Research to Improve the Quality of Early Primary Grade Teaching and Learning in Syria

• In Event: Evidence-based knowledge to improve quality education in the Middle East and sub-Saharan Africa

Proposal

The ‘Research to improve the quality of teaching and learning inside of Syria’ project sought to help DFID, its implementing partners, and the global education in crisis and conflict (EiCC) community strengthen and elevate the evidence base regarding Grade 2/Grade 3 teacher practice, child learning, and wellbeing in conflict-affected settings. Importantly, it sought to identify any correlations amongst these three areas of inquiry. Finally, it sought to identify any examples of existing best practices (as defined by a literature review on the topic for EiCC) or new innovations that could be elevated.

As a whole, the project aimed to impact strategies and activities put forward for the education sector in Syria in 2019 at a time when the Ministry of Education in Damascus would be re-absorbing education service delivery responsibilities across a majority of the country for the first time since 2010. More broadly, the report is envisioned to be a global good with lessons applicable for education service delivery in protracted crises, specifically relating to improving teaching practice and learning outcomes.

Ms. Steele will explore the challenges faced in designing the research project and carrying it out during active conflict. The presentation and discussion will touch on topics such as conflict sensitivity and research ethics, modification of research plans in response to changes in context, and ensuring that the research design is influenced but not solely defined by the existing evidence base, allowing the realities of the context to breathe life and meaning into it. It will explore how to balance political, operational, and technical considerations as the context changes around a research plan. Finally and most importantly, Ms. Steele will share the findings of the research and its implications for both post-conflict Syria and the broader education in crisis and conflict community as a whole.


The research is the first of its kind in Syria and unique in that it is focusing on the quality and value of teaching practices and behaviours both against ‘best practice’ for the sector as well as how such teaching correlates to findings on student learning and wellbeing. It is also unique in that data is being collected in an area of active conflict and context of sensitive socio-political profiles.

With respect to sustainability, this research can be impactful in identifying ways to improve enrolment in and retention through primary education as well as the efficiency and effectiveness of teacher practice therein to support student wellbeing and learning. It would be particularly relevant to the Middle East Special Interest Group as well as the Education, Conflict, and Emergencies Special Interest Group.

The research design has been guided by existing evidence in the field of education in crisis and conflict, where it exists. This includes standards for teaching practice and behaviour as identified by INEE and its implementing agency members through tools such as the following, most of which have as their theoretical frameworks work done by Dewey, Freire, and Montessori:

1. INEE’s Teachers in Crisis and Conflict Toolkit
2. ECCN’s Safe Learning Environment Qualitative and Quantitative Toolkits
3. Save the Children’s Improving Learning Environments Together in Emergencies Toolkit
4. The Joint Education Needs Assessment Toolkit
5. The IRC”s Healing Classrooms Toolkit
6. Schwarzer’s & Hallum’s Teacher Self-Efficacy Assessment Guidance
7. Our own questions from 20 other sources (including INEE guidance on inclusive education, literature on Information and Communication Technology in Fragile and Conflict Affected States, Education international’s research on Teacher Training and Professional Development, the Escuela Nueva model, Promising Practices in Refugee Education from UNRWA, NRC’s CREPS report from Sierra Leone, Teachers for Teachers documentation, Sesame Workshop and the IRC’s Sesame Seeds model, Betancourt’s work on MH/PSS, Charick’s work on Accelerated Learning Programmes, Burde’s research on Community-based Education, the Global Coalition to Protect Education from Attack’s guidance, and the Comprehensive School Safety Framework)

Sources of data included education authority representatives, local council members, school administrators, teachers, children, and parents/caregivers as well as (I)NGO representatives. School and classroom-based observations were feasible in non-formal and formal learning spaces in Idleb, Aleppo, and the Euphrates Shield areas. Data collection methods included surveys, interviews, group interviews, and observations. To the extent possible and appropriate, data sources were chosen to ensure triangulation of responses. The safety and security of informants and enumerators remained the top priority that underlined the types of questions to ask, in what settings, in what areas, and which what methodologies as well as the sites to be visited. Data was analysed by the Field Coordinator, Senior Researcher, and Team Lead on a weekly basis as part of a concurrent triangulation method to identify both trends and concerns about the nature of the data collection tools and their uptake as well as their use by enumerators.

Data analysis will be concluded in December 2018 and information on how the research methods and results supported the conclusions drawn from the data will be made available at that time. Once data analysis is complete, we will share what information is new and how it is impactful to various Special Interest Groups and the CIES community as a whole.

Author

• Jen Steele, equitas education