Creating space for teacher voice: insights on professional development in two diverse settings

Abstract

ABSTRACT This paper explores how child-centred practices introduced through international agencies into classrooms in post-conflict Cambodia and for Palestinian Refugees in Jordan, were perceived by the teachers tasked with implementing them. Using a case study methodology, data for both studies were drawn primarily from interviews with teachers in Cambodian primary schools and UNWRA schools, Jordan. Findings suggest that the pedagogical practices promoted are absent of contextual issues, including school/classroom environments and cultural understandings of teaching and learning. Our contention is that for teacher education programmes and policies to have their desired effect a central role for teachers must be prioritised.