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Teachers
Education:
Reformisms, Reforms and Transformation
- By Behar Sharad Chandra
1. The Backdrop
Teacher Education scenario today is a cause
for serious concern. I am making this statement today. It
could have been equally true in the year 1959 when I had my
first close encounter with formal Teacher Education programme
in a renowned and one of the oldest teacher training institutions
established in this country.
I believe, (but I am open to correction)
that the major reason for this is ad hoc evolution of Teacher
Education programme based on some questionable assumptions
that were never articulated and therefore, were never seriously
debated.
Taking this as the starting premise, I can
proceed only to make explicit these assumptions, scrutinise
them thoroughly and comprehensively and thereafter present
more acceptable radical alternatives. Such as exercise, however,
laudable, can present a long term blue - print of action and
therefore, those who are looking for immediate improvement
in the situation may be impatient with such alternatives.
I would therefore divide this paper in two parts. In Part
- I, I will not question the basic philosophy and assumptions
of the present pattern of teacher education but only discuss
some measures of reforms that can be put into practice without
delay and without any structural or systematic change. In
Part - II, I will address the more scientific, logical and
conducive to excellence in not only elementary education but
all stage of education - from pre-primary to University Education.
This would inevitably take us to wider and deeper questions
and issues of the philosophy, perspective, assumptions, principles
and processes of teacher education system in the country.
2. Conceptual Frame
Without questioning the basic foundations
and pillars on which the present edifice of Teacher Education
is standing, some improvements in the quality of Teacher Education
can be achieved, provided the desire for improvement is genuine
and real, not only formal, ritualistic and with a purpose
to give an impression of change. We must work for reforms,
should not only proclaim adherence to the need and theory
of reforms which I have called reformism. Reformism is the
motion of movement like the waves on the surface of a water
pool without involving actual flow of water underneath. Everyone
is always in favour of reforms of this kind which can be called
reformism. Actual reform will mean substantial upheaval, a
large measure of flow of water from one end of the water pool
to the other, draining out water, cleaning the mud and silt
deposited at the bottom, stocking new varieties of fish, growing
lotus and lilies and so on. To continue the analogy, transformation
that we will discuss in the second part of the paper, will
mean designing a new water system which may include flowing
streams, fountains, rich and wide stock of aquatic flora and
fauna, mechanisms to ensure continual renewal of water, bringing
in fresh water, methods of discharge of slit and mud out of
the system etc.
- Reforms: Towards Improvement
Once there is a genuine desire for improvements.
There can be several directions of reforms in the existing
teacher education system. Many of them cut across the
stages of education, pre-primary to tertiary, while some
of them have greater relevance for elementary education.
In view of the national engagement with the task of elementary
education we will concentrate on this stage, although
the suggested measures may have relevance for other stages
also.
3. Para Teachers
Universalisation of elementary education
is leading to geometrical progression in teacher population
at the elementary level. The costs involved are too heavy
to be absorbed in the financial allocations available or likely
to be available in the face of competing needs of other sectors.
That is why most of the States are resorting to the widely
accepted but questionable method of appointment and use of
para-teachers. It may not also be feasible to fix qualifications
for para-teachers, when the genesis of, and the entire rationale
presented for, para-teachers is to remedy the maladies and
change the rigidity and regimentation of existing qualifications
and recruitment methods that lead to large scale teacher absenteeism,
un-accountability of teachers and their non involvement with
the community.
It should however, not to be forgotten that
the para-teachers in due course will become teachers. This
would, therefore, become a convenient and widely accepted
alternative method of recruitment. This may add to the already
existing backlog of un-trained teachers.
4. Institute Teachers Education.
Foreseeing this, it would be prudent to develop
modular teacher education programmes in which there is a mix
of distance education, summer schools, supervised practice
teaching in the schools where un-trained teachers/para-teachers
are already working. A blended package of this kind in which
theoretical knowledge, competencies and professional skills
are developed can additionally address adequately the problem
of mismatch between the environment of the practicing schools
attached to the teacher education institutions and that of
the schools where teachers are required to work after their
pre-service education. This has to be accompanied by an innovative
system of evaluation clearly focusing on testing the competencies,
professional skills and knowledge required of a good teacher.
