Professionalism In Teacher Education

                      PROFESSIONALISM IN TEACHER EDUCATION  

The teaching profession has been under increasing pressure since the turn of the century. This pressure on teachers is from many fronts viz.

·        Paradox of teaching to standardized tests juxtaposed with teaching for understanding.

·        Constraints on time and resources in self-managed schools where there is expectation of teacher as leader.

·        Introduction of Information Technology raises expectation that teachers have the skills and knowledge to prepare students for a technology oriented society.

·        Expectation of inclusiveness in the classroom despite inadequate physical and emotional support system.

·        Expectation to improve professionalism through collaborative and continuous professional development.

Teachers are under considerable stress to maintain a personal and professional balance despite above pressures imposed on them. A question arises as to how these stresses be eased so that teachers continue to strive to improve teaching, learning and excellence for their students?

For teachers to be de-stressed and to deliver their best a change is necessary. Teacher professionalism and autonomy need to be respected and voiced. A method of achieving this grass-roots potential for change and improved professionalism is through professional development.

Professional development can be defined as any professional growth opportunity in which teachers develop their craft, help shape school practice, and build learning communities (Way, 2001). Teacher development is the building of skills, practice, and knowledge that will enhance a classroom, a school, or a community. Professional development is centered around the following: enhancement of teachers’ content and pedagogic knowledge, attainment of higher-order thinking skills within a subject, use of sufficient time and resources that are carefully structured and purposefully directed, promotion of collegiality and collaboration, building of leadership capacity, and meeting of teachers’ identified need.A potential model for professional development lies in Action Research. Action research is a growing field of educational research with the aim of using disciplined inquiry to improve educational practice (Calhoun, 1993).  Kemmis & McTaggart (2000) have developed a succinct definition that is most applicable to the context of education:

"Action research is a learning process, the fruits of which are the real and material changes in (a) what people do, (b) how they interact with the world and with others, (c) what they mean and what they value, and (d) the discourses in which they understand and interpret their world."

Action research is a form of reflective practice that is well known and often second nature to teachers (Johnston, 1994) but with the addition of a strong emphasis on collaboration and dissemination of found knowledge.

Classroom action research addresses the individual teacher in the context of improving teaching and learning within the classroom. Participatory action research addresses the need for a system or school concern for transformational change.

Classroom and participatory action research are very suitable to school situations because of their

• Democratic methodology
• Respect for individuals
• Inclusiveness
• Openness to diversity of perspective
• Flexibility of approach
• The fostering of grounded knowledge for changing practice (Watt, 1997).

Where these opportunities are facilitated in a community with a shared vision, action research can be a successful tool for professional development. That shared vision, through collaborative discussion, needs to be focused on improving teaching and learning for students (Fullan & Hargreaves, 1991; Johnson, 1993). That shared vision may also include a focus on improving professionalism ach 

(Calhoun, 1993; Johnson, 1993). Calhoun (1993) states that there are five elements that need to be considered before implementing an action research project :

• Purpose and process
• External support
• Types of data to be obtained
• Audience for the research
• Expected outcomes.

Through this framework of inquiry, data collection, reflection and action, improvements can be made in the complex classroom situation and to the professional culture of the school (Gabel, 1995; Johnson, 1993).

                                                                                                          SANJANA KANOTRA

PROFESSIONALIZATION OF TEACHERS

In India, education has always been viewed as a moral venture and teaching has been valued for its transformative impact on learner as it transforms the learner as well as the teacher in a deep and abiding manner. National Policy on Education 1986 emphasize: “The status of the teacher reflects the socio-cultural ethos of the society; it is said that no people can rise above the level of its teachers”. It is teacher’s responsibility to educate the youth and prepare them for successful and productive future. With this important job on their shoulders, comes an obligation to maintain the professional integrity. Gone are the days when teaching learning process was teacher centered. In this digital age, besides teaching, they are often required to take up expanded roles and responsibilities related to school management, curriculum planning and development, staff development, school-based action projects and working on matters related with parents and other professionals.

Due to these changes in our knowledge based society it has become the need of an hour to reform teacher education and infuse professional ethics in our pupil teachers so that they can take up their new role and meet the challenges and expectations raised from our education reforms. In present times, teacher professionalism has come up with relevant significance in education as it affects the role of the teacher and his or her pedagogy, which in return affects the student’s ability to learn effectively. 

