CAMBRIDGE PDQ
DLRC Professional Development Qualification Programme
Cambridge International Certificate in Teaching and Learning 5881
A practice based professional development programme for practising teachers
Duration: 18 - 20 weeks | 150 hours | Blended Learning
The Cambridge International Certificate in Teaching and Learning is designed for practising teachers who want to deepen their understandingof educational theories and enhance their pedagogical skills.
The programme brings together educational theory, classroom practice, mentoring, observation and reflection.
Teachers do not simply learn about new approaches. They try them in their own classrooms, reflect on their impact, receive feedback and usethis learning to improve their practice. This cycle of experiential learning and reflective practice is central to the Cambridge PDQ and is applicable for all subjects.
An internationally benchmarked qualification
The Cambridge PDQ Certificate is recognized internationally.
Professional development should change what happens in the classroom.
What does the Certificate involve?
DLRC will provide 50 hours of guided learning, spread across 3 Units. Candidates should integrate as much preparation time as possible intotheir day-to-day practice. They should allow time for background reading and discussion with their colleagues, to enrich their reflective practice. In each unit, candidates engage with the required learning outcomes through a series of activities closely related to their everyday professional work. The activities and related reflections produce evidence for assessment.
150 hours of professional learning
The programme will be delivered using a blended format. The delivery plan builds inapproximately three hours of Guided Learning each week; in addition to the guided learning hours, you are required to allocate about 5 to 6 additional hours per week towards individual & collaborative learning and work-based learning. This includes mentor sessions.
Your portfolio emerges from all of the above work.
What will you learn?
The Certificate comprises three connected units which together form Module 1: Exploring Learning and Teaching.
Unit Focus
Unit 1 Understanding the basic principles of learning and teaching
Unit 2 Teaching an effective lesson
Unit 3 Teaching effective lessons
Across these units, teachers will explore how people learn, characteristics of effective teaching, assessment, lesson design, active learning, formative assessment, feedback and reflective practice.The learning gradually moves from understanding important principles to applying them in the classroom and evaluating their impact.Your classroom becomes an important part of your professional learning. Your own delivery programme includes active experiences such as lesson design workshops, micro teaching, peerreview, classroom observations, assessment activities, collaborative problem solving and trying newstrategies in real classrooms.
Mentoring throughout the programme
The spiral of professional learning in a Cambridge PDQ programme
depends particularly on three processes:
• Observation
• Reflection
• Learning with and from mentors.
Every candidate works with a mentor. The mentor develops an
ongoing professional learning relationship with the candidate and
supports them particularly during their work based learning.
Mentoring may include regular conversations, classroom
observations, feedback, reflection and support in connecting theory with classroom practice. Mentors will meet with their mentee for approximately 30 minutes once a week or fortnight.
How will you be assessed?
Candidates are assessed through a portfolio of evidence (3600 words), which is submitted to a team of Cambridge International examiners. In their portfolio, candidates demonstrate their knowledge, skills and understanding in the context of their own work.
Who can apply?
You can apply if you:
● are a full time or part time practising teacher in an educational institution
● teach in your current institution for at least 24 weeks in an academic year
● teach for at least six hours per week
● teach a group of at least six learners
● are responsible for planning, teaching and formatively assessing learners
● have English language competence where you can communicate independently, handle normal conversations with native speakerswithout stress, and understand complex ideas on most topics (comparable to CEFR Level B2)
Programme Fee
₹50,000 per candidate (Special fee for the first cohort) Includes the complete programme fee and Cambridge assessment fee.
Programme begins: 21 November 2026
Maximum participants: 15 Guided Learning sessions
● Saturdays, 2:00 to 5:00 pm or two sessions of 1.5 hours each during the week
● The schedule can be customized according to the needs of the cohort.
Interested in joining the first cohort at DLRC? Write to communication@dlrc.in
About the Programme Leader
Meenakshi Dalmia is an educator, school leader and cofounder of DLRC Foundation, Pune. Shehas worked in education for over two decades, with a strong focus on experiential learning,reflective practice, sustainability and teacher development.
She holds an MEd from Boston University, a BEd from Wheelock College, and a BSc in Physics fromCalcutta University, along with qualifications in Waldorf Education, Child Brain Development,Ecology and Sustainability, and School Leadership from Harvard.
At DLRC, Meenakshi works closely with teachers on curriculum, pedagogy, assessment andprofessional learning. She has completed the Cambridge Professional Development ProgrammeLeader course, and will lead DLRC's Cambridge International Certificate in Teaching and Learningprogramme.