ASSIGNMENT No.
02
Teacher Education in Pakistan (829) M.A/M.ED
Spring, 2022
Q.1 Discuss the role of Allama Iqbal Open University as provider of teacher education in the
country. How has it reorganized Teacher Education? (20)
The core of effective developmentally appropriate teaching practices is centered on making sound
educational decisions based on the developmental level, age and individual experiences of each child.
To make such decisions, teachers consider what research tells them about learning and child
development, about each child as an individual, and about how the cultural and social context in which
each child lives relates to his learning. Thus, developmentally appropriate practice is not based on what
we think, but rather what is known to be true from theory and literature.
Learning Is Interrelated and Sequenced:
All developmental and learning domains and practices are interrelated, and a child's development and
learning in one domain are influenced by what takes place in all of the others. Physical, emotional,
cognitive and social aspects must be considered and fostered as a whole, as the full spectrum of
development and learning is fundamental.
The sequence of learning and development follow a natural sequence that causes abilities and skills to
necessarily scaffold upon each other. This is centered on research on human development that puts
forth the knowledge that children at specific age spans will follow a general framework and that this
framework is used by teachers as they ready the learning environment, select curriculum, design
learning experiences and interact with students. Knowing the sequence is essential. For example, a
student must learn to count before he or she can add.
Developmentally Appropriate Practices Require Careful Planning:
Teaching practices must provide carefully planned sequences of tasks that are based on a child's
cognitive, emotional, social and physical development. They also must be logical and facilitate a
student's inductive constructions of concepts and relationships. Each lesson must be carefully planned
and must build not only upon a student's prior knowledge, but on his social and cultural context as
well.
Developmentally Appropriate Teaching Practices Match Students to Learning:
Developmentally appropriate teaching practices require teachers to know their students and provide
lessons in a way that are challenging, achievable and individualized. All teaching practices must be
attuned to the individuality of each student as well as be responsive to students' social and cultural life
contexts. "Developmentally appropriate" does not mean watering down lessons for students, but rather
ensuring that experiences and goals are suited to learning and development---and that best practices
are used based on actual knowledge, rather than assumptions, of how children learn, grow and
develop.
Teacher education and curriculum:
In contrast, education focuses on more abstract knowledge and open-ended concepts, like the ability
to design factory equipment or write poetry. Open skills rely on abstract understanding and have no
absolute ceiling on performance. Examples from teaching include how to design an original lesson plan
or promote critical thinking. This distinction is subtle since abstract concepts can empower students to
meet real-life goals, similar to training. Furthermore, training in concrete skills can foster
understanding of an underlying concept, similar to education. Some theorists distinguish education
from training based on intention. Education aims to improve the mind while training aims to improve
performance. In many cases, education and training go hand in hand.
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Pre-Service Coursework:
Many aspects of teacher education -- as opposed to training -- occur in an academic setting, including
courses on education theory, child development, and curriculum development. However, this is not an
absolute distinction since most programs also require practical courses like classroom management,
and theory courses generally also require field work, such as classroom observations and teaching
practice.
Different B.Ed programs currently being offered by AIOU
The Department of Teacher Education was established in 1985 and was bifurcated into Secondary and
Elementary Teacher Education Department in July 2003. Its programmes aim at imparting academic
and professional knowledge and training to in-services, preservice teachers and scholars. The
programs of this department comprises B.ed Education and M.Ed. Beside these professional degree
programmes, the department also offers M.Phil and PhD (MS/M.Phil Based) in Education, which are
aimed to prepare highly skilled leaderships in the filed of education. Mission: To provide high quality
academic and professional education and training through open distance learning approach, to in-
service, prospective teachers as well as scholars and practitioners so that they may be able to serve
and contribute as change agents in this high-tech, competitive and diverse teaching learning
environment.
Objectives
The Programs of department intend to achieve the following specific objectives: 1. To Produce highly
skiled, proficient and competent professionals who can positively influence and motive the vast
majority of classroom teachers at all levels. 2. To inculcate research skills to initiate research at grass
root level. 3. To Enable educators with professional vision through the intensive study of new
developments, trends and directions in the filed of education. 4. To produce theachers who can make
positive contribution to the wholesome growth and development of the individual by enabling him/her
to understand how to learn, how to live together and how to work cooperatively as members of the
group in team spirit.
