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(updated 30 December, 2009)

Teacher Educational Quality Assurance

Teacher Educators and Initial Education Programs

Policy Brief 4

Some Key Questions in Pre-Service Teacher Education

1. Where should pre-service teacher training for primary teachers be conducted… in specialized teacher

colleges? in universities? in schools?

2. What mechanisms tend to be used to attract, screen, and prepare candidates for teaching?

3. What is an appropriate curriculum mix and balance of general education, special subject pedagogy,

other academic subject matter, and school-based practical experiences?

4. Should there be recognition of prior learning (RPL) for practicing teachers returning to teacher

colleges/universities to complete their teacher training and advanced degrees?

5. When should a teaching certificate be given… upon graduation from an accredited training

institution, or after an induction program, a certain number of years in the profession or passing an

examination or portfolio process?

6. What are the implications of employing low paid, generally untrained, contract teachers?

Executive Summary

• Effective teacher educators are generally required to (i) possess a Master’s or Ph.D. degree, either

in education or the teaching of specific academic disciplines (e.g. mathematics education), and (ii)

have school teaching experience.

• The “quality” of students entering teacher training continues to be of concern in most countries,

with top students generally being attracted to other professions due to their greater societal prestige

and higher remuneration.

• With some exceptions, for cultural reasons, teaching remains predominantly a female profession,

with an aging teaching force.

• Screening mechanisms to enter initial teacher education tend to consist of some or all of the

following: basic skills test; interview; senior secondary marks/grades, subject area examination;

four year university degree; university degree in teaching subject; and a teacher entry examination.

• There needs to be an appropriate balance of academic content with educational theory and practice

in the schools, as part of any quality initial teacher education program. The more time that can be

related to direct supervised teaching experiences in schools, the more effective the teaching and

classroom management skills tend to be.

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Introduction

Countries throughout the world are often faced with the challenge of upgrading their current teaching

force, while at the same time, redesigning their training programs for new teachers. It can often be

difficult to differentiate between pre-service/initial teacher training and in-service/ continuing

professional development. This is due in many developing countries to many teachers employed often

without any teacher training whatsoever. The massive expansion of primary education over the past 40

years and secondary education over the past 20-30 years is now leading to the need for expanded

teaching forces. These facts, along with a growing body of research on students’ teaching and learning

and teacher education, are providing the impetus for new training models, courses, teacher standards,

school based learning and certification requirements. In order to fully understand teachers and how

they are initially selected, trained, screened, graduated, certificated, achieve professional development

and eventually receive advanced certification, it is helpful to see a visualization of the range of policies

needed.

Figure 1: Educational Policy Pipeline for Teacher Education

Source: Wang, 2003

1. What are the qualifications for teacher educators in most countries?

Teacher educators were traditionally experienced teachers from primary and secondary schools, who

were then appointed to work in teacher preparation facilities. Initially, most such facilities were

secondary level institutions, in which students received both academic and pedagogical training,

occasionally with an extra year of student teaching. With the massive expansion of junior and then

senior secondary education, it became necessary to train secondary teachers in post-secondary facilities,

often in 2-3 year programs, again offering a combination of academic and pedagogical training. In

recent years, many nations of the world have upgraded the qualifications of all teachers to a four-year

Bachelor’s level degree programs, generally involving additional academic work, in parallel with or

followed by pedagogical training and student teaching.

With initial teacher training becoming a “regular” four year degree program, often within a traditional

university, it is no longer acceptable for teacher educators to only have a Bachelor’s degree, and

“practical” teaching experience. While much of this occurred in the developed world from 1945-1970,

it has only been in the past few decades that teacher educators were generally required to possess a

Masters or Ph.D. degree. These degrees were either in education and general pedagogy, or in the

Policies

affecting

teacher

education

curriculum

which

matches what

students need

to learn

Policies affecting

professional

development, and

ongoing monitoring

and supervision.

Policies

affecting

entrance into

teacher

education

Policies

affecting

completion of

teacher

education

Policies

affecting

entry level

certification

Policies

affecting

hiring, tenure,

and

compensation

Policies

affecting

advanced

certification

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teaching of specific academic disciplines (e.g. mathematics education). In these programs the role of

abstract theory and research skills generally became much more important than practical teaching skills.

Teacher educators have increasingly found themselves caught between the pressures to improve the

practical teaching skills on the one hand, and the societal demand for ever increasing academic

knowledge and specific pedagogical knowledge.

There has also been a growing call for better trained teacher educators to work in the wide range of

school-based continuing professional development programs. At the local level these are often known

as “teacher circles or teacher groups,” while at the district, departmental or provincial levels, a wide

range of institutions have been started to offer short courses in both academics and pedagogy e.g.

pedagogical universities, teacher institutes, or in-service training centers. When these actively involve

more experienced “master teachers” and well trained “mentors,” they become effective vehicles for

improved teaching skills and learning. If however, as is often the case, they are staffed by experts in

abstract teaching theories, they have considerably less effect on actual classroom instruction. Working

effectively with new or practicing teachers is not just a matter of accumulating degrees or conducting

research, but is rather a set of highly developed skills for working with adult learners, developing

curriculum based on carefully developed national standards, and gaining the respect of teachers through

one’s knowledge of the classroom.

