THE CONCEPT OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Introductory
The word "education" is derived from the Latin education (A breeding, a bringing up,
a rearing) from edilcO (I train). Formerly, it was taken in the meanings of literacy
where the process of education was considered as training an individual or equipping
an individual with the skills of reading, writing and arithmetic, i.e. an educated person
was believed to be capable of reading, writing and undergoing simple arithmetic
related to everyday life (3Rs). At present, education is defined as a complex process
of bringing changes in the behaviour of an individual, which are desired by the
society in which he/she lives. It is not only the development of skills but also it is
considered to be a process of socialization, by which an individual becomes capable
of dealing with the members of community in a better manner. On the other hand, the
process of education differs from the process of learning, where learning means
bringing a relatively permanent change in behaviour. Here, any change, being positive
or negative refers to the process of learning, where the learning for positive change
means education.
The complexity arises when the social order changes due to diversities in cultures,
societies and personal interests. A society refers to a group of individuals living
together in a place where they share similar resources and having some standards to
be followed by all. These standards of a given society are called social norms and
obedience to these norms is called conformity. Any action opposing the social norms
is disliked by the society and thus it becomes important to be aware of the social
standards, for each member of the society. Here the process of education enables an
individual to learn and follow the social norms, which is called the acceptable or
positive behaviour. Thus education is the process which makes an individual to learn
and obey the social standards.
Why to educate an individual is answered by UNESCO in terms of the four pillars of
education, i.e. learning to know, learning to do, learning to live together and learning
to be.

Learning to know
It lays the foundations of learning throughout life. This pillar refers to the basic
knowl. edF e that we need to be able to understand our environment and to live in
dignity. It is also about arousing curiosity, allowing us to experience the pleasures of
research and discovery. It faces us With the challenge of combining a sufficiently broad
education with Ole in-depth investigation of selected subjects. Naturally, learning to know
presupposes that we develop the powers of concentration, memory, and thought. In short, we
learn to learn.

Learning to do
It refers to the acquisition of practical skills, but also to an aptitude for teamwork and
initiative, and a readiness to take risks. As such, this pillar is about the competence of
putting what we have learned into practice so as to act creatively on our environment.
A variety of situations, often unforeseeable, is bound to arise. When this happens,
learning to do enables us to turn our knowledge into effective innovations.
Learning to live together
It emphasizes more than any other. It refers first of all to developing an understanding
of others through dialogue, leading to empathy, respect, and appreciation. Yet if we
are to understand others, we must first know ourselves. Learning to live together is
thus also about recognizing our growing interdependence, about experiencing shared
purposes, and about implementing common projects and a joint future. Only then will
it be possible to manage the inevitable conflicts in a peaceful way.
Learning to be
It is founded on the fundamental principle that education needs to contribute to the all
round development of each individual. This pillar deals with the broadening of care
for each aspect of the personality. It deals with giving us the freedom of thought,
feeling, and imagination that we need to act more independently, with more insight,
more critically, and more responsibly. The end of education is to discover and open
the talents which are hidden like a treasure within every person.

Teacher
A teacher is a person who provides education for pupils (children) and
students (adults). The role of teacher is often formal and ongoing, carried
out at a school or other place of formal education. In many countries, a person
who wishes to become a teacher must first obtain specified professional
qualifications or credentials from a university or college. These professional
qualifications may include the study of pedagogy, the science of teaching.
Teachers, like' other professionals, may have to continue their education after they
qualify, a process known as continuing professional development. Teachers may use a
lesson plan to facilitate student learning, providing a course of study which is called
the curriculum. A teacher's role may vary among cultures. Teachers may provide
instruction in literacy and numeracy, craftsmanship or vocational training, the arts,
religion, civics, community roles, or life skills.
A teacher who facilitates education for an individual may also be described as a
personal tutor, or, largely historically, a governess.
In some countries, formal education can take place through home schooling. Informal
learning may be assisted by a teacher occupying a transient or ongoing role, such as a
family member, or by anyone with knowledge or skills in the wider community
setting.
Religious and spiritual teachers, such as gurus, mullahs, rabbis, pastors/youth pastors
and lamas, may teach religious texts such as the Quran, Torah or Bible, etc.
Teaching a child is different from teaching an adult, due to which there arises the
concept of pedagogy and andragogy. Pedagogy literally means leading children while
Andragogy refers to the art/science of teaching adults. In The Modern Practice of
Adult Education andragogy is defined as an emerging technology for adult learning.
This is based on four basic assumptions that adults move from dependency to selfdirectedness, use their own experience for learning, are ready to learn when they
assume new roles and want to solve problems and apply new knowledge immediately.
Initially defined as, the art and science of helping adults learn, andragogy has come to

be understood as an alternative to pedagogy; a learner-focused approach for people of

