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Thesis Format

Monograph

Degree

Doctor of Philosophy

Program

Education

Supervisor

Dr. Jun Li

Abstract

In the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region, including Palestine, the current teaching reforming trend towards international accountability, standards adoption and borrowing for presumed “best practice” in teacher education (development and teaching is grounded by economic globalization. The Palestinian Ministry of Education and Higher Education (MoEHE) has been committed towards attaining such a movement and objectives. Within the aim of qualifying teachers, a number of substantial policies have been launched, including the most important initiation of the national “Teacher Education Strategy” (TES). This study analyzes TES implementation process for reforming teacher education, particularly the rationality, dynamism, and complexity of the policy process. The main question being addressed is, “How has the MoEHE implemented the national TES and its recommendations to reform teacher education in Palestine since mid-2010?” Based on the case study methodology and utilization of a multi-disciplinary framework (critical & rational), the researcher gathers and comprehends the data. Various methods for data collection are applied, such as Zoom interviews and document analysis. The adopted analytic instrument allows the researcher to look into the implementation process, such as the communication system and the delivery structure, the policy strategies and objectives, implementer's roles and disposition, the characteristics of the implementing agency, and the environmental variables, such as policy resources, international role and socioeconomic and political factors. However, throughout a tremendous effort for reforming teacher education, the neoliberal policies and the outsider impact, as well as the political and economic instability in Palestine has complicated the evolution of Palestinians' vision and philosophy for education. Despite many accomplishments, the core element of TES objectives has not achieved yet. A number of implications and recommendations by this research are presented to contribute to a resolution of teacher education reform matters in Palestine and the world.

Summary for Lay Audience

The Palestinian MoEHE has been committed towards attaining international teaching reforming trends. Throughout the last decade, many efforts for reforming teacher education have been introduced. The outsider’s impact and the economic and political contradictions in Palestine has prevented the evolution of Palestinians' vision and philosophy, and many efforts have failed to widen the improvement of teacher education to a large -scale production. Substantial policies have been launched qualifying in-service and pre-service teachers and most importantly the initiation of the national “Teacher Education Strategy” (TES). Thus, the purpose of this study was to analyze TES implementation process, particularly being the rationality, dynamism, and complexity of the implementation of policy process. Thus, the study aimed to understand, “How has the MoEHE responded to the national TES to reform teacher education in Palestine since mid-2010?” This research employed a case study methodology and utilized a multi-perspective framework (critical & rational) in addition to the analytical model through which the researcher developed to gather and comprehend the data. It is a distinct method of policy analysis that would allow researcher to understand the chain of complex reciprocal actions depend on a sequence of events. On the one hand, the public policy is rational because it is aimed at achieving specific goals and due to the dynamic nature of policy development and the need to accommodate conflicting interests of multiple stakeholders, understanding the implementation of the public policy necessitates critical thinking. The researcher conducted Zoom interviews and document analysis to gather and comprehend the data collection. The adopted analytic models allowed the researcher to look into the implementation variables, such as, the policy delivery structure and the communication mechanisms, the characteristics of the implementing agency, the policy strategies and objectives, implementer's roles and dispositions, and the environmental variables, such as the sociopolitical and economic factors that barricade the TES implementation. A number of implications and recommendations are provided for future studies and analysts.

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