One of the difficulties facing many countries throughout the world is the lack of a Trainer of Trainers

system, to provide specialized advanced degrees for future teachers in tertiary training

institutes/colleges, pedagogical universities, or departments of education within universities. While in

North America, there are numerous advanced degree programs in almost every area of education, these

are lacking in many other countries. A Masters or Ph.D. in a discipline might prepare a person to teach

or do research at a university, but may have little or nothing to do with the pedagogy of teaching

reading, science, mathematics or the social sciences.

2. Who goes into teaching?

An assumption in many countries is that their teaching force is of low quality and that raising entrance

requirements to teacher training programs and tougher teacher licensing or certification is an important

policy intervention. Research on mathematics and science instruction in the United States indicates that

these areas are problematic (Akiba, LeTendre and Scribner, 2007) with many teachers not having

sufficient preparation in the academic disciplines. The authors, along with Darling-Hammond (2000)

state that studies have found that students taught by teachers holding subject-specific certification

achieve better.

A critical issue in some developing nations is the lack of access to teacher training programs. This is

particularly true in rural areas, where universities and teacher training colleges may not exist, or are

located too far from their homes for future teachers to attend. In the state of Bihar, India, primary

teacher training programs were completely done away with during the decades of the 1980s and 1990s,

thus making it impossible for teachers to receive training. In the United States, high poverty districts,

where low socio-economic communities and minority youths are often concentrated, often have little

choice but to employ under-qualified teachers, and this leads to a high “opportunity gap,” with the U.S.

being the fourth-highest among 46 countries studied. The researchers conclude that access to qualified

teachers does not by itself narrow the achievement gap, but that it is important that the teachers be

involved in continuous professional development to improve their instruction (Akiba, LeTendre and

Scribner, 2007).

Where training institutions exist, entering the teaching profession has for generations been an upwardly

mobile career choice for young people not only in the United States (Lanier and Little, 1986), but in

countries throughout the world. Generations of children from farm and factory families traditionally

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became teachers, throughout most of the 19th and 20

th centuries. This remains true for much of Latin

America, as Cuenca (2004) reports, but also true for most developing nations. Teaching, despite its low

prestige and salary, is seen as a “step up” from the agricultural or working class families from which

many of them come. The “quality” of students entering teacher training has also been of great concern

in most countries, with top students being attracted to medicine, law, economics, and other higher

paying professions, due to their greater societal prestige and higher remuneration.

In one of the ironies of modern economics, with stagnant economies, many professionals have found

themselves teaching secondary school to supplement their incomes as doctors, lawyers, economists or

engineers. This has created a policy problem for many countries, as few of these individuals have ever

received any training whatsoever on the specific pedagogy of teaching their subject matter, something

that research in the United States is showing to be among the most critical factors in student

achievement. Being an engineer does not necessarily make one a good mathematics teacher. In recent

decades with teacher salaries in many countries reaching a level where a family could be supported, a

broader range of students from various social classes have entered the profession. In the developing

world, the profession has generally remained near the bottom of career choices for students graduating

from secondary schools. In a few countries such as Egypt, the possibilities of making comparatively

large salaries through after-school tutoring and other “off-the-books” mechanisms, appears to have

drawn from a wider range of social classes.

With many professions earlier closed to women, there was always a percentage of women from

professional families, who became teachers. With a few exceptions, for cultural reasons, teaching

remains predominantly a female profession, with an aging teaching force. This is also true of many

developed nations, but not to the extent of some of those in parts of Europe, where in Germany and

Sweden, over 40% of the teachers are 50 years or older (Santiago, 2002). Countries with large

indigenous populations tend to have comparatively few teachers from “minority” groups represented in

the teaching profession, and in this they are not too different from the United States or many European

countries, who now find literally millions of minority students in their classrooms, with comparatively

few teachers prepared linguistically or culturally to teach them.

3. What is the intellectual quality of teacher candidates and how does it compare to those entering

other professions?

The intellectual quality of teachers has dominated both discussion and research on teaching for many

years. Darling-Hammond (2000) in reviewing the research from the past 40 years, reports that while

there are generally positive correlations between teacher performance and measures of teacher

intelligence, that most of these relationships are small and statistically insignificant.

It is critical here to differentiate between teacher candidates preparing for primary and secondary

teaching, as these generally require different educational qualifications. It is often true that primary

teachers only need to graduate from a secondary level or post-secondary teacher training institution,

while secondary teachers are generally required to have a university diploma. Despite these differences,

Cuenca (2004) in reporting on teacher training programs in 10 different Latin American countries

concluded that with few exceptions, future teachers came from among secondary graduates with lower

entrance scores than their peers. Studies from throughout the world have found the same to be true in

most settings. Among the only exceptions appear to be Finland, Singapore, Korea, Hong Kong and

Taiwan.

