Those who can teach, teach! Teacher education today needs some serious bridging between the theorists who teach it and the people who actually go down to schools and work. Many, if not most teacher educators have had little school teaching and administrative experience. Some have taught for two years or so and some not even that. They have their degrees however, are intellectually polished and most have the gift of the gab, however, the crucial experience of having directly taught for an extended period is missing. So when they lecture to teacher aspirants or in-service teachers, it is mental gymnastics leading to very little change which is needed at the ground level. This need not be. Teacher educators should be sourced from people who have innovated, experienced, and succeeded (to a reasonable degree) in the real world, the M.Ed., M. Phil and Ph.D can be made optional for people who have more than ten to fifteen years of quality teaching experience. Not just administrative, teaching experience. A lot the information acquisition exercise which is an essential part of a lot B.Ed programmes doesn’t make a fundamental difference to the student, who needs a vibrant, dedicated and understanding teacher. The history of education is a long list of commissions and acts and they’ve not made much of a difference to the world of learning for the child. We can’t keep going on in this mechanical mode, we need quality teacher education, not blind, mechanical, mass degree acquisition, which leads to no fundamental change. I remember the most useful part of our B.Ed programme was the practice teaching. You’d go back to your college after ‘teaching’ in a school and crib, “There are 57 kids who know you are practice teaching, and don’t take you seriously. The rooms are cramped, you have to talk so loudly to get their attention…!” I remember our teacher saying “learn to use your eyes!” I did and then devised various other ways of handling children. However, even having been educated in of the premier education colleges in the country, the gap between reality and theory hit hard! Teacher education needs re-hauling, and we also need serious and focused, short-term programmes for in-service teachers. The world is changing so fast our teacher development programmes cannot ignore that because the child growing in this world has some needs and talents that were different from the time they were children. Having said that, it needs to be emphasized, that it is not mechanical skill acquisition that is enough, understanding - intellectual, emotional and spiritual is necessary. We are not speaking about the savvy educator who’s mastered techniques mechanically but has no heart, and other deeper qualities. There is no point swapping one shortcoming with another. One is referring to a reality based teacher education that has its root in a deeper, holistic and soulful understanding of the learning paradigm. Thanks to Harvinder Kaur
Posted on: Tue, 27 Aug 2013 12:21:16 +0000
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