Long-Term Government Training for EFL Junior Graduated Teachers in

Morocco
Prepared by:
Ismail Fayed, IELP-II
April, 2003
Abstract:
This session is going to be an informal reflectie session abo!t a training
system that is describing the c!rrent stat!s-co of an EFL teacher training
program that is ta"ing place in another Arab middle-eastern co!ntry, #orocco,
in parallel to the perspecties of Egyptian programs$
T
ntroduction:
The %egional Pedagogical &enter, Le Centre Pedagogique Regionale, '&P%( is an
interesting long-term training scheme in #orocco$ The program is an organi)ed effort
of the #oroccan #inistry of Ed!cation, *hich targets fresh grad!ated EFL teachers in
#orocco$ The program is planning to e+pand its role to sere and train teachers of all
s!b,ect areas$
Goa!s and Mission:
-hen *e reali)e the !ni.!e stat!s of foreign lang!age ed!cation in #orocco, as a
co!ntry that has biling!al and triling!al spea"ers of Arabic, /erber, French, and0 or
1panish, *e can !nderstand the goals behind organi)ing s!ch training scheme for the
teachers of English in the co!ntry$ It is a co!ntry *ith ery high sensitiity to foreign
lang!ages beca!se of different colonial, social, c!lt!ral, geographical, and economic
reasons$
The goal of this program is trying to enhance the professional deelopment of EFL
fresh grad!ated and pre-serice teachers in #orocco$ This is almost an intensie
training program, *ith concentration on teaching thro!gh presenting modern
methodology and teaching techni.!es to those teachers, *hich *o!ld enable them to
apply ne* 2effectie2 practices in their f!t!re teaching right after their grad!ation$
"o# the Program $or%s&
The &P% consists of different regional teams of teachers, *ho participate in the
program as trainees, coming from different cities in the co!ntry$ The nominated
trainees, *ho are !s!ally either EFL fresh-grad!ated teachers or pre-serice st!dents,
are !s!ally re.!ested to pass a *ritten and oral e+am as a pre-re.!isite to be .!alified
to participate in this program$ All trainees sho!ld stay in the training center for one
year in almost a closed camp$ Their st!dies foc!s on modern teaching methods and
applied practices for teaching EFL0 E1L$ The trainees attend certain classes and then
apply *hat they hae learned in teaching certain classes that they are in charge of$
They prepare obseration sheets to their colleag!es and organi)e disc!ssion gro!ps
Ismail Fayed, #ATE &onference %eport, #orocco, April 2003 3
*ith their s!perisors and trainers to disc!ss certain teaching s"ills or sit!ations
thro!gho!t the year$
Professiona! 'eve!opment (pportunities:
Last April, all trainees from all oer #oroccan cities *ere inited to participate and
attend a national #oroccan conference for EFL teachers in the co!ntry and abroad,
the #oroccan Association of Teachers of English '#ATE( &onference in Fes city$ The
conference *as a great opport!nity for EFL0 E1L teachers and ed!cators in all
different areas and at all leels to e+change ideas, s"ills, and interests in the field$ It
*as a m!ch greater opport!nity for those ne* promising teachers to apply, st!dy, and
e+amine *hat they hae learned of teaching theories and to apply ne* modern
teaching practices$ The s!perising trainers from different branches held a central
meeting, as part of the conference sessions, *here all trainees and other ed!cators
*ere inited to a meeting to disc!ss seeral teaching iss!es, concerns, and
e+pectations they had on that program and to create a net*or" among all teacher
trainees and, other ed!cators in the field$ In addition, they *ere inited to ,oin a
ol!ntary teacher-training special interest gro!p '1I4( as part of their participation in
the conference and as members of this regional association$
After trainees complete this one year training period, they sho!ld complete a final
assessment e+am, before 2grad!ating2 as .!alified teachers *ho are ready to start
their teaching career$ The role of the ministry does not stop here at that point, it
e+ceeds this to distrib!ting those teachers to the different schools and cities *here