A written examination of 3 hours duration is inadequate for
the purpose. It will have to be replaced or supplemented substantially
(not nominally) by assignments given in the morning to be
completed in the library by evening, Viva-voce, observation
of a number of classes being taught in different schools by
the trainee following different models of teaching in a number
of subjects. The quality of teaching should be graded not
only by the expert examiner, but also by the learners.
An achievements test of the learners immediately
following the teaching should also be taken into account.
The three modes may be give different weightages but final
assessment will be a composite product of all the three. Similarly,
the written examinations through assignments or question paper
should also clearly separately grade the levels of achievement
in identified competencies e.g. ability to analyse, synthesize,
apply knowledge to different situations, solve problems, logical
thinking, creative thinking etc. Tests, will have to be designed
accordingly for which teacher educators, examiners and paper-setters
have to be trained in the coming summer - vacation.
Examinations of this kind cannot be held
in the present manner in a large number of examination centers.
There should be a limited number of evaluation/ assessment
centers where trainees (teachers-pupil) will come during the
period fixed for the purpose, at least 4 times in the year.
This will give flexibility to the teacher-pupil to present
himself/herself for assessment whenever ready.
5. Flexibility in teacher-education qualification
The magnitude of the problem of un-trained
teachers can be reduced to a much more reasonable level, if
the State Governments could be persuaded to give preference
to persons having any qualification in teacher education at
the time of appointment as teachers/para-teachers. Even if
they are trained for secondary classes, they can be required
to undergo a short bridge course comprising knowledge, competencies
and skills specific to elementary education not acquired during
earlier training and to help them to achieve maximum transfer
of learning/training. This will enable them to deal with the
elementary education classes with competence and confidence.
6. B.Ed. Elementary Education
Redesigning B.Ed courses to suit the requirement
of elementary education can be another measure. This has already
been tried by many institutions. In the absence of dependable
data of man power planning in the field of teacher education,
I believe that the number of persons being churned out by
the teacher education institutions for secondary classes is
much larger than required, while the need of trained elementary
education teachers is not being adequately met. A policy of
permitting only B.Ed. (Elementary Education) and even encouraging
the existing Institutions to switch over to the B.Ed elementary
education course would be a step in the right direction. When
such teachers have to move to secondary classes they can be
required to undergo a bridge course to enable a smooth switch
over with competence.
7. Certification by NCTE
It is suspected, not without reasons, that
a large number of teacher-education institutions provide poor
quality pre-service education. The most imperative reform,
therefore, is evolving an innovative method of evaluation
by the NCTE of those who are passing out from such teacher
education institutions. This may raise eye-brows of the Universities
on the ground of erosion of their autonomy. This problem can
be tackled by the NCTE organising a certifying assessment
procedure, analogous to NET of the UGC with the difference
that it should go on through-out the year and should be a
through assessment of theoretical knowledge as well as professional
skills at limited number of identified centers by highly dependable
experts of the NCTE. Professional skills should be tested
by a method of prolonged internship in the schools where the
students performance will be as much as the opinion of the
observing expert. A compulsory duration of internship can
also take care of the shortage of trained teachers in the
elementary schools and may even reduce the requirement of
the para-teachers.
8. Upper Primary Teachers
Another reform measures claiming urgent attention
is to prepare teachers to take care of upper primary classes.
A general purpose teacher of primary school is to be equipped
to be a proficient teacher of some subjects in the upper primary
classes where knowledge of a subject acquires grater significance.
This again can be achieved by Distance Education mode in association
with Open Universities and Distance Education wings of conventional
Universities B.Ed (elementary education) will be also a useful
step, since the graduates undergoing such a course are likely
to have adequate knowledge of the content of the subjects
to be taught at the upper primary level. This can even be
made minimum qualification for appointment at upper primary
stage.
9. Professional Preparation Vs. Content
enrichment
The quality of teacher education can improve
substantially if it concentrates on developing professional
competencies in a person who has already acquired good quality
of general education in Higher Secondary Schools, general
Colleges and Universities. At the risk of raising controversy.
I would venture to suggest that teacher education sector should
not take the responsibility of teaching school-subjects which
should be left to the domain of the general education institutions.