Q.2 Differentiate between discussion method and lecture method. Which method is
appropriate for large class size and why? (20)
As technology advances and becomes more capable, there are many new teaching styles coming into
play. There's a lot of 'new and improved' to be seen, but it's important to remember that sometimes,
newer isn't always better.
Discussion method of teaching
Class discussions are excellent activities for improving students' communication skills. Learn about the
importance of class discussions, explore its challenges and alternatives, and review some ideas for
activities to implement in the classroom.
Importance
Imagine what would happen if the board of directors for a company didn't know how to communicate
effectively. Picture a team of writers for a television show that had no idea how to listen to each other's
opinions. Put yourself in a senate subcommittee where none of the senators knew how to clearly
articulate whether they agree or disagree with a concept. All of these situations would be horrible!
Nothing can get done in a group if people do not know how to communicate effectively. Class
discussions are an excellent way to accomplish this skill. Sometimes teachers can get so caught up in
covering the curriculum that they push aside some of these vital tools. Knowing the specifics of
photosynthesis or the themes of an Emily Dickinson poem may not be necessary for many students'
future careers, but talking and collaborating with other people certainly will. Of course, curriculum
must be taught, but class discussions are excellent methods to introduce or reinforce material.
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Challenges
There are several challenges to having a class discussion. Simply posing a question and calling on
different students to answer can get boring. Some students may also be uncomfortable with talking in
a group, especially if the question involves their opinion or is more than a quick, one sentence answer.
Another issue with class discussions is that sometimes multiple students want to talk at once. This is
especially true with elementary students. Using a talking ball or talking stick can help with this. Only
the person with the object can talk, and then the object is thrown or passed to the next person.
With traditional class discussions, only a few students are actively participating per question and
students are required to sit for long periods of time. Good teachers know that students cannot
concentrate well during long periods of inactivity; they tend to lose focus and may even begin to
behave poorly.
Activities
Where Do You Stand?
Here, the teacher posts signs in the classroom that say 'agree' and 'disagree' on opposite sides of the
classroom. Depending on the topics, you might also want to include a sign for 'neutral' in the middle of
the room. Read statements and have students decide if they agree or disagree with the statement by
moving to that side of the room. After everyone has chosen a side, pick a few students to share why
they feel that way.
Think Pair Share
After posing a question, give all the students at least thirty seconds to think silently about their
answer. Next, pair students in groups of two or three to discuss their responses. Finally, call on a few
groups to share what they discussed with the class.
Inner Circle, Outer Circle
This a variation on Think Pair Share. Rather than keeping the same partner for each topic, pairings
change with each question. Divide the class in half and form two circles, one inside the other. Students
in the inner circle talk with students in the outer circle. After a question has been answered and
shared, have the inner circle rotate so that everyone gets a new partner.
Hot Seats
Set up the classroom with chairs in one large circle and three to five chairs in the center of the circle.
Call on a few students to move to the center chairs known as the 'hot seats.' Ask the students in the
hot seat a question and give them a chance to discuss it. Be sure that they are speaking loud enough
to be heard by everyone. Students sitting in the outside circle should be taking notes on the
discussion. This style works best when students have a chart or diagram to fill out during the activity,
like a pro-con chart. Be sure to trade out students sitting in the hot seats frequently.
The Natural Flow of Lecture-Based Teaching
The word 'lecture' has gotten a bad rap over the years, but in truth, a traditional lecture is still one of
the most effective and natural ways of conveying information, and it has stood the test of time through
all conceivable models of teaching, across generations, cultures, and ideologies.
We repeatedly turn to lectures because they work. When students settle into a lecture--not in a state
of boredom or annoyance, but attentive listening and willingness to learn--the lecture model provides a
steady flow of information that students can learn and grow from. By allowing themselves to become
immersed in the words of their educators, students activate a powerful mental state that opens them
up to retaining new ideas, contemplating the presented information, and expanding their own thinking
processes.
