In-service teacher training in Palestine

Abstract

Following the Oslo Accords in 1994, the Palestinian National Authority was established to take over the administration and control of most areas of Palestinian life including education. The newly established Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MOEHE) faced the challenge of harmonizing and developing an equitable education system in two geographically separate regions - the West Bank and Gaza that were previously administered by Egypt and Jordan with separate education systems. Teachers were recruited in large numbers, many of whom lacked the necessary qualifications to teach their subject areas competently. As a result teacher induction training courses were introduced in order to familiarise teachers with the new Palestinian curriculum as well as student assessment and classroom instruction. These efforts can hardly be considered as systematic in-service training and the development of the first two Education Development Plans and the Teacher Education Strategy in Palestine (TESP) in 2008 paid particular attention to the further development of both pre- and in-service teacher training. This chapter focuses specifically on the description and analysis of in-service teacher training programmes in Palestine in the period 2005 to 2013. Main challenges and issues that were identified in the present in-service teacher training approaches include for example geo-political constraints and resultant financial pressure, the fragmented approach to training programmes as well as prevailing management and coordination programme structures in Palestine.