Best practices and challenges in school based professional development in the schools of Maldives and Bangladesh

Abstract

The overall development of a nation relies heavily on its education system. An educated, skilled human resource can play a crucial role in leading the society towards advancement. There is a widespread belief that children of today are the leaders of tomorrow. It is the educators who prepare the future leaders in the best way for a better time ahead. The learning journey begins from school and teachers act as the role models in shaping a young learner’s mind. It is a rapidly changing world and teaching methodologies are also changing. In earlier times the role of teachers was limited with a specific set of instructions and a fixed teaching pattern. But nowadays, an educator takes the role of a guide, a mentor. To be multitasking and able to help the little growing minds differentiate between right and wrong the role of training and development for educators is undeniable. This paper studied the importance of school based training and development for educators. The research looked at the current training and development scenario among teachers of Bangladesh and Maldives. A mixed-method research design is utilized in this study. The quantitative data collected from blogs, journals and articles and qualitative data is collected through an online survey and interview with a number of educators from both the countries. Based on the findings the educators have explored the solutions for the weakness of the school based professionals development sessions conducted in both the countries. The study outcome would add value to the current training and development practices and enable educators to overcome all the significant obstacles he or she faces in the classroom and build an excellent learning environment in the classroom.