Capacity Building Of Teacher Educators: A Harbinger Of Quality Education At School Level
By Ms. Swaleha A. Sindhi & Adfer.R.Shah
26 February, 2015
Countercurrents.org
Introduction
Teacher educators are the ones who are responsible for pre service teacher training. The vicious cycle of poor quality in-service teacher development begins with the absence of high quality teacher educators. To enhance the existing capacity of teachers in schools there is a dire need of enhancing the capacity of teacher educators as well trained teachers and teacher educators are crucial to bring quality improvement in schools. There is a change in educational demands in India; this has led to a change in teaching as a profession as well teachers and their profiles. Therefore there is need to reflect upon the teachers role as professionals who bring a change in the life of students.
It is unfortunate that though teachers make the highest impact on quality in the classroom and they are at the heart of education it is critical there are little efforts for teacher development. A mechanism need to be evolved to include teachers in development process rather than just getting their feedback on what they have already conceptualized. To infuse quality consciousness in schools, a higher quality aspiration and presence is needed at all levels of education governance. Programmes in education and in teacher development need to be planned over a sufficient period of time. A key challenge for the Indian education system is to“democratise good education”. To achieve this, the quality of education for all students must improve, which in turn requires improvements in the quality of teaching. Logically, teacher training colleges, District Institutes of Education and Training (DIETs) and universities, both public and private, have a key role to play in this process. International studies have repeatedly shown that the quality of teaching is one of the most important school-related factors influencing student learning outcomes. The present teacher education sub-sector in India requires a firmer resolve and policy to drive this process forward.
Role of Teachers and concerns
There is a definite range of personal competence that makes a difference to the quality and effectiveness of teaching like sound subject knowledge; communication skills; ability to relate to individual students; self-management skills; organizational skills; classroom management skills; problem-solving skills; a range of teaching methods; teamwork skills; and research skills. In the Indian context most of these competencies are not adequately addressed in the curriculum of teacher education. As for pedagogical knowledge, the teacher training curriculum needs to encompass a clear focus on understanding of learning and teaching, including concepts of how children progress in the subject, how they acquire key concepts, and importantly an understanding of misconceptions and how they arise. Teacher education curricula in India need to be reformed to develop this range of competencies. The teacher education curriculum needs to develop teachers’ abilities to help students learn how to learn and to un-learn and to re-learn. This is what is said in the National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education (2006). There is an urgent need to revitalize the teacher educator profession throughout the country. Ministry of human resource development and the states can help District institutes of education and training and Teacher training colleges to build their capacity for good teaching by providing more resources and by improving their links to external sources of knowledge. Just as teacher education should develop teachers who are prepared for lifelong professional development, so must teacher educators engage in a continuous process of reflection, training, application and assessment. This would link pedagogical process, classroom contexts and student achievements with the focus on learning, not teaching.
Key Challenges
• There is a need to align teacher education it with the process of school development and provide flexibility for the teachers to apply new methodologies in the classroom.
• There can be school teams, so that groups of teachers can support each other in trying out new methods.
• There is a need to for active participation by the teachers in the design of in-service training and structures.
• There is also a need for teachers to be actively participating in the process of development of instruments that is to be used to monitor teacher performance and accountability.
• There is a need for an integrated and comprehensive teacher development policy with a strategic implementation plan that recognizes teacher education as a continuous lifelong process.
Suggestions
• A network in many agencies involved in teacher education at the various levels such as NUEPA, NCERT, Universities, IASE’s, DIETs, CTE’s, SCERT, BRC, CRC and the NGOs will allow the upgrading of the teaching and leadership capacities of teachers.
• Developing approaches that help teachers to become reflective practitioners and agents of change in their own contexts.
• Strengthen quality assurance of in-service programmes with an introduction of community and parents for social audit.
• Decentralization of the programme with capacity building of the staff at lower levels.
• To provide the teachers with the necessary pedagogical support, particularly at the school level rather than via out-of-school “trainings”
• To provide conducive framework to encourage teachers to find ways and means of self-improvement.
Conclusion
The initial teacher education must provide sound basic training in subject-matter knowledge, pedagogy related to subjects, and general pedagogical knowledge; it also needs to develop the skills for reflective practice and research on-the-job. A new teacher education policy will not improve teacher quality by itself; such a goal requires a long-term commitment to a pedagogical project which promotes shared understanding among all stakeholders and the development of strong communities of practice during implementation. Accreditation by an independent, authoritative agency is a means to assure quality in teacher education. Improved teacher education can ensure improved teaching, and improved teaching is the most important factor in generating improved student learning outcomes.
(Swaleha.A.Sindhi is Assistant Professor, Department of Educational Administration, The M.S University of Baroda, Vadodara. Gujarat. India & Adfer.R.Shah is Research Assistant SNCWS Jamia Milia Islamia University New Delhi-India)
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