Education 2.0: Chronicles of Technological and Cultural Change in Egypt - cover image

Copyright

Linda Herrera. Copyright of individual chapters are maintained by the chapter author(s).

Published On

2025-11-17

ISBN

Paperback978-1-80511-701-8
Hardback978-1-80511-702-5
PDF978-1-80511-703-2
HTML978-1-80511-705-6
EPUB978-1-80511-704-9

Language

  • English

Print Length

562 pages (xxx+532)

Dimensions

Paperback156 x 39 x 234 mm(6.14" x 1.54" x 9.21")
Hardback156 x 43 x 234 mm(6.14" x 1.69" x 9.21")

Weight

Paperback1054g (37.18oz)
Hardback1241g (43.77oz)

Media

Illustrations59

OCLC Number

1552591252

LCCN

2025465539

THEMA

  • JNF
  • 1QFG
  • JP
  • 1FB

BISAC

  • EDU034000
  • EDU043000
  • EDU039000
  • EDU016000
  • SOC042000

LCC

  • LA1646

Keywords

  • Egypt
  • Education reform
  • Digital transformation
  • Public education
  • Hybrid learning
  • Distance learning

Education 2.0

Chronicles of Technological and Cultural Change in Egypt

  • Linda Herrera (editor)
Education 2.0 offers a compelling portrait of Egypt’s bold attempt to overhaul its public education system amid sweeping political and technological transformation. Drawing on extensive oral history interviews, this book traces the launch and rollout of the ‘New Education System’ initiated by the Ministry of Education in 2018, designed to modernize curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment in the digital age and change the ‘culture of learning’. The volume moves fluidly from macro-level state planning to the lived experiences of teachers and students, exploring the promises and pitfalls of top-down reform.

Conducted partly during the COVID-19 pandemic, the research captures Egypt’s first large-scale experiment with hybrid and distance learning. Interviews with key actors—from policymakers and tech developers to students and educators—reveal competing visions, unintended consequences, and the challenges of culturally transforming education systems in a middle-income country where private tutoring is rife, the sector is chronically under resourced, and politics overshadows policy.

This book is essential reading for scholars, practitioners, and policymakers interested in education reform, digital transformation, and the role of the state in shaping learning futures in the Global South. It is also an excellent case study for courses in Middle East studies and comparative and international education.

Endorsements

This book makes a very valuable contribution to the literature, offering a rich, multi-perspective and multi-level account of an ambitious reform effort in Egypt. It will be a useful resource for education researchers, policy makers, and graduate students in education and social policy fields in the country. The volume would also serve as an attractive case study to include in graduate courses in comparative and international education around the world.

Mark B. Ginsburg

University of Maryland-College Park

Additional Resources

[document]EPUB Accessibility Report

Contents

1. Introduction: Learning from Egypt’s Historic Education 2.0 Reforms

(pp. 1–38)
  • Linda Herrera

2. Becoming and Being the Minister of Education: Interview with Tarek Shawki

(pp. 41–64)
  • Linda Herrera

3. ‘An Orchestra Without a Conductor’: The Need for Strategic Management of Egypt’s Education System