Professionalism

“Professionalism: It's not the job you do; it's how you do the job." Teachers are charged with an important job. It is their responsibility to educate the youth and prepare them for successful and productive future. With this important job comes an obligation to maintain professional integrity. Teachers need to ensure that all interactions with students, parents and colleagues are above broad and professional. This ensures that the educator stands as a good role model for the young and impressionable pupils that they are responsible for shaping.

It is the ability to reach to the students in a meaningful way, developing innovative approaches to mandated content while motivating, engaging, and inspiring young adult minds to prepare for ever-advancing technology

What is professionalism to teachers?

1.         Conduct

First and foremost, a teacher is a role model. A teacher must model proper manners, dress, behavior and ethics at all times

2.         Commitment to Quality

A teacher is never satisfied with an "average" performance. She must research and plan each lesson fully to give the students the best lesson possible.

3.         Commitment to Learning

A teacher's education does not stop with his degree. He must continually be aware of best practices in his field, including new teaching methods and materials. This usually involves post-graduate work and frequent teacher workshops.

4.        Commitment to Students

A professional teacher will always get to know about her students. She will listen to students' problems, questions, and concerns and treat every student with respect.

5.         A Positive Attitude

Even though teachers are often frustrated, overworked and under-paid, they must remember that they chose their profession because they love their students and their content area. A school is no place for complaints and negativity.

6.         Communication skill

Maintaining quality communication with all the parties involved in education: students, fellow teachers, school board, administration, and parents is an important task of teacher.  It is through energetic communication by a teacher that initiates understanding. A professional teacher desires to locate effective communicative skills to achieve preferred educational goals

7.             Proper preparation

 When the teacher enters the classroom s/he should have all the required materials and the lesson plan ready. A teacher who is well prepared will be able to overcome the difficulties/ challenges of classroom for difficulties will be able to overcome them.

8.             Good content knowledge

A teacher with a strong knowledge of his/her subject area has the opportunity to concern themselves with preparing innovative techniques to teach material rather than spending significant amounts of time studying the material.  With the advantage of knowing one’s curriculum material well, the educator has more confidence in their teachings, having already placed significant thought on the material being taught.  Thus, a professional is able to dwell on how to relate subject matter to the students.

9.              Performance

Performance is the ability to effectively teach the concepts of a curriculum. Having knowledge is one thing and able to deliver that knowledge effectively to student is another.

10.       Reflective thinking

A teacher must keep learning and apdating new skills. This only can come from being reflective in the practice. "Reflection on action leads to identification of processes, experiences, and understandings that can then be used in future lessons" (Featherston, 2007). "Effective teachers know how to coordinate diverse array of instructional elements (such as planning, lesson design, time management, classroom management, instructional methods, student motivation, and assessment techniques) and adapt them to differences in student needs, materials and purposes (Snowman et. al, 2009).

11.           Role of change agent

The expectations of the school system from a teacher change from time to time, responding to the broader social, economic and political changes taking place in the society. Therefore teacher has to play the role of change agents responding to the social and educational changes around them.

Need of the hour

Teachers need to be creators of knowledge and thinking professionals. They need to be empowered to recognize and value what children learn from their home, social and cultural environment and to create opportunities for children to discover, learn and develop. Due emphasis should be given to develop more reflective teachers with positive attitudes, values and perspective, along with skills for the craft of teaching. Hence in the current scenario there is a need for creating teachers who can ensure quality education with professional perfection.

PROFESSIONALISM IN TEACHER EDUCATION

PROFESSIONALISM IN TEACHER EDUCATION
Teacher professionalism has relevant significance in education in that it affects the role of the teacher and his or her pedagogy, which in return affects the student’s ability to learn effectively. It can be defined as the ability to reach students in a meaningful way, developing innovative approaches to mandated content while motivating, engaging, and inspiring young adult minds to prepare for ever-advancing technology.

However, this definition does little to exemplify precisely how a professional teacher carries himself or herself. Due to the growing autonomy being given to educators, professionalism remains one of the most influential attributes of education today. Teacher professionalism contains three essential characteristics, competence, performance, and conduct, which reflect the educator’s goals, abilities, and standards, and directly impact the effectiveness of teaching through the development of these qualities.