While the following table does not indicate the quality of teachers applying to teacher training, it does

present the mastery of pedagogy and subject matter by primary and secondary teachers already in the

profession. Indonesia is not alone in finding that many teachers have not even mastered the subjects at

the grade level they are teaching. This can be clearly seen in the mean scores, which in most cases were

between 33% and 50% correct on the same tests used to measure what their students are to have

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mastered. Of great concern is the fact that there are practicing teachers at all levels and in all subjects

who correctly respond to only 1-6 items out of 40-100 possible questions. At the other end of the scale,

it appears there are very few teachers who have mastered the subject matter and can answer most of the

questions correctly.

Table 1: Indonesian Results of Teacher Competency Assessment

# Subjects Tested # of

Items

Means SD Low High

1 General Test for PS Teachers 90 34.26 6.56 5 67

2 General Test for Other Teachers 90 40.15 7.29 6 67

3 Scholastic Test 60 30.20 7.40 3 58

4 K-Class Teachers 80 41.95 8.62 8 66

5 PS Class Teachers 100 37.82 8.01 5 77

6 PS PE Teachers 40 21.88 5.56 8 36

7 Civics Teachers 40 23.38 4.82 3 39

8 History 40 16.69 4.39 3 30

9 Indonesia Language 40 20.56 5.18 2 36

10 English 40 23.37 7.13 1 30

11 Secondary School PE Education 40 13.90 5.86 2 29

12 Mathematics 40 14.39 4.66 2 36

13 Physics 40 13.24 5.86 1 38

14 Biology 40 19.00 4.58 5 39

15 Chemistry 40 22.33 4.91 8 38

16 Economics 40 12.63 4.14 1 33

17 Sociology 40 19.09 4.93 1 30

18 Geography 40 19.43 4.88 3 34

19 Arts Education 40 18.44 4.50 2 31

20 Special Education 40 18.38 4.43 2 29 Source: MONE (2007). Reforming Teachers: Towards Educational Equality and Quality

While the results reported above represent a major challenge, intellectual attainment, however, cannot

be merely the scores on standardized tests or the commonly used university entrance examinations. It

must consist of other variables, such as an understanding and appreciation of subject matter, and as

importantly, of the pedagogy related to teaching that subject matter. Teaching also consists of a mix of

intellectual and personal qualities. North American researchers (Howey and Strom,1987) include

among the most important characteristics the qualities of “being adaptable, questioning, critical,

inventive, creative, self-renewing and oriented to moral principles.” Many countries have developed

profiles of a good teacher, which often include these and other characteristics. Regrettably, teacher

training programs throughout the world often stifle creativity, rely on student’s memorization of

abstract theories, and too seldom exemplify in their own programs these or other important

characteristics.

Some studies in the United States (e.g. American Association College Teacher Education,1992) have

found that if one measures only those students who declare education as their major subject in a teacher

training institute or university education program, then there is considerable support for the perception

that teaching candidates are below their peers in academic quality. If, however, one looks at who

successfully completes all the screens: standardized test scores at secondary school graduation, basic

skills tests, academic skills tests, entrance to teacher candidacy, student teaching, graduation tests etc.,

future teachers are generally at or above their peers in the universities. Socioeconomic and prestige

factors are critically important in attracting future teachers into teacher training programs. It is

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important, however to note that teachers with poorer academic records are not necessarily poorer

teachers, but until the profession can draw its fair share of the best and the brightest in any age cohort, it

will continue to have difficulties improving its salaries and prestige and significantly improve the

academic success of its students. Zumwalt and Craig (2005) raise some of the critical questions which

training institutions, policy makers and Ministries of Education must answer about what the quality

profile of a teacher should be:

Should any students in the bottom quartile be permitted to become teachers?

Should teacher test cutoffs be raised so that the quality profile of teachers looks better?

Should the ability distribution of teachers match the ability profile of all college

graduates? Or should it match the distribution of college graduates going into medicine,

law, business, journalism, and social work?

Table 2 presents the various requirements or screens put into place in nine countries to select the better

candidates for the teaching profession. Given the poor results that many countries have found in the

academic quality of many of their practicing teachers, it is critical that a range of devices be in place. It

is difficult to argue with the need for teachers to have mastered the basic skills and their subject areas,

while hopefully interviews and experience working with children can help to select those candidates

who are appropriate candidates for working in the schools.

Table 2: Entrance Requirements for Teacher Education Programs

Undergraduate Graduate

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Australia X X

England X X X

Hong Kong X X

Japan X

Korea X X

Netherlands X

Singapore X X

United States X X X X

Indonesia X X Adapted from Education Testing Service, 2003

4. What effect has moving initial teacher training to the university level had?

Over the past half century, countries throughout the world have upgraded pre-service teacher training

from secondary school facilities to post-secondary institutes/colleges or universities for primary

teachers and to university level training for secondary teachers. This has not always been possible in

poorer countries, where university education remains unavailable to many, especially in rural areas.

