Professional learning and development needs of women teachers in the Republic of Pakistan: a social realist perspective

This article, emerging from a wider study on the professional development needs of women teachers working in Catholic convent schools in the Republic of Pakistan, explores the perspectives and experiences of school leaders and Principals who developed professional development programmes. This area, which has been under-researched in the professional development literature, addresses the complexities and contradictions that the glocalisation of professional development can create for women teachers in developing world contexts. A social realist approach, using Archer's morphogenetic framework, was employed to facilitate an exploration of the varied responses that professional development needs produce. The responses of former Principals and school leaders and their efforts to provide professional development for women teachers was captured, and revealed different agential responses. These responses included an acceptance of the realities of the education system in Pakistan and the role of women in that context, a desire to follow the ethos of the Catholic religious Order which was at variance with accepted educational praxis, and the changing expectations of society within Pakistan with reference to education of children.