Abstract

This thesis presents an exploratory study that was conducted with Moroccan university students to examine a possible link between students' preferences for a teacher and teaching style, with an emphasis on the cultural components which may affect students' evaluation or perceptions of teaching and teachers. Seven participants were interviewed and asked to describe their best and worst teacher according to questions designed around the PALS' (Principles of Adult Learning Scale) seven factors, a self-assessment tool designed to identify teaching styles. The "best" and "worst" teachers' teaching style was then evaluated, based on the students' perceptions of their chosen teachers. Best teachers chosen by the participants did appear to tend towards a learner-centered teaching style, although moderately, while worst teachers did not seem to manifest any of the traits and behaviours associated with learner-centeredness. However, it was evident that within the particular context of the Moroccan higher education system, teachers are constrained by state regulations that would limit the extent to which a teacher in Morocco can be learner-centered. Other interesting factors that emerged from this study include: the importance of immediacy within the student-teacher relationship despite cultural norms around authority, and a possible gender-bias in students' choices of "best" and "worst" teachers.