Muhammad Fazil

I left my position as a secondary school physics teacher in Pakistan's public sector schools to pursue graduate studies at the University of Padua. I am a PhD researcher with a master’s degree in physics. My research interests revolve on the areas of teacher education, with a special focus on STEM education in general and the professional development of science teachers in particular. My PhD research's focus is to investigate how teachers' knowledge changes as a result of their active participation in formal and informal professional development programs. To do this, I'll be using a thorough examination of primary and secondary data sources.

The literature widely recognizes the pivotal role of student teachers in shaping the quality of educational systems(Cevik et al., 2020; Darling-Hammond et al., 2017; Guskey, 2021; Hackman, 2022), exerting significant influence on the overall educational experience and academic success of students. The responsibility for ensuring the delivery of high-quality teaching and learning experiences squarely rests upon teachers. However, the effective execution of teaching is a multifaceted undertaking, demanding a essential level of competence in comprehending and managing the teaching and learning process. A teacher's competence directly mirrors their overall quality, consequently influencing the quality of the learning experience.

In recent decades, scholarly discourse has increasingly concentrated on knowledge as a central facet of cognitive competence (Davis et al., 2016). Notably, teacher knowledge has emerged as a critical constituent of the broader spectrum of teacher competence (Qinhua et al., 2022). A noticeable trend within global educational reforms underscores the imperative of enhancing teachers' competencies, with a specific emphasis on augmenting their knowledge base. It is imperative to situate policy reforms within the broader educational landscape, acknowledging that teachers operate within an interconnected system and necessitate support from their employing institutions.

The present research study utilizes self-reported data from teachers who participated in the Teaching and Learning International Survey (TALIS) in 2018, specifically focusing on Italy, extracted from the International Large-Scale Assessments (ILSA) dataset. Simultaneously, a systematic collection of primary data is undertaken in Pakistan, constituting the initial stage of the research project, with the primary objective of examining the phenomena associated with teachers' knowledge development.