Kothari, R G. (2007). A STUDY OF PRE-SERVICE SECONDARY STAGE TEACHER EDUATION PROGRAMME IN SOUTHERN AND CENTRAL GUJARAT REGIONS FOR EMERGING DIVERGENT EDUCATIONAL CONTEXTS: PERSPECTIVES, PRACTICES AND PROSPECTS.. Unpublished. ERIC, Education

Objectives of the study:

The broad objectives of the study on teacher preparation are as follows:

1. To examine the existing teacher education curricula in terms of its relevance to the emerging educational contexts.

2. To assess the ongoing process of teacher education curricula in relation to its objectives to identify gaps.

3. To assess the ongoing process of teacher education curricula in relation to the professional requirements of the future teachers.

4. Preparation of profile of teacher educators and examine it in relation to the needed competence of teacher educators in changing contexts. To assess the ongoing process of teacher education curriculum.

5. Analyze the stake holders perception of present day teacher education programme.

Research Questions of the study:

1. Does the existing teacher education curriculum fulfill the needs of diverse educational contexts.

2. Does the existing practice of teacher education curriculum transaction equip the teachers to meet their professional requirements?

3. What is the existing profile of teacher educators?

4. How do the stake-holders perceive the teacher education programme?

5. How far teacher education programme is able to achieve its objective in operation?

Sample Selected :

Four colleges were selected for the study. They are

1. V.T. Chokshi Sarvajanik College of Education

2. V.R. Bhakta College of Education, Kamrej

3. Shree Rang Shikshan Mahavidyalaya, Billimora

4. B.J. Patel College of Education, Bardoli

Research tools suggested for the study:

1. Teacher Educators Profile (For Macro Survey)

2. Questionnaire for Student Trainees Perceptions.

3. Observation Schedule for Classroom Practices

4. Questionnaire for stake-holders

5. Questionnaire for Beginner Teachers

6. Questionnaires for School Principals of Practice Teaching Schools

7. Content Analysis for Curriculum of B.Ed Colleges

8. Focused Group Discussion with the Teacher Educators

Research Methodology:

Survey Method

Statistical Techniques:

Frequency count and Percentage analysis were used.

Findings:

1. The curriculum:

   The curriculum overall displays concern with the global standards but, their implementation is not judiciously done. The balance between teaching of theory and practical contents required to be revised and to be maintained appropriately.

2. Classroom Observations:

   As part of the project, classroom observations were made of the different situations of teacher education programme. For these observations following classroom situations were observed:

1. Theory Session

2. Guidance to teaching

3. Block Teaching

4. Micro Teaching

5. Practice Teaching

6. Off campus Teaching

7. Final Lessons, and

8. Internship programme.

There were four stages to assess the classroom situations in context to the objectives of project. The findings of which are as follows:

1. Among the situations observed in all the sample colleges, the results were far from the objectives of the study.

2. In none of the education colleges beyond the stage two situations of the objectives could be achieved. Which revealed that the colleges were least interested to be on the equal pedestal to the global standards.

3. Least concern was expressed to achieve the desired global levels of learning and teaching in colleges of education.

3. Teacher Educator’s Profile:

   The major thrust of the study was the performance and understanding of the Teacher Educator’s about the Teacher Education Programme. It was found that most of the TE’s in these colleges were fresh graduates. Hence there was lack of appropriate experience among them. These TEs were in process of acquiring the appropriate qualifications and experience for their profession. The limitation was observed in terms of their performance in the areas of research. The lack for change and negative approach towards adopting the progressive ideas of learning was evident. The appropriate guidance with changing demands of educational demands of the schools was not adopted by the Teacher Educator’s, eg. During the practice teaching sessions Student Teachers were not encouraged to adopt methods of activity based learning, neither innovative methods were evolved to appreciate various dimensions teaching and learning. A positive aspect about all these colleges was that a fairly cohesive environment was seen and team work was encouraged to its maximum/. TE’s complained about absence of regular training, as it affected their performance in the teaching method. They did felt need for career advancement programmes for their professional betterment. TEs were not well conversant with the Internet and Web based learning.

4. The Stake Holders Perception:

   The Stake-Holders are the main source of growth of the self-finance B.Ed colleges, their awareness about the profession and its market importance makes the course to improve in the requisite direction. The stake-holders gave in their qualitative opinion varied kinds of opnion. Many were satisfied with the present condition of the framework of teacher education programme. Certain group of them gave fairly negative response. They felt that the orthodoxy of the curriculum and the pedagogic methodology are making the entire course loose its community relevance. Few STH blamed it to the incompetent ST’s and TE’s who are not committed to their profession.

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