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The uninterrupted nature of lectures creates a momentum within the subject at hand. Providing
students with the setting for a lecture, and then delivering it effectively, helps to prevent distractions
from learning and generate the momentum necessary to really make a message stick.
A Tried and True Method
Lectures aren't a new concept. In fact, they are arguably one of our oldest modes of education. And
even with technology sweeping the world and creating new opportunities, certain staples of human
interaction will always have value.
While advancements are constantly being made in both devices and teaching styles, and while many of
these new programs are incredibly beneficial to students and teachers, it's important not to discard
traditional teaching methods simply because they are older. There are many benefits to teaching via
lecture. For example:
The model of having an expert discuss their field at length provides students with a solid foundation for
their own learning
A 2010 study from Harvard's Kennedy School showed that students who received lectures learned
more than peers exposed to other methods of classroom teaching
Establishing the professor as the expert not only allows tremendous information sharing, but also lets
students know exactly who to turn to if they have trouble understanding the material.
Lectures are even cited as capitalizing on human nature to improve learning by providing verbal
instruction from an authority figure in real-time. Lectures have proven time and again to be a positive
and powerful teaching method, and succeed where other methods--like small-group discussion or
independent study--fall short.
What Makes Lectures Powerful?
Lecturing, like all teaching methods, is an art and a science. One does not simply stand at a podium
and ramble--that is not educating. A successful lecture is like a speech; it is structured, organized,
clear, easy to follow, and provides actionable steps for the listener. A good lecture doesn't tell a
student what to think of a subject, but instead guides them to examine the topic on their own, to come
at it with their unique perspectives, and to discuss these concepts openly so that answers can be found
and insights gained.
They also provide steps that the class can take after hearing the lecture to deepen their understanding,
implement their new knowledge, and make what they learned part of their lives in a real, viable way.
How to Create Effective Lectures
The first element of an effective lecture is knowing who you're speaking to. A history lesson for third
graders is going to be very different from a history lesson for third-year college students. Tailor your
lecture specifically to the people you'll be speaking to. Keep in mind the key components of a lecture,
and use these guidelines to establish flow:
Before the Lecture
Start with an outline of key points you want to cover--try to keep it to five or fewer so you and your
students don't lose focus or get lost in the lecture. Practice a solid intro and conclusion to effectively
introduce, and then wrap up, the main elements of the lecture. You want to be sure you have the flow,
energy, and confidence to present a great lecture. Look for creative, engaging, or even entertaining
(depending on your personal style) ways to emphasize important information. Keeping things fun and
light can mean better participation and retention from students, as they'll genuinely enjoy the class.
While You're Presenting
Do your best to speak naturally, rather than reading verbatim from notes. Make eye contact and speak
more conversationally--it's more effective than just reciting a script. Adjust your speaking speed to fit
the material (complex or simple?) and mood of the class (are they taking lots of notes, or listening?);
clear, slower speech is most easily absorbed. Engage students by asking questions, allowing moments
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where they can contribute their personal knowledge or experiences, and pause at certain moments to
allow information to really sink in. Incorporate other teaching styles into your lecture; have visual aids,
audio or video clips, or even physical props to support your point. Check the Stanford guidelines for
even more tips and tricks to make a powerful and effective lecture.
Be open to feedback, and if you're really looking to improve, try recording yourself and listening to it
later to see what areas you could improve. And keep in mind that this is a skill that you can improve
and expand on. Listen to great speakers and teachers. Watch a few of the best TEDTalks, and study
what makes them so captivating. Write down ideas as inspiration strikes you, and check those notes
when it's time to create your lectures (things like Evernote or Google Drive make it easy to save notes
on the go and access them from any device later).
In short, learn to enjoy the art of crafting a beautiful lecture, and give the passion you have for
teaching to creating presentations your students will love.
Keeping Lectures Alive
Whether it's a lecture in a packed classroom or a video lecture viewed on a smartphone from another
country, students benefit greatly from well-prepared lectures given by passionate teachers. No matter
what other resources are provided--articles, forums, shared notes, studies, or documentaries--there
will always be value in receiving a lecture from a teacher who you can later interact with, ask follow-up
questions of, or simply discuss the lecture material with. Modern students may benefit greatly from the
educational advancements coming from the digital age, but nothing will ever replace the effectiveness
of a passionate teacher delivering a powerful lecture.
