Enabling pedagogic reform in the Maldives: implications for translating policy into teacher practice

ABSTRACT

For education reform to move beyond policy rhetoric and find a place in teachers’ practice, the critical role of teachers must be acknowledged. Moving beyond a focus on the “what” of educational reform to the “how”, this study explores the enabling conditions for implementing learner-centred education in the Maldives. Using design-based research, an interventionist methodology, the key role of teachers and their professional development needs was investigated. A pedagogical intervention was developed and studied in a Maldivian island school. Data were collected through questionnaires, interviews and fieldnotes to document the processes and circumstances that influenced teachers’ enactment of innovative practices. The findings highlighted the importance of professional development focused on teachers’ access to new knowledge and ideas, the school-based conditions necessary for transferring knowledge into practice, and the need for ongoing refinement in working towards the desired pedagogical goal. The paper concludes with three overarching design principles, a theoretical output of design-based research, intended to inform similar innovations in other relevant settings.

KEYWORDS:

• Teacher professional development
• learner-centred education
• design-based research
• education in small states
• pedagogy
• education reform

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author.

Notes

1. These were Think-Pair-Share, Numbered Heads, Placemat, Jigsaw, Guided Instruction. Each provided a specific structure to promote collaboration between students in a structured way or to promote planned interactions between teacher and students.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Rhonda Di Biase

Rhonda Di Biase currently works at the Melbourne Graduate School of Education, The University of Melbourne. She has previously worked at the Faculty of Education, Maldives National University as part of a post-tsunami aid project focusing on student-centred learning and through an Endeavour Executive Fellowship. Her research interests include active learning reform, teachers’ professional learning and education reform in small states.