The four key points need to be focused to improve teaching profession :
1. There is a need to recognize teachers’ work as complex and demanding.
An improvement in teacher quality requires a re-conceptualization of initial teacher
education.
A re-conceptualization of initial teacher education is best based on a redefined
professionalism.
Redefined professionalism recognizes the intellectual dimension, a balance of autonomy,
control and responsibility, reflexivity, heteronomy and continuous learning as critical
attributes that define the 21st century teacher’s work

2. Innovative pathways in recruitment and continual innovation in teacher preparation
programmes are required.
Teacher preparation programmes need to broaden their entry requirements to diversify the
teaching corps and better represent diverse student populations.
Teacher preparation programmes require innovative recruitment pathways that allow entry
for “non-traditional” candidates.
Teacher preparation programmes require continual innovation to respond to changing needs.

3. Teacher education is enhanced by comprehensive teacher induction that fosters lifelong
learning.
Induction is a vital part in the formation of teacher professionalism and identity.
Induction is most effective when seen as a comprehensive system beyond just support and
assistance for beginning teachers.
Teacher education institutions need to prepare a comprehensive curriculum for beginning
teacher induction.
Effective professional development strategies seek the active involvement of teachers and are
largely school-based, developmental in nature and ongoing.

4. New designs for teacher education will need to rest on strong partnerships with key
stakeholders.
The best conditions for successful partnerships in teacher education occur when faculties of
education maintain close ties with schools, thus deeply engaging other faculties in the
university as well as strengthening community linkages in teacher preparation.
Principles and strategies must be put in place to ensure productive and successful
partnerships in teacher preparation.
- Chhabi Mohan

INCLUDING MORAL DIMENSIONS FOR TEACHING PROFESSION

From the times of gurukuls to the present day modern schools , society has undergone tremendous , be it in the form of lifestyle and standards or values and morals .

In the yester years the guru was responsible for the complete development of his ‘shishya’ – academic, physical, moral and spiritual. This was a glorious tradition of our ancient education system and culture the emphasis was to develop a total human by inculcating the fundamental human values, in addition to teaching the curriculum, so that the student can face the challenges of practical life and become a worthy citizen.

The value which was highly cherished by ancient educationists was a high and noble character. It was held that intellectual attainments alone were of less consequence than the development of proper moral sentiments. Students were urged to exert themselves in developing a spirit of self-sacrificing asceticism and self-concentration in pursuit of higher knowledge . This was done mainly by leading through example . The teachers lived a life with all those values and virtues which the society wished to inculcate in learners.

Over the centuries the concept of education has changed , as change is the only permanent thing in life --- As Alfred Tennyson has beautifully summed it up in one of his works as ---

“ Old order changeth , yielding place to new …

Lest one good thing should corrupt the world ”

And , hence , the gurukuls gave way to day schools which have stayed ever since .

The change has been gradual but drastic, till about a few decades ago the teacher was mainly responsible for working on the academic proficiency of the student and also for inculcating discipline and regularity in them .

Moral and ethical development happened inadvertently as we lived in a society which was value oriented. Good virtues and concepts were absorbed by the child from his social environment. No extra effort had to be made to instill these into a growing child .

But as we have discussed that change is the essence of life …societies all over the world or globally – to turn it in todays ethos – have undergone radical , scientific and technological development at an amazing speed . Today we observe a tilt towards materialism. Each person is striving for a higher position, individual success , personal satisfaction and monetary gains. In this rat race hardly anyone observes the impact of this self-centred approach on society as a whole .

In the preceding century we have been bestowed with many valuable gifts . Barriers in advancement of science and technology have been broken . There are no boundaries for progress and prosperity . But it is all materialistic . Values and ethics have not been able to keep pace and have remained the neglected aspect of development in recent years .

It is such a big irony that in our land of Gods , Sages , Saint and Scholars , the spirituality has been the biggest casualty . Evidently there is a crises of – Character , Credibility and value based Competence .But for every problem there is always a solution. The solution to the problems encountered by our society , we can say , lies largely in the hands of teachers . Committed teachers, the gurus, as they have been known to us from ancient times , if they realize and assume the responsibility as they have done in the past , they can transform and shape the coming generation into creative and worthy citizens .

It is at this point in time that the teacher can perhaps be the only effective tool to try and bring about any change in the society.

The primary responsibility of creating a conducive environment is of the teacher who directly comes into contact with students and translates the curriculum into action.

The Mudaliar Commission (of 1953) emphasized that the school teachers can be infused with a high sense of their destiny only when they are engaged in the making of better human beings and creating a better social order and not merely teaching a dull prescribed syllabus.

The question that now arises is as to how these values can be inculcated in the teachers themselves and how they can be stimulated to observe them in their personal and professional life as a part of their daily behaviour. The task is a very difficult one considering the general deterioration in our society.