all ages.
Pedagogy can also be thought of as teacher-centered or directive learning, and
andragogy as learner-centered/directed. Adults over 21 are the fastest-growing
segment of today's undergraduates, especially in distance and online education.
Consideration of andragogical principles in designing courses has become more vital
and valid.
Andragogy asserts that adults learn best when they feel the need to learn, have some
input into what, why, and how they learn and learning content and processes have a
meaningful relationship to the learner's past experience.
Their experience is used as a learning resource and what is to be learned relates to the
individual's current life situation and tasks. Having as much autonomy as possible the
learning climate minimizes anxiety and encourages freedom to experiment.
The learning styles are also taken into account, where there is a cooperative learning
climate. Creation of mechanisms for mutual planning, arrangement for a diagnosis of
learner needs and interests and enabling the formulation of learning objectives based
on the diagnosed needs and interests are all the requirements in andragogy, where
sequential activities are designed for achieving the objectives. Meaning and Concept
of Teacher Education
It is well known that the quality and extent of learner achievement are determined
primarily by teacher competence, sensitivity and teacher motivation. Teacher
education is defined as a programme of education, research and training of persons to
teach from preprimary to higher education level. It is a programme that is related to
the development of teacher proficiency and competence that would enable and
empower the teacher to meet the requirements of the profession and face the
challenges therein.
Teacher education encompasses teaching skills, sound pedagogical theory and
professional skills. i.e.
Teacher Education= Teaching Skills +Pedagogical theory +Professional skills.
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Teaching skills would include providing training and practice in the different
techniques, approaches and strategies that would help the teachers to plan and impart
instruction, provide appropriate reinforcement and conduct effective assessment. It
includes effective classroom management skills, preparation and use of instructional
materials and communication skills.
Pedagogical

theory

includes

the

philosophical,

sociological

and

psychological considerations that would enable the teachers to have a sound basis for
practicing the teaching skills in the classroom. The theory is stage specific and is
based on the needs and requirements that are characteristic of that stage.
Professional skills include the techniques, strategies and approaches that would help
teachers to grow in the profession and also work towards the growth of the profession.
It includes soft skills, counseling skills, interpersonal skills, computer skills,
information retrieving and management skills and above all life long learning skills.
An amalgamation of teaching skills, pedagogical theory and professional skills would
serve to create the right knowledge, attitude and skills in teachers, thus promoting
holistic development. Need of Teacher Education
It is common knowledge that the academic and professional standards of teachers
constitute a critical component of the essential learning conditions for achieving the
educational goals of a nation. The focus of teacher preparation had to shift from
training to education if it had to make a positive influence on the quality of
curriculum transaction in classrooms and thereby pupil learning and the larger social
transformation. The aspects that need greater emphasis are;

The length of academic preparation,

The level and quality of subject matter knowledge, The repertoire of

pedagogical skills that teachers possess

To meet the needs of diverse learning situations,

The degree of commitment to the profession,

Sensitivity to contemporary issues and problems and

The level of motivation.

Educating all children well depends not only on ensuring that teachers have the
necessary knowledge and skills to carry out their work, but also that they take
responsibility for seeing that all children reach high levels of learning and that they
act accordingly. People come to teacher education with beliefs, values, commitrinetits,
personalities and moral codes from their upbringing and schooling which affect who
they are as teachers and what they are able to learn in teacher education and in
teaching. Helping teacher candidates examine critically their beliefs and values as
they relate to teaching, learning and subject matter and form a vision of good teaching
to guide and inspire their learning and their work is a central task of teacher
education.
In addition to foundational knowledge about the areas of learning and performance,
teachers need to know how to take the steps necessary to gather additional
information that will allow them to make more grounded judgments about what is
going on and what strategies may be helpful. More importantly, teachers need to keep
what is best for the student at the centre of their decision making.
Scope of Teacher Education
The scope of teacher education can be understood in the following ways;

Teacher education at different levels of education.

Triangular basis of teacher education.

Aspects of teacher education.

Teacher Education at different levels of Education

Teacher education reaches teachers at all levels of education, namely Pre-primary,
Primary, Elementary, Secondary, Higher Secondary and the Tertiary. The needs and
requirements of students and education vary at each level. Hence level and stage-

