Art of Paper Writing

Introduction:

Education is a process of human enlightenment & empowerment

for the achievement of better and higher quality of life.

Unfortunately the professional education of Teachers has been

completely neglected in the Post-Independence period. Teacher

education means professional preparedness of teachers. It means

the acquisition of knowledge, skill & ability, which helps a teacher

to discharge his professional duties & responsibilities effectively &

efficiently.

The advancement of science & Technology together with e-

revolution transformed the entire world into a global village &

globalization has emerged as a new impetus. Globalization brings

with it a mix of both opportunities & threat for every nation,

culture & educational system. Rapid explosion of knowledge

demands creation of qualitative teacher who in turn will help to

strengthen a knowledgeable society to meet the challenges of

globalization & to mold the society keeping in view the values &

traditions which are to be transmitted from one generation to

another. Teacher education plays a vital role in creating value-

based mentors with competence & professionalism to facilitate

preparation of the younger generation for a better future where they

can realize the individual & societal aspirations. To achieve the

same, it is the responsibility of all educationists, administrators &

policy makers to strengthen education system at various levels &

the teacher education in particular. (Prof. K.C. Reddy)

In recent research, both nationally as well as internationally,

concerns have been raised over the quality of teacher education as

well as why it is important to have professionals for teaching

students. Many literature reviews have led to a conclusion that

there are various gaps in the analysis as well as study. This is a

very vast topic as it engulfs the entire world.

Research surveys shows lots of dissatisfaction amongst the

teachers in the form of salaries, recognition and various social,

economic & psychological concerns. Be it the developed countries

or the developing ones all need good knowledgeable &

professionally qualified teachers.

In a recent survey conducted in UK their was a shocking revelation

that more than a quarter of teachers in many subjects do not have

any qualification beyond A-level in the course they teach, official

figures reveal. Education experts warn that this alarming lack of

qualification will result in schools becoming trapped in a spiral of

slipping standards.

In a similar survey conducted in Japan, a comparison was done as

to what are the factors that restrict the teachers from up grading

their skills & knowledge. Japanese teachers, teaching load allows

for more time for lesson preparation, teachers spend significantly

longer hours for non-instructional work after school 61% of

Japanese teachers report that they are always busy (Benesse

Corporation, 2005) Japanese middle school teachers work 11.3

hours a day (MEXT, 2007)

Hence it was suggested to focus on supporting teachers by

reducing and sharing non-instructional workload.

Like professional athletes and accomplished artists, “teachers

believe they have a gift that drives them.” And like athletes and

artists, teachers have a gift that is refined throughout a career by

training and performance. Exceptional teachers are born with

personality characteristics that are developed by experience and

enhanced by specific information that only education can provide.

There is no such entity as a born teacher. However, by nature,

some people possess a combination of personality characteristics

that are conducive to effective teaching. Further, these

characteristics have been enriched by a lifetime of favorable

nurturing. Nevertheless, even the most genetically blessed teacher

would benefit from a teacher education program.

The assumption that a teacher’s effectiveness will improve over

time with repetition is an untested hypothesis. Teacher education

provides for improvement by teaching teachers how to formulate

plans for instruction and evaluate the resulting classroom

experiences. The repetition of ineffective teaching leads to

entrenchments in bad practice, not improvement.

No clear-thinking teacher educator would say that all untrained

teachers are incompetent. Untrained teachers are not necessarily

incompetent, but neither is it professional to assume their

competency. The academic community lives, moves, and has its

being in research and scholarship. It is not in the spirit of the

academy to assume competency of untrained teachers simply

because they’ve been teaching.

It takes more than a good degree to make a good teacher. But

sound subject knowledge gained from a degree is absolute key.

“How can teacher passionately communicate their subject if they

do not have a good level of understanding about it”.

What makes the teachers less enthusiastic about their profession is

the lack of challenges, no opportunity of growth & lack of

competition in their field. In the early days the teachers had the

highest social standing & were the most respected professionals in

the society. In India especially in comparison to other countries the

teachers are not sufficiently remunerated nor do they hold the same

social status as they enjoyed in the early days.

Recommendations: The regular up gradation of skills &

awareness of the teachers by the Management would definitely

improve the efficiency of the teachers. This can be done by holding

frequent workshops, to make the teachers aware of the latest

techniques being used to teach students. Today it is no longer the

age of textbook, paper & pencil. It has rapidly been taken over by

tablets & computers. With such a speed in growth of technology,

the teachers too have to be efficient enough to match the pace.

These workshops would guide the teachers towards:

1. Better understanding of students.

2. Building a favorable attitude towards the teaching profession.

3. Familiarity with the methodology of teaching.

4. Improving standard or quality of education.

5. Familiarizing with latest knowledge in the field & to encourage

research & experimentation.

Another process through which the teaching job can be made more

challenging & interesting would be by conducting basic aptitude

tests, which would check the general knowledge & the awareness

of the teachers. The state government of education can conduct

these tests. It can be an online examination where all the teachers

can participate. This would again help the teachers to upgrade their

knowledge & skill.

Now is the age of self-learning, introspection & sharing of ideas. It

is no longer a classroom where the tradional way of lecture or

dictating of notes is practiced. The fresh minds want to explore,

interpret & exchange ideas. With information thrown open to

students in the form of Internet, the challenges for the teachers

become even more difficult, as they have to be well prepared in

advance to answer all the queries.

There is a need for improvement of practical intelligence of

teachers through a process of sharing tacit knowledge right from

pre-service through in-service teacher. Various research provide

guidelines to teachers and teacher educators for the possible way of

solving the problems and the worth of adopting different problem

dealing strategies in different situations. The effective use of

strategies can be reflected upon and practiced by teachers for easy,

timely and tactful solutions of challenging professional situation.

Infrastructure too plays a vital role in the performance of teacher.

Lack of teaching gadgets, quality or number of students per class,

the involvement or interference of the management are some

factors which can effect the working of a teacher.

“Teacher quality matters.” In fact, it is the most important school-

related factor influencing student achievement. Moreover, teacher

compensation represents a significant public investment: in 2002

alone, the United States invested $192 billion in teacher pay and

benefits. Given the size of this investment, there is remarkably

little research to guide such critical decisions as whom to hire,

retain, and promote. In the absence of a strong, robust, and deep

body of research, the debate in this field is largely ideological. It is

definitely a point to be noted that infrastructure makes an

impression on the job satisfaction content of the teachers.

CONCLUSION: Teaching like any other profession is dynamic &

with changing times is becoming more & more challenging. The

seriousness of the profession lies in the fact that we are handing the

teachers young minds to mold & shape. Anything said in class by a

teacher is held serious by the students & makes an impression

immediately. This makes it important for the teachers to give

correct & authentic information to their students. For this the

teachers themselves have to be ardent readers efficient enough to

know the latest, they have to keep themselves well informed.

Teacher education should not be limited only to the pre service

training but should be a continuous on going process. It becomes

the responsibility of the School Management as well as the

Education board to conduct workshops as well as in house exams

for the teachers to make them more efficient. Remunerations for

the teachers both at government and private schools should be

satisfactory enough to encourage more individuals to join this

profession and make a career out of it. Teaching should become the

preferred career and not an alternate career for the Teachers.

References:

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