1

Title

A new perspective and approach to teacher education

to maximize student success

Dr Sheela Ragavan

M.A,M.Ed, M.Phil, Ph.d

Principal- T.I SchoolChennai sheelati@ammfoundation.org, sheela_ragavan@yahoo.com

A NEW PERSPECTIVE AND APPROACH TO TEACHER EDUCATION TO

MAXIMIZE STUDENT SUCCESS

Teacher Education is seen as a continuous process commencing with an initial phase of training

to equip a prospective teacher enter the world of students with the basic technique of class room

management, pedagogy, understanding students, their learning process and developing practical

skills and competence that are required for a teacher.

According to UNESCO (2005), teacher education “addresses environmental, social, and

economic contexts to create locally relevant and culturally appropriate teacher education

programs for both pre-service and in-service teachers.” The focus is to ensure overall

development of students.

The view that is globally accepted and spoken about in all educational forums is that a teacher

must be a learner all through and “Teacher education” is one of the ways to ensure that the right

kind of service is provided by educational institutions. The theory behind the need for a teacher

to be a constant learner is that the environment for a teacher is highly dynamic. The context,

need and purpose keeps changing at a constant pace and to be effective in such an environment

2

one has to be constantly learning to be sensitive to the change and demand and also adapt to

situations and needs of the students to make learning purposeful. In spite of this awareness, it is

seen that this area has not made the necessary movement at the required pace. Many countries

lack a policy for Teacher Education, not much importance is given to research, and very few

studies have focused on the outcome of new approaches that could be implemented to make

teacher education or learning more effective.

Very often Teacher Education and Teacher Training are understood and used as synonyms. In

reality the objective of “Education” and “Training” are very different (Vassilakis 1998).

The difference between the two is very clear. According to Widdowson (1983), “Education”

refers to the acquisition of competence, which involves a deep understanding of the principles,

techniques and activities. It empowers one to make a conscious choice of methods and

techniques that one feels would suit to make an impact or difference. Whereas “Training” refers

to the development of competence through exposing one to a limited number of ready-to-use

techniques with little scope of true understanding of the underlying principle in a larger context

of education.

The distinction that Widdowson makes, bring out the fact that “Teacher Education” is something

deep, not structured nor can it have a set of rules that can be applied in a class room to make a

teacher “more effective”. The purpose of “Teacher Education” is to bring out our “hidden”

teacher, their beliefs, understanding and experience which in turn helps them be more aware and

conscious of what they do. All this is possible only when one is trained and becomes courageous

to “reflect” through self [“introspection’] and others [through feedback]

Reflecting on one’s own behavior is a skill and this requires the ability to introspect and look

within. In the Indian scenario reflective thinking of class room teaching is seldom given

importance. A lot of time is spent on planning a lesson but very less to check if the plan was

effective in achieving the objective. To be more specific the teachers generally are more focused

on what has to be done rather than what was done, how was it done and what was the impact.

Very often when a teacher is asked why they had planned a lesson in a particular manner, they

will either not be clear on the “why” or they would respond saying this was the best technique of

teaching the concept as their teacher had taught them this way for years. We believe “Change is

3

the only permanent thing in life” and if, in a class room environment that is so dynamic, age old

methods, beliefs and expectations are still followed without checking their relevance to the

present environment, the question is “Will teachers be effective and successful in accomplishing

their basic goal of “knowledge transfer”? Leave alone accomplishment of the “larger goal” of

educating a child for life with the right skill, attitude and values to prepare them to face life.”

Do we have a solution for this? Probably “Yes” if we wish to think differently….

In today’s dynamic environment, the role of a teacher has also undergone a transformation but

the training that a teacher undergoes is still restricted to equipping them with the technical

aspects of teaching, pedagogy and subject enrichment. The teacher empowerment programs that

are run are generally seen to be “old wine in a new bottle”, dealing with pedagogy, learning

theories, class room management etc of which a teacher already has a fair idea.

The question that would rise is, “Are these aspects not important?”They are but can we look at

Teacher Education in a wider perspective is the question. Evidence clearly shows that the present

design of “Teacher Education” does not have the required outcome and then there is a need to

analyze the root cause and work on it to make it effective and purposeful.

Parker J. Palmer, in his book, “The courage to teach” has clearly brought out the need to relook

at the ways educators try to reform education. He rightly points out that reform in education can

never be achieved by restructuring schools, rewriting curricula or rewriting text books. The focus

has to be the human resource - The Teacher who is seldom considered important. Very often the

teachers themselves fail to understand that they are very important. They start their career due to

the passion for the subject and/or passion to make someone learn; but many lose their heart due

to differences, ridicule, criticism, and to reduce this pain they disconnect from their students,

from the subject and even their self. Finally the teachers who started with the purpose of making

the life of a student become instrumental in breaking the life of students under their care. Only

when teachers begin to answer the question, “Why am I a teacher? And what is my role?” will

there be true empowerment or education for a teacher.

