Explain The Concept Of Teacher Education Discuss Its Scope And Importance In The Educational System Of Pakistan AIOU 8626
Teacher Education
Imparting knowledge, skills, and dispositions to individuals focused on developing their capacities for teaching is considered as teacher education. Teacher education equips pre- and in-service teachers with the professional knowledge and skills necessary to educate others in general or specialized subjects. Teacher training is generally perceived as training of teachers in the formal teacher training institutions. In general, it does not refer to informal learning attained by the individual that may be part of a teacher’s work or career.
According to UNESCO, teacher education institutions “serve as key agents of change in the transformation of education and society”. These institutions form pre-service or in- service teachers, providing them with the professional knowledge and skills they need to become effective knowledge transmitters. Initially the teacher preparation program was named as teacher training, aimed to prepare teachers as mechanics or technicians. It had narrower goals with focus on skill training only. As Kilpatrick viewed “Training is given to circus animals and artists, while education is aimed at human beings”.
Teacher training covers teaching skills, solid pedagogical theory, and professional skills.
- Teaching skills would include providing training and practice in the various Teaching skills would include providing training and practice in the different techniques, approaches and techniques that would help teachers plan and deliver instruction, provide appropriate reinforcement and perform effective assessments. Include effective classroom management skills, preparation and use of instructional materials and communication skills.
Teacher Education = Teaching Skills + Pedagogical theory + Professional skills.
- Pedagogical theory includes philosophical, sociological, and psychological considerations that would allow teachers to have a strong foundation for practicing teaching skills in the classroom. The theory is specific to each level and is based on the requirements and needs that are characteristic of that level.
- Professional skills include techniques, approaches and strategies that emphasize teachers to take interest in profession. In professional skills there are interpersonal skills, advisory skills, interpersonal skills, IT skills, and information retrieval and management skills and, above all, lifelong learning skills are included. An amalgam of teaching skills, pedagogical theory and professional skills would serve to create the correct knowledge, aptitude and skills in teachers, thus promoting holistic development.
Therefore, teacher training is considered a continuous process, starting with an initial and continuing training phase throughout the teacher’s professional life during regular and prolonged periods of in-service training. Maintaining the vision that a teacher should continue to learn during the purpose of his service is mandatory. In addition, teacher education institutions have the potential to make changes within educational systems that will shape the knowledge and skills of future generations. Institutions for teacher education act as key agents of change in the transformation of education and society, so that the future is possible. The role of teacher education institutions is multifunctional. Some of the key functions are summarized below.
- Revitalize the educational setups.
- Reshape and align the knowledge and skills with the future needs.
- Hope for a sustainable future for society.
- Professional development of teachers.
Teacher training institutions not only educate new teachers but also update the knowledge and skills of teachers in service, create a teaching curriculum, provide professional development to practicing teachers, contribute to textbooks, consult schools premises with regional and national educational ministries.
Nature of Teacher Education:
Teacher education is conceptualized as subject knowledge, pedagogical skill and the dispositions of the individual. It aims to impart knowledge to the students with appropriate skills so that learning becomes easier for them. Teachers responsible to impart and transmit knowledge of pedagogy to prospective teachers are known as teacher educators (or, in some contexts, teacher trainers). Teacher education is ideally categorized in three stages.
- Pre-Service Teacher Education
- Induction Training (aimed to familiarize the newly inducted teachers with the context and teaching-learning environment)
- Continuing Professional Development (CPD)
Lets us discuss pre-service and continuous professional development in detail here.
Pre- Service/Initial Teacher Education
Across the globe, pre-service/initial teacher education is provided through higher education institutions and is based on two major models.
- In the “consecutive” model, a teacher first obtains a grade in one or more subjects (often a degree), then studies for an additional period to obtain an additional qualification in teaching.
- In the alternative “competitor” model, prospective teacher gain both subject matter knowledge and the pedagogical skills simultaneously. This helps him/her to get degree or certificate for teaching a specific subject.
Many institutions use combination of both models and some teacher education institutions also give weight-age to school experience gained in close supervision of an experienced teacher. Other ways are also available. In some countries, it is possible for a person to receive training as a teacher working in a school under the responsibility of an experienced and certified professional.
In Pakistan, all RITEs (regional training institutes for teachers and schools in service) produce elementary school teachers. The new ADE system, which is a two-year program, has been introduced. Both public sector and private sector universities have produced the undergraduate and master’s degrees, as well as M. Phil and Ph.D. teachers in education. The University of Education in Lahore was established and dedicated exclusively to teacher training programs. The Allama Iqbal University produces teachers of all categories throughout Pakistan using distance mode of learning. The Teacher Education Curriculum is designed by HEC and the Provincial Curriculum Office of the various Provinces. The teaching medium is generally followed as English, but there is a frequent use of Urdu as a national language in teaching. However, the methods and methodology, as they appear in the respective program, vary from one institution to another.
Continuous Professional Development
Because the world, which teachers are preparing young people to enter, is changing so rapidly, and because the required teaching skills evolve in the same way, no initial teacher education course can be enough to prepare a teacher for a career of 30 or 40 years. Furthermore, as the student body continues to change due to demographic problems, pressures continue on academics to master their subjects but also to understand their students. Continuous Professional Development (CPD) is the process by which teachers (like other professionals) reflect on their skills, keep them updated and develop them further.
Professional Standards for Teacher Educators
In some parts of the world (especially in the United States, the Netherlands and Flanders) specific standards of professional practice have been developed. These establish the range of skills that a member of the teacher educator profession is expected to demonstrate, as well as attitudes, values and behaviors that are considered acceptable to be a member of the profession.