they sho!ld sere obligatorily for a certain period as goernmental teachers in the
co!ntry$ This distrib!tion !s!ally depends on their final mar"s or according to
geographical considerations$
)pot!ight on the Moroccan E*perience:
5ne of the interesting elements in the #oroccan e+perience, in the field of teacher
training, is ho* it *as organi)ed by the goernment to adopt most of the ,!nior
teachers *ho are in an !rgent need for s!ch an opport!nity$ The long-term scheme, as
stated in the title of this paper, is a !ni.!e and important-to-consider element$ There
are many deeloping co!ntries that are trying to gie attention to the training of
teachers, thro!gh different donor agencies and goernmental instit!tions, as is the
case in Egypt no*$ In spite of this fact, these training programs are !s!ally for a ery
short period of time$
Those other training programs do not !s!ally foc!s on ,!nior teachers as a main
target, e+cept in some comp!ter and IT fields, and they !s!ally ary in d!ration from
one day to one month$ There is no clear commitment to*ards !sing these teachers
after they complete s!ch training in any *ay$ In other *ords, in Egypt for e+ample,
yo! can not g!arantee that s!ch trainees *ill be nominated as goernmental teachers
after they complete any training or after their traditional grad!ation$ This *ill
negatiely infl!ence the o!tcome of and e+pectations that *e can hae from these
trainings, or een from the !niersity-grad!ated teachers, *ho do!bt if they *ill find
an opport!nity to apply *hat they hae st!died, learned, hae been trained on after
their grad!ation$$
Ismail Fayed, #ATE &onference %eport, #orocco, April 2003 2
-e sho!ld mention, in this conte+t, an old Egyptian practice before the spread of the
Fac!lties of Ed!cation in the co!ntry$ There *as only one 67igher 1chool for
Teachers8 e.!ialent to the recent Fac!lties of Ed!cation$ /esides, there *as also The
7igher Instit!te for Teachers, *hich *as the only teacher training entity that .!alified
!niersity grad!ates *ith non-ed!cational degrees to be teachers$ This *as a long
time ago, and it came o!t of a nat!ral need for s!ch ed!cational instit!tions$ The need
for a ne* teacher-training practice, re.!ires more concentration on the .!ality rather
than the .!antity of the training proided,8 as stated by Elhami Afifi in a personal
interie* *ith him$
+ecommendations:
5ne may p!t for*ard the follo*ing recommendations, based on this brief
contemplation, in order to help foster the adantages of this program and help the
local goernmental0 professional instit!tions, here in Egypt, adopt and recommend
this training scheme for better training opport!nities for the Egyptian comm!nity$
These recommendations are9
3- Trying to apply similar long-term programs on a *ider scale !nder the
s!perision and administration of both the #inistry of Ed!cation '#5E( and
the &entral :epartment for In-1erice Training '&:I1T( in Egypt
2- Trying to afford all possible opport!nities to create a strong and consens!s
net*or" among EFL teachers, especially the ,!nior and fresh-grad!ated ones,
and list all these net*or"s and ma"e them aailable to those *ho are in need
of it
3- Proiding different professional deelopment opport!nities and In-serice and
Pre-serice teacher training programs is a national m!st
;- There sho!ld be similar programs for teachers of all s!b,ect areas and s"ills
*ith opport!nities to integrate different training programs or actiities
together, li"e the case bet*een ed!cational technology fields and other s!b,ect
areas
<- Proiding all possible s!pport to motiate and inspire ,!nior teachers and
ed!cators to ma"e them more a*are of their role's( and responsibilities as
teachers
=- Proiding teaching opport!nities for all grad!ated teachers, according to the
mechanics of the mar"et and the economic capabilities of the state, is a m!st
to "eep deeloping their professional e+perience and red!ce any
!nemployment opport!nities *ith all its negatie and dangero!s impacts
Ismail Fayed, #ATE &onference %eport, #orocco, April 2003 3