Teachers' professional development in Lagos, Nigeria: perspectives from public and private schools

Presented by Dr Mary Bailey, The University of Nottingham

This presentation will report on a small scale study of ‘middling private school’ teachersand state school teachers in Lagos, Nigeria, conducted with Paul Thompson. The analysis focuses on teachers’ accounts of their professional practice and professional development, in their own particular environments. Set against international debate about quality of education post-EFA, we make the case for a more complex and nuanced understanding of teachers’ negotiation of structure and agency in analysing their potential contributions to quality in education and their role in addressing inequity. In particular, we contend that teachers are active policy translators as they attempt to achieve meaning in their professional lives and strive to improve their skills and qualifications. The seminar provides an opportunity to consider new priorities for research on teacher development that might inform local and national policy and practice in a hybrid landscape of state and non-state schooling.