specific teacher preparation is essential. Teacher education also helps in the

development of teaching skills in teachers of professional institutions. The teachers in
professional institutions have only the theoretical and practical knowledge of their
respective subjects. They require specialized teacher training inputs to deal with
students entering their professions. Teacher education also reaches special education
and physical education. Thus where there are teachers, there would be teacher
education.
Triangular Basis of Teacher education
Construction of the relevant knowledge base for each stage of education requires a
high degree of academic and intellectual understanding of matter related to teacher
education at each stage. This involves selection of theoretical knowledge from
disciplines cognate to education, namely, psychology, sociology and philosophy, and
converting it into forms suitable for teacher education. Teacher education derives its
content from the disciplines of Philosophy, Sociology and Psychology. These
disciplines provide the base for better understanding and application of teacher
education.
The Philosophical basis provides insights to the prospective teachers about the
implications of the various schools of philosophy, ancient and modern philosophical
thoughts, educational thoughts of philosophical thinkers on education and its various
aspects such as curriculum construction and discipline.
The Sociological basis helps the prospective teachers to understand the role of society
and its dynamics in the educational system of a nation and the world at large. It
encompasses the ideals that influence national and international scenes.
>>>>>7
emerged in the light of changing national development goals and educational
priorities.
Teacher has to be responsive and sensitive to the social contexts of education, the
various disparities in the background of learners as well as in the macro national and
global contexts, national concerns for achieving the goals of equity, parity, and social
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justice and also excellence.

To be able to realize such expectations, Teacher Education has to comprise such
features as would enable the prospective teachers to:

Care for children, and who love to be with them;

Understand children within social, cultural and political contexts;

View learning as a search for meaning out of personal experience;

Understand the way learning occurs, possible ways of . creating adequate

conditions for learning, differences among students in respect of the
kind, pace and styles of learning, etc.

The Changing Role of Teacher

Teaching has been subjected to constant, varied pressure, both within the world of
education and in the broader context of society, and has undergone progressive
changes. In past, when school education had not yet been formalized and was
restricted to a small segment of the population, knowledge of the subject-matter
taught was the only requirement for being a teacher. Anyone who could read, for
example, could teach reading and set up as a schoolmaster without any other form of
preparation. Clearly, teaching had not yet been organized and was defined by a
random series of personal initiatives, and there were no other requirements apart from
knowledge of the subject being taught. Student groups were not large and teaching
could often be conducted as a form of tutoring. Teacher training did not exist, and
indeed was not required. Teachers taught as they themselves had been taught, using
the centuries old tradition of a logical progression from the simple to the complex.
The first attempts to provide teacher training began to emerge in the 17th century to
educate the children of the working class and establish schools. However, the
increased numbers of children requiring schooling created problems for teachers. The
basic method in use, at least in small schools, was "tutoring", where the teacher called
each child in turn to the front of the class. This became impossible with an increase in
class sizes, and a new method was needed. How could larger groups be taught? The
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teachers of the time came up with an original solution, i.e. teaching must be based on
a method, and method is found in Nature. Following the natural discipline was the
first attempt towards institutionalized teaching. The approach to teaching that began
to emerge was founded on an ordered vision of the world. The tips and tricks were
consistent with a vision of the world based on total control of the students, who had to
be civilized and educated.
The entire school system was based on this ideology in which everything had its
place, i.e. control of time, space, movement, posture, reward, punishment, presence,
and the group (simultaneous instruction).
Two facts are important to mention here. First, there was a growing awareness that
knowledge of the subject taught did not necessarily make a good teacher, even if it
remained a fundamental requirement, and that other types of knowledge were needed
to teach well. Second, it became clear that this knowledge could be taught. At the
time, the knowledge was mainly imparted through apprenticeship with an experienced
master. This formalization of teaching gave rise to a specific professional model, i.e.
traditional pedagogy. This workmanlike, uniform way of teaching, which can still be
seen today, spread throughout the world.
In the late 19th century and early 20th century, traditional teaching, centered on
teachers and total control over students and teaching content, began to be criticized.
The new ideal was to establish a new type of professionality, based on a new
pedagogy. Two elements became determining factors, i.e. the growing importance of
science in discussions about teaching, and the need to promote a child-centered form
of pedagogy. The combined effect of these two factors, a focus on science and on
children, allowed psychology, as one subject to dominate during the entire 20th
century. Psychology was both a science and a way to study children, their needs and
their development.
Training in psycho-pedagogy was often given by instructors from the field of
psychology who were not necessarily aware of teaching concerns, based on the
general assumption that knowledge of certain psychological theories would eventually
filter down to teaching practices. It +as implicitly posited that teachers would
automatically transfer their knowledge to classroom situations.
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The teacher training reforms began in 1993 which stipulated that autonomy and
responsibility, two characteristics of the professional teacher, could only be based on
initial training that prepared teachers to "use their ability for critical thinking and for
making an active contribution to the development of knowledge about teaching
practices".
Increasing diversity in the student population, growing social problems and the
tensions created by technological change and the globalization of the economy place
intense pressure on teachers as they teach their students. Their work is made harder by
social responsibilities and dilemmas which they can no longer resolve within a
classroom setting. Teacher training, in particular, must take the actual conditions in
which teaching takes place into account and place more emphasis on classroom
action, in particular through reflexive analysis. With regard to research, more studies
must, among other things; focus on objectives closely related to professional practice
and must produce results that can be integrated into teacher training programmes.
The new approach to education increases the need to professionalize the act of
teaching. The reform of the education system introduces several elements that will
affect the role of teachers and the nature and significance of the competencies
required to teach. Briefly, these elements include increased autonomy for schools, an
approach to learning that places the student at the heart of the learning process, a
competency based approach to the design of teacher training programmes, multi-year
cycles in schools, and the policy of adapting schools to the needs of all students.
The increased autonomy of schools and the active involvement of teaching staff in
governing boards mean that their pedagogical action extends beyond the classroom,
and requires them to work as part of a team. Their professional expertise is required at
several levels in the provision of educational services.
The new conception of learning that gives students primary responsibility in the
learning process requires teachers to use new pedagogical approaches and ways of
dealing with students. Teachers must adapt their teaching methods to the rate of
progress of each student; they must focus on student-learners in order to redefine their
relationship to knowledge and facilitate its acquisition. Competency-based
programmes of study, and cycle-based school organization, require teachers to
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perform some tasks differently and to develop new competencies. Teamwork with
colleagues who come into contact with the students in the cycle or teach other
subjects will become especially important in developing and evaluating competencies
over periods lower than one school year.
The new social and educational context requires recognition for the interactive nature
of teaching work. Unlike specialists in a particular field (chemists or physicists, for
example), general education teachers do not work with inert materials but with living
and social subjects. Students today are no longer passive beings subjected to the
teacher's authority; they resist the teacher's influence, and always want to do
something else, or do it differently or at another time: "The teacher's knowledge no
longer, in the eyes of students, gives him or her an unconditional right to exercise
intellectual authority and obtain their attention, trust and obedience.
Conclusion
Since the role of the teacher and the context of teaching have changed, new resources
(knowledge, skills, and attitudes) are required to practise the profession. Certification
in a given subject is no longer the sole qualification needed in order to be considered
competent to teach: "The academization of training is not sufficient to promote the
model of the professional teacher". To qualify, teachers must acquire the more
complex competencies that underlie the new professionality. Simply, the role of
teacher changed from a curriculum implementer to some other contexts, such as
curriculum developer, curriculum planner, curriculum designer and curriculum
evaluator. Teacher of modern era needs knowledge of computer, current affairs,
political scenario, international trends, trade, defense, agriculture and other aspects
related to general life. There is need to have a vision over the contemporary social
issues, the religious affairs, the power and technological issues along with their
solutions.
In conclusion, besides traditional teaching, teachers' role as role model, as social
member, as colleague, as manager, as administrator, as actor and as agent of cultural
transformation is also important.