Q.3 How does technology help in enhancing creativity in learners and making them
independent thinkers? (20)
Learning with Technology
If schools are to foster meaningful learning, then the ways that we use technologies in schools must
change from technology-as-teacher to technology-as-partner in the learning process. Before, we
argued that students do not learn from technology but that technologies can support productive
thinking and meaning making by students. That will happen when students learn with the technology.
But how do students learn with technologies? How can technologies become intellectual partners with
students? We assume the following:
Technology is more than hardware. Technology consists also of the designs and the
environments that engage learners. Technology can also consist of any reliable technique or
method for engaging learning, such as cognitive learning strategies and critical thinking skills.
Learning technologies can be any environment or definable set of activities that engage learners
in active, constructive, intentional, authentic, and cooperative learning.
Technologies are not conveyors or communicators of meaning. Nor should they prescribe and
control all of the learner interactions.
Technologies support meaningful learning when they fulfill a learning need—when interactions
with technologies are learner initiated and learner controlled and when interactions with the
technologies are conceptually and intellectually engaging.
Technologies should function as intellectual tool kits that enable learners to build more
meaningful personal interpretations and representations of the world. These tool kits must
support the intellectual functions that are required by a course of study.
Learners and technologies should be intellectual partners, where the cognitive responsibility for
performance is distributed by the part of the partnership that performs it better.
Technology Integration
The role of technology in society has changed immensely in the past decade. Young people are now
more adept than ever at using new technologies. 78% of teens own a cell phone, and one in four have
a laptop, according to a 2013 Pew Research Center study. This trend is still increasing.
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The goal of technology integration is to enhance productivity and creative engagement. When used
properly, technology can enhance productivity and engage a student's creativity. When used
haphazardly, it can be distracting and lead to busy work.
In this lesson, we'll look at several strategies geared at the successful integration of technology,
creative tools, and software to enhance arts instruction. Along the way, keep in mind that there's
nothing wrong with going low-tech. Judge your own level of comfort, whether you're navigating
software, designing visual aids with computer tools, or using collaborative online platforms.
Technology Based Enhancement
Let's look at some strategies to integrate technology tools into arts classrooms. Imagine you're
teaching a college-level music class. To better engage your digital generation students, consider
framing a lesson around using iTunes. Have students create an iTunes playlist of their ten favorite
songs. As an ice breaker or pair share exercise, students get to know their classmates through their
musical tastes at the same time as getting exposure to music that will probably be unfamiliar to them.
This will give students the opportunity to learn how to articulate their music tastes.
A high school drama teacher should consider using productivity apps, which are apps designed to save
you time, enhance communication, and facilitate online collaboration. Several tools from Google can
help him or her coordinate cast and crew. Google polls can be effectively applied to find the best
practice times. Google Calendar and Google Docs are also great collaboration tools that can help your
company of actors stay up to date on scheduling, event dates, and script changes.
Technology can also be integrated into primary and middle school classrooms. As primary schools are
quickly catching on to the digital revolution, many classrooms are now equipped with iPads. This would
allow a primary school arts teacher to use drawing apps on the iPad. Have students practice their
drawing skills and demonstrate their progress to you using screencasting apps like Explain Everything.
While drawing apps are great to express creativity, screencast apps can be used to create video of the
drawing in progress. Students can even narrate their drawing, and then save the video for you to
review at a later time.
Learning Is Interrelated and Sequenced:
All developmental and learning domains and practices are interrelated, and a child's development and
learning in one domain are influenced by what takes place in all of the others. Physical, emotional,
cognitive and social aspects must be considered and fostered as a whole, as the full spectrum of
development and learning is fundamental.
The sequence of learning and development follow a natural sequence that causes abilities and skills to
necessarily scaffold upon each other. This is centered on research on human development that puts
forth the knowledge that children at specific age spans will follow a general framework and that this
framework is used by teachers as they ready the learning environment, select curriculum, design
learning experiences and interact with students. Knowing the sequence is essential. For example, a
student must learn to count before he or she can add.
