PUTTING OUT THE FIRES: SUPERVISORS' EXPERIENCES OF INTRODUCING

PRIMARY ENGLISH IN SAUDI ARABIA

Authors: Martin Wedell, Yousif Alshumaimeri

:A summary of the article
Wedell, M., & Alshumaimeri, Y. (2014). Putting out the fires: Supervisors' experiences of
introducing primary English in Saudi Arabia. System, 46, 120-130.
OVERVIEW

 In Saudi Arabia, English was first taught in the final year of primary school in
2004. In 2011, it was extended to the fourth year of instruction. Several of these
curricula explicitly claim that they aim to "introduce new, more learner-centered
techniques to education to familiarise youngsters with the language and to start
developing their capacity to communicate with it.“
 After debates, negotiations, and consultations with experts, the Ministry of
Education initially offered their proposals for starting to teach English in early
primary school. The Supreme Council of Education Policy proposed that English
be taught for two 45-minute classes a week beginning in grade 6, the final year of
elementary school.
RESEARCH QUESTIONS

 Q#1: What, in the supervisors' opinion, were the reasons for introducing English
to grade 6 learners in KSA?
 Q#2: What, in the supervisors' opinion, has been achieved after six years of TEYL
implementation, and what factors have influenced the extent of any such
achievement?
 Q#3: What changes to the TEYL implementation process do supervisors believe
would help support the expansion of TEYL provision to grade 4 learners?
DATA COLLECTION

 Two primary sources were used to get the data for this investigation. Two sources
were used to make this determination: first, a thorough review of official
documents and news articles in Saudi Arabian media that discussed the
introduction of English in primary schools; and second, interviews with a number
of Saudi TEYL supervisors who were directly involved in attempting to support
and facilitate the initial phase of TEYL implementation
RESULTS

 The literature on large-scale educational change suggests that "hyper-rational"

pre-planning of a change process, which assumes that implementation of desired
change will proceed at the same rate and go through identical stages in every
school, is ineffective because it ignores the reality that implementation will always
be mediated by local contexts, is not helpful. The experiences that participants in
this research experienced demonstrate that inadequate planning might be just as
harmful as excessive planning.
RESULTS

 The majority of supervisors appeared to be aware of crucial concerns that needed

to be addressed if TEYL implementation in KSA was to finally start having
beneficial benefits. Everyone needs to be alert, even society. There is a need to
develop a curriculum that would be consistent across all grade levels and that
would include a connected set of textbooks up to high school.
RECOMMENDATIONS

 Many supervisors appear to be able to contribute in a meaningful way to future

implementation planning based on their reported experiences from the first phase
of implementation. National planning for the second phase of TEYL
implementation may eventually become more cogent, considerate, and
supportive of teachers than it was during the first phase if their suggestions are
heard, acknowledged, and occasionally taken into consideration.
ARTICLE LINK

• 10.1016/j.system.2014.07.014
• https://doi.org/10.1016/j.system.2014.07.014
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