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Implications for teacher education

Due to the involvement of a number of requisites, the following impacts are important
inclusions for teacher education in a global perspective.
The curricula should take cognizance of the ever-clinnging needs of society, the
globalization scenario, the advancement and increase of technology and the way
traditional classroom teaching is loosing grounds for distance-virtual.
The content of the curricula should take account of the modern classroom. Teachers
should be trained on the state-of-the-art hard and soft ware that is now common in the
modern classroom. Training in technology should encompass telecommunications,
satellite access, networking, the internet, video-conferencing and digital components
as well as optical technology.
Another scenario is the changing pattern of world employment. There are so many
professions in our modern world and this will multiply in the coming future. The new
directions in teacher education and training should take cognizance of this so that
teachers are prepared to play multiple roles and take their rightful positions in the
teaching-learning environment to face these challenges confidently. We can only
improve the quality of education worldwide for our students if we provide our
teachers with the required skills, knowledge and experiences. One which deserves
mention is the ability of the modern teacher to control disruptive behaviour of
students in the classroom which makes it impossible for the teacher to work
efficiently and effectively and even in some instances puts the security of both
students and teachers at risk. Problems of such nature may multiply in magnitude in
schools in the up coming era and for this reason, teacher education and training
institutions should equip teachers with knowledge and skills in management to be able
to address such problems effectively and efficiently.
Teacher education curricula should be inclusive and emphasize on life long learning,
development in technology and its applications and strategies fot planning viable
alternatives to benefit students. Emphasis should be on democratic principles and
practices. The institutionalization of democracy will make teachers see the role of

12

schools and their contribution to the development of democratic values, skills and
behaviour from the global perspective.
There have been found seven basic qualities for an effective teacher education
programme.

A common clear vision of good teaching that permeates all course work and
clinical experiences, creating a coherent set of learning experiences.

Well-defined standards of professional practice and performance that are used

to guide and evaluate course and clinical works.

A strong core curriculum taught in the context of practice and grounded in

knowledge of the child and adolescent development and learning, an
understanding of social and cultural contexts, curriculum design, reform, and
innovation, evaluation and assessment and subject matter content and
pedagogy knowledge and skills.

Extended clinical experience, at least 24 to 36 weeks of supervised practicum

and student teaching opportunities in each programme are carefully chosen to
support the ideas presented in simultaneous, closely monitored and interwoven
course work.

