Coordination in Planning and Implementing Professional Development Programs for Teachers: A Much-needed Component in Rural Areas

Abstract

Coordination among stakeholders has been considered as a significant influential factor in providing teachers with quality Professional Development (PD) opportunities. The importance of coordination intensifies when a variety of PD providers work on the capacity building of teachers in the same region such as in some rural areas of Pakistan. The current research explored the nature of coordination among various stakeholders while designing and implementing PD programs for teachers in rural Pakistan. To achieve this aim, qualitative case study approach was used and data were generated through focused group interviews from PD providers, education managers, school leaders, and teachers. The results indicated a limited coordination among the stakeholders leading to a variety of issues such as overlapping programs, conflicting expectations from teachers, and selection of irrelevant teachers for PD. Drawing on the experience of the stakeholders who participated in this research, the paper suggests a model of coordination which the educational reformers, especially the PD providers and education managers, should consider while designing and implementing the capacity building programs for teachers.

Formation of professional competence for future social educators based on an integrated approach

“…The requirements for the development of a personnel infrastructure adequate to modern social technologies in social protection institutions form the state order for the higher education system of social education in terms of a qualitative result: the professional competence of graduates as conductors of social policy, capable of organizing the process of social support for the population, effectively solving a range of social problems, a nd having a humanistic orientation for the individual. All this actualizes the problem at a university in the aspect of social education: designing advanced content and technologies as the main didactic components that meet the prospective needs of the social and personal development of the student (Li et al, 2022;Nawab & Sharar, 2022;Nilsson & Lund, 2022). In this regard, it must be emphasized that the integrated approach improves students' ability to learn practical skills and helps them develop a unified perspective of reality (Gamage, Dehideniya, & Ekanayake, 2021).…”