Teacher Education for Elementary Stage Justification : The justification for suggesting a separate model of teacher education curriculum

for the elementary stage in addition to the one suggested for primary stage is given below; - There is a constitutional commitment for providing compulsory education upto 14 years of age. - The gradual transition of the teaching and learning processes from concrete operational stage of development to abstract reasoning process and change over of teaching-learning strategies from one stage to another needs to be ingrained in the minds of teachers for ensuring a continuum of learning experiences from class I to class VIII and matching the learning experiences with the maturity of learners. The present status does not reflect the gradual transition implicit in the development of thought processes from one stage to another. The formulation of the curriculum framework for the elementary stage will also be guided by general and specific objectives of teacher education and characteristics of curriculum development.

a.

Specific Objectives : The specific objectives relevant to the stage may include the following : to develop understanding of the psychological and sociological principles relevant to elementary stage of education. to enable teachers to select, prepare and use appropriate resources for organising learning experiences. to acquaint them with methods and materials of teaching children with special needs to develop among them the capacity to solve the social and emotional problems of children. to enable them acquire necessary skills so as to develop curiosity, imagination and selfconfidence among children. to develop communication skills to enable them to mobilise and utilise community resources as educational inputs. to enable them to organise supplementry educational activities to undertake action research projects to enable them to establish mutually supportive linkages with the community to enable them to organise games, sports, physical activities and other co-curricular activities.

Curriculum Framework

1.

Theory i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix. Emerging Indian Society Elementary Education in India - status, problems and issues Psychology of Teaching and Learning with special reference to learners of age group 6-14 years Health and Physical Education School Management Education of Children with Special Needs Assessment, Evaluation and Remediation Guidance and Counselling Action Research

Practice Teaching 2. 3. 4. Pedagogical Analysis of elementary school teaching subjects Practice Teaching in Schools Observation of Model Lessons

Practical Work i. School Experience inclusive of internship

ii. iii. iv. v. vi.

Work Education School-Community interaction Organisation of educational activities Organisation of games and sports and physical education activities. Action Research-proposals and studies.

It is expected that detailed curriculum plan would adequately provide for aesthetics, culture, arts, music, dance, drama, value inculcation, etc. Rationale : The course on Emerging Indian Society will enable the prospective teachers to understand the demands that society expects education to fulfil. Similarly, proposed course on 'Elementary Education in India - status, problems and issues' will promote the capacity to examine if these expectations can really be met. The course on Psychology of Teaching and Learning will teach them how to formulate their teaching strategies to promote learning among children. Health and Physical Education will enable them to plan exercises for development of sound physiques of formative evaluation. They will be able to deal with children with special needs and adopting problem solving approach, a capacity built by Action Research. The course on counselling and guidance will enable them to help children when they are confronted with problem of any kind. The pedagogical analysis will provide the prospective teachers an understanding of the complexity involved in the teaching of the subjects at the elementary level. This will enable them to plan their educational strategies. A critical observation of model lessons and practice teaching in the actual class room situation will make them effective and competent teachers. Internship in a school will offer the prospective teachers the varied experiences needed for working in a school. They will internalise educational value of the work and experience the dignity of manual work. The school community interaction would not only promote the interactive support between both but also enable them to evolve suitable pedagogy for children. The organization of education activities will develop the capacity for planning and undertaking such activities as are essential for the development of personalty of the student. The theoretical and practical courses suggested in this frame are capable of preparing a competent elementary school teacher. Transactional Strategies : The prospective teachers are to be prepared as to enable them to perform successfully in the pre-instructional, instructional and post-instructional phases of teaching. For this, several well-designed approaches like lecture discussion cooperative study, self-study and project methods etc. may be adopted. Depending on the nature of the subject, the teachers may combine different strategies and instructional aids, utilize media supported teaching, organise field trips and practicals and demonstration techniques. In this process due attention be given to children with special needs. The curriculum transaction will have to be adjusted with the needs of students and locally available resources. During the process of teaching and learning, the existing transactional strategies marginally promote the capacity for independent study, self-discovery and self-study and rarely seek prospective teachers' participation and remain one way traffic with the result that the subject matter communicated is partially assimilated and not fully utilized. Teacher education has to inculcate professional commitment, develop competencies and make teacher reflective to deal with specific situations. Practice teaching, the weakest link of teacher education, possesses the potentiality of converting itself into a strong component if properly organized. The process of curriculum transaction needs improvement and enrichment. Pedagogical analysis of teaching subjects is sure to refine teaching and learning as it will transform the teachers' performance and develop competencies not covered by the method-cum-content approach. With the background of pedagogical analysis and model and demonstration lessons given by the teacher educator, the class room performance is sure to improve if it is supervised in detail by the subject specialist. Work education is an important component of practical work and its potentiality has to be utilized by teacher education for developing certain qualities of character. Community surveys helps to formulate a proper social perspective. The mutually supported school and community interaction helps the teachers to evolve suitable teaching strategies.

