Participatory approaches for strengthening teacher professional development in refugee settings: successes and limitations

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article presents critical reflections on a teacher professional development initiative in Kakuma refugee camp and Kalobeyei settlement in Kenya. Drawing on critical development studies, it examines the successes and limitations of efforts to facilitate a community-based participatory process that aims to respond to local refugee teachers’ needs while simultaneously developing training materials as a global good. It points to the influences of global-local dynamics, including the practical constraints of distance and time, and the role of partnerships that help or hinder these approaches. It embraces the often excluded personal and professional dimensions that intersect with our work. It further wrestles with the opportunities and limitations of these approaches to address larger structural constraints in which teacher professional development initiatives are embedded and offers considerations for future engagements.