English Teaching Internship Initiative

The ETII addresses two major interrelated challenges facing Moroccan young adults, namely lack of access to education and lack of employable skills. The ETII seeks to tackle these challenges by using English education as a means of professional development, while pairing up two distinct groups of Moroccan youth to the benefit of each: prospective Moroccan English teachers and students learning traditional Moroccan handicraft trades.

English BA holders in Morocco intending to become English teachers currently find themselves in a precarious professional situation. Following recent government reforms that reduced the annual recruitment of new public school teachers, imposed a stricter recruitment process, and cut the monthly salaries of teacher-trainees, the professional outlook for these prospective English teachers has dimmed. This occurs as the Moroccan government continues to prioritize English language education and bemoan the lack of qualified English teachers. The career prospects of these young English speakers are further challenged by their lack of practical teacher-training courses and internships in their largely theory-intensive university curriculum. As such, many of these young adults enter the job market as prospective English teachers without any supervised pedagogical training.

Students at vocational schools run under the Ministry of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicraft and Social Economy also face professional challenges due to the absence of English language education programs at their schools. The increasing number of international tourists visiting Moroccan every year creates unique commercial opportunities for artisans to sell their goods. An artisan equipped with rudimentary English skills has an increased likelihood of interacting with a tourist and making a sale. Furthermore, a conversation in English with an artisan stands to leave a positive impression with the tourist, who, in turn, may share it with others back home, thereby sharing a positive image of Morocco abroad. In addition, an artisan able to navigate a website in English gains access to the international online marketplace.

By pairing prospective English teachers and handicrafts students together, the ETII offers a simple solution to provide access to education and employable skills to each group. The ETII offers its trainees a free 60 hour course in English language pedagogy following the internationally recognized TKT curriculum, in addition to other professional development opportunities. Following this, ETII trainees are dispatched as interns to handicraft schools where they sharpen their English teaching skills and develop their leadership and problem-solving capacities. In doing so, the ETII provides its trainees with an opportunity to teach under-privileged students with limited access to English language education, enhancing the latter students’ employment prospect in return.

The structure of the ETII follows a simple ‘cascading’ model, wherein experience and know-how passes from each beneficiary group to the next, adding value and validation at each step. Starting at the top, first, professional teacher trainers and veteran ALC teachers combine their knowledge and experience to train a select group of English BA holders in English language pedagogy. Second, these trainees are dispatched to local trade schools to work as English teaching interns, gaining valuable professional experience while providing a service to their community. Next, the handicraft center students gain valuable English language skills to use in their dealing with tourists and the online marketplace. Lastly, heads of local ALCs, handicraft delegations, and universities sign certificates at the end, validating the experience of the trainees and the handicraft center students.

The structure of the ETII follows a simple ‘cascading’ model, wherein experience and know-how passes from each beneficiary group to the next, adding value and validation at each step. Starting at the top, first, professional teacher trainers and veteran ALC teachers combine their knowledge and experience to train a select group of English BA holders in English language pedagogy. Second, these trainees are dispatched to local trade schools to work as English teaching interns, gaining valuable professional experience while providing a service to their community. Next, the handicraft center students gain valuable English language skills to use in their dealing with tourists and the online marketplace. Lastly, heads of local ALCs, handicraft delegations, and universities sign certificates at the end, validating the experience of the trainees and the handicraft center students.

The English Teaching Internship Initiative (ETII) began as an offshoot of the ALC Fes’ Community Service Club (CSC) in 2015. ALC Fes volunteers were giving weekly English classes to students at the Centre de Formation et de Qualification dans les Métiers de l’Artisanat (CFQMA) handicraft center in Fes. However, with too many students and too few volunteers, the ALC’s CSC members couldn’t keep up.

Hence the idea was developed to meet this need by bringing in English Master’s students from Sidi Mohamed Ben Abdellah University (SMBAU) to supplement the work of the ALC volunteers. Following a basic course in modern English language pedagogy, the English Master’s students began their volunteer service at the CFQMA in early 2016. This arrangement proved to be a win-win for everyone involved: 60 handicraft students were assured free weekly English lessons, and 4 Master’s students (hoping to become English teachers following their Master’s studies) benefited from this unique professional development experience.

Building off the success of this initial experience, in mid-2016 the ‘ETII’ was officially incorporated as a department of the ALC Fes. In addition, the ETII was awarded a $25,000 Alumni Engagement Innovation Fund (AEIF) grant from the US State Department to test the ETII model on a larger scale. Furthermore, the ETII signed conventions with the delegation of the Ministry of Tourism, Air Transport, Handicraft and Social Economy, Entraide Nationale, and the SMBAU in order to create a formal structure for the ETII. With the support of all these local actors, the ETII was able to put a mix of 30 Master’s students/holders from the USMBA through the ETII program, reach 700+ new English students in Fes, and teach 1,836 volunteer hours of English in communities around Fes.

With this success behind it, in 2017 the ETII spread to 6 other ALCs in Casablanca, Kenitra, Meknes, Oujda, Rabat, and Tangier, with the goal of recruiting 80 new ETII trainees. This expansion was further supported through a grant from the PAS office at the US Embassy in Rabat. In addition, a national convention was signed between the ACA and the Moroccan government outlining the commitments of ALCs, handicraft centers, and universities across Morocco.