THE THREE C'S OF ANDRAGOGY-INFUSED TEACHERS' PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

The landscape of teaching methods and role of teachers has been dynamic and more so now when it may be said to be quite unstable and under threat by several disruptive technologies. Thus teachers’ professional development (TPD) is an essential component of any educational setup. How should TPD be in todays’ day and age, for higher education? To find out the answer the researcher has reviewed related papers and found three C’s – collaboration, curriculum (new age) and counseling to be new elements that should be brought in to make teaching-learning in colleges and universities more relevant to the needs. Now the processes cannot occur superficially, the underlying approach of teaching at higher education should change alongwith to make the entire process effective. The four factors of TPD are discussed in this perspective. Collaboration amongst peers is utmost necessity for TPD to have lasting benefits. The curriculum in practice should suit the needs of 21st century learners and promote openness, freedom and joy of learning. The Merdeka curriculum recently introduced in Indonesia serves the purpose quite well and is therefore suggested for consideration. Lastly counseling should be ingrained in the teaching process itself to cater to the affective domain simultaneously with the cognitive domain so that learning becomes wholesome. The principles and practices of Andragogy are surprisingly congruent with various elements of the above three C’s and is therefore upheld as the fitting philosophy for the transformation to occur. The landscape of teaching methods and role of teachers has been dynamic and more so now when it may be said to be quite unstable and under threat by several disruptive technologies. Thus teachers’ professional development (TPD) is an essential component of any educational setup. How should TPD be in todays’ day and age, for higher education? To find out the answer the researcher has reviewed related papers and found three C’s – collaboration, curriculum (new age) and counseling to be new elements that should be brought in to make teaching-learning in colleges and universities more relevant to the needs. Now the processes cannot occur superficially, the underlying approach of teaching at higher education should change alongwith to make the entire process effective. The four factors of TPD are discussed in this perspective. Collaboration amongst peers is utmost necessity for TPD to have lasting benefits. The curriculum in practice should suit the needs of 21st century learners and promote openness, freedom and joy of learning. The Merdeka curriculum recently introduced in Indonesia serves the purpose quite well and is therefore suggested for consideration. Lastly counseling should be ingrained in the teaching process itself to cater to the affective domain simultaneously with the cognitive domain so that learning becomes wholesome. The principles and practices of Andragogy are surprisingly congruent with various elements of the above three C’s and is therefore upheld as the fitting philosophy for the transformation to occur.