Teacher Educators as Policy Intermediaries: Understanding and Delivering NCF-SE 2023-Aligned Training

Abstract

The successful implementation of the National Curriculum Framework for School Education (NCF-SE) 2023 depends critically on the quality of professional development provided to in-service teachers. Teacher educators, as frontline policy intermediaries, play a pivotal yet under-researched role in interpreting and delivering NCF-SE-aligned training. This mixed-methods study investigated 30 teacher educators from DIETs, SCERT resource groups, private training institutes, and Block Resource Centres across two districts of Uttar Pradesh. Using a Trainer Knowledge and Beliefs Survey, semi-structured interviews, and live training session observations, the study examined three dimensions: comprehension of NCF-SE 2023 key tenets, perceived preparedness to deliver competency-based training, and actual training practices.
Results reveal that while 80% of teacher educators claim familiarity with NCF-SE 2023, only 36.7% correctly identified the four-stage curricular structure, and just 23.3% could describe competency-based assessment without prompting. Training delivery remains predominantly lecture-based (73.3% of observed session time), contradicting the experiential pedagogy they are expected to model. Major barriers include inadequate trainer-of-trainers programmes (86.7%), lack of model lesson plans (76.7%), and institutional pressure to cover the syllabus rather than deepen understanding. The study concludes that teacher educators are willing but unsupported, and recommends a cascading quality-assurance model with practice-based toolkits.