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Tiwari, Gyanendra Nath. (2017). Evolving Competency Based Curriculum in Science Education for In-Service Primary School Teachers. Unpublished. Ph.D., Education. University of Allahabad.

Objective-1. To study the existing in-service education programme for primary teachers in the context of quality improvement of science teaching in terms of Curriculum • Organization of training programme • Training process • Its outcome Objective-2. (a) To identify competencies of science teaching and study the alternative practices of science teaching at primary level as perceived by primary school teachers. (b) To explore the training needs of primary teachers in the context of existing and expected competency in science teaching as perceived by the primary teachers. Objective-3. To develop and study effectiveness of an activity based strategy of competency based in-service training package for science teaching in terms of- • Achievement • Reaction of trainersPrimary teachers will be more competent in science teaching after joining in-service training programme than prior to joining it

The population for the present study included in-service primary teachers of U.P. Since the study was mostly of exploratory nature, purposive sampling procedure was adopted in drawing the sample from the population. Out of 70 districts of U.P. two districts were selected from two categories of districts: moderately developed districts and backward districts on the basis of the following criteria: 1. Literacy rate 2. Low female literacy rate 3. Educational advancement 4. Socio-economic status 5. Accessibility, Physical connectivity and infrastructural facilities. With reference to the above criteria, one moderately developed district Deoria and one backward district Chitrakootdham Karwi were selected purposively for the present study. Objective wise details of the sampling is as follows- • Sample for the first objective included- (a) 8 in-service training programmes carried out by two DIETs (b) 50 primary teachers from Deoria and 50 primary teachers from Chitrakootdham Karwi • Sample for the second objective included science text books at primary level. • Sample for third objective contains:- (a) 100 primary teachers from Deoria and 100 primary teachers from Chitrakootdham Karwi (b) 60 classrooms Observation Schedule Teachers and Students

Target Groups Perception Interview Guide, In-service teacher trainees Training Process Observation Schedule, Teacher trainees and training programme Training Needs, Training Needs Assessment Questionnaire (TNAQ), Primary School Teachers Teaching -Learning Process in Classroom were used as tools of the study.
Survey design was adopted for this phase because this phase was exploratory in nature. Through this design, data was gathered from different clusters of sample such as primary teachers with their respective professional training. In this connection the variable like existing competencies and training needs were brought under this design.1. Qualitative Analysis of Data is done 2. For identification of competencies of science teaching at primary level, content analysis of science text books following curriculum of Basic Shiksha Parishad, UP was done. 3.Item wise analysis of closed ended items in TNAQ is done. 4. For analyzing the data related to Pre-test Post-test design, t-test is used.

A critical analysis of findings of this study was done with respect to findings of other researches done previously. There are different aspects of study that are linked with findings of previous studies. Following points were emerged as a result of this analysis: 1. Identification of competencies for specific subject provides a sound base for developing an in-service training package. A study conducted by Patole (1967) reveals the need identification of competencies of teaching of a specific subject. Similarly findings of Okoroafor (1987) revealed that effective learning is possible only when context specific competencies will be developed in primary teachers through in-service training. Present study identified context specific competencies through content analysis of primary science books which provides a sound base for evolving competency based curriculum in science education for in-service primary school teachers. 2. State Institute of Education, Maharastra (1974) made a study on in-service training needs of headmasters of rural primary schools in Poona. This study revealed that analysis of need of teachers should be an essential part of planning any in-service training curriculum. It is also relevant to identify training needs in the context of identified context specific competencies of science teaching at primary level. Therefore in this study training needs of primary teachers was identified in the context of identified competencies of science teaching. 3. SCERT, Andhra Pradesh (1981) evaluated in-service training programme for primary teachers. Results of this study revealed that skills to be used during classroom teaching were not adequately practiced during the training programme. In this context it is felt that it is relevant to use the shortcomings of in-service training programme run by DIETs as a guideline to develop an activity based programme. 4. In this study the in-service training programme developed was competency based. Major teaching models used are CAM and ITM. It is evident from the study of Avasthi (1989) that Concept Attainment Model and Inquiry Training model were found to be more effective for teaching science than traditional methods of science teaching. An in-service teacher training package was developed and implemented. The results of the experimentation revealed that this package is found to effective in developing competencies of teaching science at primary level.

The study has several implications which are three dimensional. These dimensions are immediate interventions, target groups and the level of implementations. To base on findings of the present study, it is evident that there is a need for certain changes in the existing in-service training programme. The important implications of the findings are presented below: The findings of this study may be utilized by DIETs of U.P. to organize their in-service programmes for primary teachers in science education. In-service training programme for teaching science must be their need based. The need of their in-service training should be identified on the basis of context specific competencies. The findings in respect of training needs can be used to take long term decisions with regard to training of primary teachers. Any package for in-service training in teaching science at primary level must focus on the development of both types of competencies i.e. content and transaction related competencies. Environment of the training programme must be of the type which can foster the learning process of teacher trainees. Time duration of sessions should be in accordance with weather. The sessions should be more interactive and should have more involvement of teachers. The teaching strategies adopted should be need based. Good infrastructural facilities play an importance role in developing joyful environment therefore infrastructural facilities should be up to the mark. The library should have innovative and new books so that teachers get maximum benefit from it. TLM should be more contexts specific. Real classroom demonstration should be used for more effective training. These points should be taken into account during planning a teacher-training programme. It has been felt that need assessment study is required to be conducted. Along with this it is also important that the teachers trained through these packages are expected to implement the learned knowledge, techniques and skills in their respective schools. For this purpose a follow up supervision must be conducted by the authorities. The present study covers an important aspect of teacher training for teaching science i.e. in-service training programme and provides help for future researches in this area. The responsibility of helping the schools rests with the educational administrators at different levels. Therefore the finding of the study can be used for discharging their daily science teaching effectively and to chalk out need based training program.

Keyword(s): Teacher Education, Pre-service Teacher Education, In-service Teacher Education