Developmentally Appropriate Practices Require Careful Planning:
Teaching practices must provide carefully planned sequences of tasks that are based on a child's
cognitive, emotional, social and physical development. They also must be logical and facilitate a
student's inductive constructions of concepts and relationships. Each lesson must be carefully planned
and must build not only upon a student's prior knowledge, but on his social and cultural context as
well.
Developmentally Appropriate Teaching Practices Match Students to Learning:
Developmentally appropriate teaching practices require teachers to know their students and provide
lessons in a way that are challenging, achievable and individualized. All teaching practices must be
attuned to the individuality of each student as well as be responsive to students' social and cultural life
contexts. "Developmentally appropriate" does not mean watering down lessons for students, but rather
ensuring that experiences and goals are suited to learning and development---and that best practices
6
are used based on actual knowledge, rather than assumptions, of how children learn, grow and
develop.
Teacher education and curriculum:
In contrast, education focuses on more abstract knowledge and open-ended concepts, like the ability
to design factory equipment or write poetry. Open skills rely on abstract understanding and have no
absolute ceiling on performance. Examples from teaching include how to design an original lesson plan
or promote critical thinking. This distinction is subtle since abstract concepts can empower students to
meet real-life goals, similar to training. Furthermore, training in concrete skills can foster
understanding of an underlying concept, similar to education. Some theorists distinguish education
from training based on intention. Education aims to improve the mind while training aims to improve
performance. In many cases, education and training go hand in hand.
Q.4 Compare the teacher education programs of developed and developing countries. (20)
In 1995 there were approximately 46 million primary and secondary school teachers in the world's
formal education systems. A little more than 3 million of them were in the United States and Canada.
Initial teacher education throughout the world has five main features, all representing decisions
regarding key issues. These are: recruitment, curriculum, structure, governance, and accreditation and
standards. This article focuses on the first three issues.
Recruitment
Among the most important features of teacher education are the criteria and procedures by which
candidates are selected or recruited for entry to programs and institutions. Unlike some other
professions, teaching often suffers from a shortage of qualified candidates for admission. Therefore,
teaching often does not enjoy the privilege of being able to select the best qualified from among a
large pool of applicants. The problem for a system is, first, ensuring that there is a large enough pool
of qualified graduates to meet the needs of the professions and, second, attracting enough qualified
applicants to enter teaching in competition with the other professions.
How much schooling should a candidate for admission to teacher education have? How valuable are
experiences outside school for prospective teachers? If the demand for fully qualified applicants for
admission to teacher education programs is greater than the supply, are there alternative qualifications
that might satisfy the demand? These are some of the issues confronted in attempts made to recruit
candidates for entry to teaching. Factors influencing recruitment include the status of the teaching
profession; the supply of, and demand for, teachers; and the economic resources of the system.
An example of the status of the profession affecting recruitment can be seen in Thailand. In 1996 it
was reported that the low status of the teaching profession in Thailand was discouraging competent
people from entering teaching and that some entrants were not seriously committed to becoming
teachers. For Thailand, therefore, the need to improve the status of teaching and to provide other
incentives for joining the profession was important.
Raymond Bolam pointed out that the career structure of the profession is also influential, contrasting
the situation in the United Kingdom, where a head teacher might earn four times as much as a
beginning teacher, with the situation in Spain, where head teachers received only a small increase in
salary above that of their colleagues. Presumably, in Spain, candidates motivated by prospects of
economic advancement are less likely to enter teaching than they are in the United Kingdom, other
things being equal.
Schooling Candidates
Another important aspect of recruitment concerns the number of years of schooling candidates have
completed before entry to training institutions. While in most developed countries completion of a full
eleven or twelve years of schooling is a normal requirement, that is an unrealistic expectation in a
country that is unable to produce a sufficient number of such graduates to meet its needs for teachers.
