Wedell, M and Al Shumaimeri, Y (2014) Putting out the fires: Supervisors' experiences of introducing primary English in Saudi Arabia. System, 46. 120 - 130. ISSN 0346-251X
Abstract
Teaching English to Young learners (TEYL) initiatives can represent an example of complex change (Fullan, 1992), whose classroom implementation implies those affected by the change learning new, or adjusting existing, practices and beliefs. Research (Levin and Fullan, 2008; Wedell, 2013) suggests that if contextually appropriate versions of complex change outcomes are to become visible in the majority of classrooms, both the parts of the change system (e.g. materials and assessment), and the way in which the people affected (change ‘partners’) carry out their roles, need to be as consistent as possible with change aims. Saudi Arabia introduced the teaching of English in the last year of primary level in 2004, and expanded it to the fourth year of schooling in 2011. This study uses the reported experiences of representatives from one key group of change ‘partners’: Saudi Primary English Supervisors, to explore aspects of the first six years of TEYL implementation. Their reports suggest widespread inconsistency during the first phase of implementation and little attempt to address the issues before launching the second phase. We suggest that acknowledging the value of these implementers' experiences and giving greater consideration to their suggestions, could help enable the second phase of implementation to become more consistent than the first.
Metadata
Item Type: | Article |
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Authors/Creators: |
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Copyright, Publisher and Additional Information: | © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. NOTICE: this is the author’s version of a work that was accepted for publication in System. Changes resulting from the publishing process, such as peer review, editing, corrections, structural formatting, and other quality control mechanisms may not be reflected in this document. Changes may have been made to this work since it was submitted for publication. A definitive version was subsequently published in System, 46, (2014) DOI 10.1016/j.system.2014.07.014 |
Keywords: | Saudi Arabia; TEYL; Change planning; Change implementation; Regional supervisors |
Dates: |
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Institution: | The University of Leeds |
Academic Units: | The University of Leeds > Faculty of Education, Social Sciences and Law (Leeds) > School of Education (Leeds) |
Depositing User: | Symplectic Publications |
Date Deposited: | 29 Oct 2014 08:41 |
Last Modified: | 18 Jan 2018 19:34 |
Published Version: | http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2014.07.014 |
Status: | Published |
Publisher: | Elsevier |
Identification Number: | 10.1016/j.system.2014.07.014 |
Open Archives Initiative ID (OAI ID): | oai:eprints.whiterose.ac.uk:80902 |