To ensure that persons of only adequate knowledge of content
of a subject are admitted to the teacher education institution,
the screening test for admission should assess the knowledge
of the subjects which the candidate intends to take up for
teaching in the upper primary or secondary schools.
10. Training of Teacher Education
The teacher educators must be immediately
trained to be proficient in learner-centered methods of education.
Such training programmes should aim at enabling them to adopt
these methods not only in the primary and middle schools but
also for transaction of the teacher-education curriculum.
I am reminded of the zero lecture B.Ed programme introduced
by the Department of Education, Devi Ahilya Vishwa Vidyalay,
Indore under the leadership of Dr. B K Passi. This also will
require a very massive training of the teacher educators which,
however, can be achieved during the summer vacation if there
is a determination to undertake reform measures instead of
being only an adherent of reformism.
11. In-Service Education
Pre-service education has only long term
impact on the quality of elementary education. That is why
immediate measures will have to focus more on in-service education
of the existing teachers and up-gradation of their capacities.
Currently in-service education is sporadic, not logically
inter-related without yielding additional tangible benefits
to the teacher.
Like pre-service education there should be
a well-conceived comprehensive curriculum of long duration
(e.g. largely equivalent to B.Ed in duration required for
adequate quality for coverage) broken into modules carrying
varying credit weightages. Every pre-service programme should
be accompanied by comprehensive evaluation - both of theoretical
knowledge and of professional skills developed during the
period. A scheme of giving certificates diplomas and degrees
depending upon the number of modules completed and credits
acquired will motivate the teachers for more pre-service education
and will also make the whole exercise logically and coherently
interwoven.
The curriculum for in-service education should
be need-based and focus on clearly identified weaknesses in
the field. The teachers should have the option a pre-testing
to opt for only such modules of pre-service that help him/her
remove the deficiencies and weaknesses identified in him/her.
12. From Regulatory Role to Quality Promotional
Role
Attention of the NCRE is focused on regulation
of teacher education. It is natural and necessary in the first
phase of the existence of the Council, since the earlier phase
of unregulated growth of teacher education in the country
called for this intervention imperatively. It has now to shift
major focus on improving the quality. Some measures that can
be taken immediately are:
- Grading of Institutions:
The appraisal report of teacher education
institutions have to be redesigned to move in this direction.
The appraisal reports should enable the Council and its
Regional Councils to grade institutions from outstanding
to poor.
- Using Outstanding Institutions
All outstanding institutions must be visited by dependable
experts to verify the nature of excellence. Those really
found outstanding should be projected as demonstration institutions.
The best practices of these institutions should be carefully
studied, complied and circulated to other institutions for
appropriate adoption. In this process, teacher-educators
of these outstanding institutions should be used as resource
persons. Visit to such institutions by the teacher-educators
of other institutions may also be useful.
- Poor Institutions: Fate to be decided
Poor institutions should also be inspected by experts who
should assess whether such institutions deserve to be eliminated
or can be improved. In case they can be improved, a concrete
plan of action should be prepared by the Management of the
institution which should be implemented within a time frame
with arrangement for close monitoring by the Council/Regional
Council. These deserving closure should be ruthlessly closed
in which the co-operation of the States will have to be
a crucial element.
- Shift
Institutions graded as good or very good should also be
asked to submit a plan for improving their grade - from
good to very good and form very good to excellent within
a fixed time frame, which should be approved by the Council/Regional
Council and implemented with a provision for systematic
monitoring.
- Teacher Educator's Capacity Building - Knowledge
The quality of teacher education depends most heavily on
the quality of teacher-educators. A systematic plan to asses
and improve their competence should be prepared and implemented.
Every month certain issues regarding teacher education should
be communicated to teacher-educators through website/internet
inviting papers form only the serving teacher-educators.
The entries received should be appraised by a jury of high
quality. Those teacher educators who have sent papers of
acceptable standard should be required to come for seminars
to be organized on such issues regularly at different places
where experts of the NCTE should be able to discuss the
papers and verify the authenticity of and credit for the
authorship, by cross-examining and thoroughly grilling the
author.
This will in the long run enable us to identify good teacher-educator
as also provide material for an issue-based monthly journal
which will a meaningful platform for teacher-educators.
