Silvia Nassar Mustaklem

I am in my fourth year as a PhD student at the School of Education and a third year Postgraduate Teaching Associate at the School of Education, University of Exeter.

I obtained my master’s degree in education, specializing in Teaching English as a Foreign Language (TEFL), from Birzeit University in 2019. My thesis focused on the various professional development programmes available for EFL teachers in Palestine.

Over the past thirteen years, I have gained diverse experience in the education field. I have worked as an EFL teacher in different private and non-profit educational organizations. I have also been involved in teacher education in Palestine through consultancy work and teacher training and professional development. My most recent position was as an EFL Specialist for the Occupied Palestine Territories (OPT), where I provided educational consultancy services and led professional development workshops for EFL teachers to enrich the Palestinian curriculum by creating digital catalogues.

In my current role as a postgraduate teaching associate, I support education modules by planning and delivering workshops for MA students in education and TESOL, equipping them with essential skills for success in research, writing, reading, and other aspects of academic development.

Since 2016, I have been a co-founding member of the Palestinian English Language Teachers Association (PELTA), where I have been involved in planning, coordinating, and running events for teacher training and development.

Additionally, I have served as a peer reviewer for The Open Review Journal and have organised, presented, and spoken at conferences both nationally and internationally. I have been as active member of IATEFL since July 2019, attending and presenting at their events.

Research Supervisory team:

Lead superviosr: Dr. Salah Troudi, Associate Professor in TESOL Education. 

Second supervisor: Dr. Nicholas Bremner, Lecturer in Language Education.

Publications:
1. Nassar, S.* & Rafidi Jaber, T.* (2023). Exploring the Impact of Kolb’s ELC Cycle on Palestinian Women Educators and their Teaching Practices in Palestine During Covid-19. Malta Review of Educational Research, 17(1), 73-98

2. Nassar, S. (2022). In-service Teacher Empowerment in Palestine: Teacher Training or Professional Development Programmes?. In: Khine, M.S. (eds) Handbook of Research on Teacher Education. Springer, Singapore. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-2400-2_28

3. Nassar, S. (2022). Shifting to Online Education in Schools in Palestine: Challenges become opportunities. The Open Review Journal, 7(4), 24-30.

4. Jaber Rafidi, T. & Nassar, S. (2022). The impact of professional development on empowering Palestinian women educators. Ed (Deborah Bullock). IATEFL 2021 - Conference Selections

5. Nassar, S. & Khaldi, M. (2021). Professional development programmes for English language public school teachers : a comparative study in Palestine. Malta Review of Educational Research, 15(1), 101-127.