We know its not ideal, but the Staffroom is best explored on a desktop :)
We know its not ideal, but the Staffroom is best explored on a desktop :)
We know its not ideal, but the Staffroom is best explored on a desktop :)
We know its not ideal, but the Staffroom is best explored on a desktop :)
Motivation, Opportunity, and Skill:
Rethinking Teacher Growth under NPST
Overview
This commentary reflects on our project Inside the Staffroom, which created six evidence-based teacher personas representing diverse mindsets, motivations, and challenges for teachers in India’s education system. By mapping these personas to the National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST), the study examines how well current teacher profiles align with the competencies required to become '21st-century facilitators'.
The NPST provides a clear vision for teacher growth, but Continuous Professional Development (CPD) often fails when it is generic or irrelevant. Our personas show how motivation, opportunity, and capabilities interact in shaping teacher growth. They offer a way of thinking about CPD that is more personalised, relevant, and visible to teachers. The commentary also highlights the need for reflective self-assessment so that growth becomes tangible and motivating for educators themselves.
Introduction
The National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) is India’s main teacher-facing policy that defines the competencies needed to become a 21st century teaching. It provides a clear set of standards for what teachers should know and be able to do at different career stages. These standards start with Proficient, then Advanced and finally Expert. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 gives a broader vision for education and references the NPST as a tool for improving teacher quality.
The NPST sets strong developmental goals, however it does not address the lived realities, motivations and systemic challenges that shape how teachers actually grow.
Our qualitative research project, Inside the Staffroom, addresses this gap. Using the goal-directed persona method, we created six evidence-based teacher personas. These range from the compliance-driven 'Settlers' to the socially committed 'Catalysts'. By looking at motivation and opportunity alongside skill, we are examining behavioural transformation rather than skill development alone.
Mapping these personas to NPST standards revealed both alignment and friction. Some needs were universal, like building inclusivity and understanding child development. Others were specific to each persona and often rooted more in motivation than skill. Without Continuous Personal Development (CPD) that is contextual and persona-aware, the NPST risks becoming a compliance tool rather than a driver of real change.
Humanising NPST
Limits of a One-Size Policy
The NPST sets out what 21st century teaching looks like in India. It is a valuable framework. But as a national standard, it has to be broad. This can make it hard to translate into specific development steps for individual teachers. While it defines the progression path for all teachers, it cannot account for the different reasons that may hold back two teachers at the same stage. For one, the main barrier may be motivation. For another, it may be access to opportunity. Such a tool is helpful for organisations and individuals working directly with teachers and facing the very human barriers that each teacher brings with them. Our teacher personas help bridge that gap.
How Personas Bridge the Gap
In Inside the Staffroom, we used the goal-directed persona method, which is common in design research but less often applied in education policy. This approach builds composite profiles from qualitative research data. Each persona captures not only skill levels but also deeper drivers such as Pedagogical Competence, Approach Towards Students, and Growth Mindset.
The NPST assumes that teachers will want to progress through its stages if given the right CPD. Our research shows that this is not always the case. Some teachers value stability and low effort over progression.
Others resist feedback even when they have the skills to advance. A few are deeply committed to growth but lack opportunities.
By placing these diverse variables alongside NPST competencies, we can see that professional growth is not just a matter of 'providing training'. It is about understanding the starting point of each teacher and tailoring support to fit them. The personas allow the NPST to become a more human and adaptable tool.
Mapping Personas to NPST
We mapped each of our six teacher personas against the NPST’s standards. This process revealed important patterns.
Some standards were straightforward to match. For example, the NPST’s emphasis on equity, inclusivity, and understanding child development was a blanket need for all teacher personas. These are universal competencies that every teacher should strengthen, regardless of starting point.
Behavioural patterns emerging from the mapping
The mapping also revealed that the barriers to meeting NPST standards often lay in behaviour and motivation rather than skill alone.
Settlers met only the minimum expectations of their role. They were technically capable of learning new competencies but saw little personal value in doing so. Because of this, we could not map them to even the lowest NPST standard of Proficient. The Settlers sit at
a new standard we call 'Pre-Proficient'.
