Six Journeys,
Beyond the Policies
Researching how teachers actually grow, beyond the one-size-fits-all path of India's education policies. Turned primary data into six strong personas, helping stakeholders to understand & visualise personalised behaviour change journeys for teachers in India.
Researching how teachers actually grow, beyond the one-size-fits-all path of India's education policies. Turned primary data into six strong personas, helping stakeholders to understand & visualise personalised behaviour change journeys for teachers in India.
Qualitative Research
Qualitative Research
Qualitative Research
Behaviour Change Design
Behaviour Change Design
Behaviour Change Design
Information Design
Information Design
Information Design
Project Management
Project Management
Project Management
Role: Lead Researcher
Duration: 6 months
Team: 1 Researcher (me), 1 PM, Visual & Content Designer and Experience Designer
Team: 1 Researcher (me), 1 PM,
Visual & Content Designer and Experience Designer
Quick Overview
Quick Overview
Challenge
In 2020, India’s NEP promised a tech-forward, holistic education system. But teachers were juggling pandemic chaos, overloaded classrooms, and systemic constraints. We wanted to explore how motivation and opportunity can be assessed alongside skill so that professional teacher development in India supports not just competencies but true behavioural transformation.
My Role
* Led end-to-end research; from defining the line of enquiry to synthesising insights into an actionable public toolkit
* Co-directed visual strategy for the open-access website which houses the toolkit
Outcome
*6 research-backed Teacher Personas
*Mapped barriers and enablers to behaviour change; hosted on an open-access website
Challenge
In 2020, India’s NEP promised a tech-forward, holistic education system. But teachers were juggling pandemic chaos, overloaded classrooms, and systemic constraints. We wanted to explore how motivation and opportunity can be assessed alongside skill so that professional teacher development in India supports not just competencies but true behavioural transformation.
My Role
* Led end-to-end research; from defining the line of enquiry to synthesising insights into an actionable public toolkit
* Co-directed visual strategy for the open-access website which houses the toolkit
Outcome
*6 research-backed Teacher Personas
*Mapped barriers and enablers to behaviour change; hosted on an open-access website
Quick Overview
Challenge
In 2020, India’s NEP promised a tech-forward, holistic education system. But teachers were juggling pandemic chaos, overloaded classrooms, and systemic constraints. We wanted to explore how motivation and opportunity can be assessed alongside skill so that professional teacher development in India supports not just competencies but true behavioural transformation.
My Role
* Led end-to-end research; from defining the line of enquiry to synthesising insights into an actionable public toolkit
* Co-directed visual strategy for the open-access website which houses the toolkit
Outcome
*6 research-backed Teacher Personas
*Mapped barriers and enablers to behaviour change; hosted on an open-access website
The Spark
When India’s National Education Policy (NEP) was published in 2020, it called for nothing less than a complete reinvention of the country’s teaching system. Teachers would no longer be content-deliverers. They were to become “21st-century facilitators” equipped for holistic, tech-forward classrooms. This was later echoed in the National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST), released in 2023, which outlined a 3-stage growth journey for all teachers.
On paper this sounded inspiring. However, the on-ground reality for teachers is very different. Teachers are navigating pandemic chaos, overloaded classrooms, and chronic under-resourcing.
I wanted to know, “What would it actually take for teachers to professionally grow in their careers to be equipped as to 21st century teachers?”
What I Did
I co-led a self-driven, end-to-end research fellowship under Fold Labs to turn that lofty question into a resource which helps to understand the diversity of teacher mindsets and design support that can move beyond one-size-fits-all training and instead focus on behavioural transformation, rooted in motivation, opportunity, and skill.
Please note: This is a condensed look at the process. If you’re curious to learn more, please reach out to me. I’m happy to share the behind-the-scenes details!
Phase 1: Research & Analysis
Secondary research: Reviewed academic literature, government reports, and pandemic impact studies on Indian education.
Primary research: Conducted 21 in-depth interviews with in-service teachers, using the COM-B framework to probe three dimensions critical for behaviour change:
* Capability – Do they have the knowledge, skills, and mental bandwidth?
* Opportunity – Do their environments support or hinder change?
* Motivation – What drives or discourages them from evolving their practice?
Participant recruitment: Managed end-to-end — outreach, screening, scheduling, and conducting interviews via phone or video, respecting teacher availability and comfort.
Phase 2: From Data to Personas
Coding: Tagged hundreds of qualitative datapoints in Trello against COM-B categories.
Pattern recognition: Identified recurring themes in motivations, teaching practices, coping strategies, and definitions of success.
