Project-Based Learning in Moroccan Middle Schools: English Teachers’ Perceptions of Opportunities, Practices, and Challenges

Abstract

Project-Based Learning (PBL) is being increasingly promoted across global and Moroccan educational reforms as a means of fostering meaningful, student-centered learning. Although Moroccan curricular guidelines advocate project work as a vehicle for autonomy and critical thinking, research indicates that its implementation remains inconsistent and often misunderstood. This qualitative phenomenological study investigates the perceptions of fifteen English teachers in public middle schools in Salé in Morocco regarding the opportunities, classroom practices, and challenges associated with PBL and its implementation. Data from semi-structured interviews were analyzed thematically. Findings show that teachers perceive PBL as highly beneficial for engagement, communicative competence, and soft-skills development, echoing evidence from Moroccan studies demonstrating PBL’s positive impact on learners’ critical thinking and collaboration. However, teachers’ enactment of PBL is shaped by structural limitations, resulting in adapted, abbreviated forms of PBL similar to patterns previously noted in Moroccan classrooms. Challenges include curricular overload, overcrowded classes, resource scarcity, and insufficient training—constraints also emphasized in national research on project work. The study highlights the persistent gap between policy aspirations and school realities and argues that sustainable PBL integration in Morocco requires systemic reform beyond teacher initiative.