Introduction
Curriculum is an important aspect and it should be dynamic. Curriculum in the ancient system is so simple because the existing knowledge is limited. Cunningham defined Curriculum as is a tool, in the hands of artists to mould his material according to his ideal in his studio.
The curriculum of a school, or a course or a classroom can be conceived of as a series of planned events that are intended to have educational consequences for one or more students.” Elliot Eisner (1985)
“Curriculum development is a process where by the choices of designing a learning experience for students are made and then activated through a set of coordinated activities”. Wiles and Bondi (1998)
With the above quotes indicates that curriculum development is a scientific process to enhance the quality of the programme at any stage of education. In the entire existing education system, no programme other than teacher education contains this as a topic to teach and learn. We are implementing, training and developing the curriculum.
Unfortunately this teacher education failed to develop a suitable curriculum for them self for the last 150 years in their history. Any curriculum implementation depends upon the availability of physical resources, human resources and the learner’s talents to utilise these resources in the process. The impact of the curriculum can be estimated by evaluating the desired developments in the learners.
All the teacher education institutions are teaching ‘system approach’ in educational technology as a newly evolved approach and effective approach. But it is not visible in the draft of curriculum framework for teacher education-2006 even though it is visible in the chapters organised in it.
Curriculum frame work for teacher education-2006 analysis
The present frame work was developed by NCERT with the collaboration of NCET to meet the needs of the present teacher education institutes and kept in their websites for suggestions last month. This frame work contains seven chapters as follows:
Context, concerns and challenges of teacher education
Teacher education curriculum: systemic concerns and current status
Vision of teacher education
Framework for curricular areas of pre-services teacher education
Evaluating the developing teacher: issues, concerns and alternative framework
In-service education and continuous professional development of teachers
Systemic reform in teacher education
Content, concern and challenges of teacher education
Here there is a major focus on the recommendations given by different commissions (Kothari commission, 1964-66, Chattopadhyaya committee-1985, national pocicy-1986, Acharya Ramamurthy committee-1990 Yashpal committee-1993 and national curriculum frame wrok-2005) in the past and present to get a picture on the present challenges in the 21st century. I got a doubt that it is a draft for teachers are for teacher education institutions. The challenges faced by teacher educational institutions are not completely given priority.
Only one research finding is cited to support their views in this chapter but it is also related to the increasing number of private schools only. Teacher education system is producing vast amount of research work. As it is rightly cited in ‘the fourth survey of education’ that the present century will produce more than one research repot. Every month University News are publishing more than ten research thesis to communicate the researches for the system of education.
Real problems/challenges are not focused in this chapter to be considered as we followed system approach. Curriculum implementation depends on the quality material and comprehensiveness of the curriculum. Well trained committed teachers are able to achieve the objectives of education and our system is able to produce world best engineering and science graduates for the world. There is a drastic difference between trained teachers and the untrained teachers and the learners are accepting that fact that there exists change with in us with the training. With my six years experience I accept that they require some more inputs to become competent in their profession. Proper identification of inputs and development in transaction is the need of the hour.
Teacher education curriculum: systemic concerns and current status
The first step in curriculum development is to argue the present status of the present curriculum. The draft identified cretin assumptions in the existing system but majority of these assumptions are their own assumptions.
For reference the second assumption is on language proficiency of the learner. They are poor in their communication but in reality all the graduates are good communicators because of media in the society. They are poor in stage communication, because majority is far form co-curricular activities in the present school system. In our ICFAI university curriculum we devote 30% of time in a week for the improvement of their stage communication soft skills are also a par to our curriculum. In the state of Andhra Pradesh, communication skill is already introduced in the curriculum of teacher education to enhance the English skills. I am not completely aware about the remaining states in our country.
There is a comment on link between the school curriculum, society and teacher education. As a teacher education I never taught that the learners to copy in the text book are read from the text book. But after training they are handling six to eight hours in a day. He is also human being to think about the social responsibilities as a person in the society. If he wants to implement the teaching strategies for 500 students in a day, required supporting staffs like nurses and technicians as doctors are utilizing the resources to serve more. With out changing the structure it is impossible to implant modern pedagogical techniques. Even though the new teacher wants to implant the learned strategies, the seniors will de-motivate them. Is it possible to develop without motivation? Teaching is the only profession functioning without change in its process in the world from the seventh century.
In this chapter of the draft they used the age old comment on teaching by British period as a fresh research finding on the present system. In my state teacher education is a first resort for the graduates in rural areas. They are ready to quit their post graduation courses in the university departments to join in teacher education courses. More than 200000 are appearing for B.Ed test, more than 50000 are for D.Ed test and more than 25000 are for M.Ed to enter into the career in education. It is my personal experience that in 1996 all the S.K university top rankers are from IASE, Kurnool and they are working as school teachers. It is absolutely wrong concept in the mind of draft writers.
