Editorial: Professional Development and Capacity Building in Learning for Development

Abstract

The work of the Commonwealth of Learning, as also that of many governmental and institutional initiatives, has been, in the past, based on ‘policy-capacity-technology’ as a theory of change framework within which national and institutional strategies on learning for development have been located. It has been argued that it works better when practice is based on policy, and when capacitybuilding mediates between policy and technology (Panda & Mishra, 2020). The authors suggest that such implementation needs to be contextual in consideration of ‘socio-cultural and educational ecologies’. In a recent UNESCO communiqué , in the context of OER, building capacity of stakeholders to create, access, use, adapt, and redistribute OER was highlighted as of prime importance along with policy, quality, sustainability, and international collaboration (UNESCO, 2019). In the past, varied professional development and capacity building strategies have been designed at national and institutional levels depending on the existing needs, resources, and constraints for learning and training designs. Keeping in view these developments and future possibilities, we have devoted this issue of JL4D to the theme “Professional Development and Capacity Building in Learning for Development” which reports research and development in areas ranging from Carpe Diem to use of learning-based extension, professional development in schools, skills in the use of mobile learning, teacher competencies in ICT integration in schools, skills in the design and implementation of learning platforms, self-regulated learning skills, vocational and entrepreneurial skills in vulnerable contexts, and workplace training. There is also an interesting book review on digital security and safety.