Toward the end of the twentieth century, in the central and south Asian countries of Afghanistan,
Pakistan, India, Sri Lanka, Bangladesh, and Nepal, the mean number of years of schooling required
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before entry to teacher training was 10.7 years. In the southeast Asian countries of Thailand, Malaysia,
Singapore, Indonesia, and the Philippines, it was 10.5 years, while in the Latin American countries of
Brazil, Chile, Cuba, Peru, Venezuela, and Colombia, it was 9.3 years. In the African countries of
Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Morocco, and Kenya, the mean was 9.6 years.
This is not to say that the only qualifications accepted for entry to teacher education are the number of
years of schooling or level of academic achievement. In some countries, candidates are recruited
without completing the full secondary education available because of their valuable experience in other
types of activities beyond formal schooling, such as employment and community development work,
and their strong motivation to become teachers. In Australia, for example, universities like the
University of Sydney offer such candidates programs specially designed to take advantage of their
strengths.
Structure
Most systems provide teacher education in face-to-face situations to students attending institutions of
higher education. However, many teachers around the world receive substantial components of their
training through distance education. Beginning near the end of the 1950s, this approach involved the
use of postal services for the delivery of learning materials to students remote from an institution, and
the sending back of completed assignments by the students. The correspondence elements of this
model were supplemented with tutorials conducted at centers located within reach of enough students
to form a group. On a number of occasions tutors would meet with the groups to render the process in
more motivating social contexts and to deal with students at a more personal level. Sometimes
students traveled to the campuses for residential schools. Telephone hook-ups were also arranged by
land line or even satellite. Two Australian universities, the University of New England and the
University of Queensland, pioneered this approach to distance teacher education. As technical
electronic advances occurred with the introduction of personal computers and electronic mail the
process became much faster and more efficient. Distance education is a relatively inexpensive
approach that is especially useful in locations where populations are sparse and distances are great.
The duration of teacher education programs varies across systems from a year or less to four or even
five years. That range exists in quite a variety of countries and seems not always to depend on the
economic development level of the countries concerned. Among the African developing countries of
Algeria, Ghana, Nigeria, Ivory Coast, Morocco, and Kenya, the range in 1990 was from one to five
years. In Australia, recruits who have completed three-or four-year university bachelor's degrees can
complete a professional teaching qualification in one year, while most choose to enter teaching
immediately after completing secondary schooling and then take up to four years to complete a
bachelor of education degree.
Curriculum
What do student teachers need to learn in order to become effective teachers in the contexts in which
they will be employed? That is the most fundamental of all the questions that can be asked about
teacher education. Initial teacher education programs usually have five strands: general education,
specialist subjects, education foundation studies, professional studies, and the practicum, including
practice teaching.
General education programs attempt to ensure that intending teachers have a sound grounding in the
predominant knowledge, attitudes, and values of the cultures in which they are preparing to teach.
General studies in history, the arts, science, mathematics, philosophy, ethics, government, psychology,
and sociology are common components of this strand.
Qualify Students To Teach Specific Areas
Specialist subjects involve studies in depth, which qualify students to teach specific areas of
knowledge. Literature and literacy, languages, history, geography, mathematics, science, computing,
domestic science, physical education, and industrial arts are examples. Student teachers preparing to
teach in elementary schools are usually expected to teach a broader range of content, whereas
postelementary teachers are usually more specialized.
Education foundation studies include studies of the history of educational thought, principles of learning
and teaching, human growth and development, comparative education, and sociology of education.
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Curriculum and instruction subjects provide units on principles and practice of planning, delivering and
assessing learning experiences for students and include such matters as programming, classroom
management skills, test construction, individualizing instruction, small group teaching methods,
laboratory instruction, and cooperative learning techniques.
Critics often claimed that professional experiences gained through such innovations as microteaching
and such models as "performance-based" or "competency-based" teacher education gave too much
emphasis to the "performance" or "behavioral" aspects of teaching at the expense of insight and
reflection. Accordingly, calls for more reflective approaches were made and were accepted. The
concept of reflective teacher education generated much literature in the 1980s and 1990s. In 1998,
Marvin Wideen and colleagues, after an extensive review of research on the effectiveness of
innovations in teacher education, including reflective practice, found little encouragement for their
adoption, and concluded that such innovations have little ability to affect beginning teachers within
teacher education structures common at the end of the twentieth century.