· Firstly : trainee teachers should be groomed in institutional setting and climate which should facilitate orientation and practice of these values and weigh these values as important ingredients of the entire teacher preparation programme and of the teaching learning process. This way many qualities of character would be imbibed by the future teachers in the course of their training.

· Secondly : the climate of the institution where teachers would be performing their professional duties would need to be such as allows them autonomy in decision making and freedom of action. Values of democracy practiced by the authorities is likely to create a better and more conducive environment for teachers to follow the values listed earlier and present themselves as a role model for their students.

· Thirdly : some socio-economic factors associated with the profession and the morale of the teachers will also determine the extent to which they will be able to observe various values in their professional disposition and play their part as models of good behaviour and character.The economic rewards or remuneration and other benefits made available to them and facilities given to them to discharge their professional responsibilities, will contribute in motivating them to adhere to the values and norms of moral behaviour. This will bring about job satisfaction in a teacher.

· Fourthly : the most important thing is sustaining teacher’s motivation in order to ensure that teachers remain enthusiastic, passionate and dedicated to their taskRealistically speaking, they are also one amongst us, living and facing the same social conditions and problems as all of us encounter in our day to day life. Amongst other things if a teacher suffers from disillutionment, despair and detachment due to lack of recognition and reward for their hardwork, enthusiasm and educational accomplishments, then it is upon the administration to deal with them carefully so that their physical, intellectual, social, emotional and spiritual aspects of personality are saved from getting affected and burnt-out.

Teachers are the most vital and appropriate person in the entire setting of formal education, it is extremely necessary to ensure that they good character which is visible through their just behaviour and other personal attributes. To become a source of inspiration for the students, in helping them become good human beings men of character, their behaviour as teachers and law abiding citizens is all too important.

It is in the interest of both value inculcaion and effective classroom teaching that the teachers should lead an exemplary personal and professional life. This way the values such as righteousness, honour, dignity, self-control, humility and gratitude can all be imparted to the student as a continuous process without marking out a time slot for moral education.

There is no replacement for the essence of values. It is essential that the students acquire knowledge anduderstanding of the facts with a sense of respect to the value. One must be morally good to become a harmoniously developed individual.

Swami Vivekananda says:

“Real education is that which enables one to stand on his own legs. Education that you are receiving in only to make you participate in the race of life, but real winning is when have the education for life building, man making, character building. What the world wants is character. The world is in need for those whose life is in one with burning love and selflessness.”

An ideal education not only empowers the students with tools essential for the survival in the competitive world of today but also aims at achieving the development of character. And ideal teacher is the one who has a vision and capacity to impart learning and putting into use the means for the purpose of achieving creative ends.

The onus on the teacher is immense, but being in a position where they are looked upon as a friend, philosopher and guide, sometimes even as a role model, the teacher has the enviable opportunity to actually try and make a difference by motivating the students effectively towards building strength of character. By doing so they will not only contribute towards the development of better individuals, he/she will perhaps weave a path for reinventing the domain of ethics and morals. Thus contributing in making a better India for tomorrow.

Reflective Practices

The article has enable me to introspect my teaching learning process.Reflective practice have enlightened me to improve my teaching.

Reflective Teaching:Exploring our own classroom practice

ma'am your blog is providing valuable information about reflective teaching which is very useful for teachers and teacher educators. Reflective teaching is a cyclic process, because once we start to implement changes, then the reflective and evaluative cycle begins again.

What am I doing? ----Why am I doing it?------How effective is it?-----How are the students responding?---------How can I do it better?

As a result of reflection a teacher may decide to do something in a different and more productive way. Unfortunately we seldom reflect on ourselves. I would like to introduce few simple questions every teacher should ask after completing a lesson:

1-Can I state one thing that the students took back with them after my lesson?

2-Can I state one thing that I wanted to do but was not able to it because any reason?

3-Can I state one thing that I should not have done in this lesson?

4-Can I state one thing that I achieved 90/90 criterion.

5-Can I state one thing that I think I did well?

Answer to these questions will enable the teacher to do better in the future.

Sukirti Goel

Reflective practices by a teacher

Concept of Reflective practice

Reflection is an evaluation process to help verify if current practice is effective and if not, how to adapt and modify it.

It “undergrids the entire pedagogy of portfolios”. Dialogue and discussion are the undercurrents that keep reflection afloat. If reflection does not encourage a dialogue that includes reasoning and judgment about knowledge, it is unlikely to lead to in-depth learning.

