Teacher Education

Teacher Education for Distance Education Teacher

Teacher Education for Distance Education Teacher

Teacher Education for

Distance Education Teacher.

Introduction -:

We find Open Universities and Distance Education Institutions in all  the Countries.  But we find no Teacher Education for Distance Education Teacher (DET) anywhere. The teachers in Convention Education System (CES) and Distance Education System (DES) perform different tasks. Therefore, the skills acquired for teaching in CES may not be useful in DES.  According to the Manual for Self-Study of Distance Education Institutions, published by National Assessment and Accreditation , Banglore. There are more than ten Open Universities in India, where we find  more than 20,00,000 students are studying and more than 50,000 Counsellors are serving. Every University has the Directorate of Distance Education. Every Open University has its study centres. The teachers, working there, are from CES. Sometimes lecturers are conducted on the name of counselling. Teacher is expected to find out the field need. He is not able to write a script for A/V production. We find him lacking in the skills required for DES. It leads the thought of teacher education for DES teacher.

2. Academic Task in DES and the Role of a Teacher.

Broadly speaking there are two distinct types of academic functions in DES.

Discipline based development of courses/programmes. System development and delivery of service.

It includes preparation of learning packages, preparation and maintenance of courses including Audio/Video programs and planning, development of system and procedures including evaluation of students, and research into various aspects of the system itself includes the delivery of various services to students and evaluation of programs.

As it is quoted in the Report of The Committee on the Structure for the Academic and Student Support Services System of the University and the Pattern of its Staffing conducted by IGNOU, New Delhi, in DES, Teachers are necessary for imparting instruction or for preparing educational material of for conducting other academic activities including guidance, designing & delivery of courses, and evaluation of the work done by the students.

The DES requires the services of certain specialist personnel who may not be teachers of administrators in the traditional sense. They would be performing a wide spectrum of functions which combine managerial/administrative competence with academic sensitivity and understanding. The performance of such intermediate level functions and the development of a category of specialist personnel for the purpose is necessary for the success of the DES.

3. Skills required to perform the Tasks and to perform the Role of Teacher -:

The skills required for a DES teacher are different than that of CES teacher. In CES, face -to-face teaching -learning process is going on. Therefore, the teacher has to acquire teaching skills and various methods of teaching in face-to-face situation. But in DES, the learners are in remote places, and their age group is not same. They study at their sphere time and most of the time independently. Considering these factors, teacher in DES has to acquire certain skills. A teacher in DES may not use all these skills at a time but these will be used task wise. He may carry this task or that. Therefore, he has to acquire all these skills in Teacher Education. The list of skills are as given below, One may add other skills also. But these are core skills required for DES Teacher.

Skills for designing Courses/Programs. Skills for preparation of meetings. Skills for writing Course units & program guides. Skills for proof reading. Skills for content and language editing. Skills for the designing of the cover-page of print material, including graphics & illustrations. Skills for writing scripts for Audio and Video programs. Skills for conducting orientation programs and workshops. Skills for preparing, checking and monitoring the feedback of assignments. Skills for bringing out revision of the courses/programs and bringing out completely new edition of courses. Skills for preparation and production of Audio/Video program. Skills for interacting with other agencies, especially heads of the Educational institutions and Managers of the Industries companies. Skills for counseling advice and guidance to the students. Skills for developing question banks and conducting Assessment programs. Skills for evaluating the students’ performance. Skills for evaluating the programs. Skills for planning to develop the courses/programs. Skills for Translation. Skills for designing and development of training material. Skills for Training and orientation of counsellors. Skills for presenting a paper in a Seminars. Skills for performing researches for the system development and for discipline based development of courses/ programs. Skills for handling illustruments, new technology. Skills for presenting radio and T.V. talks. Skills for presenting lessons on virtual classroom and monitoring these class rooms.

4. Teacher Education for DES Teacher -:

No one denies to accept pre-service teacher training degrees/ certificates in teacher education as a qualification for seeking employment as a teacher. The teacher education may be imparted through CES or through DES. The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) accepts distance education as a useful and viable mode for training teachers presently serving in schools. This mode is also useful for providing training and continuing education support for other functionaries working in the school system, Thus, it is also useful for training the teacher in DES.

Teacher Education is a special requirement for a teacher in DES. One should acquire the skills to work as a teacher in DES. Though it can be given by CES, it is fruitful to start Teacher Education through DES. One should get a practical experiences to acquire the skills needed for him in DES.

5. Nature of Teacher Education for DES.

To implement Teacher Education through DES, it is necessary to decide programme components as given below.

Adequate amount of self-learning printed course-material in distance education format. Provision for audio and video packages. Regular assignments which are fully evaluated within stipulated time. Internship provision and its duration. Evaluation shall be comprehensive and continuous. Duration. Contact programs. Practicals. Eligibility. Evaluation system.

The program components may be added by the Expert Committee called for the purpose.

6. Conclusion -:

Teacher Education is necessary not only for the teachers working in CES but also for the teachers working in DES. The skills required teachers working in DES are somewhat different from those of teachers working in CES. It is necessary to give special attention to acquire the skills for the teachers working in DES. There is no Teacher education available for training DES teachers, Therefore, the teachers working in the DES or the teachers who are going to work in the DES will welcome teacher education in this field.

References -:

(1) The Report of The Committee on the Structure for the Academic and Student Support Services System of the University and the Pattern of its Staffing Conducted by IGNOU, New Delhi.