4

Then what is the essential need of the hour? - “Developing the inner landscape of a teacher”

How will this help?

For the students, a teacher is a central focus in a classroom. Learning happens not just because a

teacher is highly qualified and has great content delivery skills .To a great extent it is because of

an emotional connect between a teacher and a student. Classrooms need to move from

knowledge transaction centers to centers of transformation in terms of attitude, values and way

of life at large; for which teacher has to balance between thinking, feeling and doing or the head

and the heart

An empowered teacher has the ability to influence, and “education for life” in its true sense

emerges. Educating a student for life is more than just giving him an environment to develop

intellectually.–it is Responsibility building, personality building, being a constant learner etc….

This appears to be the need as spoken by all in terms of Holistic Education”. Every educational

institute speaks of holistic education. Every parent wants their child to study in schools that

provide holistic education. The question that raise now is, “How is Holistic education

understood?” Is just a list of academic, co-curricular or sport activities put together or does it go

beyond this and builds a human being with responsibility and character laced with required

ethics and values?

To speak on numbers and facts one must be knowledgeable about them. Similarly to understand

others and their emotions, needs and values, one must first be aware of oneself. As Palmer righty

says “When we are at home with our own soul, we become more at home with others”.

Hence Teacher Education must focus on “working inward”-connect with self, i.e. be aware of

themselves, their emotions, needs, values etc and this helps them understand others much better.

Once the relation between the Teacher and a student rests on a clear understanding and mutual

trust and respect a conducive environment for learning gets manifested. To make this happen the

inner landscape of a teacher must be worked on.

5

The inner landscape of a teacher is best developed when trainings focus on:

1. Understanding - Connecting with self

Connecting with self is to gradually break down the wall between what we really are and

what we pretend to be. We can also see this as a internal alignment with minimal

fragmentation.

The characteristics of such a teacher, who is fully aligned internally with her emotions,

thoughts, needs, values etc, include

Openness to experience

Lack of defensiveness

Ability to interpret experiences accurately

Flexible self concept

Unconditional self regard

Open to feedback and willingness to make realistic changes

Strives for a congruence between self image and ideal image

When teachers experience this internal connectedness they exhibit some behaviors that

would foster learning. Some of the typical behaviors of such teachers will be

Exhibiting integrity

Experiencing peace with one self

Comfortable admitting mistakes

Recognizing the “little teacher” in the student

Enable the student to be “self learners”

Comfortable to keep learning open without rigid boundaries

Give opportunity for silence and noise in the class room

Thereby leading them to connect with the young learner open up the young learners mind

and thereby connect with the subject and assimilate learning.

2 Developing the ability to connect with self through an innovative intervention.

2 (a) Content of intervention

The intervention will have predominantly two important competencies namely-

6

Emotional Intelligence and Self Esteem

Emotional Intelligence is the ability to monitor and regulate ones emotions as well as

others (Empathy).Research has adequately established that this competency helps not

only improve performance but the relationship—the connected with the student we are

talking about.

Research in neurology and psychology has shown that emotions can influence human

thinking and behaviour in powerful ways and effect the way we operate and perform.

Self-esteem is one of the other important constructs to be nurtured by teachers while

working with their inner landscape. Its basis is in the sense of belonging, competence,

self worth, which are normally formed during early childhood and is at the mercy of the

teacher’s inner voice. However it can be raised, when one becomes true to one self by

developing self-awareness, self acceptance and self directed change

A teacher with a low self esteem tends to be submissive or aggressive/manipulative

While a healthy self esteem forms the basis for assertive behavior which, enhances the

inner connect as well as their connect with students

While it is difficult to change, due to its formation in childhood, it is not impossible. The

structure of training illustrated later facilitates this logarithmic change of enhancing self

esteem.

A clearer understanding of the importance and relevance of Emotional Intelligence and

healthy self esteem is clearly brought out in the case below.

Heart over mind

After 20 years of teaching, facing a new batch of students at the beginning of the academic year

has always been a challenge. Will I be accepted? Will I be able to sustain their interest? Will

they come for my class joyfully? Many such questions.

As usual loaded with such questions I entered a class of 54 students of Std XI. I was in for a

shock. First time, an air of indifference hit me. I consoled myself saying it was the first day and

7

things would settle. But to my dismay the same environment prevailed for almost 4 months in

spite of all the methods I used to make the process of teaching – learning interesting. I realized

my 20 years of experience of using various strategies of teaching was not which would help me

over come this situation.

I shed my ego of being a seasoned teacher and began to introspect. I realized that the basic

aspect that was missing was the connect between me and my students. I put aside my anxiety to

teach them verb conjugations and sentence pattern. At that moment the most important task was

to understand their needs and go closer to them to build a bond. I asked them what if I did would

help them concentrate during my class better. The students immediately requested for a 10

minutes break every day in between the class. I accepted.

