Research Question Reflection
Common Core. National vs. State Standards. Uniformity. Diversity. As educators today, we are constantly bombarded with information regarding the benefits or harmful aspects of these hot-topic issues in our field. As a teacher in New Jersey, a state led by a governor who is actively pro-Common Core, we have received a greater amount of pressure each year to align what we are teaching to what is happening in districts across our state, with the intent to be to provide our students with a common educational experience, regardless of specific location. Students in Jersey City and Trenton should be learning the same things as their peers in Chatham and Saddle River. As I began to prepare for my travel to Morocco for the International Field Experience portion of my Teachers for Global Classrooms program, I wondered if these issues were present at all in Morocco. Are teachers in Morocco encouraged or required to teach to a set curriculum, whether it be based on a local or national level? How much flexibility are they allowed in straying from that standard?
I admit I knew absolutely nothing about the educational system in Morocco before boarding my flight to leave Newark Airport. Our first days in Rabat, learning about the history and design of the Moroccan educational system from our in-country coordinator, Ms. Meriem Lahrizi, gave me my first taste of the complicated fabric that exists for my Moroccan peers. This immersion into the reality of the framework of the Moroccan educational system was an integral part of my ability to observe and understand what was taking place in the classrooms we visited. Most of my observations took place in Aourir- a small town about 30 minutes outside of the city of Agadir in Southern Morocco. My host teacher, Mr. Brahim Elouafi, is an English language teacher at Aourir High School. We spent several days in his classroom with him, as well as mornings and evenings engaged in cultural activities and discussions about our profession. Mr. Elouafi shared his beliefs and concerns about the curriculum that the Moroccan Association of English Teachers (MATE) has distributed. I was able to glance at the textbooks that were in his classroom, and agreed with him that the dated photographs did not serve to engage his students. He chose to take the topics presented in each unit, and incorporate activities that he created into his lessons each day. For example, one day the topic was similarities and differences. The official curriculum had a simple Venn diagram for students to complete about two fictional students that were presented in the book. While this is a valid exercise, I was quite impressed with Mr. Elouafi’s ability to deepen the meaning of the lesson. He had his students work in pairs after a discussion about social norms in India and Morocco, as well as the United States. He used the presence of me and my fellow IREX teacher to provide his students with the chance to practice their speaking and listening skills in interviewing us about basic manners in our country. Student pairs then created their own graphic organizer about similarities and differences, presented to their peers and then a really meaningful conversation about the impact of religion on cultural norms organically grew from the classwork. If Mr. Elouafi had followed the curriculum guidelines only adhering to the teacher guide, this passionate discussion would not have occurred. I asked him if this “deviation” is standard in Morocco, and he chuckled. He informed me that it really depended on many factors including a teacher’s comfort level, relationships with administrators and desired outcome for students. He told me that his desired outcome was to create global citizens, which was apparent in his teaching. I was not able to speak with teachers of other academic subjects to find out if this is common practice among veteran teachers of Math, Science or History. Someday I would love to return to Morocco to be able to investigate these questions on a deeper and more thorough level. |
One of the requirements of the International Field Experience was to maintain a blog about our travel and work. I decided to gear my blog towards my 5th grade students so that they could follow along my journey and learn while I was away. I created a blog that included daily questions for my students to email their responses. (Turns out many adults participated as well!)
http://teachertraveltales.tumblr.com/
http://teachertraveltales.tumblr.com/