Change is difficult in any setting, but changing academic teaching appears to be especially tricky. Calls for change imply that the pedagogical approaches our own professors and mentors modeled and taught us might not be the best way to engage large numbers of diverse populations of undergraduates in our discipline.
Focus on the Lack of Teacher Training
The role of the teacher is changing so fast that no amount of pre-service or in-service teacher education can probably cope with the expectations of the society. The teacher needs to be conceived as a ‘change agent’ and not as a mere transmitter of knowledge and culture. India’s commitment to the spread of knowledge and freedom of thought among its citizens is reflected in its Constitution.
Quality of citizens depends upon the quality of their education. The quality of their education depends upon the quality of their teachers. Quality of education depends on quality of teachers on which quality of community, society and nation depend. Teachers and their skills and competencies in the classroom are the single most important components in supporting a system of quality education.
Almost 65% of the teaching resources are wasted in India as a result of combination of teacher absence and inactivity in school classrooms. Teacher absenteeism is chronic in India, and only half the teachers who are actually present in the classroom are actively teaching. The lack of teacher accountability in India stems from poor monitoring, high level of corruption, influence and power of teacher unions, inability to hire/fire teachers, seniority-based salary structure, and the extreme centralized nature of the education system.
Experts speak on the gaps in Teacher Training
Ms. Poonam Heryani, The Head Academics, ASPAM Indian International School, Dubai said, “As an educator, what I have come across is, we have a teacher set which are already trained, maybe 20 years back. There are government bodies, educationists, entrepreneurs, working in their areas. But what we need to look at is. As a leader of the school, what is the growth of teachers we have?
She further stressed.” Are they actually equipped enough to deliver what our vision is. Are they able to tap each child’s unique talent. Are they aware of what Neuroscience is telling us about training. How we can make the change. Because 4 years back when we started this initiative, we were discussing about What a child can and is capable of learning between 0-7 years. So, this is what we look at. We take traditional teachers which we have but what we do is, we have a continuous professional development. It is the fabric of our school where we talk to each other, help her design her instructions, plan and help her deliver it, monitor it. We also follow strong teacher competencies and map them around it.”
The Expert speaks about the Teacher Training method in her Institution.
Ms. Heeryani said,” In our setup, we have tried using unique methods for the training process. Starting with, we have a two day stay back for the teacher which means that the teacher has to stay back after the school hours, followed by a detailed conversation of the day’s schedule with special importance given to the works that were left undone. We then try to map them with our solutions.”
For me, she continued,“ The training process has to be ongoing and in our setup, the training process is followed by planning, collaborating and discussions, coaching and monitoring which takes place through one to one conversation because ‘What works for you, may not work for someone else.”
