CEO Today Africa Awards

31 www.ceotodaymagazine.com CEO Today Africa Awards 2018 MOROCCO a village 60 kilometers away from Fez. I spent 3 years in that village before I was transferred to the Royal Military Academy in Meknes, where I taught English in a military high school. During my time there, I had the opportunity to get a part time job as an assistant teacher trainer at the ENS in Meknes. This opportunity enabled me to specialize in foreign language teaching methodology and be fascinated by communicative approach although the audio-lingual method was largely predominant in all public and the few private high schools in Morocco. Six years later, I passed a competitive exam and joined the school for training school supervisors in Rabat. The training lasted two years to obtain a diploma equivalent to an MA from the Rabat training school and an Advanced Certificate for Teacher Education and Supervision (ACTES) from Morey House College of Education in Edinburg, Scotland. My main tasks as a school supervisor of high school teachers of English consisted of organizing regular meetings with the teachers to talk about teaching methodologies and ways of enhancing language learning in the classroom, namely the importance of student involvement in class and pair work/ group work and oral interaction in class. In addition to the regular pedagogical presentations, I had to pay random visits to the schools in order to observe how the teachers taught and provide feedback if needed. My part time work as a foreign language instructor of English in 1995 at the American Language Center (ALC) in Fez opened a new direction in my career. In 1997, I was appointed as the Overall Coordinator of the Arabic Language Institute in Fez (ALIF), which is affiliated to ALC. ALIF is a center where foreign students can take Arabic as a foreign language. This is how I started exploring the new field of study abroad, with more focus on how to promote intercultural understanding and language and culture teaching. Many students who go to study abroad and abandon their comfort zone find their first days abroad very difficult. Adjustment to the new culture is not of course straight forward, that is why I see to it that their transition from total rejection of the target culture, to acceptance is smooth and enjoyable through presentations, meetings and cultural trips. Assisting students in their step by step intercultural growth is one of my main passions. Some of them succeed to move along the continuum of intercultural understanding to empathizing with the targvet culture. I left ALIF in 2008 and worked with The Institute for the International Education of Students (IES) as the Founder and Director of IES Abroad Rabat. IES is a non-profit American organization with its headquarters in Chicago and study abroad programs all over the world. In 2013, I founded CCLT; The Cultural Center for Language and Training. CCLT is an academic and cultural institution in downtownRabat. It provides Arabic and French for foreigners and English for Moroccans. CCLT also works closely with Moroccan NGOs in Rabat and elsewhere through placing students who are seeking volunteer work. During my long experience of more than twenty years in the field of study abroad, I have organized, hosted, and supervised semester, quarter, and customized programs from many universities in the US and UK including, but not limited to the University of Chicago, DePaul University, Beloit College, Dartmouth College, The University of Florida, Leeds University, the University of Exeter, LIU Global, and others. I have a partnership with Dartmouth College hosting a summer program, and another with LIU Global during the fall. My long experience in providing high quality pre-arrival orientations, on site supervision and services has been recognized by home institutions in the US and UK. This includes academic trips to the desert, Berber villages, Moroccan historical sites, Spain and Senegal. My main field of interest is language and intercultural education. I enjoy and give presentations on Berber/Amazigh music from the Middle Atlas Mountains region of Morocco. More recently I have been interested in exploring the effects of the aftermath of the Arab Spring in North Africa. CONTACT Mohamed Baghdadi T: + 212 537 730 964 | M: + 212 661 096 858 E: mbaghdadi@ccltmorocco.com W: www.ccltmorocco.com