Extensive use of a variety of case methods, teacher research, performance

assessment and portfolio evaluation that apply learning to real problems of
practice.

Explicit strategies to help students to confront their own deep-seated beliefs

and assumptions about learning and students and to learn about the
experiences of people different from themselves.

Strong relationship, common knowledge and shared belief among schoolbased and university-based faculty jointly engaged in transforming teaching,
schooling and teacher education and training.

Changing Models of teacher education

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The new directions will have to grapple with models of teacher education. The current
models need reform and innovation and new models would have to be developed that
would enable teachers to adapt comfortably to the changing times. The new models
should emphasize learning to do and learning to think so that we do not produce
learned monsters but learned thinkers.
1.

There is absolute need for participatory teacher education. In this model,

teachers in training should play active role in the training process. They should
become participants in decisions regarding the needs to which their training
must respond; what problems must be resolved in the day to day work
environment and what specific knowledge and skills must be transmitted to
them. In the participatory model teachers must be self directed and self taught.
Every aspect of the training must be based on reflection and introspection. The
needs, problems, statuses and roles must be clearly defined, examined and
analyzed by them. The actual concrete experiences of working with students
should be emphasized. Teachers must be able to collectively examine and
analyze their consequences, assisted by the trainers in solving problems.

2.

The new teacher education and training should not lose site of the power of
technology for both teachers and students learning. The real power of
technology will come when teachers have been trained well in them and have
captured the potential of technology themselves. In this way, teachers would
be able to contribute to model the behaviour that the students are expected to
learn thereby making them to grow up as more human, creative and
productive.

3.

Need for in-depth content and practical knowledge of research for teachers
Research must be a major priority in teacher education and preparation in the
modern era. Professional teachers naturally seek answers to questions and
solutions to problems that enable them to help their students to learn. They are
decision makers; make thousands of choices on hourly basis regarding the
choice of texts, literature, appropriate and relevant technology integration,
curriculum pedagogy, assessment and measurement. They are highly reflective
and sensitive to the needs of their students. They encounter failures and

14

successes. However, much of what teachers have to offer remains a secret.

Their key to success is a mystery. Teachers seek multiple means of looking at
their world of teaching and learning and that of their students by unlocking the
secrets within the classrooms. Research is one of such potent keys to help
unlock these secrets.

15

CURRICULUM AND DESIGN OF TEACHER TRAINING

PROGRAMMES
Curriculum
As an idea, curriculum came from the Latin word "Currere" which means to run/to
proceed, referring to the course of deeds and experiences through which children
grow to become mature adults. In formal education, a curriculum is the planned
interaction of pupils with instructional content, materials, resources, and processes for
evaluating the attainment of educational objectives. Other definitions combine various
elements to describe curriculum as follows:

All the learning which is planned and guided by the school, whether it is
carried on in groups or individually, inside or outside the school is called
curriculum.

It outlines the skills, performances, attitudes, and values pupils are expected to
learn from schooling and include statements of desired pupil outcomes,
descriptions of materials, and the planned sequence that will be used to help
pupils attain the outcomes.

Curriculum refers to the total learning experience provided by a school. It

includes the content of courses (the syllabus), the methods employed
(strategies), and other aspects, like norms and values, which relate to the way
the school is organized.

Curriculum may also refer to the aggregate of courses of study given in a

learning environment. The courses are arranged in a sequence to make
learning a subject easier. In schools, a curriculum spans several grades.

Curriculum may be the entire programme provided by a classroom, school,

district, state, or country. A classroom is assigned sections of the curriculum as
defined by the school. For example, a fourth grade class teaches the part of the
school curriculum that has been designed as developmentally appropriate for
students who are approximately nine years of age.

16

A curriculum is prescriptive, and is based on a more general syllabus which

merely specifies what topics must be understood and to what level to achieve a
particular grade or standard. In its broadest sense a curriculum may refer to all
courses offered at a school. This is particularly true of schools at the university
level, where the diversity of a curriculum might be an attractive point to a
potential student.
A defined and prescribed course of studies, which students must fulfill in order
to pass a certain level of education, may be given the name of curriculum. For
example, an elementary school might discuss how its curriculum, or its entire
sum of lessons and teachings, is designed to improve national testing scores or
help students learn the basics. An individual teacher might also refer to his or
her curriculum, meaning all the subjects that will be taught during a school
year. On the other hand, a high school might refer to a curriculum as the
courses required in order to receive one's diploma. They might also refer to
curriculum in exactly the same way as the elementary school, and use
curriculum to mean both individual courses needed to pass, and the overall
offering of courses, which help prepare a student for life after high school.

