TEACHER EDUCATION

UNIT – 1 : Introduction to teacher education

Meaning and nature of teacher education:

Meaning: Teacher education refers to the policies and procedures designed to equip prospective
teachers with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviors and skills they require to perform their tasks
effectively in the classroom, school and wider community.

Teacher education is a programme that is related to the development of teacher proficiency and
competence that would enable and empower the teacher to meet the requirements of the profession
and face the challenges therein.

Teacher Education = Teaching Skills+Pedagogical theory + Professional skills.

Teaching skills would include providing training and practice in the different techniques, approaches and
strategies that would help the teachers to plan and impart instruction, provide appropriate
reinforcement and conduct effective assessment.

Pedagogical theory includes the philosophical, sociological and psychological considerations that would
enable the teachers to have a sound basis for practicing the teaching skills in the classroom.

Professional skills include the techniques, strategies and approaches that would help teachers to grow in
the profession and also work towards the growth of the profession. It includes soft skills, counseling
skills, interpersonal skills, computer skills, information retrieving and management skills and above all
life long learning skills.

An amalgamation of teaching skills, pedagogical theory and professional skills would serve to create the
right knowledge, attitude and skills in teachers, thus promoting holistic development.

Nature of Teacher Education:

 Teacher education is broad and comprehensive. Besides pre service and in- service programmes
for teachers, it is meant to be involved in various community programmes and extension
activities, viz adult education and non formal education programmes, literacy and development
activities of the society.
 It is ever evolving and dynamic. In order to prepare teachers who are competent to face the
challenges of the dynamic society, Teacher education has to keep abreast of recent
developments and trends
 The crux of the entire process of teach er education lies in its curriculum, design, structure,
organization and transaction modes, as well as the extent of its appropriateness.
 As in other professional education programmes the teacher education curriculum has a
knowledge base which is sensitive e to the needs of field applications
 Teacher education is based on the theory that ―Teachers are made, not born‖ in contrary to
the assumption, ―Teachers are born, not made. Since teaching is considered an art and a
science, the teacher has to acquire not only knowledge, but also skills that are called ―tricks of
the trade
 It is a system that involves an interdependence of its Inputs, Processes and Outputs
Need, Scope and Objectives of Teacher Education:

Need of Teacher Education: The American Commission on Teacher Education rightly observes, “The
quality of a nation depends upon the quality of its citizens. The quality of its citizens depends not
exclusively, but in critical measure upon the quality of their education, the quality of their education
depends more than upon any single factor, upon the quality of their teacher.” The need for teacher
education is felt due to the following reasons;

 It is common knowledge that the academic and professional standards of teachers constitute a
critical component of the essential learning conditions for achieving the educational goals of a
nation. The focus of teacher preparation had to shift from training to education if it had to make
a positive influence on the quality of curriculum transaction in classrooms and thereby pupil
learning and the larger social transformation. The aspects that need greater emphasis are;
o the length of academic preparation,
o the level and quality of subject matter knowledge,
o the repertoire of pedagogical skills that teachers possess to meet the needs of diverse
learning situations,
o the degree of commitment to the profession, sensitivity to contemporary issues and
problems and the level of motivation.
This is not possible if teacher preparation focused only on training. Holistic teacher building is
necessary and therefore teacher education needed more emphasis than mere training
 Educating all children well depends not only on ensuring that teachers have the necessary
knowledge and skills to carry out their work, but also that they take responsibility for seeing that
all children reach high levels of learning and that they act accordingly.
 People come to teacher education with beliefs, values, commitments, personalities and moral
codes from their upbringing and schooling which affect who they are as teachers and what they
are able to learn in teacher education and in teaching. Helping teacher candidates examine
critically their beliefs and values as they relate to teaching, learning and subject matter and form
a vision of good teaching to guide and inspire their learning and their work is a central task of
teacher education
 On a daily basis, teachers confront complex decisions that rely on many different kinds of
knowledge and judgement and that can involve high stakes outcomes for students‘ future. To
make good decisions, teachers must be aware of the many ways in which student learning can
unfold in the context of development, learning differences, language and cultural influences,
and individual temperaments, interests and approaches to learning.
 The teacher is required to acquire adequate knowledge, skills, interests and attitudes towards
the teaching profession. The teacher‘s work has become more complicated and technical in
view of the new theories of psychology, philosophy, sociology, modern media and materials.
The teacher can be made proficient with well planned, imaginative pre-service and in-service
training programmes.
Scope of Teacher Education: Teacher education should itself transform to meet the challenges and
provoke us to remove the old traditional methods of teacher education at various levels. The scope of
teacher education includes the following points:

 It prepares teachers in facilitating the physical, mental, social, moral, ethical and linguistic
development of the child by acquainting them with the knowledge of child psychology.
 It cultivates the habit of excellent caring practices in teachers to look after future student
generations of the country.
 It helps to practice and organize varied learning experience which promotes creativity,
motivation, and self-reflection in student community.
 It helps empower student teacher towards creating learning readiness among young learners.
 It helps acquaint student teachers in developing different methods and skills in taking care of
the special needs of the children.
 Communication skills are one of the important skills of a teacher in teaching-learning process.
Teacher education help them to acquire strategies of communication.
 It helps come up with innovative techniques to improve the quality of teaching by conducting
action research on relevant areas.
 It helps to establish mutual supportive linkages with society, teachers, institutions, and other
agencies which have indirect role in students' learning.
 It helps to develop the skills of counseling and guidance.

Objectives of Teacher Education:

Teacher education programmes are carried out to provide wide range of objectives at various levels
starting from pre- primary to higher secondary. Pre-primary teacher education focuses on pedagogical
aspects and on how to deal with the psychological development of elementary students. The complexity
of both these concepts increases and are dealt in teacher education programmes for higher secondary
students.

A dedicated teacher community has to be developed who will be responsible to the students
and to the nation as a whole. These teachers must develop the caliber to prepare students to be able to
fight and exist in the over complicated twenty first century. Keeping these points in view, following are
the objectives of teacher education:

 to develop sound knowledge in psychological, sociological and philosophical aspects of

education at various levels.
 to provide necessary support services to teaching-learning process as a whole
 to provide adequate opportunities to observe, engage with students and to communicate with
children
 to provide opportunities for assimilation and articulation of new ideas, develop capacity for self-
learning, increase the ability to think and be self-critical and be able to work in groups.
 to provide opportunity for self-analysis and self-understanding, flexibility, creativity, innovation,
and motivation.
 to create better understanding of the student. The knowledge of educational psychology helps
the teachers in dealing with children scientifically. Untrained teachers not familiar with the
subject may create problem children in the school.
  Through training, the future teacher become familiar with the methodology of teaching. Student
teachers gets essential knowledge of methods required for a particular subject to be able to
teach with flair and in an innovative style.
 Teacher training programmes familiarizes the future teachers with all that is latest in education.
An attitude of research and experimentation is attempted to be created in them.
 It creates social insight. Teacher training is must as it is required to teach the teachers to live a
community life. Training is essential to create social insight in them.

Changing context of teacher education in the Indian Scenario:

The well-established tradition of teaching and learning in India has retained its inherent strength even
under adverse circumstances. The post-independence period was characterized by major efforts being
made to nurture and transform teacher education. The system of teacher preparation has come under
considerable pressure because of the expansion and growth of school education, through efforts to
universalize elementary education. Having inherited a foreign model of teacher preparation at the time
of independence from Britain in 1946, major efforts have been made to adapt and up-date the teacher
education curriculum to local needs, to make it more context based, responsive and dynamic about best
meeting the needs of India. The current system of teacher education is supported by a network of
national, provincial and district level resource institutions working together to enhance the quality and
effectiveness of teacher preparation programs at the pre-service level and through in-service programs
for serving teachers throughout the country.

