Recent political and economic developments in Algeria led to educational reforms. This article reports on a qualitative study that explored the beliefs of French and English teachers on a new curriculum that was introduced in Algeria. The results indicate that there is a mismatch between the teachers' beliefs and the innovation. The study explored the factors that underpinned this incompatibility from a socio-political perspective. As a conclusion, it is argued that the beliefs of the participants had not in fact been challenged before the implementation of the new curriculum. It is suggested that training which encourages reflective practice must be given priority. It is also recommended that policy makers and teachers should strive to promote dialogue in order to improve the education situation in Algeria.
This paper reports on a qualitative study which explored the beliefs of a sample of foreign language teachers about school in Algeria within a context of curriculum reforms. It was found that the participants believed that the Algerian school was generally a site of power and domination; that there was a drastic lack of resources; that students were unmotivated; that parents were disengaged; and that school administration was bureaucratic. The paper concludes that curriculum reforms in Algeria were not paralleled with social, economic and political reforms of educational institutions. It is suggested that there is an urgent need to equip schools with resources to make them adequately prepared for the effective implementation of the new curriculum. However, in the long term, it is suggested that policy-makers should promote a culture of active participation of all those involved in education, mainly the teachers and parents, towards improving the current situation of schools in Algeria, and ultimately, of the educational system.
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