Mayamin Altae
PhD Education University of Leicester
MA Educational Technology & TESOL University of
Manchester
BA English Language and Literature & QTS Bradford
University
I have been an English language teacher for more than
19 years in the UK and Middle East
Iraq’s English Language
Curriculum: A tale of two era!
When talking about Iraqi or Iraq’s English language
curriculum you will need a big cup of coffee or tea and
somewhere you can sit without any distraction.
Before I start talking about the curriculum let me take
you through where Iraq is located and its history prior to
war and post war, as Iraq has gone through a lot not like
any other country in the world
The Iraqi society is a mixture of different ethnicities: Arabs, Kurdish,
Kaldan, Arman and Turikman, and several religions Christianity,
Sabia Mandani, Yazidi and Islam and Judaism before 1980. “As a
direct consequence of the rich history, the Iraqi population comprises
a true mosaic of different ethnicities” (Dogan et al, 2017: 3).
The modern history of Iraq showed that different Iraqi social groups
were living in harmony with each other and with the other
neighbouring countries for many years. “The cities of Iraq were
vibrant, cosmopolitan places displaying an eclectic mix of
communities living more or less in harmony but rather that such
identities were the primary social markers in the early years of Iraq’s
history as a state” (Stansfield, 2016: 123).
Prior to war
Saddam Hussein's Regime
Saddam Hussein came to power 1979 - 2003, many external and
internal conflicts
1980-1989 Iraq-Iran War
1990-1991 Gulf War
1991-2003 Sanction on Iraq
Iraq suffered enormous hardship due to
continuous external conflicts before 2003,
which made the country lagging in many
economic and social domains; not excluding
technology. The previous regime’s concern in
mobilizing oil profits for security and military
supports prevented Iraqis from acquiring the
quality of life common in other major oil-
producing countries in the region, such as
Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Qatar
Education in Iraq
From 1979-2003:
Teacher centred
Students would memories pages or chapters
and then stand in front of the class and
recite what they have memories
No resources(CD player, CD’s, PPT, Smart
board etc.)
Blackboard and chalk
NO CPD for teachers
The situation in Iraq started to shift away from the historical harmony to
conflicts that isolated Iraqis from the outside world for many decades.
Post War 2003 Iraq/Education
There was a noticeable development in the use of technology in
schools and Iraqi secondary school teachers are now expected to use
technology in their teaching routinely. The introduction of the new
English language curriculum has put more pressure on teachers to
integrate technology as the new curriculum comes with many
supporting software materials that teachers need to use in order to
achieve the potentials of the curriculum. The Iraqi government
educational policy states that teachers’ use of technology in their
teaching practices need to be considered when assessing their
performance and their professional development in order to build a
continuing quality improvement by focusing on the efficient use of
technology. (UNESCO - ICT Education for Iraq, 2016) Iraqi Ministry of
Education has recently struck a deal with Dell for a multi-phase
deployment of 50,000 of its Optiplex 380 desktop computers and
monitors in 4,000 schools across the country (Trade Arabia, 2017).
Iraq's Big Jump
1980-2003 2003- till now
IMAGES FROM internet
Pages from the curriculum
That have emails, technology….
Criteria for supervisors to tick when observing
Criterion
Empowering Inclusive
Iraqi Teacher Leadership;
Languages of New
Technologies,
Opportunities and Risks
2014-2017
The most significant events within the last 15 years
was the American invasion in 2003 that toppled
Saddam’s regime. Soon after that, ongoing sectarian
fights between muslims, Shias and Sunnis erupted
and lead the country to one of the darkest periods of
its modern history.
Fights and struggles among different groups lead to
the fall of Mosul (Iraq’ largest city, the home of 4
million people) to the so called Islamic State in 2014.
The ‘Islamic State’ group exercised all sorts of brutal
acts in the City diminishing anyone or any groups
who were seen as opposing their extremist agenda.
As the group strengthened its grip on Mosul, the City
sank further into chaos, and the local government
departments including education. The Mosul
Directorate General of Education was completely
dysfunctional.
The so called Islamic State
introduced their own curriculum to
Mosul schools.
The curriculum included extreme
ideologies that aimed at
brainwashing the children in
schools.