It is expected that the profession of teacher educator will be able to deploy, as well as attitudes, values, and behaviors deemed acceptable to the profession.
Scope of Teacher Education: Teacher education mainly focuses on the following three areas.
- Teacher education at different levels of education
- Triangular basis of teacher education
- Pedagogical aspects of teacher education
As pedagogy is discussed in the entire course, so our focus here will be levels of education and triangular basis of teacher education.
Teacher Education at different levels of Education:
Teacher training reaches teachers at all levels of education, i.e, pre-primary, primary, primary, secondary, upper secondary and tertiary. The needs and needs of students and education vary at every level. Therefore, teacher preparation for level and phase is essential. Teacher training also helps to develop teaching skills in professors of professional institutions. Teachers in professional institutions only have the theoretical and practical knowledge of their respective subjects. They require specialized input for teacher training to address students entering their professions. Teacher education also reaches special education and physical education. Therefore, where there are teachers, there would be teacher training. The knowledge base is adequately specialized and diversified at different stages, in order to develop effective preparation processes for beginning teachers for the functions that the teacher should perform at each stage.
Triangular Basis of Teacher Education:
The construction of the relevant knowledge base for each level of the training requires a high degree of academic and intellectual understanding of the subject related to teacher training at each level. This implies the selection of theoretical knowledge from disciplines related to education, namely psychology, sociology and philosophy, and their conversion into appropriate forms for teacher training. Teacher training derives its content from the disciplines of Philosophy, Sociology and Psychology. These disciplines provide the basis for a better understanding and application of teacher education.
- The philosophical basis provides information to students about the implications of the different schools of philosophy, the ancient and modern philosophical thoughts, the educational thoughts of philosophical thinkers on education and its various aspects, such as the construction of the plan of study and discipline.
- The Sociological basis helps the student teachers to understand the role of society and its dynamics in the educational system of a nation and the world at large. It encompasses the ideals that influence national and international scenes.
- The psychological basis helps students to develop ideas on the psychological composition of students. This allows students’ teachers to understand themselves, their students and learning situations so that they can offer their students meaningful and relevant learning experiences.
Aims and Objectives of Teacher Education
These terms are used in a technical sense and it is important for all teaching staff to be aware of their meanings.
Aims
An aim may be defined as long-term goal. Sometimes aim provides a goal for the teacher to achieve related to the learners and at times course aims obviously grade long-term goals related to the learner and sometimes there is a combined goal for the teacher and learner to accomplish together. The aim may be expressed as a goal for the teacher in the range of the course whereas it can also indicate goals for the learner outside the period of the course.
Objectives
An objective is a short term goal which learners will accomplish within the course itself. Objectives are phrased in course documentation in such a way that describes to the learners what they should attempt to do as they learn.
Learning Outcomes
As aim and objective are in common language identical to goal, they are equally expressive of a procedure of goal-oriented learning. Therefore, the expression “learning outcome” is being replaced with objective in some educational organisations. Some organisations are using the term learning outcome in the part of a course description whereas aims are generally used.
Reasons for Stating Aims and Objectives
The statement of educational aims and objectives has several benefits:
- To help teachers design the course content, the methodology, and the assessment procedures
- To express the educational commitments of the course to the learners and to teachers
- To recognize the material resources required for the teaching-learning process
- To make available a foundation for estimating the course
- To provide a base for excellence
Classification of Educational Objectives
A range of different types of intended learning outcomes can be covered in educational objectives. Proper balance should be maintained to each of these objectives. Therefore it is significant that the objectives should consist of samples of all of the four types. Some of the theoretical and individual skills may be basic, so it is very important to express them in the literature whether they are for a year or for a whole degree programme. Objectives should be outlined clearly and precisely considering the nature of the course and the outcomes.
Important Objectives of Teacher Education
Some of the most important objectives of teacher education are as follows:
- Subject Matter Knowledge:
The most important objective is to cultivate an expertise in the knowledge of subject matter.
- Pedagogic Skills:
The main objective of teacher education is to improve the pedagogical skills to motivate the taught, in an artificially formed setting. The capacity to do, observe, infer and to generalize should be developed in the teachers.
- Learner Psychology:
To know the child psychology is very important so that the teacher may easily understand the difficulties faced by children. The understanding of child psychology will bring about new modes and methods of achieving the goals.
- Developing attitude towards teaching:
One of the major objectives of teacher education is to cultivate an appropriate attitude towards teaching so that maximum achievements from the material and human resources can be obtained.
- Self-Confidence in Teaching:
The objectives of teacher education are to develop self-confidence in teachers. He should be fully capable of adjustment with the physical conditions; he should develop adjustment with the social environment and adjustment with himself to develop emotional contentment in his life.
- Empowering Learners:
The objective of teacher education is to develop the proper habits of taking care of their body. Confidence should be reflected in the behavior of the children not only at home but also in school and in the streets.
- Appropriate use of instructional facilities:
The objective of teacher education is to develop the enabling skills of teachers. The teacher should develop the capacity to best utilize the available resources of the school by means of inventive learning facilities.
- Understanding Individual Differences:
The objective of teacher education is to understand individual differences so that he may take appropriate steps to develop the abilities of children so that he may develop himself as a fully grown individual.
Indeed, long-term goals are very important for teachers to focus on for preparing the learners for future life, preparing them not only to develop their abilities for applying and generating knowledge, but also to continuously refresh and upgrade their knowledge.