Case Study Morocco

Enhancement of learning

inside and outside school

in private and public sectors

-primary and lower secondary levels -

Fields study report Morocco

Directed by

Dr Fatima HOUSSAINI

July 2008

Appendix : 2 ( Graphic statistics )

Lower secondary school

Appendix : 1

I - Photos
I.1 - Primary school :
I.1.1 - Bouskoura school ( public - rural ) :

I.1.2 - El Mouhit school ( private - rural ) :

I.2 - Lower secondary school :
I.2.1 - Al Maarif school ( private - urban ) :

I.2.2 - Bouskoura school ( public - rural ) :

References

References

· Derouet, J.-L. (Ed.) (2000) L’école dans plusieurs mondes, Bruxelles . DeBoeck.
· Perrenoud, Ph. (1998) Le pilotage négocié du changement dans les systèmes éducatifs, in J. Lurin et C. Nydegger (Ed.) Expertise et décision dans les politiques de l’enseignement, Genève : Service de la recherche en éducation. Cahier Nº 3.
· M. Crahay (Ed.) Problématique et méthodologie de l’évaluation des établissements de formation, Bruxelles : De Boeck.
· Unesco , 1998,World conference on Higher Education for the twenty century :Vision and Action.Quality of Higher Education , PARIS . Unesco ,
· Unesco , le droit à l’éduction , Vers l’éduction pour tous , tout au long de la vie _ publications unesco-Paris-France -2000.
· UNDP-RBAS (Dec., 2006). Quality assessment of education programmes in Arab universities. Regional overview report. Higher education project enhancement of quality assurance and institutional planning in Arab region.

The Arabic references:

• فاطمة حسيني( 2005) كفايات التدريس وتدريس الكفايات: آليات التحصيل ومعاييرالتقويم،مكتبة السلام الجديدة والدار العالمية للكتاب، الطبعة الأولى ، الدار البيضاء المغرب
• الفريجات، غالب (2000). الإدارة والتخطيط التربوي: تجارب عربية متنوعة، عمان.
• محمد الدريج: مشروع المؤسسة والتجديد التربوي في المدرسة المغربية، منشورات رمسيس، ج 2،الطبعة 1، السنة 1996.
• عطوي، جودت (2001). الإدارة التعليمية والإشراف التربوي: أصولها وتطبيقاتها، الدار العلمية الدولية، عمان.
• عشيبة، فتحي درويش (1999م)، "الجودة الشاملة وإمكانيات تطبيقها في التعليم الجامعي المصري – دراسة تحليلية" في: تطوير نظم إعداد المعلم العربي وتدريبه مع مطلع الألفية الثالثة، المؤتمر السنوي لكلية التربية، جامعة حلوان، 26-27 مايو 1999م.
• دوهرتي، جفري (1999م)، تطوير نظم الجودة في التربية، ترجمة عدنان الأحمد وآخرون، المنظمة العربية للتربية والثقافة والعلوم، المركز العربي للتعريب والترجمة والتأليف والنشر، دمشق.
• الميثاق الوطني للتربية والتكوين، اللجنة الخاصة بالتربية والتكوين. المملكة المغربية.
• قسم الخريطة المدرسية والتوجيه والإعلام ، الإحصائيات المدرسية 2006/2007،الأكاديمية الجهوية للتربية والتكوين ، جهة الدار البيضاء الكبرى.
• دليل الحياة المدرسية:وزارة التربية الوطنية والتعليم العالي وتكوين الأطر والبحث العلمي. الرباط شتنبر2003

IV - Conclusions and Recommendations

Conclusions and Recommendations

What we can deduce from the preceding points is that learning enhancement inside and outside the school is gained through a number of prerequisites:

· The learners should be at the forefront of education and that all endeavors , resources and competencies should be focused upon with a view to empowering them . It is through such an empowerment that the indicator of human development emerges , and it is a guarantee of the attainment of a social framework in its local and human dimensions;
· A strategic planning should be geared towards identifying the positive points to further strengthen them;
· More efforts should be directed towards further fostering learner competencies through fostering those of the teacher herself.

Bearing in mind the important role that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) plays in enhancing education and the recommendations set forth in the proceedings of its regional seminar held in Cairo on 12 through 13 of March, 2008, this study, the aim of which is primarily to achieve added value, suggests that we should carry out an in-depth and comprehensive research in a wider study sample through :

· enabling the school to further become a learning enhancer and an agent of change;
· raising the consciousness of the parties concerned of quality education and what it entails;
· implementing ways of furthering teaching/ learning and adopting the appropriate procedures for ensuring the effective implementation of these procedures;
· benefiting from experiences proven effective and efficient elsewhere;
· Supporting and encouraging initiatives conducive to learning and teaching enhancement.

