English Language Teacher Supervision in Morocco in the Context of Covid 19 and its Aftermath

Abstract

The Coronavirus pandemic has affected education and triggered a number of debates relating to the plethora of online teaching and learning modes available. Debates focus mainly on the issues of training, challenges of implementation, and related impacts in the field of English language teaching and learning. Strong emphasis has been laid on the ways to improve teaching practices and boost student learning outcomes (Maher & Zollman, 2021; Mette, 2020). Teacher supervision in the Moroccan EFL context, however, is an area which has not received sufficient focus. In the context of the Coronavirus, ELT teacher supervisors have had to deal with new challenges and have been called upon to contribute to the community of teachers who have emerging in-service training needs and expectations and who are facing new challenges. The objective of this position paper is to discuss our experience of online teaching supervision with a specific focus on the emergent needs of teachers and to outline the ways we addressed these ongoing teacher professional development needs. The thrust of the argument is that despite the challenges that characterize online teacher supervision including lack of or limited ICT infrastructure, technological failures and digital literacy skills, online teacher supervision was largely a successful experience thanks to the convenience, flexibility and practicability of this online supervision mode. We specifically argue that collegiality and effective collaboration between and among ELT supervisors and teachers were key factors in the success of this undertaking. Implications are then drawn for more meaningful and transformative teaching and learning experiences in the future