(2) Manual for Self-Study of Distance Education Institutions, published by National Assessment and Accreditation 2/4 Dr. Raj Kumar Road, P. Office No. 1075, Rajajinagar, Banglore – 560 010

(3) Norms and Standards for Teacher Education Institutions; Published by National Council for Teacher Education, C-2/10, Safadarjung, Development Area, New Delhi.

(4) Comparative Chart of Open Universities in brief published by Distance Education Council, New Delhi.

(5) ‘Five Years Plans’ and ‘Annual Reports’ published by Y.C.M. Open University, Nashik.


Dr. Amy Kavanaugh of Ferris State University presents “Portfolios in Teacher Education” as part of the Teacher Education Pathways Series at GRCC.

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Posted by University Guide - December 1, 2010 at 3:14 am

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Teacher Education

Teacher Education

Teacher education is a wonderful tool for teachers to understand the right way to teach the youth and adults of the world who are attempting to make changes in our society based on knowledge. Teacher education refers to the policies and procedures designed to equip teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the school and classroom.

The question of what knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and skills teachers should possess is the subject of much debate in many cultures. This is understandable, because 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: knowledge and skills about teaching and learning, knowledge and skills concerned with the subject taught and knowledge about teachers’ deontology

Teacher education is divided into initial teacher training or education, which is a pre-service course before entering the classroom as a fully responsible teacher. Another category is induction, which is the process of providing training and support during the first few years of teaching or the first year in a particular school. Lastly, teacher development or continuing professional development (CPD) is an in-service process for practicing teachers.

Initial teacher education is organized according to two basic models. One is called the constructive model. In the consecutive model, a teacher first obtains a qualification (often a first university degree), and then studies for a further period to gain an additional qualification in teaching. In certain systems, this takes the form of a post-graduate degree, possibly even a Masters. The alternative is where a student simultaneously studies both an academic subject and the ways of teaching that subject, leading to a qualification as a teacher of that subject.

There are other options available as well. For instance, in some countries, it is possible for a person to receive training as a teacher under the responsibility of an accredited experienced practitioner in a school.

For more information about Courses for teachers or even about Teacher Continuing Education or Teacher Training please click these links.

For more information about Courses for teachers or even about Teacher Continuing Education or Teacher Training please click these links.

Katrina Branden on what it’s like to learn at BCIT. Katrina is in the Technology Teacher Education Diploma program at BCIT, learning and applying the skills to be a technology teacher in K-12 schools. www.bcit.ca – The Technology Teacher Education (TTED) program enables you to teach technology education in BC’s Middle and High School system. Offered as a joint program with the University of British Columbia (UBC), it explores technical components at BCIT and the teaching component at UBC.
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Posted by University Guide - November 25, 2010 at 4:02 pm

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Claims of Narrative Inquiry in Teacher Education

Claims of Narrative Inquiry in Teacher Education

There are substantial claims made about the value of narrative inquiry for teachers in both the theoretical and empirical literature on language teacher education. These can be summarized as follows: Replica IWC Portuguese

1.Narrative inquiry is reflective inquiry. Through constructing, sharing, analysing and interpreting their teaching stories, teachers get the opportunity to reflect on their own practice and to articulate their interpretations of this practice. Constructing and thinking about stories in this way, therefore, involves both introspection and interrogation. 2.And the consequence of this is meaning making; in other words, making sense or gaining an understanding of one’s teaching knowledge and practice. 3.The result of this deeper understanding is change; change within self and one’s practice. Johnson and Golombek (op. cit: 4) make this point, saying, ‘inquiry into experience … can be educative if it enables us to reflect on our actions and then act with foresight’. When teachers articulate and interpret the stories of their practice, their own practice, they develop their personal practical knowledge to the extent that they act in the future with insight and foresight. 4.As we know, this is not always easy to do. Any teaching situation is a complex, dynamic arrangement of many factors. In constructing stories teachers bring together many of these, and in reflecting on the stories there exists the potential for them, therefore, to see the whole picture. So, as opposed to focusing on only one or two isolated variables in a particular context, stories include many of these linked together, and the process of making sense of the stories means unravelling this complexity. 5.Narrative inquiry is contextualized inquiry. Calls for a context approach to language teaching highlight the necessity of placing context at the heart of the profession (Bax 2003:278), which involves teachers exploring the numerous aspects of their particular, local contexts such as the needs and wants of their students, the teaching resources and facilities available, the school and community culture, existing syllabuses and language-in-education policies, as well as the wider sociopolitical context (even at the level of the state) in which the teaching and learning take place.

The aim here is to emphasize the particularity’ of teaching, one aspect of what Kumaravadivelu (2006:69) calls a postmethod pedagogy: Particularity seeks to facilitate the advancement of a context-sensitive, location-specific pedagogy that is based on a true understanding of local linguistic, social, cultural, and political particularities. The purpose of such a particular, context-sensitive approach is for teachers to make sense of their own working situations and thus to practise in a contextually-appropriate way. The reasoning behind such an aim is that teachers teach best and learners learn best in situations that are compatible with their backgrounds, beliefs, and expectations. I am suggesting in this article, as others have done elsewhere, that one way to achieve this understanding is to undertake narrative inquiry in the form of constructing, interpreting, and reflecting on one’s personal teaching stories.

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Posted by University Guide - September 28, 2010 at 3:13 pm

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