The study confirm (as saying in the abstract) the essential rule of the teacher in enhancing the quality of learning by ensuring the essential link between the classroom, school life and the immedite social environement of the school.

The study recommends the need for further in depth research focusing on the teacher and pupil relationship both within as well as outside of the class.

III - Data analysis & discussion of results : 7

Second Area

Impediments to learning enhancement within and outside the school

During the interviews which we conducted with teachers, students and administrators, we adopted a scientific and objective way of exploring the cases under study. A comprehensive and systemic vision was required to analyse the situation through identifying the positive points on the one hand, and exploring the impediments on the other. These impediments can be sketched as follows:

1. Impediments due to the nature of administrative management such as unavailability of staff and shortage of training programs that draw upon innovations in governance and outcome-based management;
2. Impediments due to the shortage of financial resources and lack of moral support to educational institutions ;
   
3. Impediments due to teacher performance , teachers’ unfamiliarity with pedagogical approaches to teaching and assessment and the currently applied standards for recruiting teachers ;
   
4. Constraints ensuing from overlooking the prerequisites for each educational stage, the identification of individual differences amongst learners, learning time management and the acquisition of knowledge, methodological , communicational and cultural competencies;
   
5. Constraints ensuing from qualitatively/ quantitatively overloaded curricula and programs. A high amount of the content of these curricula and programs does not help students meet life realistically and to rise up to the social , cultural and economic challenges;
   
6. Impediments stemming from the standards and characteristics of the architectural nature of the school environment : its in-take capacity, the esthetics and aesthetic appeal ;
   
7. Impediments stemming from the inability of the school to effectively communicate with its socio-cultural and socio-economic environment ;
   

It is worth mentioning here that the absence of effective and efficient ways of administrative management and teaching that will help the public school to successfully meet the challenges it faces is palpable. In view of the foregoing, therefore, this study highlights the prerequisites for ensuring effectiveness in long-term performance enhancement and learning and, by implication, in the educational system itself. These prerequisites can be summarized as follows:

· The status of teachers should be raised as they are essential to the enhancement of learning inside and outside the school;
· The pedagogical engineering of all content-areas, be they scientific, technological or vocational, should be geared towards meeting the current and ever-changing social needs ;
· The re-engineering of curricula and programs that will be able to link students with their community and prepare them for ‘life’;
· The rethinking of the approaches to, and aims of teaching of languages with globalization in its ‘civilizational’, political, economic, social and psychological dimensions;
· The equipment of students with high-order thinking/critical skills as well as facilitative negotiation skills ;
· Further empowering human resources and revisiting the recruitment standards for prospective teachers;
· Adhering to project-based management ;
· Taking an important step forward in effectuating collegial teacher/ peer- teaching/ supervision/ training.

III - Data analysis & discussion of results : 6

Requirements for improvement

The percentages below show the extent to which various requirements need enhancement:





There are some differences; however, which stem from whether the school is private or public;

All the above show that teaching practices can be developed or enhanced in the light of the following:

1. Clarity of objectives , tasks and responsibilities;
2. Attendance to planning and management of the various activities;
3. Attendance to efficiency in undertaking tasks and working towards better results;
4. On-going evaluation of all the school staff, including teachers, for better results;
5. Quick intervention to remedy for problems or constrains;
6. Collaborative and cooperative work;
7. Students’ involvement in the various activities inside and outside school on the basis of an effective planning and programs that takes into account their interests, abilities, aspirations and multiple intelligences.
8. Students’ mobilization and involvement to make positive communication possible inside and outside schools. Discipline, commitment to values and ethics are key elements in this respect.
9. Enhancing students’ abilities to understand and interact with their milieu and the world around them.

III - Data analysis & discussion of results : 5

Requirements for the enhancement of learning
in the lower secondary school

2. The public and private lower secondary /middle schools

2.1. Conclusions and indicators:

The table shows that ‘Al Maarif private school’ has realised the highest indicators in the various requirements for learning enhancement inside and outside school. It also indicates the general improvement in the middle school’s performance and shows how these requirements are translated practically in the reality of the school. The chart below shows the sum of the positive indicators of the learning enhancement requirements:

The indicators have improved significantly in the sample of schools with a very little variance despite the difference in the context (rural or urban) or in the education type (public or private) as is shown in the table below:






The rest of the sample proves the improvement of indicators’ percentages in the learning enhancement inside and outside schools. However, there are some differences which stem from whether the school is private or public, or whether it is urban or rural. These factors might not constrain performance quality if specific and shared standards for assessment are available and practised.







