Re-conceptualizing teachers’ continuous professional development within a new paradigm of change in the Indian context: an analysis of literature and policy documents

Abstract

Located within the context of Indian education reforms, this study is a critique of the current model of continuous professional development of teachers. The study, by reviewing national policy documents and research literature, argues that there is a need to re-conceptualize and re-define the current model of professional development of teachers. The study uses an interpretive approach to explain that factors – namely centralized decision-making, policy borrowing, power issues and cultural values – could be strong challenges to reforms in Indian context. The study, while locating these issues and suggesting measures, proposes an alternative paradigm of teacher professional development that encourages teacher agency, positions teacher learning within the schools’ socio-cultural settings and considers teacher change as a process rather than an event. The study further advocates school leadership as a policy initiative to improve the quality of teachers’ continuous professional development.

Keywords:

• Continuous professional development
• teachers
• interpretive approach
• school principals
• socio-cultural settings
• policy initiative