The first review workshop of the research project titled ‘A Multimodal Approach to Teacher Professional Development to Address Evolving Educational Changes in Low Resource Settings’, has commenced today at Villa College and is scheduled to continue for two days. The project, officially launched on the 1st of November 2021, is a significant project that emphasizes areas such as distance teaching, mentoring and action research which are less developed in low-resource settings.

It is led by Villa College in collaboration with the Tata Institute of Social Sciences’ (TISS) of India and the Swedish Committee for Afghanistan (SCA). With funding from Canada’s International Development Research Centre (IDRC), it is currently being conducted in Afghanistan, Maldives, and Nepal as there is an urgent need to address the gaps in the professional development of teacher educators and teachers, particularly in response to the requirements of the evolving educational reforms. This project also aims to address issues of gender equality, equity, and inclusivity since gender disparity is an issue each country faces due to geographic, cultural, and other vulnerabilities.

During this workshop, sessions will be held to plan future activities of the project and to discuss the findings of the Landscape Mapping Study which was conducted to understand the teacher education system and teacher professional development in the participating countries. In addition, an orientation session will be held for research fellows from the fellowship program of the project. These include teacher educators, principals, and teachers from different atolls of the Maldives who will conduct mentoring and action research with other selected teachers. A summary of the findings of the landscape mapping study is also planned to be launched at the closing ceremony of the workshop.