People from high socio economic status are not still attracted towards this profession. It is an observable fact that the learners of engineering, business and medicine are learning with laptops and the teachers are still learning with 7th century innovation. How can one get drastic changes with old or traditional technology?
If we are able to increase the economic status of the teachers as real professionals then it is not a big issue to attract like retail business is attracting in the present day. The demand for competent teachers is in increasing mode. International players are searching for quality teachers with attractive packages. The son of British primenister is also taking shadow education form Indian teachers. The IT boom proved our ability to the world. The day will come; total world will depend on Indian teachers because of their strength.
There is a need to restructure the system with academic education. Majority of the B.Com graduates are in quest of teaching profession by getting bored their opted area. There is no specific school subject for them as their acquired knowledge is a part in the present broad field approach. They are not suitable neither mathematics nor social studies but they are also graduates. The merge of general mathematics with composite mathematics in 80’s created this problem. NCTE website indicates that there is only one institute India to train them in their subject. Like this there are so many problems will come out from the minds of teacher educators.
There is a need for merging different programmes of teacher education to strengthen institute. The Study Team appointed by the Planning Commission under the Chairmanship of Shri B.N. Jha (1961) recommended ‘Large-sized institutions are found in some of the advanced countries and we have examined the advantages of such institutions which showed that an academic atmosphere could be established in the campus of such an institution without difficulty. A small training school or college may be educationally ineffective and costly.’
Only the preparation of six academic subjects is going on in the institutions and the not examination subjects like drawing, scout, craft and music teachers are prepared in a separate institutes. Pre-primary, elementary and secondary education is again separated from each other in the majority of the institutions. They should be merged into the same campus to give comprehensiveness to the education departments. This will encourage the managements to provide more employment and support the staff to give more services to the country.
The shift from test book to desk book created a gap between urban society and school. NCERT introduced compute education to fill the gap and taken up the project computer literacy and studies in schools (CLASS). Here also system approach is missed in the advancement. We are not focusing in this context to prepare a new teacher or to merge language with this modern subject to uplift the language teachers. Blindly our administrators had taken policy to appoint computer professional to deal with the subjects by neglecting the fact that they too need teacher education to deal with the children’s.
Vision of teacher education
The copied vision from 1964 policy is visible here. Till today India and Pakistan are walking in the same broad lines shown by British system to prepare their teachers. There may be very minor differences within the system of teacher education.
The focus of constructing knowledge and shift from pedagogical approach to andragogical approach is really valuable suggestions in this draft. The shift from instruction to indoctrination is the need of the hour to the colleges of education.
I never understand the concept of time factor from the beginning. There is a much force from the leaders of teacher education on this context but managements are apposing this decision with practical problems in running the institution. Except us every field wants to decrease the time to save the valuable time of the consumers by increasing the services. You can see the transport, communication and banking as the best examples in the society to learn form the society. A study conducted by me reveled that 80% are studying only guides not the reference books and spending only last three months to get first class in their graduation. In this context if want to increase the time to consume it is a foolish suggestion for any field. The average speed of the reader is measured as 200 words per minuets in English language, by this one can read more than 100 books in an academic year. I am doubt that a student of college of education is studying more than hundred books. Why to increase time?
One more research finding used in this draft is that the best practices of school teaching are curriculum development have actually emerged from a series of innovations initiated by NGO’s. This is an observable fact in the field of education NGO’s are contributing more with the collaboration of government. One should promote the private players to take part in the teacher education but the present NCTE actions are opposite in this dimension. One should come out from giving permissions as in autocratic system to promote the system as a nature of modern democracy for progress. There is no new vision in this part of the draft document to give directions for objectives to achieve them.
Framework for curricular areas of pre-services teacher education
Usually by selecting objectives only one will move to the next step to of selection of curriculum areas in systems approach. It may be my minimum language skills; I failed to find out the newly formed objectives in the draft. The heavy words like creativity and innovation in mission statement seems to be attractive but one needs life time hard work to achieve them is known fact every body.
Lack of clarity in the vision is visible in the selection of curricular areas also. All the areas suggested by the new draft are old and waiting for resources to implement properly.
1. Childhood, child development and learning
2. Teacher and learner in society
3. aims of educating: children and adult
4. Knowledge and curriculum: reconstructing disciplinary knowledge
5. Developing the self and one’s aspirations as a teacher
6. Human rights and rights of the child
7 adolescence education and environmental education
8. teacher-child engagement: pedagogic theory and school internship
All these concepts are there from the beginning of teacher education with different nomenclature. They required modification to meet the needs of the present day teachers. By introducing these concepts merely one cannot attain the objectives of creativity and innovation. Training in creativity and teaching creatively are different aspects. They are to be seen differently by the draft workers by focusing the literature in creativity. The chapters in our educational research surveys give clear vision in this to integrate these prioritized aspects. ICFAI is practicing in our curriculum to enhance the creativity. Curriculum development is fruitful only when you are able to implement it. But the availability of human resources is also one of the gray areas to implement the wisely developed curriculum.