Teacher leaders were forced to
back up the ISIS curriculum
Parents who chose not to send
their children to schools were
threatened with execution in the
public.
The chaotic scene in the country in general after 2003 and in Mosul in
particular after 2014 had a devastating effect on the education sector all
over Iraq.
In 2017, the Iraqi government backed by the international coalition forces
drove ISIS out of Mosul. The cost of liberating Mosul was the destruction of
80% of its education infrastructure.
The central government in Baghdad soon realised the size of the problem
in the education sector in Mosul, so they took a hasty step to alleviate the
negative impact that the chaotic scene had had on the education sector by
introducing a new curriculum and getting rid of the curriculum that ISIS
were using in Mosul's schools
The new curriculum was introduced to
destroyed schools and to emotionally shattered
teacher leaders who faced huge challenges to
restore the education system.
The new curriculum was a big jump from the
old one and it was completely different and
never been similar to any previous curriculum
in the local education context due to its modern
methods of teaching and its embedding of
technology.
The transition from the old curriculum to the
new one was abrupt, and that exacerbated the
problem more for the teacher leaders who
found themselves in the middle of a completely
new challenge.
Iraqi teacher leaders are now
struggling to find their identity as
professional educators and make
their voices heard in a post-war
context. They find barriers to
modernising an Iraqi curriculum
with inclusive processes and
practices regardless of race,
ethnicity, and religion.
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Say: "Do, and God will see your work, His Messengers, and the believers, and
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what you have done.
The Iraqi teacher leaders being from different faiths believe in one common
aspect that is linked to all of the religions in the land of Mesopotamia … this is
demonstrated by the following verse from Quran. (This verse is shared across
all the religions in Iraq though in different wordings)
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Say: "Do, and God will see your work, His Messengers, and the believers, and
you will return to the world of the unseen and the witness, and He will tell you
what you have done.
The Iraqi teacher leaders being from different faiths believe in one common
aspect that is linked to all of the religions in the land of Mesopotamia … this is
demonstrated by the following verse from Quran. (This verse is shared across
all the religions in Iraq though in different wordings)
The paper aims to address the professional challenge by
asking three questions:
- How do teacher leaders describe and understand ways
they are empowered to build inclusive education systems?
- How do these teacher leaders build professional learning
communities to support inclusive processes and practices
to optimise students’ learning and build community
cohesion?
- What role do teacher leaders believe language and digital
skills play in this modernisation of an inclusive Iraqi
curriculum?
How do teacher leaders describe and understand ways
they are empowered to build inclusive education
systems?
The data revealed that the teacher leaders do not fully
comprehend their role as being vital to upgrade the education
system.
This appeared to be linked to the extraordinary circumstances
that such sector has been through when the so called IS
controlled the city and detached the whole communities form
their local environment and from their global context.
It was also found that the teacher leaders do not have the
required knowledge or skills to understand their full
specifications of their role as leaders who are supposed to
empower the education stakeholders.
This appeared to be linked to the lack of training and to the
absence of any policy documents at the Iraqi MoE that could
guide the teacher leaders.
How do these teacher leaders build professional learning
communities to support inclusive processes and practices to
optimise students’ learning and build community cohesion?
The finding showed that teacher leaders had to equip themselves with the necessary skills to lead on
restoring the education system.
Following the fall of Mosul to the Islamic State in 2014, and the damage to the education system, the
teacher leaders appeared to be in a position (for the first time in the Iraqi education history) to take the
responsibility of restoring the education system in the City and empowering the teachers by creating an
inclusive education system to:
Bring the community together to face future challenges.
Make teachers’ voices heard by the policy makers.
Empower schools to take own decisions to heal the scars of conflicts and build resilience.
What role do teacher leaders believe language and digital skills
play in this modernisation of an inclusive Iraqi curriculum?
The findings show that since Iraqi students have to master English language and digital skills by the age
of 14 (year 9), the teacher leaders showed interest in supporting the development of the teachers’
English proficiency and technology skills.
The teacher leaders showed an understanding about the benefit of language and technology for the
students. They belived that without acquiring the necessary language and digital skills, the future
generation would not be able to compete in the job markets and getting a job through which they can
support their families.
Thank you
Any questions