3.2. This reinforces and justifies the high success rates in the middle school degree as is shown in the results of students during the two school years (2006-2008):

3. Areas that need improvement

The table above shows the various areas that need to be improved to support the requirements for learning enhancement, especially in the rural areas as is the case of Al Mansouria middle school which still needs to invest a lot in human resources. The Berrada and Bousekkoura’s public schools needs are less severe. Al Mansouria middle school is different from the other schools in all aspects as one might deduce from the table below:

III - Data analysis & discussion of results : 4

The results show that public schools (56%) need more work and investment of efforts in the following areas:

-Ways of improving students’ learning and competencies inside and outside school;

-Renovating curricula and programs to improve learning, teaching and assessment;
-Strengthening the connection between the school and the community by effectuating the role of parents and civic associations that is concerned with education and the reinforcement of the role of schools;

-Bettering the school environment and, by extension, making it appealing to learners;
-Opening school doors to life through effective interactions and partnership schemes between parents and tutors of students and civil society;
-Providing all assets and resources that are conducive to the on-going enhancement of high quality learning inside and outside the school in a world of international new challenges that the school has to meet to enter the world of competition and quality of outputs.

This part has allowed us the opportunity to recognize the status of both public and private schools in terms of the learning outcomes and ability to rise of students’ success in three “délégations” in the “academie of the the Great Casablanca”; namely Nouasser ‘délégation’, Ain Choq, Mohammedia ‘délégation’, Ben Slimane ‘délégation’ in the “Chaouia Ouardigha’ Academy. This has helped us see the most important requirements that impact the enhancement of the learning quality inside and outside school. They have also shed light on the aspects of schools that need to be improved and the practical suggestions, means and procedures necessary to achieve the expected quality.

The coming section will try to answer the following question:

What are the most important requirements for the enhancement of learning in the secondary school?

III - Data analysis & discussion of results : 3

The results in the chart shows that the sample of schools studied need :

1. A strategy for improving and up-dating competences of management in the education staff in compliance with the provision of good administrative governance ;

2. A strategy for attending to the teaching-learning operations in practice to ensure on-going enhancement of methods, teaching styles, tools and mechanisms to achieve the targetted objectives in the areas of theory of learning, teaching and assessment, in particular ;

3. Providing resources and logistics in the era of rapid technology growth so that school can meet the challenges of students’ needs and aspirations ;

4. motivating teachers by training them in assessing their work and helping them to grow professionally to perform better ;

5. effectuating and innovating the psychological, cultural, skill-based dimensions of learning in the curricula and programmes, encouraging the best practices and integrating ICT in the classroom to enable students boost up their performance inside and outside school.

6. providing a suitable learning atmosphere and ensuring the school’s openness to its environment ; a pre-requisite for quality insurance.

7. If the requirements geared towards enhancing learning take the lion’s share in most of the activities that focused on the learner, we also had the opportunity to observe certain activities outside the classroom. These activities trigger students’ motivation, openness to the world around them and to life in general. Attending to these activities heightens students’ multiple intelligences and help them grow economically, socially, culturally and technologically in a school where the roles of schools are renewed or reversed.

3.3.1. Factors that need more improvement to contribute to learning enhancement inside outside school.

Factors and requirements which need improvement differ from school to another as it is made clear in the chart above. However, one might conclude that:

1. There is a need for more qualified administration staff in task /project management as well as in the activities related to work-requirements educationally, pedagogically and financially;

2.There is a need for teacher training in terms of methods of teaching, assessment , remedial /support and the use of ICT;

3.The percentages and the interview of teachers have shown that there are more requirements to attend to. There is a wide difference between the public (Bousekkoura and Al Inara schools) and private schools (The Group of Berrada school and AL Mohit school). The private schools outperform public schools because they are involved in an ongoing competition and are willing to motivate teachers and reward them. They are also able to handle the time-table and learning time. They also involve students extensively in a variety of activities inside and outside school.

3.3.2. The chart below compares the percentages of requirements which need improvement in both public and private schools.

III - Data analysis & discussion of results : 2

Results and indicators in public and private primary schools:

Part One:
The requirements for enhancing learning inside and outside school.

1.1. Positive Indicators

1.2 - Analysis and Discussion

1.2.1 - The administration and the inside-school management

The questionnaires, which have focused on the requirements for the enhancement of learning inside and outside school, have yielded interesting data. In the area of the school management capacity, it is made clear that:

-The frequency or recurrence of positive indicators is almost similar in two primary schools ; namely Bousekkoura public school and the Mohit private school (above average level : 3 and above). Both of these schools are situated in a rural area.
-From the investigation of the Bousekkoura school records, the interviewing of the headmaster and the observation of the activities undertaken, it seems that though this school is situated in a rural area, its leadership invests palpable efforts to provide a suitable context for learning. Though they are not numerous, administrators work towards giving students a sense of belonging to the school; a space where they improve their knowledge and personality as has been maintained by students themselves.

