary and tertiary institutions and employers” (World Bank, 2002, p. ii; emphasisadded).USAID/Egypt participated in the reform discourse by commissioning a study leading to a“strategy proposal,” which informed the Mission’s “program descriptions” for the EducationReform Program (ERP). The study report (Aguirre International, 2002, pp. 11-12; emphasisadded) sketched a number of cross-cutting themes, including: “Classroom Learning Environment.At present children in many Egyptian public schools are living in an environment that emphasizesmemorization and rote learning of the exam-driven curriculum. ... There is little or nodiversification of instruction to meet different student needs and learning styles, ... [let alone theuse of] new methodologies that encourage and enable students to become active, enthusiasticparticipants in their own learning.”USAID/Egypt’s growing and increasingly explicit enthusiasm for active-learning pedagogies isevident in its September 2003 “program descriptions” used to request applications for theEducation Reform Program (2004-2009). In these two documents USAID/Egypt stressed that“[q]uality improvements are required to ensure that universal enrollment is accompanied by theacquisition of critical-thinking skills. ... Extensive training is required for tens of thousands ofEQUIP1 8