Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Maria Bibi
INTRODUCTION
The teacher is seen as (sole) key agent in successfully bringing about change in education,
but changing the teacher –teacher development is most neglected area in change policies
and plans.
Teaching is the single most important profession in the world that needs continuous
professional growth and grooming. It is a fact that Pakistan is one of those very few countries
where the system of education has constantly eroded since independence.
The situation at present is so worst that the government has officially declared our system
of education to be almost collapsing and is employing all possible ways and means on
emergency basis for the speedy uplift of our educational system.
Meaning and Nature of Teacher
Education
It is well known that the quality and extent of learner achievement are
determined primarily by teacher competence, sensitivity and teacher
motivation.
The National Council for Teacher Education has defined teacher education as
a program of education, research and training of persons to teach from pre-
primary to higher education level.
Teacher education is a programme that is related to the development of
teacher proficiency and competence that would enable and empower the
teacher to meet the requirements of the profession and face the challenges
therein.
Teacher Education = Teaching Skills + Pedagogical theory + Professional skills.
Teaching Skills
Teaching skills would include providing training and practice in the different
techniques, approaches and strategies that would help the teachers to plan
and impart instruction, provide appropriate reinforcement and conduct
effective assessment.
It includes effective classroom management skills, preparation and use of
instructional materials and communication skills.
Cont…
Pedagogical theory
includes the philosophical, sociological and psychological considerations that
would enable the teachers to have a sound basis for practicing the teaching
skills in the classroom. The theory is stage specific and is based on the needs
and requirements that are characteristic of that stage.
Professional skills
include the techniques, strategies and approaches that would help teachers
to grow in the profession and also work towards the growth of the
profession. It includes soft skills, counseling skills, interpersonal skills,
computer skills, information retrieving and management skills and above all
lifelong learning skills.
Nature of Teacher Education
The crux of the entire process of teacher education lies in its curriculum,
design, structure, organization and transaction modes, as well as the extent
of its appropriateness.
As in other professional education programmes the teacher education
curriculum has a knowledge base which is sensitive to the needs of field
applications and comprises meaningful, conceptual blending of theoretical
understanding available in several cognate disciplines.
Teacher education has become differentiated into stage-specific programs.
This suggests that the knowledge base is adequately specialized and
diversified across stages.
It is a system that involves an interdependence of its Inputs, Processes and
Outputs.
Need of Teacher Education
The policy on teacher education both pre and in-service needs to be long
term, embedded in a vision, set of criteria, strategies and operational
procedures which are inclusive, provide scope for elevating teachers status
and provision of authority for local level flexibility in decision making.
A systematic institutional provision must be made to include ‘Voices of
teachers’ in the policy making processes through a regular and formal social
dialogue forum at the provincial and national levels, providing space to
professional associations and experts.
A robust and credible database on teachers needs to be established within
EMIS at national and sub-national levels for information on pre-service and in-
service profiles, disaggregated by level, subject, gender and location.
Cont…
Defining quality is elusive but some parameters will need to be drawn. There
is an impending need to debate and agree on what constitutes quality at each
stage of education and the system overall.
Based on this, some standards will need to be defined and pursued through
development of policies, strategies and plans which target them.
National Education Policy Reform
Process