Persona development: Applied Alan Cooper’s Goal-Directed Persona method to create six detailed “Teacher Portraits”.
Each portrait reflected:
* Teaching philosophy & approach
* Motivators and demotivators
* Barriers to adopting new practices
* Specific enablers for growthBias mitigation: Using a structured persona process helped eliminate 90% of researcher bias by anchoring synthesis in evidence rather than assumption.
Phase 3: Translating Insights into Action
Goal: Make the research accessible and actionable for non-research audiences — especially NGOs, school leaders, and teacher educators.
Content strategy: Developed easy to understand explanations of each Teacher Portrait and mapped their possible behaviour change journeys, rich with specifics and anecdotal information.
Policy commentary: Added a reflective section on how the NEP and NPST could be grounded in the realities surfaced by our research.
Collaboration: Worked closely with two visual designers to create an inviting, easy-to-navigate website balancing narrative, visuals, and data.
Outcome & Reach
Outcome: Our 6 month long research culminated into Inside the Staffroom, an open-access resource designed to:
Give education stakeholders a shared language to personalise teacher upskilling.
Bridge NEP policy aspirations with the lived reality of Indian classrooms.
Provides NGOs and training organisations a starting point for designing personalised teacher development programs.
Potential Reach: The resource is currently in the pilot stage, being reviewed and tested by various teachers, teacher trainers and NGO leaders. This pilot will reach approximately 20+ trusted professionals in the space of education.
Explore the complete resource website here.
Below is a sneak peek of the website 👀
The Spark
The Spark
When India’s National Education Policy (NEP) was published in 2020, it called for nothing less than a complete reinvention of the country’s teaching system. Teachers would no longer be content-deliverers. They were to become “21st-century facilitators” equipped for holistic, tech-forward classrooms. This was later echoed in the National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST), released in 2023, which outlined a 3-stage growth journey for all teachers.
On paper this sounded inspiring. However, the on-ground reality for teachers is very different. Teachers are navigating pandemic chaos, overloaded classrooms, and chronic under-resourcing.
I wanted to know, “What would it actually take for teachers to professionally grow in their careers to be equipped as to 21st century teachers?”
When India’s National Education Policy (NEP) was published in 2020, it called for nothing less than a complete reinvention of the country’s teaching system. Teachers would no longer be content-deliverers. They were to become “21st-century facilitators” equipped for holistic, tech-forward classrooms. This was later echoed in the National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST), released in 2023, which outlined a 3-stage growth journey for all teachers.
On paper this sounded inspiring. However, the on-ground reality for teachers is very different. Teachers are navigating pandemic chaos, overloaded classrooms, and chronic under-resourcing.
I wanted to know, “What would it actually take for teachers to professionally grow in their careers to be equipped as to 21st century teachers?”
My Takeaways
Policy ambition means nothing if it can’t survive the classroom.
This project taught me:
How to translate systemic goals into usable, human-centred tools
How to keep the user's voice at the centre, even when the system is deafening
Strengthened my skill in translating dense policy language into clear, actionable insights
What I Did
What I Did
I co-led a self-driven, end-to-end research fellowship under Fold Labs to turn that lofty question into a resource which helps to understand the diversity of teacher mindsets and design support that can move beyond one-size-fits-all training and instead focus on behavioural transformation, rooted in motivation, opportunity, and skill.
Please note: This is a condensed look at the process. If you’re curious to learn more, please reach out to me. I’m happy to share the behind-the-scenes details!
I co-led a self-driven, end-to-end research fellowship under Fold Labs to turn that lofty question into a resource which helps to understand the diversity of teacher mindsets and design support that can move beyond one-size-fits-all training and instead focus on behavioural transformation, rooted in motivation, opportunity, and skill.
Please note: This is a condensed look at the process. If you’re curious to learn more, please reach out to me. I’m happy to share the behind-the-scenes details!
Phase 1: Research & Analysis
Secondary research: Reviewed academic literature, government reports, and pandemic impact studies on Indian education.
Primary research: Conducted 21 in-depth interviews with in-service teachers, using the COM-B framework to probe three dimensions critical for behaviour change:
* Capability – Do they have the knowledge, skills, and mental bandwidth?
* Opportunity – Do their environments support or hinder change?
* Motivation – What drives or discourages them from evolving their practice?
Participant recruitment: Managed end-to-end — outreach, screening, scheduling, and conducting interviews via phone or video, respecting teacher availability and comfort.