Different educational institutions should be encouraged
to host such seminars which will also give an opportunity
to other teacher-educators and experts to have a first hand
acquaintance with the concerned institution.
Awards, prizes and certificates for very high quality papers
can also promote healthy competition.
- Developing professional Skills
Inadequacy of practical professional skills is too widely
noted to need elaboration. Let us accept he adage, "It
is never to late". A series of workshop innovatively
designed can enable identification of teacher-educators
strong in certain professional skills, which can be disseminated
through a series of training workshops of other teacher-educators.
Let us take only one example.
I believe that competence in learner-centered activity based
teaching methods is the weakest link in the whole chain.
In order to identify teacher-educators with high competence
in different methods/models, workshops should be organized
where only those teacher-educators should be invited who
claim to have capacity to demonstrate these methods in the
presence of experts. Teacher-educators who really can use
these methods proficiently should be used as resource persons
for massive training programme of other teacher-educators
in this regard.
Capacity to frame competency testing questions is another
rare skill. This approach can be adopted for development
of other professional skills.
I am primarily pleading for creating an environment where
quality, even if its exists somewhere, does not remain confined
to some institutions and gets widely projected, disseminated
and extensively used for infecting or injecting others with
this. It also motivates others and creates healthy competition
for quality. Numerous academic activities, not of the traditional
kind, but deigned specifically for this purpose can be very
useful instruments in this regard.
- Transformation: Towards Alternatives
Let me start with a very bold or even and adventurous
statement which is bound to be widely attacked and criticised.
I accept, in advance all criticisms with all humility,
willingness and open mind-ness to modify my position.
Raising the storm of such a serve controversy is in
my view definitely warranted.
I consider the existing teacher education system as
un-scientific, illogical, based on out-dated theories
and principles of education, psychology, sociology and
other social sciences. It does not meet the requirement
of the nation today.
It is based on a large number of faulty assumptions
and therefore, there is no scope for reform. The only
solution is dismantling the present system and putting
in place a radically different one.
Let us briefly look at eth faulty assumption I am referring
to. I will only list them without giving evidence and
logical arguments to substantiate them. I would suggest
that they should be taken as hypotheses which may be
rejected by marshalling evidence and arguments against
them. The following, in my view, are the assumptions
on which the edifice to teacher education stands:
- The society considers persons with teacher education
qualifications as better teachers than those without
such qualifications.
- The duration of teacher education programme has
a scientific basis and is adequate to develop a
good teacher.
- Teacher educators who have never taught in a
particular stage of education are competent enough
to train god teachers for that level.
- Every stage of education requires a different
teacher education course because ;
- Every stage has requirements which are preponderantly
specific than requirements that are general
and useful and applicable to all stages.
- The transfer of training of learning for
a teacher trained for one stage of education
to another stage is minimal.
- A general course for all stages with provision
for specialization/bridge course for each stage
cannot meet our requirement.
- A collaboration between institutions of general
education and teacher education cannot take care
of teacher preparation.
- Teacher Education curricula include the latest
developments in cognate disciplines like Psychology,
Sociology, Communication Science, Management, Public
Administration etc.
- During the pre-service education, teachers are
trained thoroughly in teaching learning strategies
based on latest research and studies
- Herbertian steps still constitute the best methods
of teaching in schools.
- 40 practice lessons can make teacher people acquire
proficiency in teaching to use all feasible methods.
- The teaching ability of teacher people can be
assessed by observing his teaching of 45 minutes.
- Internship is not essential or is not feasible.
- Teacher Education courses can largely be covered
by Teacher Centered method and learner centered
methods need not be used.
- Trainees have the capability to practice all
teaching methods theories of which are taught to
them in the teacher-education institutions.
- Curriculum framing skills are reliable methods
of evaluation can be learnt through theory in such
a way that trainees can use them in schools, wherever
they wish.
- There is a substantial transfer of learning/training
from a teacher training institutions to a realistic
school setting.
- There is no need of specialization in professional
skills like curriculum framing, curriculum transaction
and evaluation method of any level.
- Intuition and experience are enough to develop
a system of teacher education without sufficient
empirical studies, research and evidence.