Impact of National Policies : India has made considerable progress in school education since
independence with reference to overall literacy, infrastructure and universal access and enrolment in
schools. Two major developments in the recent years form the background to the present reform in
teacher education

 The political recognition of Universalization of Elementary Education that led to the Right to
Education Bill, 2008
 The National Curriculum Framework for school education, 2005.

The Bill has been passed by the Parliament and the Right to Education Act has come into being
making it mandatory for the state to provide free and compulsory education to almost 20 crore children
in the 6-14 age group till class 8. The Act mandates a schedule for the functioning of schools which
includes a teacherstudent ratio of 1:30 till a student population of 200 students at the primary stage.
This would increase the demand for qualified elementary school teachers many times. The country has
to address the need of supplying well qualified and professionally trained teachers in large numbers in
the coming years. The lunch of the massive Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in 2002 and the recent financial
commitment and education cess to augment the Universal Elementary Education mission have
underscored the need to adequately prepare teachers to address the growing demand for quality
education.

Developments in School education : School education has seen significant development over the
decades since independence. Regional, social, economic and gender disparities are posing new
challenges. This reality increases the challenge that the prospective teacher will face in implementing
the Right to Education Act. The continued fragmentation of the school system poses the severest
challenge to the national declaration of catering to the basic needs of all children in the 6-14 age group
through the elementary education in an inclusive setting. However increasing privatization and
differentiation of the schooling system have vitiated drastically the right to quality education for all
children.

Changing Role of the Teacher : The current system of schooling poses tremendous burden on children.
Educationists are of the view that the burden arises from treating knowledge as a ‗given‘, an external
reality existing outside the learner and embedded in textbooks. Knowledge is essentially a human
construct, a continuously evolving process of reflective learning. The NCF 2005, requires a teacher to be
a facilitator of children‘s learning in a manner that the child is helped to construct his/her knowledge.
Education is not a mechanical activity of information transmission and teachers are not information
dispensers. Teachers have to increasingly play the role of crucial mediating agents through whom
curriculum is transacted.

Research and Innovation : There is a need to increase research that documents practices reflectively
and analytically- whether it is of programs or of individual classrooms – so that it can be included in the
body of knowledge available for study to student teachers. University departments and research
institutions need to undertake such research. In addition there is a need to innovate with different
models of teacher education. Institutional capacity and capability to innovate and create are a pre-
requisite for the pursuit of excellence. Hence in the present scenario a lot of impetus has been given to
research. Many teacher educators are encouraged to take up either major or minor research projects.

Inclusive Education : The Persons with Disabilities (PWD) Act of 2005 provides for free and compulsory
education up to the age of 18 years for all children with disabilities. The education of socially and
economically disadvantaged groups, especially the SCs, STs and minorities has remained a primary
national concern of education for several years. The enrolment and retention of girls and therefore their
participation has also remained behind those of boys. Teachers will have to be specially equipped if the
social deprivation has to be overcome through education.

Challenges in Teacher Education : Unprecedented expansion of teacher education institutions and

programmes during the past few years characterizes the teacher education scenario of today. With
increasing school enrolments and the launch of pan-Indian primary education development
programmes like Operation Blackboard, District Primary Education Programme, Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan
and Universalization of Elementary Education, there was a natural increase in the demand for teachers.
Added to this, the backlog of untrained teachers in the system and the essential requirement of pre-
service teacher certification for appointment as a teacher led to mounting pressure on existing
institutional capacity. The demand far exceeding supply, market forces have taken over unprecedented
rise in the number of teacher education institutions in most parts of the country.

Perspectives for equitable and sustainable development : In order to develop future citizens who
promote equitable and sustainable development for all sections of society and respect for all, it is
necessary that they be educated through perspectives of gender equity, perspectives that develop
values for peace, respect the rights of all, and that respect and value work. In the present ecological
crisis promoted by extremely commercialized and competitive lifestyles, children need to be educated
to change their consumption patterns and the way they look at natural resources.
ICT in Schools and e-learning : With the onset and proliferation of Information and Communication
Technology (ICT), there is a growing demand that it be included in school education. Teacher education
has been structured to orient and sensitize the teacher to distinguish between developmentally
appropriate and detrimental uses of ICT. It needs to also equip teachers with competence to use ICT for
their own professional development.

Changing context of Teacher Education in the global Scenario:

Teacher education is a global profession that needs to be understood properly. It is essential to grasp a
global perspective of the profession as it is today, to make assumptions about it soon and to utilize the
best thinking and instructional models available in the present times.

Due to the developments and evolution, standards of learning would be higher in the 21st
century than it has been in the 20th century. As a result teachers would need to acquire additional
knowledge and skills, both general and specific, to be able to survive and be successful in the 21st
century school environment.

Education has increasingly become important to success of both individuals and nations.
Growing evidence demonstrates that, among all educational resources, teachers‘ abilities are especially
critical contributors to students‘ learning and consequently the success of a nation to advance in its
economic, social and political spheres.

For dynamic teacher education and training in the 21st century globalised world, teacher
education and training institutions must design programmes that would help prospective teachers to
know and understand deeply; a wide array of things about teaching and learning and in their social and
cultural contexts. Further more, they must be able to enact these understandings in complex classroom
situation serving increasingly diverse students. If the 21st century teacher is to succeed at this task,
teacher education and training institutions must further design programmes that transform the kinds of
settings in which both the novices and the experienced teachers teach and become competent teachers.

Throughout the world, reform and innovation initiatives by nations have triggered much
discussion about the structures of teacher education and training programmes. Building stronger
models of teacher preparation in the 21st century would require adequate and progressive knowledge
content for teaching as well as knowledge content for the subjects that the teacher would be required
to teach. In this respect, the "what" of teacher education and training should be the focus of the
curriculum.

The "what" of globalised teacher education and training curricula: In articulating the core concepts and
skills that should be represented in a common-core curriculum for teacher education and training, there
is need for a frame work to guide decisions and practice. In the United States, the National Academy of
Education Committee on Teacher Education adopted a framework that is organised on three
intersecting areas of knowledge found in many statements of standards for teaching which would be
applicable for consideration in the 21st century teacher education and training curricula.

 Knowledge of learners and how they learn and develop within social contexts, including
knowledge of language development.
  Understanding of curriculum content and goals, including the subject matter and skills to be
taught in the light of disciplinary demands, student needs and the social purposes of education;
and
 Understanding of and skills for teaching, including content knowledge of specific subject,
content pedagogical knowledge for teaching diverse learners, as these are informed by an
understanding of assessment and of how to construct and manage a productive classroom

The content of the curricula should take account of the 21 st century classroom. Teachers should be
trained on the state-of-the-art hard and soft ware that will become common in the 21st century
classroom. Training in technology should encompass telecommunications, satellite access, networking,
the internet, videoconferencing and digital components as well as optical technology. These
technologies will permit the 21st century teacher in the 21st century classroom feel comfortable and
teach effectively and efficiently.