Establishing teacher learning centers is also suggested by the draft to implement the curriculum. They want to convert the teacher education institutes in to them are as a part of the college is not clear to me.
Evaluating the developing teacher: issues, concerns and alternative framework
Evaluation is mostly criticized in the system of education form the period of secondary education commission (1952). Similar way as curriculum here also we will teach about evaluation and use evaluation as part of our curriculum. Here the draft again commented the present practices. The missed concentration on the development of psychological tools is the major cause for the existing defects in the evaluation procedures. Age old statistical methods are dominating the education system.
The draft questioned as worth asking question: what does it mean if a trainee obtains seventy percent in practice teaching, or if two trainees obtain the same percentage? Here it is an interval scale and it is not possible to add are subtraction is not possible.
Our curricular workers focused on records to implement project and heuristic methods in the past. By missing the validity of the record system the records are visible as rituals of evaluation. It is not possible by shifting andragogical and scientific methods to decrease the existing records.
Prospective Teacher is spending more time in decorating the records. Decoration is also one way of communication in the 21st century and we are advocating the same in teaching materials preparation. By lacking originality in spending decoration will never help a learner to develop himself. Both are important and to decorate the things one can depend on helpers if it is a time waste process.
There is a need to work all in the development of tools for introspection of the system and internal use of the system. If one wants to produce quality research he requires relevant tools to measurement. If they are not available then the massive research work of any researcher in applied field will be not for use but to produce PhD. By collective work only it is possible to overcome the demerits in evaluation system. I too agree that the requirement of shift form quantitative to qualitative assessment is the need of the hour as indicated by the draft by citing one more research.
The innovation of the right evaluation system is the urgent need to get acceptance of the society. Society is not accepting our evaluation patterns and higher education system is not completely depending on the teacher’s ratings. The computerized diagnostic methods of doctors increased work culture in the modern ear. In the same way I hope we will get way for us.
In-service education and continuous professional development of teachers
From the beginning the objectives of in-service programme are eye-catching like a glowing apple but the means and ends of it are sour. Here also this chapter had given objectives, programmes and methods to organise in-service. But first one should be discussed clearly.
How many new methods are developed by us is present in the reference books of teacher education?
There is no single method evolved by Indian educational leaders to be named by us except Madras System or monitor system by our past culture. If a company wants to adopt new soft ware and they require in-service training. In our literature of education there are citations that the research worker developed new curriculum in chemistry etc, but they are remained in bounded books only. They will never shift if we follow the present practices in developing curriculum. The research in 1966 reveled that the significant difference in the attitude of the teachers towards education with increasing number of activities attended. Now majority of the teacher are upgrading their knowledge through distance education by upgrading educational qualifications.
There is no difference between the present curriculum of science and the curriculum of 1950. Accidentally I referred the physics textbook of my father who retired now in my house and found that the explanation is far better than the present textbooks on the same context. There are no new concepts in the system, there are no new methods in teaching and there are no new methods of evaluation then why we are spending public money on these practices.
In my view there is no need to go for direct contact in in-service education because the teachers are educators and they will implement by reading the text. Majority of my friends and students are working as teachers opinioned that there is no use and we are far better that the instructors. Teachers are attending the in-service programmes for increments but not improvements completely.
It is better them to promote teachers to conduct research and share research findings then engaging them to give age old things to them. NCERT awards for the innovative practices are not entering into practice. If they are really innovative it is better to communicate teacher education institutes to integrate it. Reading of research journals will play an important role in enhancing the quality of education than time pass programmes.
Systemic reform in teacher education
In this chapter the draft discussed about the innovative practices of the system. Age old practices in 1920 by Gijubhai Badheka, 1920 by Rabindranath Tagore, 1937 by Mahatma Gandhi referred again. They are known and integrated by the system. The draft reveled that the innovations after independence in 1968 at Gandhi Vidyapeeth, 1982 in Hoshangaad science teaching programme, 1994 by Delhi University and 1997 by Anweshana as the innovation programmes.
The draft alerted the policy reforms by state and central governments to enhance relevancy of the programme. The policy makers are looking towards us to give constructive suggestions for their implementation. Without framing a structured framework, it is not possible to take policy decisions on teacher education. A politician or a civil servant cannot take right decisions on the teacher education.
Conclusion
The suggestions given by the present curriculum are not new and majority is proved by the practices such as heuristic method is not possible to achieve. There is a need to follow systematic approach to bring desired changes to get approval form the society. There is no economical problem for the system in the present country. The study of schools in slums of Hyderabad proved that parents are spending more than half on their children’s education. Society is ready to support us but we are not still ready to support the society. Society recognised our importance and the remaining is we should recognise our importance. We must work with commitment to give new directions for the system of teacher education.
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