Teacher management in refugee settings: Public schools in Jordan

Over the past decades, Jordan has made considerable progress in education. The country now offers ten years of compulsory and free basic education, and has seen improved enrolment rates, school survival rates and gender parity, particularly at the primary level. The Government of Jordan has also provided a protective environment for refugees from the region over the years and has made significant commitments to refugee education, including by allowing refugee students to enrol in formal basic education and by working with partners to facilitate access to non- and informal education programmes for children who are not able to participate in regular education.

However, multiple challenges remain that the Government of Jordan and its partners are working to address in order to ensure that all children in the Kingdom are able to participate in quality education as per Goal 4 of the SDGs. Ensuring that all children are able to complete quality, equitable and inclusive basic education will require innovative policy solutions that place teachers at the centre.

To this end, this case study aims to contribute to the burgeoning evidence base on teachers working in crisis and displacement contexts and to provide the Government of Jordan and key partners with research-informed policy guidance on the effective management of teachers to ensure quality education for refugees and vulnerable Jordanians alike. Using a collaborative, two-phased, mixed-methods approach, the research examines how teachers are managed in policy and practice, focusing on schools catering to Syrian refugees outside refugee camps in Jordan. The case study identifies promising policies and practices and gaps in policy and practice in order to reveal potential areas for further development and successful implementation of policies to support effective teacher management in refugee settings.