Analyzing Professional Development Practices for Teachers in Public Universities of Pakistan

Abstract

Professional development for teachers is an essential element of plans to improve the quality of education.
Professional development in a broader sense refers to the development of a person in his or her professional role. More
specifically, professional development of teachers refers to the achievement of enhanced learning experience in research and
teaching with synchronized system so that he/she could deliver effectual knowledge to his /her students in particular and to the
society as a whole. Exploring this imperative aspect of teaching human resource in universities, current study analyzes the
initiatives taken by public universities of Pakistan for professional development of their teachers. The aim of this explanatory
study is to investigate the issues and challenges regarding professional development mechanisms of public universities of
Pakistan. It elaborates their performance development procedures and strategies and unearths the influential factors and
challenges which are faced by these university teachers regarding performance development systems. The sample of the said
study comprised of randomly selected teaching staff of five major Public Universities of Pakistan. Along with detail
questionnaires, in depth interviews had been conducted with teaching staff of the sample universities in order to achieve the
deeper insights of the challenges and issues regarding teachers’ professional development. The study reveals that foreign
scholarships to university teachers, research grants and training programs are various effectual measures taken by Higher
Education Commission of Pakistan for Public universities. However, comprehensive monitoring system, quality assurance and
impact measurement of the said measures are lacking elements which create dissatisfaction among teachers in public
universities of Pakistan. Also, lack of training for improved teaching in semester system, communication gap among seniors and
junior faculty, decreased guidance for modernized research conduction, overburdened teaching load are some of the hindering
factors in professional development of teachers which are been revealed by the current research.