Many teacher educators remain convinced that some of the very best teacher training occurred in the

1950s and 1960s, in the old secondary level teacher training facilities. These institutions recognized

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that their students were young, not well educated, and were going to be working in predominantly poor,

rural settings. The training they provided, therefore, tended to be very “hands-on,” with an emphasis on

the practical problems these predominantly young women would face once out in the schools. Future

teachers tended to come from their villages, receive an intensive “boarding school” education, and on

graduation return to their villages. With the moves towards upgrading teaching to the post-secondary

institute and university level and the rapid urbanization throughout the world, students now come from

all over the country and attend commuter institutions, rather than boarding schools. Regrettably, they

are often unprepared to work effectively in either a rural or urban settings and are often taught by

professors with little or no experience teaching the grade levels for which they are preparing students.

They are too often instructed in the formal lecture format so typical of higher education worldwide, and

are generally given too much theory and too little practical experience in the schools. Once future

teachers have been to the big city, they seldom return to their home villages, and the poor, rural

communities are often left the largely untrained teachers. The problem also manifests itself in an urban

setting, where poorly trained teachers struggle with large classes, disintegrating infrastructure and the

high cost of living.

5. What is the balance of theory and practice in initial teacher training?

It is important to again differentiate between training for primary and secondary teachers. While the

training of specialists in subject matter generally includes more academic theory, primary teachers are

generally provided with more practice in school settings. Vaillant (2004) and Arévalo (2003) agree that

one of the major problems facing teacher training in Latin America is the overwhelmingly theoretical

nature of much of the instruction, regardless of institution. Figueroa (2004) goes on to state that current

teacher training in the region is characterized by lectures by professors describing phenomena to

groups of young people seated in front of them in rows or banks of seats. He calls this the “clase

magisterial,” a method used since the middle ages. He goes on to call this a type of pedagogy

“academicismo,” in which the professor lectures his classes in an individual and solitary mode. He goes

on to point out that this traditional methodology forgets the emotions, which the professor and student

bring to the classroom. In recent decades, with the replacement of behaviorism with the educational

philosophies, psychologies, and pedagogies of constructivism, humanism, multiple intelligences and

active learning in most teacher training institutions, one might suppose that this would impact the type

of training future teachers receive. Regrettably, both observation and research indicate that the “new”

approaches remain little more than theoretical constructs, and that teacher educators seldom “practice

what they preach.”

Grossman (2005) defines pedagogy as all interactions among faculty, students and content during class

time, including case-studies, simulations, role plays and video cases, community immersion,

technology, inquiry, and microteaching, and all tasks or assignments such as student journals, case

reports, portfolios and practitioner research. This expansive definition indicates the complexity

involved in a university-based teacher education program. Regrettably, most observers and researchers

of teacher education indicate that its programs are still characterized by it overwhelming dependence on

theory, presented in a formal class lecture model. While many teacher education programs include

microteaching as part of their curriculum, few have used the wide range of pedagogical practices listed

above. Winitzky and Arends (1991) analyzed five instructional approaches: direct instruction,

presentation with advanced organizers, concept teaching, cooperative learning and classroom

management. They found no significant differences in the groups, and that microteaching and clinical

discussion were equally effective at both knowledge promotion and skill acquisition.

Each nation sets its own policies in attempting to balance not only theory and practice, but to balance

the number of “academic” courses with pedagogical ones. One of the highest achieving school systems

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in the world is Singapore, and for that reason, we have placed the following table as an example of how

its training programs have changed over the years.

Table 3: The structure of degree programs for primary teaching for Singapore Components Pre-1998

BA/BSc

with Dip Ed

1998 Rev.

BA/BSc

with Dip Ed

2001

BA/BSc

Education

Academic

Unit

% Academic

Unit

% Academic

Unit

%

Education Studies 14 10.5/8.7 12 9.3/8.2 15 11.6/11.1

Academic Subject 1 30/44 22.6/27.3 30/42 23.3/28.6 30/36 23.2/26.7

Academic Subject 2 30/44 22.6/27.3 21/27 16.3/18.4 0 0

Curriculum Content 0 0 9 7.0/6.1 14 10.8/10.4

Curriculum Studies 23 17.3/14.2 24 18.6/16.3 36 28.0/26.7

Essential Modules 4 3.0/2.4 12 9.3/8.2 12 9.3/8.9

General Electives 8 6.0/5.0 6 4.7/4.1 6 4.7/4.4

Teaching Practice 10 7.5/6.2 15 11.5/10.1 16` 12.3/11.8

Curriculum

Studies (Sec)

8 6.0/5.2 0 0 0 0

Curriculum

Studies (Sec)

6 4.5/3.7 0 0 0 0

TOTAL 133/161 100/100 129/147 100/100 129/135 100/100

(Chuan and Gopinathaun, No Date)

While there is no “perfect” combination of courses and experiences, it is interesting to note that

Singapore, a high achieving country, places a strong and growing emphasis on academic subjects,

curriculum content, and teaching practice. Many nations, states and accrediting associations list a set of

requirements that must be included in any pre-service training program. These do not necessarily have

to consist of a set of courses by the same name or topic, but the issues must be covered in the 2-4 year

training program.