Traditional Point of View

According to the traditional concept of the curriculum, it is a body of subjects or
subject matter prepared by the teachers for the 4udents to learn. It was synonymous to
the course of study and sy'labus. Curriculum is also viewed as permanent studies
where the rules of grammar, rhetoric and logic and mathematics for basic education
are emphasized. The mission of the school should be intellectual training; hence
curriculum should focus on the fundamental intellectual disciplines of grammar,
literature and writing. It should also include mathematics, science, history and foreign
languages.
This definition leads us to the view that discipline is the sole source of curriculum.
Thus in our education system, curriculum is divided into chunks of knowledge we call
subject areas in basic education such as English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies
and others. In college, discipline may include humanities, sciences, languages and

17

many more. Curriculum should consist entirely of knowledge which comes from
various disciplines.
Thus curriculum can be viewed as a field of study. It is made up of its foundations
(philosophical, historical, psychological, and social etc.); di: mains of knowledge as
well as its research theories and principles.
Progressive Point of View
To a progressivist, a listing of school subjects, syllabi, course of study, and list of
courses of specific discipline do not make a curriculum. These can only be called
curriculum if the written materials are actualized by the learner. Broadly speaking,
curriculum is defined as the total learning experiences of the individual. This
definition is anchored on John Dewey's definition of experience and education. He
believed that reflective thinking is a means that unifies curricular elements. Thought is
not derived from action but tested by application.
Curriculum may also be viewed as all experiences children have under the guidance
of teachers. It is a sequence of potential experiences set up in schools for the purpose
of disciplining children and youth in group ways of thinking and acting. In short,
curriculum refers to all the experiences in the classroom which are planned and
enacted by teacher, and also learned by the students.
Elementary Education
An elementary school or primary school is an institution where children receive the
first stage of academic learning known as elementary or primary education.
Elementary school is the preferred term in some countries, where the terms grade
school and grammar school are also used. Primary school is the preferred term in the
United Kingdom, France, India, Ireland, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Australia, Latin
America, Nepal, South Africa, New Zealand, Malaysia and in most publications of the
UNESCO.
In Pakistan, the formal education starts at first enrolment in school at the age of 4-5
years. The stage of five years of education is most commonly called the primary
school stage. The completion of 8th grade is referred to .as middle school stage.
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Initially, the end of primary schooling (5th grade) and middle schooling (8th grade)
were subjected to standardized evaluation, however, at present, the standardized
testing starts with the 9th and 10`h grade of schooling, by the Boards of Intermediate
and Secondary Education. Morever, it is more common to merge the primary and
middle school stage with a collective name of elementary education, in our country.
Secondary Education
It is the stage of education following primary, education, except ir countries where
only primary or basic education is compulsory. Secondary education includes the final
stage of compulsory education. The next stage of education is usually college or
university. Secondary education is characterized by transition from primary education
for minors to tertiary, post-secondary, or higher education (e.g., university, vocational
school) for adults. Depending on the system, schools for this period or a part of it may
be called secondary schools, high schools, middle schools, vocational schools and
preparatory schools, and the exact meaning of any of these varies between the
systems.
Secondary education in Pakistan begins from grade 9. Upon completion of grade 10,
students are expected to take a standardized test administered by a regional Board of
Intermediate and Secondary. Education (131-SE). Upon successful completion of this
examination, they are awarded a Secondary School Certificate (SSC). This is locally
termed as matriculation certificate or matric. Students then enter a college or a higher
secondary school and complete grades 11 and 12. Upon completion of which they
again take a standardized test, which is also administered by the regional boards and
students are awarded the Higher Secondary (School) Certificate (or HSC). This level
of education is also called the F.Sc./F.A. or intermediate. There are many streams
students can choose for their 11 and 12 grades; such as pre-medical, pre-engineering,
humanities (or social sciences) and commerce. Some technical streams have recently
been introduced for grades 11 and 12.
Alternative qualifications in Pakistan are also available, not maintained by the BISE
but by other examination boards. Most common alternative is the General Certificate
of Education (or GCE), where SSC and HSC are replaced by Ordinary Level (0
Level) and Advanced Level (A Level) respectively.
19

Teacher Trainings in Pakistan

No system of education is above the level of its teachers. Teachers play a crucial role
in the system of education. It is important that these teachers are equipped with proper
knowledge, skills and attitudes in carrying out the goals of education and fulfilling
their obligations.
Teachers training have certain levels which correspond with the general education
ability of the teachers. Based on the structure of Teacher Education, there are three
levels of teachers' trainings. Teachers for the primary schools are trained, for which
they must have passed Secondary School examination. They are provided one year
training. After completion of this training they are awarded a certificate called
Primary Teacher's certificate (PTC). Those who possess FAJF.Sc. certificate are given
one year training and awarded a certificate called Certificate in Teaching (CT).
PTC and CT training is provided by the Government Colleges of Elementary
Education (GCEE). There are separate elementary Colleges of Education for girls and
boys who have been established at all the district headquarters within the country. The
Private organizations also provide the stated trainings, in affiliation with the
Government sector.
Those who possess BA/.Sc degrees are provided one year training called "Bachelor of
Education" (B.Ed) at the Government Colleges of Education, Institutes of Education
and Research (IERs) and by the private teacher training colleges and institutes. The
Government colleges of such nature are at a few selected places in each province of
the country. Those who further want to specialize in the subject of education undergo
one year course called Master in Education (M.Ed). This course is again conducted by
the Colleges of Education and in the Institutes of Education in the Universities.
Teachers also do M.Phil. and Ph.D in Education from the universities. Those who
possess M.Ed or M.Phil usually teach in the Colleges of Education. At the University
level Ph.Ds are employed to train teachers.
Allama Iqbal Open University offers teacher training courses through its distance
education system for those students who cannot afford to attend formal regular
courses in the teacher training institutions. National Education policy (1998-2011)

