Revamp of teacher education mooted

Updated on: Wednesday, March 30, 2011

The age-old teacher education system in Kerala — often termed antediluvian by scholars —may be finally in for an overhaul. The expert committee appointed by the Kerala State Higher Education Council to review B.Ed. courses have come out with a draft report which recommends, among other things, extending the duration of the B.Ed. course, institution of integrated programme, the introduction of a full-semester internship, and an enhanced role for the general education department in the teacher education sector.

For many years now there has been a general agreement among educationists that the one-year B.Ed. programme does little to prepare a person for a teaching career in schools. To begin with the duration of the course was deemed to be insufficient, particularly to provide meaningful practical training to teacher-trainees. The B.Ed. course was often a ‘breathless' programme delivered at breakneck speeds to candidates straining to comprehend weighty theories and for completing countless practical assignments.

That the duration of the programme had to go up was a given. The question was, by how much? The National Council for Teacher Education (NCTE) proposes to shift to a two-year model very soon. There is also a proposal to put in place a bridge arrangement till that model is actually implemented.

The HEC's committee has recommended three models of teacher education for Kerala. The first is that Kerala shift to a one-and-a-half year model where there would be three semesters. The first two semesters of this ‘interim model' would be for face-to-face teaching/ learning in the B.Ed. colleges, and the final semester would be devoted to internship in schools.

This model may be rolled out in 2012 itself, the draft report suggests, “or from a suitable later year with all initial systemic arrangements.” The report hastens to point out that by 2015 the two-year model is expected to take effect nation-wide. Many teacher-educators want the B.Ed. programme to begin in June, in step with the school terms. Now, these courses begin in November. This causes considerable problems for scheduling practical sessions in schools. The November semester of 2011 can be treated as a bridge semester, the report recommends.

Alternatively, Kerala can choose a modified version of the two-year model suggested by the NCTE. This four-semester-sixty-credit programme can be offered from 2015 after putting in place all necessary systemic pre-requisites.

The third model suggested by the committee is a B.Ed. course which is four-and-a-half years long. This integrated model will have nine semesters of which the first six will be done at a regular arts and science college and the last three, in a teacher education college. The report argues that this programme would provide sufficient duration and depth for teacher education.

Under this integrated course model a student who wants to be a teacher would be asked to declare formally that teacher education is their destination after three years. This has to be done either at the commencement of the programme itself or at least during the second year of the degree programme. These candidates can earn a few credits during their second and third year for activities including field trips. There would be a natural progression of such candidates to the B.Ed. colleges. Such candidates would be given ‘foundation of education' courses and field studies during the regular degree programme itself, the report points out.

This integrated programme may be instituted from the 2012-13 academic year in the arts and science colleges, the report recommends. For starters, students should be allowed to choose teacher education only during 2013. Meantime the various faculty would have time to design appropriate courses. The first batch of such students would then reach the teacher education colleges in 2015.

The HEC committee has also recommended the institution of two new courses in the teacher education sector. One is a Bachelor of Secondary Education programme and the other, a Bachelor of Elementary Education programme.

The secondary education programme would be for four-and-a-half years and is aimed at those who wish to teach in secondary schools. This can be offered to those who completed their Plus Two courses. Visualised as a specialised and integrated programme, this would only be offered in training colleges. To begin with, this model would be most suited for the commerce and humanities streams. “Acquisition of language competency will be a major focus in this programme with an eye on the prospects (of) teaching abroad and prospects of teaching in (the) Hindi heartland of India,” the report notes. Candidates with this degree cannot, however, teach in higher secondary classes.

The programme in elementary education would prepare candidates to teach in the elementary classes. This too is envisaged as a specialised and integrated course to be offered in training colleges. This would be a right mix of a first degree programme and teacher education programmes. Here too, language competency would be given great importance. This programme can be offered in unaided training colleges without much by way of financial commitment, the report says.

At a meeting of teacher-educators convened by the HEC last week, many academics asked why Kerala could not straightaway switch to the two-year model for the B.Ed. programme. Anyway the State would have to conform to the two-year norm very soon.

In the meantime, if Kerala introduces a course which lasts longer than its counterparts in nearby States, there is a real danger of an exodus of students to those courses, the academics pointed out. “Who would do a three-semester course if a two-semester and three-semester programme are treated alike in the job market?” one teacher-educator wanted to know.

On the question of internship, these academics told HEC officials that B.Ed. colleges are having a tough time trying to get schools to agree to host teacher-trainees. This, when the practical sessions are for short durations. If a six-month practical training component is introduced how many schools would agree to accommodate teacher-trainees for so long? An alternative could be to make provision for allowing internship in private, unaided schools too, it was pointed out.

All the same, the full semester internship envisaged by the HEC committee is something wherein the teacher-trainee would spend four days of a week in the designated school and come back to his college for a day to interact with teacher-educators. Teacher-trainees are expected to take up all the responsibilities of a regular teacher during the internship. Expert teachers from the host school would be designated mentors for these trainees.

The actual management of the internship programme would vest with cluster/ district-level teacher-education boards constituted by the respective universities. These would have representatives from the university, the college concerned and the State Council Educational Research and Training (SCERT). Teacher-trainees can either opt for a monsoon semester or a winter semester for their internship. A grace period of three years may be given to complete this component.

Though the general education department would have a major say in the running of the internship, the final assessment and award of the B.Ed. degree would be done by the university concerned.

The HEC committee has also recommended a model for the professional development of serving teachers. Under this serving teacher in an elementary school would be allowed to join the first semester of the B.Ed. course in the weekend mode or in the dista

Revamp of teacher education mooted

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