The table which follows is used in the state of Colorado (USA) to ascertain whether a particular training

program includes a set of performance measures. The details on each of the performance measures can

be found in Annex 1. This form is used by visiting teams of educators to assess whether the program is

proficient, partially proficient or not proficient in order to accredit the institution with the state.

Institutions which receive a partially proficient rating are generally given 3-4 months to bring their

programs up to the proficient level, while those that receive not proficient ratings are generally placed

on probation, and ultimately may lose their state accreditation, if they do not bring the particular

measure up to a proficient standard. Items one and two deal with the importance of the admissions and

counseling process to assure that the best candidates for teaching are admitted and counseled

appropriately. The third measure deals with not only the importance of tying theory to practice, but

includes the need to tie the teacher training program to the mandated curriculum standards. As is

mentioned elsewhere in this policy paper, there are stated number of hours (800) for practice teaching

in the schools. This is not necessarily in one experience, but generally includes several shorter school-

based experiences prior to the final longer student teaching. Performance measure five includes

knowledge of literacy, mathematics, standards and assessment, content, classroom and instructional

management, individualization, instructional technology, democracy and educational governance. This

extensive list, with the many details found in Annex 1, is spread out over two to four years in a range of

classes and experiences. It is also important to note that these performance measures are for both

elementary and secondary teachers. All teachers are expected to have knowledge of literacy and

mathematics, not just those who are “majoring” in those subjects. This is a result of the strong research

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evidence that large numbers of children in American schools are not mastering the “basics,” and it thus

critical that all teachers be responsible for covering these topics. Finally, Colorado, like most US states

requires that teacher candidates show mastery of both subject matter and pedagogical knowledge, and

requires passing examinations to assure that new teachers have sufficient mastery.

Table 4: State of Colorado (USA) Performance Measures for Pre-Service Teacher Education Teacher Education Performance Measures Proficient Partially

Proficient

Not

Proficient

1. A comprehensive admission system that includes screening and

counseling for students who are considering becoming teacher

candidates.

2. Ongoing screening and counseling of teacher

education candidates by practicing teachers or faculty

members.

3. Coursework and field-based training that integrates theory and

practice and educates teacher candidates in the methodologies,

practices and procedures of teaching standard-based education and

specifically in teaching to the state model content standards.

4. Each candidate completes a minimum of 800 hours of supervised

field experience that relates to predetermined learning standards.

Professional Development Schools.

5. Each teacher candidate, prior to graduation, must demonstrate the

skills required for licensure as specified by the State Board of

Education.

Standard One: Knowledge of Literacy

Standard Two: Knowledge of Mathematics

Standard Three: Knowledge of Standards and Assessment

Standard Four: Knowledge of Content

Standard Five: Knowledge of Classroom and Instructional

Management

Standard Six: Knowledge of Individualization of Instruction

Standard Seven: Knowledge of Technology

Standard Eight: Democracy, Educational Governance and

Careers in Education

6. The program provides for comprehensive ongoing assessment

including evaluation of each teacher candidate’s subject matter and

professional knowledge and ability to demonstrate skill in apply the

professional knowledge.

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6. In what types of institutions are teachers being trained?

European and North American countries, while still exhibiting a wide range of diversity, have been

moving towards nearly exclusive university/higher education based training, combined with research on

teaching and continuing or in-service education. They have also been experimenting with:

• five year programs and programs for adults coming to teaching from other occupations;

• extended observation, aiding, practice teaching and internships in the schools;

• strengthening of initial certification and re-certification;

• continuous professional development requirements;

• greater use of mentor and master teachers; and

• elaboration of performance standards for teachers.

It is difficult to prescribe one pre-service model in the world today, as heterogeneity and diversification

are its dominant characteristics. Institutions of almost any type can be found: secondary and tertiary

training institutions; municipal, provincial, and national institutions; technical schools; pedagogical

universities, and general public and private universities. There is also little agreement on the amount of

time needed to prepare teachers, with a range of 2-5 years being desirable. Regardless of the type of

institution, there is a strong international consensus that far too many teachers are being poorly prepared

in essential skills and that the profession needs a major overhaul.

Number of Teacher Training Institutions: One of the important issues facing each country is the

number of institutions approved to deliver teacher training. When large numbers of institutions are

involved, it is generally more difficult to maintain high standards. As was pointed out in the policy

paper two on the accreditation of teacher training institutions, this concern over quality can be dealt

with through a combination of national accrediting agencies and professional standards groups, while

maintaining a decentralized approach, involving state level Ministries of Education and Higher

Education. As can be seen in the following table, the range which can be found around the world is

from one in Singapore to over 1200 in the United States.