The "how" of globalised teacher education and training curricula: The programme designs and
pedagogies should attend specifically to the how of teacher education and training. It is important to
have well-chosen courses that include core content knowledge for teaching and advanced research
background. It is equally important to organize prospective teachers‘ experiences so that they are able
to integrate and use their acquired knowledge in a skilful manner in the classroom, especially
incorporating research in whatever is taught so that the 21st century teacher becomes
teacherresearcher at heart. Often, this becomes the most difficult aspect of constructing a teacher
education and training programme. The onus of the issue is that teacher education and training should
attend to both the what and how so that knowledge for teaching, in reality, shapes the teachers‘practice
and enables them to become adaptive experts who are versatile and capable of operating effectively
and efficiently in a variety of teaching and learning environments using the tools that have been
provided to them during their training.

Models of teacher education and training for the 21st century : The new directions will have to grapple
with models of teacher education. The current models need reform and innovation and new models
would have to be developed that would enable teachers to adapt comfortably to the changing times.
The new models should emphasize learning to do and learning to think so that we do not produce
learned monsters but learned thinkers.

 There is absolute need for participatory teacher education. In this model, teachers in training
should play active role in the training process. They should become participants in decisions
regarding the needs to which their training must respond; what problems must be resolved in
the day-to-day work environment and what specific knowledge and skills must be transmitted to
them. In the participatory model teachers must be self-directed and self-taught.
 The new teacher education and training should not lose site of the power of technology for both
teachers and students learning.The real power of technology will come when teachers have
been trained well in them and have captured the potential of technology themselves.
 Need for in-depth content and practical knowledge of research for teachers: Research must be a
major priority in teacher education and preparation in the 21st century. Professional teachers
naturally seek answers to questions and solutions to problems that enable them to help their
students to learn.
  The concept research and its significance to teacher education and training : There is need to
look at the concept research and how it applies to the teaching-learning environment, especially
in the 21st century school environment. This will make the professional teacher to identify with
the fact that research is a major part of the professional practice.
 Need to provide 21st century teachers with solid foundation in research methods :All categories
of teachers – pre-school, primary, secondary and tertiary – should have as part of their training a
concise detailed course in research methods that would conceptualise and concentrate on the
work that teachers do in their day to day practice and not just as a course to fulfil a condition for
a degree or diploma certificate.
 Globalising the teaching profession through a globalised teacher‘s council: Currently, every
country has its own teaching council with specific objective to register professionally qualified
teachers before they can practice. Every country has its own requirements that professional
teachers should meet in order to be registered and certificated to teach.
o In order to make teaching to become a mobile profession world wide, there is need for
21st century globalised teaching council. The mandate of this council should be to
collaborate with institutions and organizations responsible for teacher education and
training to develop a common-core teacher education and training curricula as well as
the establishment of teacher professional registration council which would be
mandated to issue professional teaching licenses for practitioners that would be
recognised worldwide to make teacher mobility from region to region and country to
country easy and fulfilling.

UNIT- 2 : DEVELOPMENT OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Teacher Education in Pre-Independence India:

Teacher education in India starts with the Vedic Age and ends with the modern period. A detailed
discussion on the nature of teacher and its development in various periods are described below:

Vedic Period: In the Vedic period, religion played a prominent role in education. The aim of education
then was to attain salvation (Moksha). The literal meaning of ‘Vedas’ is knowledge. Hence, Vedas refer
to various forms of knowledge. There were four different types of Vedas, namely, Rig Veda, Yajur Veda,
Sama Veda and Atharva Veda. These four Vedas represent different bodies of knowledge. Students of
the Vedic period were supposed to internalize these Vedas from teachers, who were called gurus.

Chief characteristics of Vedic education are:

 Gurukul
 Ideal of guru
 Duties of shishyas (students)
 Relation between guru and shishyas  Education
 Women education
 Physical education
Teachers of Vedic Age were men of high calibre in terms of knowledge and spiritual progress. Gurus
maintained high reputation in the society. They always paid attention in transmitting knowledge to the
shishyas in gurukuls.

Gurus helped in the all-round personality development of their shishyas. Gurus also tried to
impart education to women and also imparted training in physical education, and art and craft. Gurus
helped in accomplishing the needs of all their student

During the Vedic period, learning was transmitted orally from one generation to another. Great
importance was attached to the proper accent and pronunciation in the Vedic recitation and these could
be correctly learnt only from the lips of a properly qualified teacher. The spiritual solution depended
almost entirely upon the proper guidance of a competent teacher.

Upanishad Period: The period Upanishad is between 1400 BC and 600 BC, from the end of Rig Veda
period to the beginning of Buddhism and Jainism. In Upanishad period, after the spread of Vedic culture,
the sacrificial rituals dominated and the Brahmin priests had the highest position in society. Accordingly,
different ritual duties came into existence along with theoretical knowledge.

Practical knowledge in subjects such as physical science, handicrafts, arithmetic, astronomy

were also imparted. The aim of education was:

 To enable realization or true knowledge and achieve the absolute

 To meditate and think

In accomplishing the aim of education, gurus played a major role. The teachers during this
period were held in high esteem and a job of a teacher was considered a high class job. The study of the
Upanishad helped students to reach self-realization. However, education was limited to the upper castes
of the society. As in the Vedic period, women were also permitted to study.

Teachers had the freedom to choose their disciple and once the disciples were chosen, it
became the moral duty of the teachers to take care of their disciples. Knowledge during this time was
orally transmitted and explanation was the most important way of teaching. The disciples were
expected to emulate their teachers and this learning was passed from one generation to another.

Buddhist Period: During the Buddhist period, no educational institutions were present, instead religious
centres like monasteries and viharas were the places where education was imparted. Gurukul system in
Vedic period was replaced with ‘sangh’. After the completion of ten years, a student had to stay back as
a monk (bikshus) in the Sangh for the rest of their life. Buddhist period was marked by two types of
education—primary (included reading, writing and arithmetic) and higher education (included
philosophy, Ayurveda, military training).Students were given full freedom to select their courses of
study. Some of the subjects during Buddhist period included teachings of Budha vinaya, and dharma.

Both the student and teachers were responsible of the monastery but the teacher had the sole
responsibility of education, food and clothes of their students. The teachers had to look after and treat
their students in case of sickness. The teachers were required to teach, write books, propagate religion,
hold discussion and debates. The teachers were responsible for physical, mental, spiritual and moral
development of the students. The teacher was regarded as spiritual father or intellectual father of the
student.
Medieval Period: Invasion of the Muslims paved the way for Muslim education in India.The Muslim
rulers started education by opening educational centres called Maktabas (schools) and Madrasahs
(colleges). Maktabas were centres of primary education, which provided knowledge in basic concepts
like alphabets, reading, writing and simple arithmetic, religious instruction. Themadrasahs catered to the
needs of higher education which taught grammar, rhetoric, logic, theology, metaphysics, literature,
jurisprudence and sciences.

Modern Period: The modern education system started with the arrival of Christian missionaries in the
country. These institutions followed monitorial system (or the pupil-teacher method of training) to
design the teacher training programmes which were later accepted as the adoption method to appoint
presidencies under British rule.Later on, educational societies came into existence at major places like
Bombay, Madras and Calcutta and one teacher training institution was also set. Calcutta School Society
formed in 1849, made a remarkable contribution to train teachers of elementary level.

During the early periods of the British rule, enormous formal schools came into existence and
the need for teacher training was drastically felt.As a result, many schools were set up in different parts
of the country like Surat, Pune and Calcutta. To train teachers, a number of teacher training centers
were also set up in places like Meerut, Madras and Agra and by 1824, twenty-six teacher training
centers were opened at different corners of the province. From 1815 to 1854, the demand of teacher
training considerably increased and it was reflected in the policy making process of different provinces.