(pp. 65–80)
  • Tarek Galal Shawki

4. The Road to the Egyptian Knowledge Bank: Interview with Tarek Shawki

(pp. 81–98)
  • Linda Herrera

5. ‘We Break the Rules’: Interview with Deena Boraie

(pp. 99–112)
  • Linda Herrera

6. Rethinking Assessments for the Digital Age: Interview with Deena Boraie

(pp. 113–132)
  • Linda Herrera

7. Envisioning a New Curriculum for the Primary Stage: Interview with Nelly El Zayat

(pp. 133–146)
  • Linda Herrera

8. Advocating for Children with Special Needs: Interview with Ingy Mashhour

(pp. 147–158)
  • Linda Herrera

9. Media Messaging about Education Reform: Interview with Yousra Allam

(pp. 159–170)
  • Linda Herrera

10. UNICEF’s Life Skills Framework Comes to Egypt: Interview with Manar Ahmed Sharouda

(pp. 171–186)
  • Linda Herrera

11. A Life in Education from Academia to the World Bank: Interview with Juan Manuel Moreno

(pp. 187–204)
  • Linda Herrera

12. The World Bank’s Involvement in Education Reform: Interview with Amira Kazem

(pp. 205–216)
  • Linda Herrera

13. Redesigning the Curriculum for the Twenty-First Century: Interview with Nawal Shalaby

(pp. 217–238)
  • Linda Herrera

14. Discovery Education and Private Sector Partnerships: Interview with Emily Waters

(pp. 239–256)
  • Ebtehal Elghamrawy
  • Linda Herrera

15. Nahdet Misr, Legacy Publisher for the New Arabic Textbooks: Interview with Dalia Ibrahim and Dahlia Fouad

(pp. 257–272)
  • Linda Herrera

16. Rewriting Arabic Books for a New Generation of Readers: Interview with Nevine El Souefi

(pp. 273–290)
  • Linda Herrera

17. National Geographic Learning Joins Education 2.0: Interview with Tom Kelley

(pp. 291–310)
  • Nariman Moustafa
  • Linda Herrera

18. Motivations for the Digital Transformation of Education: Interview with Ahmed Daher

(pp. 311–326)
  • Linda Herrera
  • Hany Zayed

19. Coordinating the State’s Knowledge Project: Interview with Mahmoud Dawoud and Mahmoud Hussein

(pp. 327–340)
  • Linda Herrera

20. The Dream of Developing a Knowledge Bank for All: Interview with Majed M. Al Sadek

(pp. 341–360)
  • Linda Herrera

21. Building the Knowledge Bank from Scratch: Interview with Mohamed El-Araby

(pp. 361–372)
  • Linda Herrera

22. Making Education Entertaining: Interview with Mai Magdy

(pp. 373–390)
  • Linda Herrera

23. Digital Transformation and the Changing EdTech Landscape in Egypt

(pp. 391–414)
  • Hany Zayed

24. The Learning Journey of a High School Student from the Historic Class of 2021

(pp. 417–436)
  • Linda Herrera
  • Nairy AbdElShafy

25. The Rise, Fall, and Aftermath of Take-Home Research Projects

(pp. 437–456)
  • Linda Herrera
  • Heba Shama

26. ‘Survival of the Fittest’: A High School Student’s Perspective on Learning, Ethics, and Why Students Cheat

(pp. 457–474)
  • Linda Herrera

27. Teachers in Search of Their Identity: A View from Ismailia during Times of Change

(pp. 475–492)
  • Mohamed Elsayed
  • Menna Ahmed

28. Primary School Teachers Leverage Social Media for Professional Development

(pp. 493–508)
  • Linda Herrera
  • Menna Ahmed
  • Ayman Alhusseini

29. A New Curriculum and a Pandemic: Primary Teachers’ Strategies

(pp. 509–522)
  • Nevine El Souefi

Contributors

Linda Herrera

(editor)
Professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign

Linda Herrera, a social anthropologist with regional expertise in the Middle East and North Africa, is Professor in the Department of Education Policy, Organization and Leadership at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She was Director of the Education 2.0 Research and Documentation Project in Egypt and served as an international education advisor. Her research deals with education and power, critical youth studies, technology and society, and international education development. Her books include, 'Educating Egypt’ (American University in Cairo Press, 2022), 'Global Middle East’ (with A. Bayat, University of California Press, 2021), 'Revolution in the Age of Social Media' (Verso, 2014), 'Wired Citizenship’ (Routledge, 2014), 'Being Young and Muslim’ (with A. Bayat, Oxford University Press, 2010), and ‘Cultures of Arab Schooling’ (with C.A. Torres, SUNY Press, 2006).