20

provides for modernizing the courses in teachers training. Accordingly, the duration
and period of training at all levels of training is being increased, including better
salaries for the teachers.
The University of Peshawar has recently started distance education system for
providing quality teacher trainings. Keeping in view the requirements of the era, the
university aims to maintain this system in connection with its formal system of
education. Also the stated programme has a vision to avoid the malpractices being
committed by other non-formal organizations.
Nature and Scope of Teacher Training at Elementary Level
Elementary education, which makes a significant contribution to national
development, occupies a crucial position in the system of education. It admits mainly
the children coming after completing pre-school education, children from educated
families, and the first generation learners and from the neglected and oppressed
sections of the society. It is the nursery of citizenship, value inculcation, and
development of appropriate behaviour and life skills. The impressions acquired during
this stage often continue through out the life.
The salient features of the elementary stage include, among others, freedom from
stress and anxiety, emphasis on mother tongue as medium of instruction, development
of practical skills and positive attitudes and values. It also includes human rights and
fundamental duties of citizens and recommends related activities, project work, etc. as
an integral part of the curriculum.
In Classes I and II the subjects of study recommended are

One language mother tongue / regional language,

Mathematics and

Health related aspects.

In Classes III to V, Environmental Studies is included in addition to the three areas of

study suggested for Classes I and II.

21

For Classes VI to VIII (upper primary stage/middle stage) the scheme of studies
includes

Three languages mother tongue (or Regional Language), Urdu and English;

Mathematics;

Science and Technology;

Social Sciences;

Work Education;

Art Education (fine arts visual and performing); and Health and Physical
Education (including games and sports, NCC and Scouts and Guides).

The reduction of the learning load and a common scheme of studies for elementary
stage with flexibility of content and modes of learning, suited to the needs and
requirements of learners is also recommended. Formal teaching of environmental
education is introduced only from Class III onwards where both natural as well as
social environments have been introduced in an integrated fashion.
Role and competencies required for Teacher
Inspite of several efforts made by the government to enhance quality of education at
various levels, it is still low, therefore the role of the teacher is most important, along
with having a number of competencies.
Role
Teachers should perform various roles like:
As Manager

To plan and deliver activities that meet students.

To develop skills of time management, classroom management and material

management.
22

As Facilitator

To facilitates learning by being creative and organized in planning daily

classes.

To plan appropriate programme for exceptional students those who need extra
help.

As Evaluator

To continue to set and correct homework.

To evaluate student's progress and discuss results with students, parents and
other teachers.

To participates in staff meeting, workshops for continuing professional

development.

As Guide and Counselor

As guide and counselor a teacher needs

To give guidance for the development.

To act as a role model.

To prepares for secondary school.

Competencies
Personal
For a teacher, the personal competencies required include to be

Physically sound

Academically fit

Active and energetic

23

Aware of self

Socially warm and friendly

Intellectually love for teaching

Professional
The professional competencies of a teacher include

To be specialist in subject

Having in-depth and updated knowledge

Having appropriate teaching skills

Using innovative methods of teaching

Social

To develop interpersonal and interactive skills

To achieve the goals of the institution

To work in collaboration and co-ordination

To have leadership quality

To develop rapport and create congenial and friendly environment.

Besides theses, the educational experts have identified ten competency areas which
are:
1.

Contextual Competencies

2.

Conceptual Competencies

3.

Curricular and Content Competencies

24

4.

Transactional Competencies

5.

Competencies in other educational activities

6.

Competencies related to teaching learning material

7.

Evaluation Competencies

8.

Managing Competencies

9.

Competencies related to parental contact and co-operation

10.

Competencies related to community contact and co-operation These

competencies are first to be developed during pre-service teacher education
and then further updated and strengthened during re-current in-service teacher
orientation as well as continuing and self directed professional enhancement
by individual teachers on their own.