Woods Despatch, 1854: Wood’s Despatch is a major landmark in the history of education in the country
and, hence, also called ‘Magna Carta of English education in India’. This document was published in 1854
and recommended a good number of suggestions in the improvement of education of the country as
well as the prevailing teacher training programmes. Wood’s Despatch has laid foundations for the
establishment of university system in India and opened Department of Public Instruction in the
provinces of Punjab, Bengal, Madras, Bombay and North-west.

For the first time, Wood’s Despatch emphasized the importance of teacher training and the
need for improving the quality of teaching. Not only the need for teacher training, it has given due
consideration to the facilities provided to the teacher including salary structure and facilities for teacher
training. Wood’s Despatch recommended the opening of teacher training institutions at each Presidency
so as to make teaching job attractive to the public. It recommended grant in aid in the form of
scholarship and salary to be increased for those who attended the training programme. Wood’s
Despatch framed the outline for selecting teachers, training of teachers, place of training, placement
after training. It emphasized the need for modification in the monitorial system of training, the stipend
provided to the teacher trainees and employment of teacher trainees after the training period.

Hartog Committee, 1929: During this period, the freedom struggle movement was going through
incidents like the Jallianwaala Bagh Massacre and the Khilafat Movement. Hence, the education system
did not get much attention. The political situation and societal atmosphere was instrumental in the
appointment of a commission headed by Sir Philip Hartog, called Hartog Committee of 1929. This
Committee was especially appointed to review the education system.

The commission expressed its deep concern over the poor quality of primary education and the
substandard quality of teacher training of primary teachers in the country. It was found that among the
existing primary teachers, only twenty-eight per cent had their middle school education and forty-four
per cent were untrained teachers. The commission suggested the following measure to improve the
quality of teachers at the primary level. These were:

 Quality and standard of teacher training should be increased

 The duration of teacher training course should be more
 Adequate teaching faculty should be appointed in teacher training colleges
 In-service courses, refresher courses and conferences must be arranged for working teachers for
professional growth
 Service conditions must be improved to attract and retain teachers in the teaching field.

Teacher Education in post-independence India:

After Independence, the Indian government made at lot of effort to spread education, which provided
wide access to all sections of the society irrespective of caste,creed, religion, language and region. The
quality of education improved after Independence in 1947. The expansion of education indirectly
affected the training programmes for teachers in the country. The government considered teacher
education as one of the core component which had direct roles in the nation building. The expansion of
schools demanded the need of qualified teachers to meet the new demands of education.

The Indian government came up with new committees and commission to revamp the prevailing
teacher education system of the country. The commissions put forward innovating policies and steps to
strengthen the existing teacher education system. The first commission appointed to review the
prevailing education system was set up under the chairmanship of great educationist, Dr. S.
Radhakrishnan, which is popularly known as the University Education Commission.

University Education Commission (1948-49): This document contributed significantly in improving the
quality of education, in particular teacher education system for the next few decades. The Commission
recommended to increase the duration of school education from eleven to twelve years and suggested
degree courses after completion of schooling. Two year degree was replaced with three year course.
Recommendations were given to improve the working conditions of teachers across schools and,
colleges and universities.

The Commission studied in detail teacher education procedure and stressed the need for
reorganization of teacher training departments and training colleges. Some of the recommendations
made by the commission are as follows:

 There should be balance between theory and practical component in teacher training
programmes
 Teacher education courses should be modified such that more time should be allocated for
evaluation of student performance
 Students should be provided opportunities to involve actively in the daily activities of the school.
 Staff of the training colleges should be appointed from those who have experience of teaching.
 Admission to master education can be possible only after successful completion of some years
of teaching experience.
 It stressed the importance of research in the field of education. It strongly recommended
implementing of research orientations and practices in teacher education to improve teaching
quality.
Secondary Education Commission (1952-53): It was appointed to review secondary education system,
but, as a part, it studied the teacher education system and came with innovative recommendation to
improve the quality of teacher education. The commission expressed in its report deep concern for the
sub-standard and low quality teacher training programmes of the country and recommended to
increase the duration of the programmes to two years. The duration of the course remained one year
but ample opportunity was provided for effective teaching practice sessions in the curriculum.

The Commission stressed on the need for practice teaching as a part of teacher education
programmes. It introduced the concept of demonstration school/ model schools to get training for
teacher candidates under practical situation. The Commission also emphasised the need for specialised
training programmes for children with special needs. Apart from that, general principles of mental
hygiene were implemented as essential component of teacher education programmes to inculcate
proper behavioural skills in teachers and students as well.

Training in extracurricular activities, training in controlling library, training in physical education,

concepts related to health and care of children, school leadership character building, importance of
scout and guides, junior red cross, formation of students clubs, citizenship training, conducting debates,
seminars, quizzes and social service were some of the programmes recommended by the commission as
part of teacher training. In order to overcome the shortage of women teachers in the country, part-time
training courses were to be arranged for women candidates.

For admission to master degree in education, it was recommended that students should have at
least three years of teaching experience. The Commission suggested two types of training institutions
for teacher training. These were:

 Two-year teacher training programme: It was conducted for candidates having school leaving
certificate or higher secondary leaving certificate. The programme should be arranged under a
separate apex body under the government.
 One-year teacher training programme: It was for candidates who are graduates. It should be
under any universities of the country. The degree or diploma certificate has to be awarded to
the students after completion of the one year course by any university.

During the decade of 1960’s, more efforts were made by different committees to review and
recommend innovative strategies to improve the quality of teacher education in the country. A major
one was the Review Committee formed by the University Grants Commission in 1960, under the
chairmanship of N. K. Sidhantaah. The All India Council for Elementary Education also appointed a study
group in 1961 under the chairmanship of Roy Singh.The major recommendations of these committees
are as given below:

 The criterion for admission to M.Ed. degree programmes was fixed as second class master’s
degree plus first class in B.Ed. degree both in theory and practical paper.
 Students had to complete one specialisation with acquaintance in methodology of research.
 Those who aspired to conduct research studies in education were to be scrutinized by a
screening committee appointed for the same.
 Those who aspired to conduct research studies in education were to be scrutinized by a
screening committee appointed for the same.
 Another landmark during the 1960s was the establishment of National Council of Educational
Research and Training (NCERT), with headquarters at New Delhi. NCERT was intended to provide
training to school teachers, conduct research, publish necessary books and other related material and
co-ordinate various activities of school and Regional Colleges of education. Later, NCERT came up with
designing text books for different classes

Education Commission (1964-66): In the history of education, another commission was appointed under
the chairmanship of S. Kothari (popularly known as the Kothari Commission) to review the education
system in 1964.The Commission gave valuable suggestions on different sectors of education, viz,
primary, secondary, higher secondary, vocational, technical and teacher education. The Commission
devoted a separate sheet for the recommendations on teacher education at all levels of teacher
education, from elementary teacher education to higher secondary. It expressed its deep concern for
poor quality of teacher education and recommended a sound programme of professional education to
teachers. It suggested the following strategies to improve teacher education in the country:

 Removing mismatch of teacher education programmes with school life realities

 Bringing teacher education closer to university education—teacher education programmes
should be raised to the standard of collegiate education
 Adopt methods to improve quality of both training procedure and training institutions
 Internship programme to carry out practical knowledge in real classroom situations which would
help build healthy relationship between working teachers, classroom climates, activities of
schools
 Implement in-service training programmes for professional growth
 Creation of agencies both at national and state level to maintain the standard of education.
 It stated that education should be isolated from universities and treated as social science or a
separate discipline.

To improve the quality of teaching methods and instruction, the Commission recommended the
following:

 Traditional methods of teaching should be replaced with novel methods of teaching.