The teachers will be required to organise educational activities in school. They have to learn to plan and organize such activities as are essential to provide opportunities for self-expression and lead to development of personality of students. They have to be trained for utilizing supplementary materials essential for accelerating and promoting learning among students. The teachers will be required to facilitate physical, social, emotional and aesthetic development of students. Their creative and constructive potentialities have to be fostered. Practical activities suggested in the document will help to achieve these ends. It is, therefore, necessary to organize these activities on continuing basis. The influence of teachers' personality and behaviour has lasting impact on students. In the selection and adoption of transactional strategies the teacher has to ensure that teaching becomes participatory, cooperative, activity-centred and joyful. Evaluation : The success or failure of the curriculum transaction is ascertained by evaluation done by means of valid and reliable tools. At this stage, evaluation has to be continuous, formative and comprehensive to bring improvement in teaching learning process. Systematic evaluation will enable a teacher to select proper teaching strategies and effect suitable changes in the curriculum process. The evaluation of the pupil teachers at the elementary stage will not differ much from the primary stage and the same principles and similar practices which have been adopted at the primary level may be utilized at this stage. 2.9 Teacher Education for Secondary Stage For teaching at secondary stage, the qualification most sought after is one year B.Ed. which is in fact B.Ed. for secondary stage. However, at present, there are several variations for first degree level qualification which are also available. These include B.Ed. (Elementary); B.Ed. (Special Education); which too are programmes of one year duration; B.Ed. through correspondence or distance education mode which is now of two years duration. There are certain other variations in the form of vacation courses or part-time courses which were available before NCTE norms came into force. In addition, there are four-year integrated courses for elementary stage and also for secondary stage. Teacher education programme at this stage, like at all other stages, will include the theory, practice teaching in schools, and practical work in the light of contexts, concerns, profile of teachers and general and specific objectives.

a.

Specific Objectives : The specific objectives at this stage may include the following: i. to enable the prospective teachers to understand the nature, purpose and philosophy of secondary education. ii. to develop among teachers an understanding of the psychology of their pupils. iii. to enable them to understand the process of socialisation. iv. to equip them acquire competencies relevent to stage specific pedagogy, curriculum development, its transaction and evaluation. v. to enable them to make pedagogical analysis of the subjects they are to teach at the secondary stage. vi. to develop skills for guidance and counselling. vii. to enable them to foster creative thinking among pupils for reconstruction of knowledge. viii. to acquaint them with factors and forces affecting educational system and class room situation. ix. to acquaint them with educational needs of special groups of pupils. x. to enable them to utilise community resources as educational inputs. xi. to develop communication skills and use the modern information technology. xii. to develop aesthetic sensibilities. xiii. to acquaint them with research in education including action research

Curriculum Framework 1. Theory

i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii. ix.

x.
xi. xii. xiii. xiv. xv. xvi. xvii. Environmental Education

Emerging Indian Society Secondary Education in India - status, problems and issues Psychology of Teaching and Learning Guidance and Counselling Assessment, Evaluation and Remediation Curriculum Design and Development School Management Comparative Education Action Research Optional Courses - any two of the following : Pre-school Education Elementary Education Educational Technology Vocational Education Adult Education Non formal Education Distance Education

i. ii. iii. iv. v. Practice Teaching i. ii. iii. Practical Work i. ii. iii. iv. v. vi. vii. viii.