Challenges
Major challenges for initial teacher education in the twenty-first century include:
1. The raising of the status of the teaching profession to a level at which it attracts the best
qualified applicants.
2. Harnessing rapidly developing technology to provide maximum learning opportunities for
student teachers, especially those in remote areas and those in developing countries, where
conventional resources such as libraries are impossible to resource adequately.
3. Discovering the optimum balance between theory and practice in the curriculum of teacher
education in the many and varying contexts in which it is provided.
4. Developing teacher education structures and curricula that provide optimal balances among the
academic, humanitarian, aesthetic, and moral domains of human experience.
5. Designing research that takes account of the many complex factors that impinge upon the
process of teacher education, so that a greater understanding may be gained of the ways in
which students learn to teach in the myriad of contexts in which they live.
Q.5 Critically analyses the use of reflective practices for the professional growth of a
teacher. (20)
Teaching method and using place:
Microteaching allows teachers to review video tapes of their teaching methods with other teachers who
take the place of actual students. The purpose of microteaching is to evaluate various approaches used
in the classroom to determine which approaches were successful and which were not. Microteaching
helps instill confidence in a teacher, giving her a better sense of her strengths as well as areas that she
needs to improve on. The focus of micro teaching is to teach within a small group, giving each
individual within the group a chance to practice a concept or skill. The small group size allows for more
one-on-one interaction time between the students and the teacher. Often the students within a micro
teaching environment are required to give presentations or perform tasks in front of the group. After
each student presents or performs a task, he is given feedback on his performance from both the
instructor and his peers.
Six Steps of Microteaching:
Microteaching involves six steps: (1) planning the the lesson's topic, (2) teaching the lesson using the
targeted skill, (3) gathering feedback of the trainee’s performance, (4) re-planning to modify the plan
according to the feedback, (5) re-teaching the lesson and incorporating the changes and (6)
completing re-feedback based on the trainee’s modified behavior.
Positive Features:
Microteaching is an efficient tool for developing and mastering specific teaching skills by modifying
teaching behavior and employing real teaching situations. The complexity of the teaching process is
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reduced to observable and controllable teaching contexts that enable trainees to improve their
techniques in a simple sequence of steps.
Drawbacks:
Microteaching doesn't take into consideration the content of the lesson because it is skill-oriented. It is
a time-consuming technique, and many trainees may not have the opportunity to practice the re-plan
and re-teaching steps. It may also raise administrative problems because it requires special setting
conditions and professional equipment.
Use Metaphors
Some concepts students will have a difficult time grasping. Whenever possible, simplify difficult ideas
by using metaphors. This can be especially useful in describing scientific or mathematical concepts. If
you're creating "scenarios," ask teachers to think of a metaphor that would be appropriate for teaching
specific ideas. For example, when explaining to children the need to eat the right things, a teacher
might compare it to making sure a car has gas and oil in it so it can run.
Experiments/Props
By conducting experiments in the classroom, you can engage students in the principles behind the
experiment while at the same time sparking their imagination. For example, when wanting to explain
the properties of liquid nitrogen, an experiment that involves placing a blown-up balloon in the liquid
nitrogen, then watching it shrink and and then quickly expand again once removed is sure to get your
students' attention. Once your practice session is over, try to get a sense of whether your colleagues
found your experiment/prop examples engaging and useful.
Class Participation
Any student can tell you that there are some class lectures that seem to defy time itself, feeling like
they go on forever. What these sessions often have in common is a concept that is being covered that
seems so complex that students' attention wanders while they wait for the bell to ring. One way to
counter this effect is to fashion class sessions that facilitate an active learning environment where
there is a back-and-forth between you and your students. Build on key concepts and reinforce those
concepts through repetition.
Major steps:
Micro teaching is a term used to describe a session of practice teaching that is videotaped for the
teacher to watch following the session. Potential, new, and existing teachers use this method to review
their teaching techniques and receive feedback from fellow teachers and administrators, and make
corrections to their teaching style accordingly. Micro teaching sessions are often held before the school
year starts so teachers are comfortable and confident with their material delivery strategies.