Reflection is a form of mental processing – like a form of thinking – that is used to fulfill a purpose or to achieve some anticipated outcome. It is applied to relatively complicated or unstructured ideas for which there is not an obvious solution and is largely based on the further processing of knowledge and understanding, as well as on emotions that already exist.

A teacher may construct her portfolio based on the reflective practices and outcomes of a successful educational programme.

Reflection: Meaning

When we use the word 'reflection' we usually want to describe a process of thought that is active and careful. It is an activity in which people 'recapture experience' and evaluate it. It involves three aspects:

• Returning to experience - that is to say recalling or detailing salient events.

• Connecting with feelings - this has two aspects: using helpful feelings and removing or containing obstructive ones.

• Evaluating experience - this involves re-examining experience in the light of one's aims and knowledge. It also entails integrating this new knowledge into one's conceptual framework.

There are two types of reflection:

• Reflection on action: This type of reflection is at a distance from the actual events that required reflection. It is situated on an abstract level, it can be generalized, and it is possible to express the reflection. This type of reflection involves descriptions, analysis and evaluation of occurred events, decisions made etc. Therefore reflection on action gives the reflective individual an opportunity to get wiser.

• Reflection in action: This type of reflection is tied to the context in which an event occurs. The reflection is often very tangible and have a tendency to appear as implicit knowledge/tacit knowledge.

Reflective practices Mean to create learning environments that are open, collaborative and support learning

Art of effective reflection

Reflective thinking is directly proportional to effective teaching. A daily diary or notes along with the daily planner should be incprporated as a practice as esssential as writing notes or comments after a class.

The art of effective teaching draws heavily on the skill of critically reflective thinking.

For the effective teacher, each instructional opportunity and each interaction with learners serves as a tool for continuous improvement as the teacher reviews, evaluates and enriches his/her understanding of the experience for future performance.

The teacher is repsonsible to create a reflective student. Learning from experience is one of the easiest and most effective ways to achieve this purpose. Teachers can require that students keep journals or publicly discuss different events such as meetings, projects or even personal relationships. Teachers must take into consideration the different learning styles of their students, as well as their different interests and needs.

Description

A well developed description provides basic information about the activity or experience by answering the following questions:

• What was the setting in which the lesson was taught and who were the students?

• When was the lesson taught?

• What philosophy or research base guided your decisions in preparing the lesson?

• What were the intended learning outcomes of the lesson?

Questions to answer through Reflection
 A well-developed teacher reflection will answer questions such as:

• What were the intended learning outcomes?
• What were the essential strengths and weaknesses?
• What specifically might have been changed to improve the learning outcomes?
• What were the unintended and unanticipated learning outcomes?
• What specifically was learned as a result of developing, planning and teaching?
• What factors negatively or positively affected the success of the programme?

Principles

There are few key principles for effecive reflection:

1. Outcomes must be specified precisely. If outcomes are specified too broadly it may be difficult to devise appropriate reflection activities and to develop appropriate assessment techniques.

2. Before designing reflection, teachers must select appropriate reflective activities and consider the question: How can reflection be used to enhance a particular outcome? Activities may be self appraisal, discussion, action research based or peer assessment.

3. Finally, teachers must consider how the outcomes will be assessed.

Discussion:
Now as teachers and teacher educators are we indulging in such practices or not? We need to delve into the indepth analysis of the practice and make it more user friendly and collaborative in approach.  We may use the e-mails for this purpose and interact to share experiences which I think will form the major premise of a reflective practice and self assessment assessment.  

Reflective teachers with positive attitudes: Need of the hour, reiterated in NCF for Teacher Education, 2010

Professionalization in Teacher Education

Teaching profession from times imemorial has been a profession of great dignity and responsibility. There are various personality dimensions of critical importance that need to be developed in the teachers. Since they are concerned with the complete development- physical, intellectual, emotional, social, moral and spiritual of human beings, their training has to be of prime significance with respect to not only the curricular aspect but also from  pedagogical standpoint.

This need is to be dealt at the teacher education level consistently, at both the pre-service and the in-service levels. The latter aspect is more essential to be reflected upon because we need evolving and learning professionals in the form of teachers who are adept with the latest 21st century skills and knowledge. The NCF-Teacher Education 2010 has focussed on this issue of 'Professionalization of Teacher Education' very articulatively.  

Kindly visit the following URL to read the complete document on National Curriculum Framework for Teacher Education-2010, published by the NCTE.

http://www.ncte-india.org/publicnotice/NCFTE_2010.pdf