The students did not think I would accept their request. I noticed a slight change in their

expression. Few were happy and a few others had an expression of “all this will never happen”.

I once again promised them that I would not mind them taking a break as it would help them

relax. As if to test me, for the first few days the students would request for the break with 5

minutes of the commencement of the class. I would feel the irritation in me rising but I would

control it as I understood that they were testing me to check if I meant what I said. Gradually

they settled.

I appreciated them whenever possible and spoke highly about the students and their punctuality

in returning to my class after the 10 minute break. Every time they were appreciated they

enjoyed it .To give them a feeling of being special and cared for I organized an ethic and value

class for these students where they were given an opportunity to share their experience and

feeling.

All this gradually helped them open up and they began to connect and feel safe in my presence.

As the bond was getting stronger the classes too became more interesting and interactive. It was

then that I realized that it was not my subject competency that helped me meet the challenge but

it was my sensitivity to their needs which came to my rescue..

8

2 (b) Process and structure of the intervention

A conventionally designed training program or workshop will not be suitable to train one

to “connect” with them self. The reason being, we are not trained to look with or reflect.

Hence the skill to do it needs to be explained and experienced. When the objective of

training changes from transfer of methods and techniques to re-examining habits and

adapting them appropriately to the contemporary context of learning and also focus on

habit development, it is but natural that the conventional training method would not be

suitable.

The second factor is that, it involves “adult learning”. We need to move from the

mindset that the trainer at the Teacher Training workshop “trains them” to the mindset

that the “learner learns”. The entire focus must shift to the learner and this would be the

first sample for a “learner centered class room”, where the job of the teacher is to

facilitate. We, from our childhood are trained to listen, take notes, learn new concepts

(theoretically) .This shift to look within and learn by one’s own experience cannot be

achieved in a one or two day’s workshop. Hence the Interventional Approach to Learning

and development is found to be very effective to bring about a shift in the thinking

process.

The workshop or training is designed with an intervention approach to adult learning-

doing. The entire workshop is spread over a period of time based on the objective of

training. After each training session handled by the facilitator, adequate “interval time” is

given to the learner to assimilate, reflect, adapt learning to context and finally practice the

understanding in the workplace. This enables the learner develop, Skill, Mindset and

Habit. When this happens the learning becomes more concrete and effective.

9

During the practice interval, the learner is given a structured assignment which is applied

in the work environment. This period is to give the learner hands on feel of the theory or

insight they gained during the training session. After the practice interval, the experience

of the learner is reviewed in the subsequent module. The review helps them validate the

learning, clarify any conceptual doubts and the learner also experiences the benefit. This

gets magnified when the co-learners also share their experience.

The need and impact of this structure is well captured by the following research finding

“However, unlike technical skills the pathways in the brain associated with social and

emotional competencies are different than those engaged by more cognitive learning.

Because the foundations of social and emotional competencies are often laid down early

in life and reinforced over several years they tend to become synonymous with our self-

image and thus need focused attention over time to bring about change”.

Conclusion

This approach is an example of how “Teacher Education” can be made more effective

and worthwhile by shifting the focus on the most important resource in the class room –

The teacher.

Developing the inner landscape is a demanding, complex and a lifelong process of self-

discovery and an Interventional approach essentially is a great start

• Module 1

• 2 days

Practice Interval

• Module 2

• 2 days

Practice Interval

• Module 3

• 2 days

Practice Interval

• Module 4

• 2 days

Practice Interval

10

We need to move from looking at “Teachers” as candidates with the right academic and

technical qualifications, to people who have the passion for a subject and/or passion to

make someone learn and are willing to constantly discover themselves, willing to learn

and adapt, rather than lose heart due to the inherent demand that teaching calls for.

The focus must shift to what we have to what we can give to this society. The purpose of

an educational institution is not to function as a place of visit, the purpose is to build

human beings and this can be done only when we begin to focus on respecting and

understanding the Teacher who is the soul of an educational institute.

When teacher training focuses on this, the “bricks and mortar” training institutions will

soon transform into institutions with a “soul” and it is that connect which will empower a

teacher in the true sense of the term.

Reference:

G.N Radhakrishnan, 2013 Interventional approach to learning and development. People

matters Journal

Palmer, Parker J, 1998, The courage to teach: exploring the inner landscape of a teacher’s

life-10th

edition, Jossey-Bass publication

George Vassilakis, 2002, Teacher Education: What does it mean?

Roberts, J. 1998, Beyond Training.Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

Borg, M. 2001.Teachers’ beliefs,

Wallace, M. 1991ELT Journal,55 (2): 186-188Ellis, R. 1990. Activities and Procedures

in Teacher Education

Working with Young Learners, A Way Ahead. IATEFL Publications..Kathleen Cavallo,

and Dottie Brienza, Research done on Emotional Competence and Leadership Excellence

at Johnson & Johnson

An emotional approach to strategy execution, article, The Hindu, 2014