Stratified students, stratified teachers : ideologically informed perceptions of educational reform in Egypt

Abstract

The study draws on focus group interviews with 12 teachers working in academic and commercial secondary schools in Egypt. Attention is given to these teachers’ perspectives on the implications of a 1997 educational reform, which proposed to convert many vocational/commercial schools to academic schools and to reduce the need for extra-school, private tutoring. The interviews were conducted during the implementation of the first phase of the reform in 2001, a period of a public debate regarding the possible consequences of this reform for students as well as teachers. Of particular interest are teachers’ perceptions of the reform’s likely impact on: (a) the quality of secondary education and the postsecondary educational and occupational opportunities for students from different socioeconomic backgrounds and (b) the social status and income for teachers working in different types of secondary schools. It is furthermore noted that teachers’ views of the effects of the reform differ depending upon (1) whether they conceive of schooling as promoting social mobility or social reproduction and (2) whether their ideologically informed conceptions of professionalism emphasize remuneration or the service ideal.