Page 7 - ELG1601 Feb Issue 433

ELsummer special
February 2016 Page 7

Courtesy Karen Hooper SHIFTING SANDS Students from the English Option project,

the first English-medium programme to be implemented in a
Maghreb state education system, celebrate on Mehdia beach
Morocco’s English Option

Karen Hooper and Kathryn Kelly report on a groundbreaking

programme teaching maths, science and IT using Clil methodology

he demand for English Moroccan Arabic. Moroccan public universities. The English Option programme
is clearly and steadily Mohammed, the teacher of However, the Ministry of has several exemplary features
Trising in Morocco. The maths at our pilot school in Rabat, Higher Education has repeatedly which are powerful indicators for
British Council has more than is typical of his peers: he completed stressed the importance of Eng- its success and scalability. Par-
5,000 students taking its online his own secondary school and lish for learning and teaching at ticipation is optional – for schools,
course LearnEnglish Connect undergraduate studies in French the postgraduate and doctorate teachers and students. Learning
(see page 11), and each school during the 1980s. French is a sec- levels. And in summer 2015 a through English is introduced
term has seen registration for ond language for Mohammed, and highly influential national advi- gradually and only in a few speci-
its teaching centres increase sig- at the beginning of his career he sory body recommended that fied subjects, and the teachers are
nificantly. The British Council is taught maths in French. Then in the English be promoted as the lan- given reduced teaching timetables
also involved in one of the most 1990s he was instructed to switch guage of scientific research and to allow for training, materials
dynamic and innovative educa- to Arabic, a language which he introduced progressively along- development and additional lesson
tion reform projects in North says he did not fully master. Today side other foreign languages as preparation. In addition, funding
Africa, which reflects both he is delivering his lessons in Eng- a medium of instruction in uni- for the British Council’s contin-
the Moroccan government’s lish. One subject, three languages versities and training centres. ued involvement has been secured
commitment to improving the of delivery and none of them his The ministry has indicated infor- through a public–private partner-
employability of its youth and native tongue. mally to us that they are adopting ship arrangement with Fondacion
the changing role of English in In the first year the British these recommendations from the OCP (Office Cherifien des Phos-
the wider society. Council was contracted to provide beginning of the academic year in phates), the corporate social
A small group of upper-second- language support for the Stem 2017, which would be extremely responsibility wing of Morocco’s
ary schools across Morocco are teachers, training to improve their timely for the first graduates of largest publically owned company
piloting the first English-medium capacity to teach through English the English Option. and the world’s leading producer
programme to be implemented and professional development for We have been impressed and of phosphates. Finally, we believe
in a state education system in the the Moroccan teachers of English. occasionally moved by the mod- that the teaching practices and
Maghreb. Since its launch in Sep- British Council teachers are not est but significant changes being learning skills that are developing
tember 2014 the British Council – and never will be – delivering brought to the classroom by will be highly relevant in an envi-
has been working closely with the lessons to the students. In the sec- teachers, their appetite for pro- ronment where most learning and
Ministry of National Education to ond year, based on more than 150 fessional development and their teaching takes place in a language
provide support for the teachers hours of classroom-based research determination to succeed. That other than teachers’ and learners’
who are involved in this pioneer- last year, we’re trying to strike a said, the programme does face native tongues. n
ing and innovative initiative. balance between promoting best some of the challenges seen in
There are currently five practice in whole-class instruction similar endeavours elsewhere: Karen Hooper (Karen.
schools in Casablanca, Rabat, while continuing to encourage lack of customised curricula and hooper@britishcouncil.org) is
Tangier and Tetouan with teachers to experiment with the fit-for-purpose materials; a severe the team leader on the British
approximately 250 students and communicative activities that are scarcity of teachers with the nec- Council’s English Option
25 teachers involved in the pro- central to language progression. essary language skills; misgivings Programme. Kathryn Kelly
gramme, known as the Moroccan The five teachers of English surrounding new teaching prac- (Kathryn.kelly@britishcouncil.
Baccalaureate-English Option. face a particular challenge: given tices; and minimal pedagogical org) is an English projects
The students are being taught an the increased number of weekly and administrative guidelines. manager based in Rabat
incremental proportion of their hours of lessons and the fact
mathematics, life sciences and that the English language levels
earth science, physics and chem- of students on the programme
istry and IT (collectively referred tend to be higher than those of
to as Stem) classes in English their contemporaries, existing
using Clil methodology over their national programmes and text-
three-year baccalaureate pro- books are simply not suitable.
gramme. They also receive five We are working with them to has
hours of English language per explore areas that could bridge
week, two more than their peers the English language and Clil multiple personalities
in mainstream sections. French classrooms, specifically exploit-
continues to be taught as a second ing opportunities for promoting – on Facebook it
language for four hours per week, language proficiency for formal
while the rest of the curriculum is academic learning. And we work becomes EL Gossip
delivered in Arabic. The Moroc- closely with the Stem teachers
can Baccalaureate is the entrance to explore ways of introducing a
requirement for higher education more interactive dynamic to their
in Morocco. classrooms and to foster a range Like us on
The English Option pro- of thinking skills in their lessons.
gramme, which aims to produce Looking forward, one of www.facebook.com/
high school graduates able to the key challenges is to ensure
pursue tertiary education in opportunities for the further Englishlanguagegossip
English, is unfolding in a rich development of the distinct
but increasingly complex lan- skills these students are acquir-
guage environment. We get a ing. While there is an increasing
sense of this complexity from number of opportunities to
the experience of several of study English in private higher
the Stem teachers involved in institutions in Morocco, there
the programme who are native are currently a limited number
speakers of Darija, colloquial of courses taught in English in