QUALITY AND PROFESSIONAL TRAINING FOR ENGLISH TEACHERS IN A LIBYAN UNIVERSITY

Abstract This study explores the implementation of a pedagogy of active learning in an English Department in a university in Libya. The current (2017) social and political situation in Libya reflects an environment in which authority and traditional relations of power are changing. This study traces the fortunes of a pedagogical intervention that endows both teachers and students with increased authority over, and ownership of, the processes of learning. For many years, top-down attempts to improve higher education in Libya have failed but this study introduces a bottom-up change in pedagogy introduced by the researcher, teachers and students. Thus, this pedagogical project pursued in the classroom, links to and reflects changes in the wider and traditional order of Libyan society. The shortage of English-language and technical skills in the labour market reflects continued historical failure at tertiary education levels. Four decades of highly centralized decision-making have failed to implement top down educational reform and raise the standard of English teaching. This study investigates if a bottom-up classroom intervention by prepared and committed teachers is a more productive strategy for raising educational standards. This study examines the standard of English teaching at a Libyan University and identifies weaknesses in the quality of teaching. Findings from phase one reveal teachers are over-reliant on traditional lectures as a mode of delivery and their focus is on transmitting knowledge rather than promoting student engagement through active learning. Therefore, phase two – feasibility study – introduces a new mechanism of interactive teaching methods based on active learning. Six teachers are trained to have a different pedagogy in their approach to students; that is nurturing active learning. This study investigates how six teachers understand how learners learn a second language and investigates their capacity to deliver a pedagogy of active learning which encourages learners to take greater responsibility for their own learning by means of interviews, observations and video analysis. Evidence obtained from video analysis shows that student engagement and participation increased. They asked more questions, shared more ideas with their peers, and appeared more confident in their learning. In addition, some teachers had greater awareness of the application of some interactive teaching methods, and offered more opportunities for student centred interactions.