Changing the DNA of STEM Education: Professional Development for an Inquiry-Based Pedagogical Model for Egyptian High Schools

• In Event: Welcome to the Dream: Revolutionizing Education Amid Egypt’s Ongoing Arab Spring

Abstract

In the report from the Committee on STEM Education the Director of the Office of Science and Technology Policy, John Holden, extols an ambitious national STEM Education 5-Year Strategic Plan1. Very comprehensive and promising, the plan casts a wide net and promises to impact K-20 STEM education through public-private partnerships, informal science institutions, workforce development, greater implementation of inquiry and project based curriculum and the preparation of 100,000 excellent STEM teachers. The stakes for a STEM literate and STEM capable society could not be higher. Jonathan Rothwell, in The Hidden STEM Economy2 provided rigorous data and a sobering account of the relationship of STEM education to workforce development, and the current and future impact on the economy.

Over 5600 miles to the east, Egypt has arrived at similar conclusions. In midst of historical political transformation and flux in the Ministry of Education, that nation has remained committed to ratifying the educational landscape through STEM lens. With this consideration, USAID has supported World Learning and its consortium members, The Franklin Institute (TFI), 21st Century Partnership for STEM Education (21PSTEM) and the Teaching Institute for Excellence in STEM (TIES) to develop with the Ministry of Education (MOE) in Egypt, 3 – 5 STEM platform schools. As centers of excellence, these schools will matriculate students into higher education and make them problem solvers, capable of effectively entering a science-based workforce and ensure the economic growth of the country. From school design blue prints, public-private partnerships and curriculum development, to assessment tools, pedagogical modeling and teacher professional development, the consortium has been supporting the MOE. Fundamental to the success of these inquiry and project-based STEM schools, is a novel cohort of teachers capable of adapting to this different teaching and learning model.

Leveraging its success with its partnership school, Science Leadership Academy (SLA) and its established professional development (PD) programs, TFI is leading the PD experiences for Egyptian teachers including a comprehensive four-week PD institute held in Cairo. Founded in research-based best practices3-5, the PD goals are to:

• Advance student learning by creating student-centered classrooms;
• Establish systems for incorporating inquiry-driven and project-based instruction;
• Identify strategies and utilizing high quality instructional material to support the curriculum;
• Effectively collaborate with other teachers across disciplines and to support a continuous cycle of peer feedback, self-reflection, and revision through PLCs;
• Advance teaching and learning concepts and philosophies: inquiry-based instruction; hands-on (constructivist) instruction; project-based instruction; Understanding by Design (or backward design); classroom management and learning strategies.

The presented paper will provide a qualitative review of: (1) the contextualized teacher selection criteria drafted for the MOE; (2) the PD framework and method of implementation; (3) observational and evaluative feedback on the PD; (4) a comparison of US and Egypt based inquiry PD (5) strategies for effective STEM PD in a North African setting. The paper will capture a 1 year snapshot of successes and challenges in a multi-year international STEM education effort.

Authors

• Frederic M N Bertley, The Franklin Institute Science Museum

• Matthew VanKouwenberg, Science Leadership Academy High School