Table 5: Number of Teacher Training Institutions

Country Number of Teacher Training Institutions

Singapore 1

Hong Kong 4

Thailand 56

Korea 381

China 618

United States 1,206

Indonesia 33 including 12 LPTKs Ingersoll, 2007

7. What is the nature of the initial teacher training curriculum?

For much of the past fifty years, the debate within teacher education has been between those advocating

greater subject-matter of “content knowledge” on the one hand, and those advocating teaching,

pedagogical, or “learning-related knowledge” on the other. Traditionally, learning related knowledge

has to do with classroom management, pedagogy, and evaluation. While the research has tended to

show the greater relationship of learning related knowledge to student achievement than content

knowledge, the debate continues. More recent research, however, (Marcelo, 2002) has shown the even

greater importance of “pedagogical content knowledge”, that is, specific and specialized knowledge

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about a particular discipline. Pedagogical content knowledge is the skills and knowledge to teach a

particular subject at a particular grade level. It means how to teach young children to read, write and

understand, not just decode words. It means understanding mathematics at a deep enough level to teach

young people not just arithmetical skills, but also the application of those skills in the real world. It

means that foreign languages are not just a matter of reading or decoding the language, but are useful

communication skills. Scientific knowledge is not the memorization of facts, but the ability to use

science in everyday life.

The following table presents the curriculum framework for teachers of elementary school in India.

While “topics” listed in a curriculum framework do not necessarily translate directly into separate

courses, experience in many countries leads to the conclusion that this is almost always what happens.

Of particular interest in this curriculum framework is the 50% theoretical and 50% practical emphasis.

Without further information, it is impossible to say whether students actually spend 50% of their time in

“practical” courses, or whether these courses are also actually taught in a traditional classroom lecture

format. Another question of interest is where the traditional roles of teaching the three “Rs,” reading,

writing and arithmetic come into Indian teacher training. The mastery of literacy or communication and

arithmetic skills is generally seen to be fundamental to elementary education, and there are researchers

who make the case that a significant portion of any primary teacher training program should be to

prepare teachers in how to teach those skills.

Table 6: Curriculum Framework for Teachers in Elementary Schools (India) Theoretical Practical

Principles, Status, Issues and Problems of

Elementary Education

Internship at Elementary School for a duration of

one semester

Emerging Indian Society (Regional Specificity be

emphasized) & Elementary Education

- Communication Skills – Mother Tongue and

Regional language and Foreign language

Philosophy of Elementary Education – Main trends

in the Indian and Western context

Delivering of 60 supervised lessons

Psychology of teaching and learning of Elementary

School Child

Plantation and water harvesting

Sociology of Education and Cultural Anthropology

for elementary school teacher

Energy harvesting

Integrated Approach to Teaching in the Elementary

Schools

Soil & grassland management

Peace education and Social Harmony Celebration of local festivals

Environmental Education Work Experience

Elementary Education in other countries Organization of Games and Sports

ICT in Elementary School Community Interaction

Health, hygiene, life skills and physical education Disaster Management and safety education

Nutrition and balance of diet Scouting & Girl Guiding

Safety Education and Disaster Management Action Research, Case Study, Field Work

Management, Finance and Planning of Elementary

Education

Activities for Self-Expression, maintenance of

school and student records

Teaching of Mother tongue and regional language Visit to Local fairs & historical sites

Evaluation in elementary education Nature Study

Guidance & Counseling Beautification of School

Aesthetic Education Cleanliness and personal hygiene of Student

Inclusive education Evaluation of Answer Scripts

Life skill education - Preparation of Tests to measure cognitive and non-

cognitive abilities – Diagnostic tests and Remedial

teaching

Pedagogical analysis of school subjects Preparation of Exam Results

Any other need based program Aesthetic Education

12

8. Who should be responsible for reviewing and approving the teacher education curriculum?

Each country has its own traditions and approach to the control of the teacher education curriculum.

Even though there is a governmental Ministry often setting rules and regulations, there is also often an

accrediting agency, which sets standards to be met for graduates of an institution to be permitted to

teach in a particular school system. The many variations in approaches can be seen in the following

table.

Table 7: Organizations Responsible for Reviewing and Approving Teacher Education Curriculum

South Asia

Bangladesh National Academy for Primary Education (NAPE) and National University for

secondary training curriculum

Bhutan Director of Education Division

Pakistan Primary: Curriculum and Extension Wing, Ministry of Education

Secondary: Higher Education Commission of Pakistan

India State Governments and State Boards of Education

Nepal The National Council for Educational Human Resource Development

Other Countries

Australia Independent national organizations; state statutory committees

England Teacher Training Agency

Hong Kong Department of Education

Japan Council for Educational Personnel Training

Korea Ministry of Education

Netherlands Inspector of Education

Singapore Ministry of Education

United States Independent National Organizations; state statutory committees

9. What role should subject matter knowledge play in initial teacher training?

One question facing initial teacher training, regardless of setting, is whether future elementary teachers

should “major” in an academic discipline such as mathematics, foreign language, national language and

literature, the social sciences, or the natural sciences rather than majoring in “education”. There is, as

yet, no evidence one way or another supporting this, although much of North America has moved

towards requiring an academic subject major (often an “integrated subject major) for primary school

teachers. It is likely important, however, to move this direction due to the face validity it has for policy

makers and the public. It assists professional educators in their attempts to escape the charge of a lack

of intellectual rigor in departments of pedagogy, and makes it easier to compare graduates of these

“academic” departments entering or not entering teaching. It is almost universal now to require junior

and senior secondary teachers to have an academic major and often a minor subject teaching area.

