Quality Education from Teachers’ Perspective

Abstract

Quality in education is a process that involves imparting knowledge, skills and production of capabilities, an essential component that determines the character and pace of social and economic development of any nation (Psacharopoulos & Woodhall, 1985). A small qualitative study was conducted in Delhi to understand the perceptions of teachers (n=20) from both private and government schools about different factors that affect the quality of education in schools. The teachers were selected through purposive and snowball sampling. The objectives of the study were to explore teachers’ views on the availability of infrastructural facilities, the impact of staffing on quality of education, relationship between class size and classroom transactions as well as their views on parental involvement in facilitating quality education. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews were used to interact with the teachers. The responses were subjected to content analysis. Verbatim responses were used to exemplify the challenges faced by the teachers. The key findings highlighted the teachers’ perceptions on understanding the meaning of quality in education and importance of in-service programmes and seminars that help to improve the teaching-learning process. The results emphasised on the importance of involvement of all the three stakeholders of education- teachers, parents and students to make the education system work in harmony. Hence, improving the current quality of education in schools requires availability and provision of guidance for using technological devices for teachers and students to facilitate adaptions in the teaching styles and make the learning process interesting and motivating for children.