Teacher education

Teacher education refers to the policies and procedures designed to equip teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the school and classroom. In early times, teachers were often scholars or clergymen who had no formal training in how to teach the subjects of their expertise. In fact, many believed that "teachers were born, not made." It was not until the emergence of pedagogy, the "art and science of teaching," as an accepted discipline that the training of teachers was considered important.

Although there has been continued debate about whether teaching is a "science" that can be taught or whether one is "born" to be a teacher, it has generally been agreed, at least since the nineteenth century, that certain characteristics are needed to qualify a person as a teacher: knowledge of the subject matter to be taught, knowledge of teaching methods, and practical experience in applying both. Most educational programs for teacher's today focus upon these points.

History

Educating teacher's did not become a formalized movement until 1684, when Saint John-Baptiste de la Salle, founder of the Institute of the Brothers of the Christian Schools and a great educational reformer, established what is generally considered the first normal school in Reims, France. This was an institution in which young men were trained in the principles and practices of a new method of teaching, adaptable to the youth in every country. The French concept of an "école normale" was to provide a model school with model classrooms to teach standard teaching practices to its student teachers.[4] The children, the teachers of the children, the student teachers, and the teachers of the students were all housed together in the same building.

Normal schools spread throughout Europe. In the early 1700s August Hermann Francke organized a teachers' class at Halle to train the teachers for his orphans who received education in what came to be known as the Franckesche Stiftungen. A student of Francke, Johann Julius Hecker, opened the first school for the training of teachers in Berlin in 1748.[5]

Structure

Every country has different standards by which teachers are educated; yet, despite regional differences, most countries breakdown a teacher's career path into a tiered structure that can be summed up as:

• initial teacher training / education (a pre-service course before entering the classroom as a fully responsible teacher);

• induction (the process of providing training and support during the first few years of teaching or the first year in a particular school);

• teacher development or continuing professional development (CPD) (an in-service process for practicing teachers).

Most countries require prospective teachers to first obtain a qualification (often a first university degree), and then study for a further period to gain an additional qualification in teaching; (in some systems this takes the form of a post-graduate degree, possibly even a Masters). This often means that education curricula in higher education most meet legislated goals. The question of what knowledge, attitudes, behaviours and skills teachers should possess is the subject of much debate in many cultures. This is understandable, as teachers are entrusted with the transmission to children of society's beliefs, attitudes and deontology, as well as of information, advice and wisdom.

Generally, Teacher Education curricula can be broken down into these blocks:

• foundational knowledge and skills—usually this area is about education-related aspects of philosophy of education, history of education, educational psychology, and sociology of education

• content-area and methods knowledge—often also including ways of teaching and assessing a specific subject, in which case this area may overlap with the first ("foundational") area. There is increasing debate about this aspect; because it is no longer possible to know in advance what kinds of knowledge and skill pupils will need when they enter adult life, it becomes harder to know what kinds of knowledge and skill teachers should have. Increasingly, emphasis is placed upon 'transversal' or 'horizontal' skills (such as 'learning to learn' or 'social competences', which cut across traditional subject boundaries, and therefore call into question traditional ways of designing the Teacher Education curriculum (and traditional ways of working in the classroom).

• practice at classroom teaching or at some other form of educational practice—usually supervised and supported in some way, though not always. Practice can take the form of field observations, student teaching, or internship (See Supervised Field Experiences below.)

Supervised Field Experiences

• field observations—include observation and limited participation within a classroom under the supervision of the classroom teacher
• student teaching—includes a number of weeks teaching in an assigned classroom under the supervision of the classroom teacher and a supervisor (e.g. from the university)
• internship—teaching candidate is supervised within his or her own classroom

These three areas reflect the organization of most teacher education programs in North America (though not necessarily elsewhere in the world)—courses, modules, and other activities are often organized to belong to one of the three major areas of teacher education. The organization makes the programs more rational or logical in structure. The conventional organization has sometimes also been criticized, however, as artificial and unrepresentative of how teachers actually experience their work. Problems of practice frequently (perhaps usually) concern foundational issues, curriculum, and practical knowledge simultaneously, and separating them during teacher education may therefore not be helpful.

External links

• Research on Teacher Education in the Developing World
• Teacher leadership in developing countries
• Teaching Educational Psychology
• Canadian Journal of Educational Administration and Policy
• MOFET ITEC - International Portal of Teacher Education

Credits

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