Computer Education Education of Children with Special Needs Health and Physical Education History and Problems of Education Population Education

Pedagogical analysis of two school teaching subjects Practice teaching in schools Observation of Model Lessons

Internship and School Experiences Field Work with community based programmes Creativity and Personality Development Programmes Work Education Sessional/practical work Physical Education Activities, games and sports and other school activities Aesthetic Development Programmes and Activities. Action Research studies

Rationale : A teacher helps in improving the quality of human life in the context of multiple internal and external forces impinging on man and the society. The course on 'Emerging Indian Society', would develop an insight into the nature of Indian society, its variety and complexities and making teacher education programme relevant to the community. Ingenuity of teachers lies in first understanding national ethos and then planning for teaching within this framework as a professional. A professionally trained teacher is expected to identify the strengths and weaknesses of secondary education in India and after having gained insights into the status, problems and issues concerning education at this stage, develop a mental make-up of evaluating the system and utilising the same for promoting excellence in education. A teacher in the classroom has to make adjustments in teaching strategy according to the nature and scope of the curriculum and evaluate the success of teaching in terms of students' growth. The foundations of curriculum, pedagogy, evaluation and remediation need to be laid down firmly during the course of professional preparation of teachers. What kind of pedagogical strategy will give optimum results in specific units of curriculum and in what ways the outcomes need to be evaluated will be the main thrust.

Distinct departure from the existing programme is noticeable in including a course on psychology of teaching and learning. The teaching of educational psychology to the B.Ed. trainees was done extensively even earlier but without establishing linkages with actual teaching and learning. The attempt to put teaching and learning together does not in any way undermine the importance of educational psychology. Now the basic thrust will be on teaching - learning processes, group dynamics, learners' background, the internal and external forces of the institution and the community. Psychology of teaching and learning would require adjustments at different levels of schooling and for different grade levels. Foundation courses lend support to refining the education processes implicit in teaching and learning. Comparative perspective of educational systems in developing and developed countries would enable teachers to acquire a global vision of contemporary context and gain greater insight into ways of improving the quality of education. The understanding of some specific areas of education in detail and in depth is needed for becoming an effective teacher. Guided by this consideration and having been supported through field interactions with different target groups, courses on pre-school education and elementary school education have been included as optionals. Teachers will also be required to get indepth understanding of areas like non-formal alternatives to school education. Similarly avenues for indepth studies in emerging areas of concern like vocational education, environmental education, population education etc. have also been suggested. The message of educational technology has to reach the classrooms in the form of its application. Prospective teacher has to be so equipped in the course of training as to enable him to think of using appropriate educational technology for improving the quality of instruction and for obtaining optimum results in terms of the students' growth. Physical education has been considered as an integral part of education. In each system of schooling tremendous amount of emphasis is laid upon building up the cognitive base of students and the affective and psychomotor dimensions of human personality, do not receive adequate attention. A teacher fashioned in the culture of physical education would be conscious of catering to the physical dimension of human personality with concern. The inclusion of this course, however, may not be taken as an alternative to preparing teachers for teaching Physical Education. Transacting Curriculum : The impact of teacher training programmes has not been perceptible over the years in terms of transacting curriculum in schools. Lecture method, mostly taken recourse to by teacher educators, is generally not supplemented by using instructional materials. Interactive teaching, co-operative teaching-learning, self-discovery approaches seldom find place in the day-to-day teaching practices. What is of importance and calls for top priority in the training programme, is to lay appropriately proportioned emphasis on 'why to teach', 'how to teach' and 'what to teach' aspects of teaching. It has to be reflected in the teaching-learning situations planned by teacher educators. Community Experiences : Interaction between the institution and community is gaining importance in the modern context. One can think of several activities promoting school-community relationship, such as, celebration of birthdays of children, celebration of parents day, activating parent- teacher association for the welfare of the schools, organisation of school and community games, sports and other functions, utilization of community resources for education, understanding the background of children, celebration of national days in collaboration with the community, environmental education , adult literacy, plantation and social forestry. Likewise, community involvement and school development activities may lead to community awareness generating competency through community - institution interaction activities; mobilizing community resources for organising literacy programmes, environmental education, work education programme, health awareness programmes, etc. It is expected that organisation of such activities would lead to developing self confidence and initiative among student teachers and also develop among them positive attitude towards plurality of cultures.