 Teacher education should be well integrated to develop qualities like concern for society,
sensitivity towards human behaviours, and positive attitude toward teaching profession.
 Reform in evaluation system must be introduced. Internal assessment should be made an
integral component of evaluation. Teachers should take care to maintain cumulative records in
consultation with the students.
 Teaching practice should be conducted in two stages and are supposed to conduct continuous
practice teaching of at least eight weeks in a school identified by them. They should participate
in all activities of the school, school assembly, physical education classes, club formation, art
festivals, library work, workshops and other co-curricular activities.
 The duration of the programme may be extended to two years for students who have
completed secondary school certificate and one year for graduate students. Curriculum of
teacher education should be flexible and should be modified to incorporate the latest happening
in the field of education, to meet the realities of the practical activities of the classrooms.

National Policy on Education (1986): (Chapter 3 in unit 2 , also a part of Chapter 2 in Unit 2):
The number of school expanded drastically in 1980s which increased the demand for teachers on a large
scale. But the quality and efficiency of the teacher education became the serious concern of the country.
It failed to implement some of the remarkable recommendation made by the pervious commissions set
for rewinding the education system. The curricula were not revised, most of the institutions’
infrastructural facilities were poor, and the quality of teachers was not up to the mark. In this regard,
the Government of India introduced a new policy, the National Policy on Education in 1986 to reframe
the educational system.

The policy recommended complete restructuring of teacher education in the country in terms of
its pre, present and post training procedure. New programmes and continuing education was suggested
to improve the quality of teachers. One of the remarkable contributions was to start District Institutes
of Education (DIET) across the country to wipe out sub-standard teacher education. DIETs were created
to provide quality teacher education training to elementary teachers. As part of professional
development, it was also entrusted to organise in-service programmes for the teacher community and
those who worked in non-formal and adult education sector. The policy also recommended upgrading of
Secondary Teacher Training Colleges to College of Teacher Education (CTE) which will help and assist the
work of State Educational Research and Training (SCERT). The commission also recommended National
Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) to provide all resources to relook into the teacher education
programmes and to accredit teacher training institutions. NCTE was also to initiate networking
arrangement between university teacher education departments and rest of the teacher training
institutions.

As sequel to the National Policy on Education, a Programme of Action was prepared to

restructure teacher education programmes on comprehensive manner. The Programme of Action had
the following components:

 Establishing DIETs
 Two-fifty teacher training colleges to be updated to Colleges of Teacher Education (CTE)
 Adopt measures to strengthen the SCERTs
 Arrangement of orientation courses to school teachers
 Setting up of Departments of Teacher education in universities and strengthening them.

To review the progress of National Policy on education and POA, the government constituted a
committee under the chairmanship of Acharya Ramamurthy. The committee was of the opinion that the
NPE and its sequel POA were strong enough to reframe the teacher education programmes and its
ecommendation should be implemented and translated into action. The Committee also expressed its
concern for the non-implementation of many of the recommendations of the POA.

Programme of Action (1992) : The National Policy on Education (1992) gave importance to the
functioning of teacher education institutions. By the year 1998-99 there were forty-five DIETs, seventy-
six CTEs and 34l ASEs but has had not much impact on the quality of teacher education.The major
suggestions of the Programme of Action were as follows:

 Stressed the need for integration of theory and practice of teacher education programmes.
 By the end of Eighth Five Year Plan, all the districts will be covered by DIETs and two-fifty
IASE/CTEs will be set up in the country.
  Suggested to confer autonomous status to SCERT, NCTE and to set up State Boards of Teacher
Education.
 Launch of special orientation programme for school teachers for professional development, as a
continuation to centrally sponsored scheme.
 Recommended to strengthen Department of Teacher Education in universities and to provide
incentive for good performance to teachers and disincentives for non-performers. The NCERT
was entrusted to frame such norms for school teachers.

As per recommendations of NPE and POA 1992, a wide number of teacher education institutions have
opened. Fund was allotted in the Tenth Five Year Plan to arrange in-service programmes. The in-service
programmes were arranged under the scheme of ‘Special Orientation Programme’ for Primary Teachers
(SOPT).In the year 1993, statutory status was given to NCTE, as sequel of POA, 1992. Later NCTE framed
rules and regulation for maintaining the standard of teacher education including distance education
teacher education programmes. NCTE developed ‘Curriculum frame work of Quality Teacher Education’
in 1998 and then in 2009.

The first decade of the twenty-first century had the privilege of the liberalization policy
introduced in early nineties. This opened up the education sector to the private players and there was
Public Private Partnership (PPP). Encouragement was given to foreign universities to open their
branches in this country. National knowledge commission has been set up which recommends to
achieve Gross Enrollment Ratio of fifteen per cent by 2015 in higher education. After Sarva Siksha
Abhiyan, efforts are being made to universalize secondary education through Rashtriya Madhyamik
Shiksha Abhiya (RMSA). The11th Plan is, therefore, called education plan as it gives more emphasis to
education especially higher education.

Current Trends in teacher education – interdisciplinary approach, internship, community living,

orientation course, correspondence course, action research, team teaching, programming instruction.

Teacher Education is not more pedagogy or acquisition of a training qualification, but it refers to the
totality of educational inputs which contribute to the preparation of a person for a teaching position in
schools in the field of education. The term innovation has been used to describe almost every initiative
that has attempted to differ from the existing system. The system of Education as it has emerged in India
is the most complex and the largest in the world. In India, teachers comprise the largest most speedily
growing profession. Goal of teacher Education largely depend on national goals of development. In
response to face problems any other now change is generally sought for removing the problem and for
improving the fields. Teaching theories and practices have undergone several changes in accordance
with the changing needs of the society. The traditional system of teacher education can hardly cope with
the emerging demands of a democratic, secular and socialist set up.

The new trend and new practices, procedures, policies in the area of teachers Education are :

 Inter disciplinary approaches.

 Internship in teaching.
 In-service programmes (orientation course).
 Distance Education or correspondence courses.
 Educational technology and teacher Education.
 Team teaching.
  Micro-teaching.
 Programmed instruction.
 Simulated social skill teaching.
 Action research.

Inter-disciplinary approach: It is universally accepted that there can be no better plan for improving the
quality of teacher Education than by integrating context and methods e.g. through the inter-disciplinary
approach. The four year course of the teacher Education is provided by the Regional College and the
concurrent general and professional courses as being experimented by the Kurukshetra University offer
another scope to integrate all the essential ingredients of good teacher Education, Namely liberal
Education, Professional Education, specialization in one or two school subjects and direct experience
including practice teaching in schools

Internship in Teaching: Internship in teaching is a new phrase to denote the contemplated reform in
practice teaching. This programme includes practice teaching and a wide variety of experiences. The
experiment of internship in teaching is designed to give the prospective teacher education supervised
laboratory experiences is a typical total school situation. So, that it may develop high professional
competence as a teacher. He needs to share all the duties, responsibilities and privileges of a regular
teacher except monetary compensation. He plays a dual role, he is a learner as well as a teacher.
Internship in teaching includes practice teaching and wide variety of field experiences under the
guidance of a competent supervisor

Community Living: Another current trend in teacher Education which be noticed from the practices in
abroad is to give some weightage to the programmers which have a training potential for community
living. The major aims of “community living” programmes are personal and social effectiveness.

Orientation Course: This course is organized for a period of 4 to 6 days depending upon the need of the
students. The syllabus for the entire programme is developed in advance and is circulated among the
students and the members of the entire course is conducted through group discussions under the
leadership of students.