Phase 1:
Research & Analysis
Secondary research: Reviewed academic literature, government reports, and pandemic impact studies on Indian education.
Primary research: Conducted 21 in-depth interviews with in-service teachers, using the COM-B framework to probe three dimensions critical for behaviour change:
* Capability – Do they have the knowledge, skills, and mental bandwidth?
* Opportunity – Do their environments support or hinder change?
* Motivation – What drives or discourages them from evolving their practice?
Participant recruitment: Managed end-to-end — outreach, screening, scheduling, and conducting interviews via phone or video, respecting teacher availability and comfort.
Phase 2: From Data to Personas
Coding: Tagged hundreds of qualitative datapoints in Trello against COM-B categories.
Pattern recognition: Identified recurring themes in motivations, teaching practices, coping strategies, and definitions of success.
Persona development: Applied Alan Cooper’s Goal-Directed Persona method to create six detailed “Teacher Portraits”.
Each portrait reflected:
* Teaching philosophy & approach
* Motivators and demotivators
* Barriers to adopting new practices
* Specific enablers for growthBias mitigation: Using a structured persona process helped eliminate 90% of researcher bias by anchoring synthesis in evidence rather than assumption.
Phase 2:
From Data to Personas
Coding: Tagged hundreds of qualitative datapoints in Trello against COM-B categories.
Pattern recognition: Identified recurring themes in motivations, teaching practices, coping strategies, and definitions of success.
Persona development: Applied Alan Cooper’s Goal-Directed Persona method to create six detailed “Teacher Portraits”.
Each portrait reflected:
* Teaching philosophy & approach
* Motivators and demotivators
* Barriers to adopting new practices
* Specific enablers for growthBias mitigation: Using a structured persona process helped eliminate 90% of researcher bias by anchoring synthesis in evidence rather than assumption.
Phase 3:
Translating Insights into Action
Goal: Make the research accessible and actionable for non-research audiences — especially NGOs, school leaders, and teacher educators.
Content strategy: Developed easy to understand explanations of each Teacher Portrait and mapped their possible behaviour change journeys, rich with specifics and anecdotal information.
Policy commentary: Added a reflective section on how the NEP and NPST could be grounded in the realities surfaced by our research.
Collaboration: Worked closely with two visual designers to create an inviting, easy-to-navigate website balancing narrative, visuals, and data.
Phase 3: Translating Insights
into Action
Goal: Make the research accessible and actionable for non-research audiences — especially NGOs, school leaders, and teacher educators.
Content strategy: Developed easy to understand explanations of each Teacher Portrait and mapped their possible behaviour change journeys, rich with specifics and anecdotal information.
Policy commentary: Added a reflective section on how the NEP and NPST could be grounded in the realities surfaced by our research.
Collaboration: Worked closely with two visual designers to create an inviting, easy-to-navigate website balancing narrative, visuals, and data.
Outcome & Reach
Outcome: Our 6 month long research culminated into Inside the Staffroom, an open-access resource designed to:
Give education stakeholders a shared language to personalise teacher upskilling.
Bridge NEP policy aspirations with the lived reality of Indian classrooms.
Provides NGOs and training organisations a starting point for designing personalised teacher development programs.
Potential Reach: The resource is currently in the pilot stage, being reviewed and tested by various teachers, teacher trainers and NGO leaders. This pilot will reach approximately 20+ trusted professionals in the space of education.
Explore the complete resource website here.
Below is a sneak peek of the website 👀
Outcome & Reach
Outcome: Our 6 month long research culminated into Inside the Staffroom, an open-access resource designed to:
Give education stakeholders a shared language to personalise teacher upskilling.
Bridge NEP policy aspirations with the lived reality of Indian classrooms.
Provides NGOs and training organisations a starting point for designing personalised teacher development programs.
Potential Reach: The resource is currently in the pilot stage, being reviewed and tested by various teachers, teacher trainers and NGO leaders. This pilot will reach approximately 20+ trusted professionals in the space of education.
Explore the complete resource website here.
Below is a sneak peek of the website 👀
My Takeaways
Policy ambition means nothing if it can’t survive the classroom.
This project taught me:
How to translate systemic goals into usable, human-centred tools
How to keep the user's voice at the centre, even when the system is deafening
Strengthened my skill in translating dense policy language into clear, actionable insights
My Takeaways
Policy ambition means nothing if it can’t survive the classroom.
This project taught me:
How to translate systemic goals into usable, human-centred tools
How to keep the user's voice at the centre, even when the system is deafening
Strengthened my skill in translating dense policy language into clear, actionable insights
