TEACHER PROFESSIONALISM AMONG PAKISTANI UNIVERSITIES

Abstract

The current research question examined the level of teacher professionalism among university teachers in Pakistan and assessed whether it differs across institutional and demographic variables. The research design used was quantitative descriptive research design in a positivist paradigm. A sample of 96 teachers (out of 6 universities in Lahore, three of which are state-owned and the remaining three are privately owned) was sampled to collect data. The Teacher Professionalism Questionnaire, which has 51 Likert-scale items, showed high reliability (Cronbach’s alpha = .963). The data were analyzed with the aid of descriptive statistics, independent samples t-tests and one-way ANOVA.

The results showed that the perceived professionalism was high on all dimensions, including the character, commitment towards improvement, pedagogical knowledge, and professional obligations of teachers. There were no statistically significant differences in terms of the type of university, the faculty, teaching experience, academic qualification, or income. These results are indicative of the fact that the nature of teacher professionalism in Pakistani universities is, more or less, stable and affected more by common institutional practice norms than by individual or structural differences. The research indicates the significance of the continuous professional development (CPD) and institutional support systems, which would be able to maintain and improve professionalism in higher education. This paper contributes empirical evidence on teacher professionalism in higher education in Pakistan by demonstrating its consistency across institutional and demographic variables while highlighting the primacy of institutional norms over individual traits in shaping professional practice.