Correspondence course: This is a new technique for in-service teachers. Correspondence courses are
being successfully done by different professional groups in several countries of the world. The NCERT
consist a study group which reported in 1964 about correspondence course in training colleges. Action
Research: Action Research has been found to be a very commendable technique for trying out a number
of programmes of qualitative improvement in various spheres of schools Education. In teacher
Education some experiments have been planned and conducted to improve the actions and decisions
related to the various aspects of the programme.

Interaction Analysis: In the field of teacher Education, teacher’s classroom interaction has also been
takes as target and attempts are made to analyze it and to quantify it. Most intermine long range
programme of this dimension has been conducted under the leadership of Ned. A. Flanders. In his study,
Flanders found that the verbal patterns of teachers in high achieving classroom were significantly
different from those in low achieving classroom

Team Teaching: Team teaching is also called co-operative teaching. It occurs when two or more teachers
share in planning and conducting instruction that is offered to the same group of students, whether they
may be at elementary, secondary or college levels. Teacher assignments for the terms represent a
considerable number of role and specialize actions. Team roles includes those team leader mature
teacher, part time teacher, intern under teacher aid and team clerk[2].

Programmed Instruction: Programmed Instruction is a revolutionary device in the science of learning,

Now-a-days its use in the field of teacher education has also attained importance. Teaching of school
subjects, educational statistics and some aspects of educational psychology have been given for trial and
as a result of this, a few really good programs are variable for student-teachers. It is highly individualized
instruction strategy for the modification of behavior.

Simulated social skill training: A number of techniques are being used currently in India as well as in
other countries for the modification of teachers’ behaviour. The SSST is one of them. The simulation
technique is to induce certain behaviour in an artificial situation. A pupil teacher has to play several roles
as well as a teacher as a student and as a supervisor. The simulated social skill training can be defined as
mechanism of feedback devices to include certain desirable behavior among pupil teacher has to play
several roles as well as a teacher as a student and as a supervisor. The simulated social skill training can
be defined as mechanism of feedback devices to include certain desirable behavior among pupil-
teachers by playing the role of teacher in their own group as an artificial situation of classroom teaching.

Micro-teaching: Micro teaching is one of the most important developments in the field of teaching
practice. It is originated in Stanford University in 1963. It is more analytical method and completely new
approach to provide the feedbacks. It is considered as a mechanism of feedbacks device for the
modification of teacher trainees but it is a real teaching.

UNIT – 3: AGENCIES AND INSTITUTIONS OF TEACHER EDUCATION:

Agencies of Teacher Education at state level and their role and functions.

To enhance quality of education and quality of educational institutions, to update educational

methodology and to offer publicity to educational innovations by conducting various types of
educational research every state establishes some institutes, council and associations. Here we will
discuss the role and functions of the following state agencies :

 State Institute of Education (SIE)

 State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT)
 State Board of Teacher Education (SBTE)

State Institute of Education (SIE) : Training, preparation of teaching aids and evaluation needs
continuity to achieve quality education. Considering this aspect, states have established ―State
Institute of Education (SIE). Initially, SIE looked after primary education only. Later on, its scope is
widened to pre-primary, secondary and higher secondary education.

State Council of Educational Research and Training (SCERT): State council is the apex institute of the
state. For quality improvement of school education it carries the responsibility of teacher education,
research and evaluation.

Objectives: It‘s objectives are :

  To enhance quality of education by conducting various types of educational research.
 To improve teacher education
 To enhance quality of educational institutions
 To upgrade educational methodology
 To offer publicity to educational innovations.

Role and Functions: The Role and functions are primarily concerned with ensuring quality in respect of :

 Planning
 Management
 Research
 Evaluation and
 Training

Its functions are as under:

 To improve school - education, continuing education, non-formal education and special

education.
 To impart in service - training to the inspectors of preprimary to higher secondary education.
 To impart in service - training to the teachers from pre-primary to higher secondary schools.
 To make available extension - services to teacher - education -institutions and co-ordinate the
same.
 To prepare teaching aids for educational institutions

State Board of Teacher Education (SBTE) : Kothari Commission for the first time in 1966 recommended
for establishing SBTE, whose main function was to develop teacher education in the state to be
administered by the state board. State boards were established in M.P in 1967, and Maharashtra,
Jammu and Kashmir and Tamil Nadu in 1973. Ministry of education forced states to have SBTE
suggestions NCERT such boards almost all states established.

Functions :

 Determine the standards of TE Institutions.

 Modifying and improving the curriculum, text books and the system of TE of the state.
 Developing the criterion for the recognition of the TE institutions.
 Organizing the guidance facility of TE institutions.
 Developing the criteria for admission in TE and evaluating the teacher efficiency of pupil
teachers.
 Preparing the plan for the qualitative and quantitative development of teacher education.
 Providing guidance to the Universities and State institutes for improving and modifying
curriculum, textbooks and examination system of teacher-education.
 Determining the educational and physical conditions of the teacher education institutions for
affiliations.
 Developing the sense of cooperation among university departments and other training
institutions
 Providing financial assistance – different facilities for TE at different levels.
 Provide suggestions for the development of state teachereducators.
University Departments of Education (UDE) : Education is now considered an independent field of
study; UGC provides the grants to the University Department of education. Higher level training is
essential for teachers for their development.Department of Education (DOE) provide training for
educational administrators and curriculum specialists to improve evaluation procedures as well
examination system. University DOE organize the M.Ed, B.Ed, and M.Phil classes as well as research
work for Ph.D and D.Litt degree in education. In 1917, first education department was started at Calcutta
University. At present there are departments of education in all the Indian Universities for M.Ed and
Ph.D Degrees.

Functions :

 Develop the post graduate studies and research work.

 Organize training for school teachers.
 Provide solid programmes for teacher education and developing research work.
 Starting and organize some programmes for post graduate teachers which are not organized at
other centers.
 Developing language laboratory, preparing instructional material and use new innovations and
practices in TE.
 Encouraging the interdisciplinary courses and interdisciplinary research studies so that the
requirements of other departments can be fulfilled.
 Organize extension lectures and programmes to encourage the teachers and research workers
to contribute in the discipline of education.
 Providing awareness of new methodology and technology to upgrade the standard of TE.
 Developing the effective procedure of evaluation of theory and practicals in education

Agencies of teacher education at national level and their role and functions:

University Grants Commission (UGC): Established on 28th December, 1953, at New Delhi. UGC was
given autonomy by govt. of India in 1956.

Functions:

 It provides financial assistance to universities and colleges to meet their requirement.

 It extends the financial aid for the development of Universities and maintenance.
 It provides a guide-line to Center and State Govt. for giving grant to a University.
 It provides the grants for five years to establish as new University in the state.
 It provides the grants for five years to start new department or any academic programme in the
University but now state concurrence is essential.
 It encourages higher level research work and teaching activities by providing financial assistance.
 It provides the grants for higher education and new programmes in the Universities and
colleges.
 It provides the fellowship for teachers and project work for University and college teachers

Teacher Education Committees:

 To upgrade the standard of education Teacher-education committees were formed consisting of

seven members for two years duration.
  It provides awareness of new innovations and research in teacher-education.
 The national fellowship and teacher fellowship are granted for encouraging research and
teaching work.
 UGC provides travel grants to the university lecturers for attending international conferences
and seminars.
 Visiting professors are appointed from among the University professors for inter change
programmes and delivering lectures.
 Residential facilities for university and college teachers are also provided.
 Research associates are appointed for post doctor work

Centre for Advanced Studies (CASE) : For the improvement of standards of teaching and research in
India.UGC has set up CASE in different branches of knowledge. It selected the faculty of Education and
Psychology, Baroda as the CASE in Education which functions on an all India basis and aims at raising
standards of teaching and research in education. It has built up its programme in collaboration with
research workers from outside.

