Teacher management in refugee settings: Jordan

A programme of research 

In 2018, IIEP-UNESCO and Education Development Trust jointly published a review of the literature relating to teacher management in refugee contexts. The review concludes that for displaced populations, realising their legal rights, where afforded, can be challenging when international frameworks have not been ratified or adapted into national legal frameworks. It can be equally difficult when legal frameworks are poorly integrated into social service policies, plans and strategies (for example, within national education sector plans). 

The review also concludes that much of the literature indicates that teachers from the refugee community are best placed to teach refugee children, or should – at the very least – play a part in their education provision. Many host countries are aware of this, and are utilising refugees to support national teachers, as is the case to some extent in Ethiopia, Kenya and Turkey. Nevertheless, in most contexts, more and more national teachers are teaching refugees in host countries, with very limited support and preparation. Fragmented information on refugee teachers, coupled with a lack of information on the host teachers charged with refugee students’ education, points to a need for more research.  

Following the review’s conclusions, IIEP-UNESCO and Education Development Trust embarked on a series of country studies. At the time of writing, there are two completed and two underway. These include this report on Jordan, the report on Ethiopia published in 2020, plus a further two country studies taking place in Kenya and Uganda. 

Jordan country study 

Jordan was chosen as the second country to be studied for this research programme on effective teacher management in refugee contexts because it is home to one of the largest refugee populations in the Middle East. There are over 200,000 Syrian refugee children entitled to enrol in formal basic education through the Ministry of Education’s schools, with most of those enrolled attending the afternoon shift of double shift public schools. Teachers are Jordanian nationals, some of whom teach two shifts a day and all of whom are ‘daily paid’ teachers in the second shift (i.e. without a formal fixed-term contract).   

The report contributes to a burgeoning body of research focused on teachers in refugee contexts. It aims to provide policy guidance to support ministries of education. The study identifies promising policies and implementation strategies that exist for the management of primary-level teachers in refugee hosting regions and reveals potential areas for further development of policies and successful implementation.