1.2.2 -Teachers’ and students’ performance

The Bousekkoura School has achieved a high percentage compared to other schools in terms of crucial standards for enhancing the quality of performance. 15 out of 19 positive indicators are noticed in connection with teachers and 10 out of 15 in the third standard. Yet, teachers stress the importance of in-service training to catch up with innovations in the field and improve their teaching skills to boost learners’ competence. They are looking forward to understanding the pedagogy of differentiation and the practical ways necessary to implement the curriculum taking into account the time allotted to each subject-matter. They also need to be trained in how to remedy for students’ weaknesses. Teachers make a plea for policy-makers to give more time to students to do their extra-class tasks, the setting up of reading clubs, drama activities, plastic art sessions, music, etc. They also like to see what other institutions do to develop learners socially, cognitively, and affectively; i.e. sharing experiences.

1.2.3 - The results of the analysis of the questionnaire designed for the third area show that the students do not benefit from free health care. They do not always have access to the library, to the multi-media or ICT rooms to do their homework or other activities outside the time-table. There is a noticeable lack of qualified staff to facilitate students’ access to these facilities too. Standards for the school self-evaluation are still not widely applied. The records show that the students’ results are continuously improving, though. Teachers’ efforts to improve their skills are also obvious.

1.2.4 - As far as the forth area which concerns itself with the intra-school and social environment, the school has come to achieve a set of positive indicators, especially in the appropriateness and attractiveness of the site in a rural area where early school leaving can be caused by insignificant or trivial factors, especially in the population of girls. The Quality of the school and its environment is developing in terms of the :

- provision of means of transportation,
- school privacy-proofness ( e.g. a wall is built),
- provision of enough facilities,
- school cleanness and pavement,
- openness to partners (e.g. associations),

There is still a need to improve the school through building a sufficient number of offices, a staffroom, a waiting room for students’ parents and tutors.
Though they belong to different contexts, the rural public ‘AL Mohit school’ and the urban private ‘Group of Berrada schools’ have realized high indicators in the first three areas ; that is (i) the administration, (ii) the internal management and (iii) teachers, staff and students’ performance. 100% of the students have passed in both schools. The ‘Mohit school’ outscored the ‘Group of Berrada schools’. Three points of difference are noticed because of the effective specialised staff available in the ‘Mohit school’ library, as well as the collective management that characterize this school. The ‘Group of Berrada school’ , on the contrary , opens its doors to all the students in its environment and to its social activities . It also tries to ensure in-service training for teachers and staff. The ‘ Mohit school’ has achieved the highest percentage in this area thanks its wide and beautiful site as well as the various activities undertaken there ( see picture) .

The conclusions that accrue from the comparison between the schools’ sample are schematized opposite.

"The names of the schools are: (i) The Group of Berrada school, (ii) The AL Mohit school, (iii) Bousekkoura school, and(iv) the Inara school. The areas are horizontally listed inside the table below the chart (from right to left)."

1.2.5. As for the number of the positive indicators in every school and the requirements for learning enhancement, the results give the following order :

1. Al Mohit’ school 27 %


2. The ‘Group of Berrada school’ 26 %


3. The ‘Bousekkoura’ school 25 %
   
   
4. The ‘Inara ‘ school 22%
   

This order is clearly displayed in the circle opposite :

The names of the schools are in Arabic in the following order from top to bottom: (i) The Group of Berrada school, (ii) the Inara school, (iii)The Mohit school and (iii) Bousekkoura school.

1.2.6. The third figure shows the difference that exists between the private and public schools as far as the positive indicators are concerned . The difference between them is noticeably limited, though. Their performance is the result of their determination to achieve good results. The private education is different from public education because of the positive indicators referred to in the table opposite.

Most of the conclusions drawn indicate that the learning enhancement indicators inside and outside the school – in the sample schools -are high and significant . They reveal that the positive interaction between the best practices in an appropriate atmosphere within and outside school contributes significantly in the enhancement of learning in both public and private schools, be it in rural or urban area.
The chart of students’ results during the last two school years (2006-2008) opposite shows an improvement in the success percentage, especially in public schools. The number of students in each school is also provided.

Concerning the areas connected to governance -in terms of management and implementation- that need to be improved, the chart below shows the data that accrue from the questionnaire’s analysis :