Opinion | Columnists

Why teacher training needs a complete overhaul

Jul 1, 2026 - 2 min read

<div>As an education and development professional, I participated in a classroom observation once, following training on technology-enhanced English language teaching. The teacher conducted his lesson mostly in English and incorporated an audio resource. However, the lesson seemed largely staged rather than naturally integrated into his teaching routine.  Students struggled to understand his English as it was not a regular practice, and his lesson lacked the elements of interactive pedagogy. As a result, the lesson was less effective than his usual teaching practices and did not improve learning outcomes. I observed a similar pattern during a visit to a multimedia classroom, where the use of technology did not translate into “smart” teaching. Instead, it remained a superficial change in content delivery using a multimedia projector, without enhancing interaction or student learning.</div><div><br></div><div><br></div><div>Despite the investment to improve teachers’ skills to enhance their classroom practices, the outcome mostly remain unchanged. Sometimes, the way the trainings are designed and delivered is fundamentally flawed and unlikely to produce any meaningful change. While we are concerned about the limited impact of training, there is surprisingly little rigorous evidence on what actually works.</div>

<div>Rather than investing in teachers’ continuous professional development, we have normalised an event-based training culture that relies on one-shot workshops, with minimal follow-up and long-term support. This is compounded by a “Cascade Model” of delivery, which dilutes the quality of the training as information is passed down through multiple layers before reaching the teachers. Furthermore, as the training lacks follow-on support through effective monitoring, mentoring and other mechanisms, it quickly fades without leaving any lasting impact in the classroom. These short, isolated event-based workshops are typically designed to deliver knowledge rather than to transform teaching to create impact. We introduced competency-based curriculum and experiential learning, but teachers’ professional development remained traditional and mostly theory-based, and thus rarely led to substantial changes in classroom practice.</div><div><br></div><div>Teaching is a dynamic and practice-based profession that requires continuous reflection, feedback, and adaptation. So, only one-shot workshops cannot transform deeply rooted teaching habits, nor can they address the diverse challenges teachers face in real classrooms, as they often lack contextual relevance. The problem is worsened by a system that prioritises ticking administrative boxes over genuine professional growth.</div>