National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration: (NUEPA/ NIEPA) :

Functions :

 As the highest organization of educational planning and Administration- has the following
functions to perform:
 Providing training of educational planning and administration to develop the abilities and
competencies in the educational administration as the in-service program.
 Providing training facilities in educational planning and administration at state level and regional
level to develop efficiency at their level.
 Integrating educational studies and researches under the area of educational planning and
administration and make co ordinations in these activities.
 Encouraging the teachers to solve the problems of educational planning and administration by
organizing seminars and workshops.
 Arranging extension programs for new developments and innovations in the area of planning
and administration.
 Establishing contact with other countries to understand the developments and innovations of
the developed countries.
 Providing guidance at National and State levels in the area of planning and administration.
 Multi –dimensional activities- under extension programs– journal on educational planning and
administration and other books are published.
 Review of educational planning and administration of other countries- used to develop our
educational system and solve educational problems.
 Educational research reports are published. The publication unit established the coordination
between theory and practice.

National Council of Teacher Education (NCTE) :

Kothari commission Report (1964-66) criticized Teacher Education Programme being conventional, rigid
and away from reality. Therefore it expressed the need of establishing National council of Teacher
Education in order to improve the standard of Teacher Education. In September 1972, Central Advisory
Board in Education accepted the said proposal which was supported by fifth National plan. Thereafter by
law, Indian Education Ministry established NCTE on 21st May 1973. NCTE has got independent
constitutional status since 1993.

Objectives :

 To work especially towards planned and coordinated development of teacher-education.

 To improve the standard and functioning of teacher-educators.

Functions:

 Undertake survey and studies relating to various aspects of teacher-education and publish the
results.
 Making recommendations to the center and State government Universities, the U.G.C and other
institutions in the preparation of plans and programmme‘s in the field of teacher education.
 Coordinating and monitoring teacher education and its development in the country.
 Preparing a guideline with regard to minimum qualifications for the candidates to be employed
as teacher- educators at different levels.
 Developing norms for any specified category of courses or training in teacher-education,
including minimum eligibility criterion for admission.
 Preparing a guideline and specified requirements for starting new courses and programmes
under teacher education.
 Developing a guideline for general teacher-educationprogramme.
 To advise central government on matters like teacher - education (in building pre-service / in-
service training), evaluation of the curricula for teacher -- education and periodical review with
respect to revision of curricula.
 To advise state governments on any matter of their concern.
 To review the progress of plan of teacher- education, submitted by central / state governments.
 To advise the government on ensuring adequate standards in teacher - education.
 To give approval to teacher - education institutions.
 To lay down norms for maintaining standards of teachers -education.
 Promoting innovations and research studies and organize them periodically or annually.
 Supervising the teacher education programmes and providing financial assistance.
 Enforcing accountability of teacher development programmes in the country.
 Preparing a programme for in-service teacher education for orienting teachers for latest
development.

NCERT - National Council of Educational Research and Training: Due to knowledge explosion, there is a
spread of education not only in India, but all over the world. Due to this change, social needs have
changed accordingly. A teacher is expected to face the new changes by undergoing through training for
new trends in education. Such training - needs are satisfied by following National level agencies of
Teacher Education programme NCERTandNCTE.

Objectives :

 To launch, organize and strengthen research works in various aspects of education.

 To arrange for pre-service and in-service training at the higher level.
  To publish necessary textbooks, journals and other literature for achieving the objectives.
 To organize extension centers in training institutes with the cooperation of state governments
and extend facilities pertaining to new methods and technologies among them.
 To establish a National Institute of Education and manage for the development of research and
higher training for educational administrators and teachers.
 To provide guidance and counselling services on a large scale.

Major function of NCERT are as under/ Role of NCERT :

 To monitor the administration of NIE /Regional colleges of Education.

 To undertake aid, promote and co-ordinate research in all branches of education for improving
school-education.
 To organize pre-service and in-service education programmes for teachers
 To prepare and publish study material for students and related teacher‘s handbooks.
 To search talented students for the award of scholarship in science, Technology and social
sciences.
 To undertake functions assigned by the Ministry of education (Now HRD) for improving school –
education

The role of NCERT in Indian Education:

 NCERT organizes / conducts various programmes with respect to Research, Development,

Training, Extension-services, publishing study - material, and evaluation.
 It aims at qualitative improvement of school - education.
 It aims at qualitative improvement of school - education rather than quantitative expansion.
 It wants to make our education relevant to national objectives and social needs.
 Besides researches conducted at NIE, NCERT offers financial aid to research projects of the
teachers.
 It also organizes summer Institutes to school teachers and teacher - educators for attaining their
professional growth. Through these measures NCERT wants to achieve qualitative improvement
in Education

Agencies of Teacher education at international level and their role and functions:

UNESCO: At no time in human history was the welfare of nations so closely linked to the quality and
outreach of their higher education systems and institutions. The Organization fosters innovation to meet
education and workforce needs and examines ways of increasing higher education opportunities for
young people from vulnerable and disadvantaged groups.

It deals with cross-border higher education and quality assurance, with a special focus on
mobility and recognition of qualifications, and provides tools to protect students and other stakeholders
from low-quality provision of higher education.

What UNESCO is doing for Teacher Training- (ROLE AND FUNCTIONS): UNESCO promotes the
development of a professionally-trained corps of teachers who provided the human contact,
understanding and judgment necessary to prepare our children for the world of tomorrow..

UNESCO and Teachers :

  Teachers are at the very heart of UNESCO‘s work. Each day, over 60 million teachers care for 1
billion children, cultivating their souls and minds. Any process that attempts to improve the
quality of education promote peace and harmony and eliminate discrimination requires
teachers. Teachers work with children who will be the leaders of tomorrow.
 But for teachers to be effective, they must be well-trained, motivated, have a decent work
environment, good pay and an attractive career path. UNESCO enables the world‘s teachers by
building on the standards for the professional, social, ethical and material concerns of teachers
set in the 1966 and 1997 recommendation concerning the status of teachers and education
personnel.
 There is currently a severe shortage of teachers worldwide. UNESCO helps adjust national
policies to reverse teacher flight, teacher drop-out and assists countries with the
professionalization of "volunteer" teachers recruited by hardpressed governments to fill crisis-
level gaps.

UNESCO and Teacher Education :

 Emphasizing the essential role teacher training and education policy play in national
development goals.
 Producing and disseminating policy guidelines on open and distance learning, e-learning, and
use of ICTs in teacher education.
 Advocacy to improve the training and status of teachers worldwide.
 Integrating international standards regarding HIV/AIDS and life skills into national teacher
education policies.

Teacher training for the achievement of Education for All: UNESCO recognizes that teacher education is
integrally related to quality education and closely linked to curriculum renewal, improved learning
outcomes, and a positive school environment. At the end of four years, each country participating in the
Teacher Training Initiative is expected to integrate a comprehensive teacher education plan into the
national education plan, improve the quality of training in teacher education, address the issues of
severe teacher shortage and the status of teachers, and implement an internationally prescribed
standard and national policy regarding HIV prevention education.

