Morocco

This report is one of three undertaken in the context of a situation analysis of reading in Morocco. The present report analyzes in detail teachers’ attitudes and practices. As a starting point, it addresses the following questions: What are the perceptions that have the most influence on the teaching of reading in the early grades? How do these perceptions impact the professional development of teachers? How do teachers respond to questions about the language of teaching? Are they receptive to the learning of reading in local languages? This third research component studies the perceptions of language use in general and the behavior of teachers specifically. It analyses teachers’ perceptions of the teaching of reading in Arabic and how these perceptions influence their practice.

This report is one of three undertaken in the context of a situation analysis of reading in Morocco. Across these three studies, USAID and the MENFP aimed to study in more detail a few of the factors that favor or harm acquisition of reading in the early grades, namely: • A review of curriculum and learning materials (reading textbooks, teachers’ guides) • This study on initial teacher training and reading • An analysis of the perceptions and attitudes of teachers and how they influence practice The starting point of this research on initial teacher training was the three following research questions: 1. Does the official teacher training curriculum (theoretical and practical) take into consideration recent evidence on how children learn to read in Arabic? 2. What methods for teaching reading do future teachers learn? How are they taught during initial teacher training? 3. Are teachers sufficiently prepared (in quality and duration) to teach reading in Arabic?