Pre-Service Teacher Education and the evolution of Teacher Preparation Policy in Jordan

• In Event: Highlighted Session: Designing Teacher Preparation and Professional Development Systems for Resilience, Sustainability and Scale: The Role of Policy Alignment and Reform.

Proposal

In Jordan, grade 4-10 teachers can be recruited based on subject-specific degrees, and often begin teaching with no background in curriculum development, classroom management, or pedagogy. Out of nearly 80,000 public school teachers, fewer than 700 attended pre-service education training in university before entering the classroom prior to 2021. Through the USAID Pre-Service Teacher Education in Jordan activity, IREX is supporting partners to increase the supply of qualified grade 4 - 10 teachers by supporting universities to deliver Pre-Service Teacher Education (PSTE) diplomas for the first time, attract high quality students to the profession, and improve government systems, policies, and practices related to PSTE. The first pilot cohort successfully launched at 4 partner universities in 2021 and over 1,200 students have subsequently completed the course, with additional scaling expected as PSTE is prioritized by the Government of Jordan.
With a focus on quality, sustainability and scaling, the Activity has worked with cross-government partners to collect and use data to inform development of policy recommendations that are advanced through a government-led Program Steering Committee and its subgroups. Our learning from annual Political Economy Analyses and biennial National Perceptions of Teaching Surveys – designed to understand the incentives and disincentives to teacher recruitment and the expansion of PSTE – focused attention on teacher recruitment, salaries, and career progression as central to expanding PSTE and raising the prestige of the profession. Policy dialogue on these issues, and subsequent support to the government to understand the impact, equity and cost implications of different policy options, has resulted in a raft of policy decisions by the Civil Service Bureau (CSB), the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research, the Accreditation and Quality Assurance Commission for Higher Education Institutions (AQACHEI), and the Ministry of Education (MoE) that positively impact student teachers’ journeys into the profession. More broadly, recent public statements by the Minister of Education set out the Government's intention to further expand PSTE to more universities, suggesting that the direction of travel continues to be good.
Drawing on data from program assessments and internal learning and reflection activities, this session shares insights on the journey to securing substantial policy reforms, and lessons learned, including:
• The importance of creating mechanisms for cross-government coordination and trust building and collective review of evidence and data to drive transparent PSTE policy dialogue
• The particular importance of cross-government and university collaboration in supporting teacher preparation and career pathways, which required coordinated policy actions from the CSB (points on the teacher recruitment waiting list), the MoE (status/salary adjustment, auto-hire, contract teachers) and universities (more accurate career advice and guidance).
• The regulation of public professions can be complex, cross-government and politicized. The number of agencies to engage and the number of bylaws to change only revealed themselves over time and were not known or understood by key stakeholders at the outset. The pace of reforms to PSTE, teacher recruitment, and career progression policy may not therefore match the pace of PSTE curriculum development and rollout, requiring mitigation and adaptation.

Author

• REBECCA LOUISE Ward, IREX