UNESCO‘s teacher training activities:

 Providing of a full-time country-designated expert in seventeen countries for the first phase of
the Initiative
 Establishing and maintaining comprehensive and integrated national databases concerning the
state of teacher education
 Assisting countries in analysing their teacher shortages and in implementing policies and
strategies to increase the number of qualified teachers and professionalize currently under
qualified teachers.
 Sharing and distributing good teacher policies and practices
 UNESCO‘s Teacher Training initiative is aimed at redirecting policies, improving institutional
capacity, improving teacher quality, and stemming the teacher shortage in order to achieve
Education for All by 2015

Institutions for Teacher Education, DIET, CTE, IASE, RTE:

Role and functions of DIET (District Institute for Education and Training): DIET or 'District Institute for
Education and Training' are district level educational institutes which have been established in each
district of India by the Indian government. This helps in coordinating and implementing government
policies at district level.

Role of DIET: The following are the roles of DIET are as follows:

 Provide leadership in innovating pre-service primary teacher training.

 Contribute to development of quality learning materials for primary education.
 Carry out innovations for improving the functioning of primary schools.
 Conduct in-service training programmes to primary school teachers.
 Carry out field base empirical studies to improve the primary schools.
 Train functionaries in NFE and adult education.
 Provide support to district authorities in planning in Universalisation of Elementary Education
(UEE). The guideline proposes to give adequate functional autonomy - academic. Administrative
and financial.

FUNCTIONS OF DIET: Functions of DIETs can be classified into four categories.

 Developing, Organizing, managing and supervision of Training

 Educational Resources support
 DIET as a research centre
 MiscellaneouS

The main reasons for this kind of categories of functions of DIET are as follows:

 As Teacher Education is a continuous process it cannot be classified as pre-service and in-

service.
 If DIETs are fully equipped with both human and material resources the quality of education at
district level can be raised.
 If appropriate facilities are available in the DIETs to train adult eduction workers and elementary
school teachers UEE can be achieved.
 DIET will integrate both formal and informal agency of elementary education so as to ascertain
and ensure equal level or standard,
 DIET will also coordinate its functions with the functions of other district level departments who
have active role for the cause of elementary education in terms of monitoring.
 DIETs also have to perform evaluation, liaison with the higher authorities, formulate plans and
related primary education to secondary education.

The major functions of DIET’s arc pre-service education at primary level. In-service education to primary)
teachers and non-formal and adult education functionaries. resource support to primary schools and
adult education centres and action research in the area of Primary Education and Adult Education.

Role and functions of CTE (College of Teacher’s Education): College of Teacher’s Education not only
expand the quantity and quality of secondary school teachers but also reinvent themselves to
proactively integrate with the larger state teacher education system.
 Discussions regarding improvement in teacher quality and teacher education are now widening
to include not just elementary but secondary education as well. The recently initiated RMSA stresses the
need to improve the access and quality of secondary education across the country. The efforts towards
improving the elementary (primary and upper primary) teachers’ capacity building processes have
highlighted the fact that similar efforts have not been possible for secondary and senior secondary
teacher education and are urgently required.

The RMSA proposes an organized attempt towards building capacity of teachers in secondary
and senior secondary schools. In this context the role of Colleges of Teacher Education (CTEs) becomes
crucial especially over the next 5 years. It is envisioned that CTEs play the major role in the field of
secondary teacher education and development, also guiding the various secondary teacher education
institutions in the districts under them. They have to see themselves as centres for developing
excellence in secondary teacher education and in secondary classrooms at school.Given the extent of
their role and its nature, it is critical that CTEs involve a wide set of capable and committed institutions
as well as individuals in this process.

CTE Roles and Functions: Discussions regarding improvement in teacher quality and teacher education
are now widening to include not just elementary but secondary education as well. The recently initiated
RMSA stresses the need to improve the access and quality of secondary education across the country.
The efforts towards improving the elementary teachers’ capacity building processes have highlighted
the fact that similar efforts have not taken place for secondary and senior secondary teacher education
and are urgently required. The DSERT, Education Department proposes an organized attempt towards
building capacity of teachers in secondary schools. In this, context the role of Colleges of Teacher
Education (CTEs) becomes crucial, especially over the next 5 years.

 It is envisioned that CTEs play the major role in the field of secondary teacher education and
development, also guiding the various secondary teacher education institutions in the districts
under them.
 They have to see themselves as Centre’s for developing excellence in secondary teacher education
and in secondary classrooms at school.
 The CTEs, in order to improve the quality of secondary education, shall conduct training need
analysis and base line surveys for organizing training programs.
 They shall prepare context specific teacher handbooks and training modules for quality training.
 They shall also undertake the impact studies to study the effect of training programs on classroom
processes and learning outcomes.
 They shall prepare implementation guidelines for conducting plan activities including training and
projects for ensuring optimum utilization of funds with financial accountability.
 They should design a training program that is open-ended, leaving more scope for thetrainee for
self-learning and to equip himself/herself to meet the challenging needs and demands of the
profession.

Another point to be examined is whether it is possible and desirable to have an omnibus type of
teacher training which would equip the teacher at different levels. A program of teacher preparation
derives its theoretical sustenance from a basic philosophy of education, the historical, sociological forces
shaping education and psychological view-points on how human beings learn. The philosophical and
sociological considerations have already been referred to before. What remains to be done is a
consideration of the different theoretical stances of psychology regarding the understanding of human
behavior and its modification especially as they influence teacher education practices.

Role and functions of IASE (Institutes of Advanced Studies in Education): The creation of Institutes of
Advanced Studies in Education (IASEs) came about as a result of the National Policy on Education (NPE)
1986 which states that teacher Education is a continuous process and its pre-service and in-service
components are in-separable. As a first step, the system of Teacher Education needs to be overhauled.
This led to a centrally sponsored scheme and as part of the proposal, it was suggested that about 250
existing Secondary Teacher Education Institutes (STEIs) of an adequate standard and good reputation be
financially assisted, on a project basis, to competently discharge their envisaged role. It was also
recommended that 50 of these would be designated as Institutes of Advanced

Studies (IASEs) as they had an additional mandate of developing into centres of excellence and
research, while the other upgraded STEIs would be called Colleges of Teacher education (CTEs). The
focus of these new structures was to be on secondary education as far as teacher preparation was
concerned. Their work in the area of elementary education was limited and mostly concerned with
preparation of teacher educators.

There are 31 IASEs at present in the country but these have not been set up uniformly and none
of the union territories and a few of the states (Goa, Chattisgarh, Himachal Pradesh, Jammu Kashmir to
name a few) do not have IASEs (NCERT Report Aug. 2009).The vision of IASE should be to improve the
quality of teacher education at the secondary, elementary and primary level. They have to see
themselves as the centres for developing excellence in secondary teacher education and involving a
wide set of capable and committed institutions as well as individuals in this process.

IASE Roles and Functions :

 organize pre-service Teacher Education Courses;

 organize subject-oriented & theme-specific in-service programmes;
 Provide extension & resource support to schools, school complexes and individual teachers;
 Organize pre-service Teacher Education Courses;
 Organize subject-oriented & theme-specific in-service programmes;
 Provide extension & resource support to schools, school complexes and individual teachers;
 Conduct experimentation and innovation in school education ;
 Provide training and resource support for the new areas of educational concern;
 Provide support to professional bodies;
 Encourage community participation in teacher preparation programmes;
 Conduct programmes in elementary teacher-education;
 Conduct regular M.Ed., M.Phil. and Ph.D. programmes;
 Conduct in-service courses for teacher-educators, principals, etc;
 Conduct advanced level fundamental & applied research;
 Conduct training programmes for preparation of non-print software and use of ICT;
 Provide academic guidance to DIETs & resource support to CTEs;
 Monitor & provide academic support to Schools for Excellence;