Teachers’ Professional Development through Whole School Improvement Program (WSIP)
Khush Funer Murtaza

Abstract
A school system’s significant asset is its teaching force. The most important investment a school board, administration, and parents can make in a school system is to ensure that teachers continue to learn. The growing literature on teacher learning and professional growth of teachers reveals that if standards are to be achieved particularly in raising student achievement, there will have to be a massive change in the way we do the business. Good schools, therefore, should aim at making every member of the institution a professional to achieve its goals. The experiences emanating from professional development initiatives of the Aga Khan University-Professional Development Centre North (AKU-PDCN) particularly those coming from the Whole School Improvement Program (WSIP) help not only in the establishment of continuous teacher professional development mechanisms and processes, but also provide opportunities for various stakeholders to work together and share their experiences in the process of implementing the school improvement initiatives. Moreover, the field -based nature and the two years follow-up mechanism of the programme provide further professional support to the project schools. This ongoing professional support is intensive and regular and aims to encourage the participants to reflect on new practices as well as on developing positive professional development culture in schools. This paper attempts to illustrate the background and purpose of WSIP, and how it provides professional development opportunities for the teachers of Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan through AKU-PDCN. The paper also highlights the challenges faced and the lesson learnt in the process, and concludes with some suggestions for a possible and preferable way forward.

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