- Faultless and impressive statement of goals leads
to achievement of goals without establishing logical
or empirical relationship between the goals, the
process and the evaluation procedures.
- Values, attitudes and the higher mental faculties
can be developed without directly targeting them.
- Although the characteristics and attributed to
an excellent teacher make him/her look like a super
human, there is no need to clearly identify those
characteristics and competencies that we wish to
develop in a course and those we deliberately wish
to leave out.
- There is no need to priorities amongst these
characteristics, competencies, attitudes, values
not is it necessary to give different weightages
to them.
- All the characteristics and competencies we wish
to develop are not mutually in-consistent and can
co-exist.
- We need not evaluate the level achieved in each
quality, competency and characteristics we wish
to develop through a teacher education programme.
- For a teacher, knowledge of subject is more important
than sensitivity to the learners.
- Evaluation system should be the same for teacher
education as far the schools and general education
course.
- Co-curricular activities in the schools can be
organized by any teacher without special training.
There can be many more such statements that are assumed
by teacher education today.
We shall now proceed to consider some
alternative approaches. They have not been comprehensively
worked out. They are not necessarily mutually exclusive.
Components of different approaches can be combined: yet
I present them as separate, independent and comprehensive
models because each has a distinct approach.
A. Induction and On-The-Job-Training
A short term (only one to two years) teacher
education programme is ritualistic and does not inspire credibility
and confidence in the society. It is better therefore, to
recruit high achievers of general education, provide them
induction training and enable them to acquire excellence in
teaching gradually through experience during which they are
given continual guidance.
B. Professional Competencies
Pre-service teacher education programme only
focusing on professional competencies and skills required
by a teacher be developed and put in place for which collaboration
with institutions of general education be so organized as
to provide complementary role to each.
C. Licensing/Certifying Examination
Preparing teachers should be left free without
prescribing any course but there should be a certifying or
licensing procedure by the NCTE in which identified, competencies,
knowledge etc. necessary for by a teacher is assessed in a
more dependable manner at limited number of centers through
out the year. There should be provision for credit accumulation,
appearance in he tests a number of times to acquire necessary
credits. Competencies, qualities, characteristics required
of teacher should be prioritized and given different credits.
A variation of this approach can be that theoretical knowledge
is tested earlier as a pre-requisite and only those achieving
acceptable standard are permitted to appear in the final test
where practical professional skills are appraised.
D. Comprehensive Teacher Education Faculty
A teacher education programme be developed
that starts from class 11 and goes up to Post Graduation with
similar stages and duration at par with general education
and only those in the stream be considered qualified to work
as teachers. In this model the starting point could be after
12th Standard that from the graduate level.
E. Integration with general education
The theoretical part of the discipline of
education could be offered as an optional subject in general
education in all faculties. The course should be adequate
to give the necessary theoretical back ground. Professional
skills be provided by teacher education institutions or with
attachment to a senior qualified teacher licensed to act as
teacher educator.
F. Communication Course
A course in communication abilities combined
with excellence in general education should be considered
adequate qualification for the job. Courses in communication
abilities may be so designed as to develop capabilities of
communication in diverse situations so that those who join
the course have several professional options including teaching.
G. Personality Development Psychologist
Education is seen not as a process of merely
imparting knowledge but is perceived as a process to develop
all the aspects of personality. This requires a specialist
as thoroughly trained as a medical Doctor. Professional course
of this kind be developed based on the recent advances in
behavioral sciences. As a post script to the brief presentation
of these approaches, it should be emphasized that in each
of the approaches, the curriculum, the transactional methods
and evaluation patterns should target on the clearly stated
objectives and the certificates should indicate the credit
achieved in each of them.
I am fully conscious that these ideas floated
cannot be considered as adequate response to the faulty assumptions
listed by me. Many entirely new paradigms that take care of
these faulty assumptions can be developed once the basic approaches
suggested above are scrutinized and selection of one or more
of them is made for comprehensive development and presentation.
Scientific rigour will demand experimental implementation
of some of the selected models and finalization only after
scientific comparison. In fact some of the components of the
models are already floating around in our environment, although
they have not been systematically identified for comparative
study and for being used inputs in developing a new model.
It is high time we take up most of these challenging tasks.
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