Competitors had strong subject knowledge but resisted collaboration and feedback. Their growth was blocked by attitude rather than ability. Again, this teacher portrait sits at 'Pre-Proficient' as they do not meet a lot of the other competencies required to be Proficient, the most basic and foundational NPST standard.
Catalysts embraced innovation and professional learning but needed more access and opportunities to ICT (Information & Communication Technology) tools to advance their digital skills. They also teach in ecosystems where access to tech is minimal to non-existent. Despite being amazing teachers, because of not meeting this one but crucial criteria, they sit on the cusp of advancement from “Advanced” to “Expert” on the NPST scale.
Nurturers are capable, highly motivated and effective teachers for whom teaching is a core part of their personal identity. They have the potential to mentor, but find deep fulfilment in teaching itself. Stepping back from the classroom feels like a loss, not a progression. Hence, they too sit on the cusp of advancement from “Advanced” to “Expert” on the NPST scale.
This exercise highlighted that teacher growth under NPST cannot be approached as a uniform journey. Different personas require different entry points, motivators, and support structures.
Risks of Generic CPD under NPST
If CPD under NPST is designed without an understanding of teacher personas, it risks being generic and ineffective.
A one-size-fits-all workshop on pedagogy may inspire Catalysts but disengage Settlers. For the latter, the issue is not lack of knowledge but lack of motivation. Similarly, a session on collaborative planning may frustrate Competitors unless it also addresses mindset and interpersonal skills.
Generic CPD wastes resources and teacher time. It can even create resistance if teachers feel the training is irrelevant to their context. Without a persona-aware approach, the NPST’s potential to drive real change will remain limited.
Bridging Policy and Practice
A Behaviour-change oriented NPST
To make NPST more effective in practice, we recommend exploring persona-based diagnostics. This would mean that before planning CPD, schools or training bodies assess the kinds of motivational and behavioural needs their teachers have.
This does not label teachers permanently but provides a snapshot of current motivations, opportunities, behaviours, and skill levels.
It is important to note that our personas were created from a small qualitative sample. We see them as a way of thinking, not a final solution. The direction we suggest is to advance this work further to see how motivational and opportunity-related needs can be assessed in teachers alongside skill.
From there, CPD can be differentiated. Settlers might start with mindset-shaping interventions and recognition for small wins. Competitors might need structured peer feedback systems that reward collaboration. Nurturers might be offered leadership roles or mentoring opportunities that do not remove them from teaching.
The research also brings to light several interesting hypotheses that could inform foundational evolutions in teacher training. One emerging pattern suggests that teachers who define their role in a student-centered way are better equipped to handle classroom challenges. If this hypothesis is validated, it highlights the importance of orienting teachers toward such a definition right from pre-service training. Similarly, we have identified a few more hypotheses that offer valuable insights into teacher development.
Another critical addition is reflective self-assessment. Teachers should be able to see their own growth against NPST competencies in a simple, personal way. This could take the form of portfolios or structured reflection logs. Growth then becomes visible to the teacher, not just administrators. This visibility builds autonomy and motivation, especially when linked to professional recognition.
By moving in this direction, NPST shifts from being a static set of standards to a living growth framework that adapts to the diversity of India’s teachers.
Conclusion
The NPST gives Indian education a strong compass for teacher growth. But a compass alone does not tell you how to navigate complex terrain. Our research shows that teacher growth is shaped as much by motivation, opportunity and by skill.
When teachers see themselves reflected in the standards, the NPST becomes personal. When CPD meets them where they are, it becomes relevant. When growth is visible and self-tracked, it becomes motivating.
Policy ideals and classroom realities can meet in the middle. But this requires more than compliance checklists. It requires a human-centred approach that treats teachers as diverse professionals with unique journeys. Teacher personas can provide that missing link. With them, NPST can truly help every teacher become a 21st century facilitator.
Future work must take this further. We invite collaboration to expand on our initial research, to test these personas at scale, and to integrate motivation and opportunity into the national vision for teacher development. To learn more about the six personas we created, readers can explore the Staffroom on our website.
Inside the Staffroom
Unpacking Beliefs, Behaviours & Possibilities of Indian educators
Deep-Dives
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