Primary teachers still need to also have a good grasp of the overall curriculum and understanding

children’s interests, needs and ways of learning at different developmental stages in order to develop

matching teaching strategies.

An important question in researching initial teacher education programs is the teacher’s knowledge of

subject matter as it relates to his/her effectiveness. In North America there have been a large number of

studies addressing the connection between the amount of college/university level subject matter study

and either teacher performance of K-12 pupil achievement. Floden and Meniketti (2005) conclude that

only in secondary school mathematics is there a clear connection between the amount of subject matter

study by the teacher and pupil achievement. In all other teaching areas the effect is mixed, with some

studies showing a positive correlation, some no effect, and one even showing a negative effect of

primary school teachers having a graduate degree in mathematics. In an attempt to look at actual

knowledge of subject matter, rather than just having taken mathematics courses, researchers (Borko,

13

et.al., 1992) have found that while teachers may have mastered basic skills in school subjects, they

lacked a deeper understanding of the concepts they would later teach. This was also found in science,

language arts, literature and other subject areas.

10. Should initial teacher training involve educational foundations and methods courses?

Many teacher education programs throughout the world include “Foundations” courses, in such fields

as the philosophy, sociology, psychology, and history of education. North American research has been

unable to document positive effects on student learning of these “theory” courses, except where special

modules on methods were explicitly part of the courses (Floden and Meniketti, 2005). While most

teacher training programs in North America include only 1-3 foundational theory courses in a teacher

preparation program, initial teacher training programs in many parts of the world tend to have 3-6

different courses spread throughout their programs. Given the near unanimous critique of too much

theory and the inability of researchers to document few, if any, significant academic achievement gains

through the study of theory, this would appear to be an important area of consideration for change and

improvement. This is not to say, however, that the study of theory, particularly the constructivist

psychology of Piaget, the social constructivism of Vygotsky, or the pedagogies of Sócrates, Pestalozzi,

Dewey or Freire, is without benefit, but that the study of these important theorists, without any

understanding of how to put them into practice is not likely to improve teaching or the learning of

students. Some experimental programs have begun to offer these theoretical “foundations” courses as

part of an in-service or advanced degree programs, when teachers have sufficient experience to reflect

on the issues raised.

Critical parts of teacher training throughout the world have been general and special methods classes to

prepare teachers for teaching at a particular grade level or teaching a specific subject matter at the

primary or secondary level. Methods classes are often tied to assigned work in the community or

schools, working with students one-on-one, in small groups or whole classes, or conducting action

research studies, while observing in the schools. There has generally been the tacit assumption that the

methods courses, school observations, university instructors and supervisors, and classroom teachers

are all on the same page (Clift and Brady, 2005). Regrettably, this has seldom been true. In many

countries, while both the old secondary training facilities, and those now at the tertiary level continue to

offer methods classes, many universities do little in the way of pedagogical training, particularly for

teachers at the secondary level. A major breakdown worldwide has been the separation between the

“autonomous” universities, and the Ministry of Education run school systems. Regrettably, there is

strong evidence that while future teachers learn to focus on new pedagogies in their methods classes,

these are often abandoned, when they have to confront classroom management concerns in the actual

classroom (Grossman, Valencia and Hamel, 1997). The research appears to indicate that it is difficult to

translate university-based recommendations into actual teaching practice, and while methods courses

appear to result in improved confidence on the part of students, there is little evidence of future teachers

adopting a conceptual change model of teaching (Settlage, 2000).

11. How should teachers be trained in the use of technology?

Throughout the past half century, various forms of technology have been touted as the “answer” for

both student learning in the schools and in teacher education. Slide projectors, film loops, radio,

television, overhead projects, videotapes, videodiscs, computers, internet learning, and many others, too

numerous to mention have been tried. Regrettably, millions of dollars have been spent on technologies,

too many of which have been discarded and fill the closets of schools throughout the world. This is not

to say that each of the technologies has not been shown to be of value in some cases, but history does

offer the warning, that with severely limited funds, both schools and teacher training institutions in

14

developing countries must make important choices about when and where to introduce which

technologies. With the traditional dependence upon expensive textbooks and other written instructional

materials, that too often have to be expensively copied by students at the nearest “copy shop”. The

Internet, particularly with websites in many languages, is fast becoming a major source of information.

Whether this important technology will change how teacher education is delivered remains to be seen.

Virtual, distance, and open universities with teacher pre- and in-service training are springing up all

over the world. It will be critical for nations or regional groupings to assure maintenance of not just

quality, but the very necessary experiential involvement of teachers trained by these methods, with the

actual school realities. It is also critical to attempt to provide some level of equality between poor and

rich schools, without which, the poor can only fall further behind.

