Q. 1 Explain the significance and scope of the establishment of a partnership between the teacher training institutions?
Course: Educational Assessment and Evaluation
Course code 8602
Level: B.Ed Solved Assignment
Answer:
Establishment of Partnership between the teachers training Institutions
Society has developed itself into a complex system of organizations and interactions, therefore the demands on schools and schooling have become greater. The need for professional teachers grew with it. Teaching is formative in nature and one grows within the profession and hence through daily experiences. As a result of this, various countries have over the years developed different modes of school-based teacher training.
Society has developed itself into a complex system of organizations and interactions, therefore the demands on schools and schooling have become greater. The need for professional teachers grew with it. With the recognition of teaching as a profession it has been acknowledged that all teachers require specialised training, to develop the knowledge and competencies necessary to take on teaching. However, educating teachers in specialized institutes was not the answer to the demand for qualified teachers.
At the end of the 1980s the growing dissatisfaction with ‘teaching practice’ culminated in a UNESCO
report. (Down, 1995). Teacher preparation was regarded as insufficient, due to a lack of linkages between for instance subject matter and teaching processes, and preparation for diverse class/school situations. Furthermore, the lack of training of cooperating teachers and the lack of credibility of college or university supervisors were seen as a real problem. (Down, 1995). As a result of this, pre-service teacher education practically all over Europe, the USA, and Australia went through vigorous changes. One model that tried to address these concerns encouraged a strong partnership between universities, colleges, and schools. (Down, 1995). Since then, in different countries in and outside Europe, several models of partnerships and types of cooperation between schools and institutes for teacher education emerged, under the general heading of school-based teacher education. (e.g. Furlong, 1996, Bulloch, 1997 and Snoek, 2001).
Therefore the main purpose of the Faculty of Education Professional Development School Partnership will be simultaneous renewal of the teacher education programme at the university and teaching and learning in schools. The setting up of Faculty-School Partnerships offers us the possibility of exploring different ways of learning as a result of which there will be greater relevance to the teaching-learning context (Teitel, 1998; Zeichner and Miller, 1997).
PDSs create opportunities, which allow us, at the annual Association of Teacher Education in Europe conference 749 as teacher educators, to take on different roles. It is within such a context that we expect beginning teacher educators to feel at their best. They have just left the classrooms and are therefore ideally positioned to establish the necessary philosophical and pedagogical underpinnings necessary for any professional discourse to take place.
Experience has shown us the need to work together with teachers in schools. On the one hand, we need teachers at the school site who, through their diverse qualities, will be good models to prospective teachers. In this respect teachers can serve as mentors or co-operating teachers, both fulfilling different but complementary roles. On the other hand, the university lecturer has the opportunity to get closer to the school and establish the ground for educational discourse to take place between the student-teachers and lecturers alike. Such opportunities do not only affect the personal and professional development of participants in the classroom context but also address areas that go beyond the classroom and which affect school life in general.
The contribution by mentors should ascertain a faculty-school partnership in at least the following areas: the training of student-teachers, the development of school programs, and continued teacher formation. In this model, the student-teacher learns from a mentor and a cooperating teacher by spending quality time in the classroom observing the co-operating teacher perform tasks, asking questions and receiving assistance, and gradually assuming increasing personal responsibilities as his/her knowledge and skills develop.
The cooperating teacher initially models the task for the student-teacher and then provides coaching (i.e. instructions, feedback) as the student-teacher attempts the task, fading the amount of coaching and turning over more and more responsibility for independent task completion to the student-teacher as his/her skills develop. In their experience, Neubert and Binko (1998) found that the PDS internship was more effective than the regular program in preparing teacher candidates to maintain classroom discipline, use technology effectively, and reflect on their teaching. Berrill (1997) and Neubert and Binko (1998) explain that the use of mentors as teacher trainers in schools has actually even had a profound developmental effect on the qualified teachers themselves. They become more skilled at using theoretical discourse as part of their daily practice.
With the introduction of such partnerships, we aim to create and sustain a climate where professional discourse and action take place which will be of benefit to the student-teachers and the schools. Rather than going in for a six-week block teaching practice where the student is in full control of the classroom, we would like to introduce an atmosphere where the student has opportunities to work in several scenarios/contexts with different groups of students.
It will also create opportunities for students to experience school life and whole school activities/initiatives rather than being involved only with one class. Through this approach, we hope to overcome one of the main problems facing beginning teachers when they are confronted with unexpected aspects of the job which reflect that teaching is by far a complex activity that goes well beyond teaching a subject or class but one that involves countless interacting and changing variables. The scenario we want is one that encourages, develops, nurtures, and sustains professional dialogue which enhances the teaching and learning experience of all participants now no longer involves student, class, and university tutor only, but is extended further to include mentor and cooperating teacher. It also allows the student to engage in developing the skills of reflection and application which was difficult to engage in, given the previous model (Pollard, 1998).