Employ Other Teachers:
Using peer teachers in the place of students during a micro teaching session allows the fellow teachers
to see the teacher through the eyes of the students. Encourage the peer teachers to ask, respond and
react to the teacher's questions and lessons the way they feel a student of that age would respond.
This technique enables the teachers who are sitting in for students to have the opportunity to
experience the teacher in a live situation, which in turn provokes helpful feedback and criticism. During
the videotape review process, the peer teachers can pause certain sections to give pointers on better
response techniques or show examples of a satisfactory behavior.
Select Students:
Selecting students that are close in age to the full time students the teacher instructs provides a real-
life teaching scenario for the micro teaching activity. This technique enables critiquing teachers and
administrators to gauge the teacher's material delivery methods and reactions more accurately than if
the students were represented by fellow teachers. The disadvantage of using students is that they do
not have the appropriate knowledge to provide a large amount of helpful feedback unless they are
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asked specific questions by administrators or teachers to which they can then respond with their
thoughts.
Use Various Recording Times:
Using various practice session times, no matter if teachers sit in as students or actual students are
used, helps administrators gain a better understanding of a teacher's skill package. Start with one,
five-minute micro teaching session where the teacher presents and lectures on a single concept, and
conduct one, fifteen-minute practice session where the teacher delivers an entire lesson. The longer
micro teaching approach displays class beginning and ending capabilities, speaking skills, topic
transition abilities, organization, and various learning style competence. This scenario is also beneficial
for the teacher because she can fine-tune the various aspects of an entire lesson to provide optimal
teaching practices and meet the needs of a large student demographic.
Student-led and three-way conferences
Student-led conferences in which students present their learning to their teacher and parents are an
opportunity for students to formally reflect on the learning that has taken place over a period of time.
This reflection occurs as students prepare for the conference, as well as during the conference itself
when they show and explain to their parents what they have learned.
Usually the evidence they produce is in the form of a portfolio, which students have prepared according
to provided guidelines.
The student, with teacher guidance, is the one who selects the work.
The teacher makes sure the students understand the purpose of the portfolio - that is, that:
it represents some but not all the work they have done in class over a period of time
it demonstrates both strengths and weaknesses
it will be used to help them reflect on what they have learned and what they still need to learn
it will help them to state clear goals for future learning, based on the areas where they need to
make more progress.
The dvd Peer feedback and student self-assessment contains further material on student-led
conferences, including sample conferences with students from Prep and Grade Six, as well as comment
on the process from teachers.
Use of rubrics
Rubrics are a valuable tool for self-assessment. Because rubrics not only list the success criteria but
also provide descriptions of levels of performance, students are able to use them to monitor and
evaluate their progress during an assessment task or activity.
Teachers make certain that students have copies of the rubric prior to commencing the assessment
activity and understand the terminology used in the rubric. If necessary, they provide students with
models or exemplars to illustrate relevant aspects of the activity.
As they work to complete the activity, students monitor their work to ensure that it demonstrates the
required skills, knowledge or understanding. They reflect on their progress and evaluate what they
need to do if they wish to improve their performance.
Further information on rubrics is available in the Professional Learning module Success criteria and
rubrics.
Use of graphic organisers
A graphic organiser organises facts, concepts, ideas or terms in a visual or diagrammatic way so that
the relationship between the individual items is made clearer.
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The value of graphic organisers in terms of student self-assessment lies in their ability to assist
thinking and make it visible for both the student and the teacher. For example, empty spaces in
graphic organisers reveal gaps in the student's knowledge or thinking. They indicate immediately what
still needs to be discovered or learned. If graphic organisers are used in preparation for a written
response, they can show where more information or further argument is necessary, and when students
are asked to explain their use of the graphic organiser there is an opportunity for metacognitive
development because they must explain their thought processes. ('Why did you put that piece of
information here?')
If students are taught how to use graphic organisers, they can learn to select those which are
compatible with their learning styles. Some learners, for instance, will gravitate towards organisers
which use words to elucidate links, such as tables of various kinds; others will be happier with symbols
such as arrows and boxes of various meaningful shapes.
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