12. What should be the role and percentage of program of practical experiences?

According to numerous studies in the United States and much anecdotal evidence around the world, the

most meaningful component of a pre-service teacher training program is the student-teaching

experience, which generally occurs at the end of a training program. Regrettably, in many settings this

is one of the first and often only full-time experience that new teachers have in the schools, prior to

their entering the profession full-time. Many training programs consist of three to four years of

abstract theory, followed by a short student teaching experience. In some countries, particularly in

those preparing large numbers of teachers, this can be as short as a few days, although the norm appears

to be the equivalent of a semester of 12-16 weeks. While brief classroom observations, tutoring, video

teaching, and other practical experiences can help in the process, there is nothing to compare with a

new teacher having complete responsibility for preparing lessons, conducting assessments, managing

the discipline of children, or attempting to meet the needs of 40 or more students. The actual number of

weeks in a student teaching experience is not as critical as to how well a training institution ties theory

and practice together, so that new teachers understand both the best of theory and have a chance to

observe and practice the best approaches with a particular age group and subject matter.

The following graph presents the wide range of the required minimum and maximum number of weeks

in a student teaching setting. Without a careful look at the rest of a teacher training program it is

dangerous to conclude that teachers in Korea, Hong Kong and Japan are only required to complete 2-8

weeks in the classroom. In many programs throughout the world, individual courses are directly tied to

classroom experience, so that a teacher might only have a shorter period of time in complete control of

a classroom, they still have extensive experience in the schools.

15

Figure 2: Length of Student-Teaching Experience

Source: Wang, 2003.

13. Supply and Demand Sides of Initial Teacher Education Programs

Teacher education policies affect both supply side (provision, curriculum, and certification) and

demand side (attracting candidates, their intellectual skills and aptitude towards teacher). The

following summary provides a way to understand the two sides of the issue.

Table 9: Supply and Demand Sides of Initial Teacher Training

Supply Side Demand Side Policies affecting entrance into teacher education

Differential needs for teacher training for

different streams of education

Primary

Secondary

Establishment of Teacher training institutes /

colleges: Both at Government and private levels

Diploma/ certificate courses

Degree level

Accreditation of training institutes

Setting standards / requirements for entrance into

the course by Edu. Dept / University

Demand side factors affecting entrance into

teacher education

Status of teaching as a profession in the society ;

with its socio-economic, gender and earning

dimensions, especially in comparison with other

professions;

Availability of teacher training courses and

geographic, social and economic accessibility to

candidates.

Policies affecting teacher education curriculum

Balance between theory and curriculum

Balance between content and pedagogy

Education quality of graduates who enter into

teacher education

Quality of Education received by the candidate

prior to joining the teacher education program

Mastery of subjects attended at secondary school

education

Students’ interest and aptitude in the profession

Status of teachers in the society

Policies affecting completion of teacher Demand side factors affecting completion of

16

education

Evaluation / assessment methods of teacher

education completion

Certification processes

Appropriateness of teacher curriculum for

imparting the nation’s school curriculum and

pedagogy

teacher education

Method of imparting teacher education – teacher

centric versus learner –centric (balance between

theory and practice)

Mastery of learning related knowledge and

pedagogy content related knowledge

Opportunities for classroom practices

Performance in the assessment process Policies affecting entry level certification

Standards set by the department

Policies affecting hiring, tenure, and

compensation

State policies

Teacher vacancies

Rationalization / transfer related policies

Demand side factors affecting hiring, tenure, and

compensation

Compensation

Social standing/ respect for the profession

Geographical access to the posted school

Policies affecting professional development Opportunity for career growth path /

promotions/differentiated work experience

Provision for Incentives/awards

Demand side factors affecting professional

development

Policies affecting advanced certification

Sanker, 2009

14. What role does the use of contract teachers play in the quality of education?

Many developing nations use contract teachers, who may or may not have graduated from teacher

training colleges or universities with a specialty in teaching. Contract teachers include a wide variety of

types including volunteers, community teachers and para-teachers. In some cases, no trained teachers

can be found, particularly in remote, rural or conflict areas, but too often the reason contract teachers

are employed is their low salary, often one-half to one-quarter or less than that of a regular teacher.

Other reasons cited are to ensure accountability for performance i.e. extension of contracts are subject

to teachers attending classes regularly and teaching. Regular civil service teachers are often paid

comparatively well by national standards, and their salaries make up a large percentage of the national

budget. It is therefore all too easy for Ministries of Education or local communities to employ low-

paid, often untrained individuals to fill needed posts. Contract teachers seldom belong to teacher’s

unions and thus have little ability to bargain for higher wages.

While the legitimacy of employing contract teachers in post-conflict situations, when high teacher costs

make it nearly impossible to employ regular teachers or when rapid enrollment gains occur in a country,

they are often employed as part of the school decentralization or local decision-making processes. This

does not necessarily negate their use, but does raised important issues about the quality of education

children are receiving in those schools. In Cambodia and reportedly other countries, the use of contract

teachers has had to be suspended due to corruption (Fyfe, 2007). Senegal and Niger each have around

half contract teachers, but neither Chad nor Ivory Coast employ any. Pakistan and India (

Research is overwhelming that teachers are the key to improved education. Fyfe (2007) rightly

concludes that: “the long-term sustainable answer to teacher shortages is not institutionalizing low cost,

non-professional teachers, but decent working and living conditions that make teaching an attractive

profession.”

17

Annex 1

18

19

20

21

22

23

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