Nature and Scope of Teacher Training at Secondary Level

In the recent years Pakistan has taken a fresh and more critical look at the role of
education within the context of overall national development. The goals of education
follow the national goals of development. This means development of the human
resources. The development of human resources is possible through a properly
organized programme of education.
It is imperative, that the teacher has to assume greater responsibility so as to initiate
action for the transformation of society as an agent of social change and thereby help
achieve the goal of national development. Thus success in carrying out educational
reforms and acceptance of the new role by the teacher depends on the quality of
teacher which, in turn depends on the quality of teacher education.
The curriculum framework for secondary level includes the following
Theory

Principles, Status, Problems and Issues in Secondary Education in Pakistan

and the region concerned,
25

Emerging Pakistani Society, (Emphasis on unity, diversity and regional

specificity) and Secondary Education,

Philosophy of Secondary Education, Pakistani and Western . (Only trends and

educational implications),

Sociology of Education and Cultural Anthropology (unity, diversity and the

study of regional culture be given due weightage),

Psychology of learning and motivation of secondary school level students

(Regional and Group Specificities be given due weightage),

Curriculum and instructional designs for secondary school level,

Environmental Education,

8 Action research and innovative practices,

Peace education and Social Harmony,

Health, Hygiene and Physical Education,

Evaluation and Measurement,

Safety and Disaster Management,

Management, Planning and Finance,

Guidance and Counseling,

ICT and its use in Secondary Education,

Inclusive Education,

Any other as per regional needs.

Practical

26

Internship for one week at secondary school,

Teaching of two subjects & pedagogical analysis as is common in schools or

prescribed by the university (minimum 30 lessons),

Communication skills,

Environment Protection,

Ecosystem Structure & Functions,

Plantation and Water Harvesting,

Energy Harvesting,

Work Experience,

Beautification of Schools,

Organization of Games and Sports,

Organization of Literary activities,

Organization of tours and Excursions

Organization of Field Work,

Physical Education,

Community work / Interaction,

Cleanliness of Students,

Implementation of Action Research, Case Studies and Fields work,

Preparation of tests to measure abilities,

Evaluation of answer scripts,

27

Sessional work and its Evaluation,

Preparation of maps, charts, diagrams,

Improvisation of law cost and no cost teaching aids,

Educational Games,

Diagnostic testing and remedial teaching,

Any other need based activities.

Role and competencies required for Teacher

At secondary level, students are prepared for future life. The aim of secondary
education is developing leadership, democratic citizenship, self-reliant skills, political
ability and social values.
Role
The different roles teacher performs at the secondary level are:
As Manager
As a manager teacher develops human resources i.e. students by

Creating interest for the academics,

Correlates the subject with other subjects

Develops skills of time management, class room management and material

management.

As Facilitator

Keeps in mind the intellectual development of the students'.

Develops ability for abstract reasoning & conceptualization.

28

Emphasizes on understanding / comprehending rather than memorizing.

Uses organized form of learning.

Having values and attitudes 'crucial for desirable way of functioning in the
society.

Develops critical thinking and scientific attitude.

As Evaluator

To monitor learning development.

Developing an awareness that role of evaluation is directly proportional to

teaching.

As Guide and Counselor

Gives guidance for the development stage i.e. adolescent about rapid physical
growth, emotional changes, etc.

Guides for type of career to be chosen, i.e. professional / technical.

Develops healthy attitude towards work.

Acts as a role model.

Competencies
Personal
Among the personal competencies, a teacher should be

Physically fit and healthy.

Active and Energetic.

Emotionally stable.

29

Aware of self.

Socially warm & friendly.

Intellectually, love for teaching.

Have principles & values.

Professional

Subject Specialist with grasp and depth & upto date knowledge about subject.

Having appropriate teaching skills.

Having ability to try out innovative methods of teaching.

Social

To develop inter personal & interactive skills.

Be open to Criticism.

Achieve the goals of the institution.

Working in collaboration & coordination.

Be a leader.

Developing rapport and creating congenial & friendly environment.

30

OBJECTIVES OF TEACHER EDUCATION

Introductory
The objectives for teaching and learning refer to the prior specification of what
teachers intend to teach or what it is hoped learners will learn. The statement of
educational aims and objectives has several benefits such as:

To help teachers design the course, the content, the methods, and the
assessment;

To communicate the educational intent of the course to students and to

colleagues;

To help identify the resources needed to undertake the teaching;

To provide a basis for evaluating the course, and a basis for quality assurance.

The terms goals, aims, objectives and learning outcomes are used interchangeably but
in a technical sense, it is important to be aware of their meanings.
Aim
An aim refers to the overall ultimate purpose of an activity which is very broader in
its scope and needs a very long duration of time. The scope and term duration of an
aim may be too vast that an individual may or may not achieve his/her stated aim
through out the life span.
Objective
An objective refers to the immediate outcome which is achieved in a very short
duration of time, having specificity in scope and thus these are the short-ranged shortterm purposes. Goal
A goal is an intermediate ranged purpose lying between the objective and aim, i.e.
neither too broader in scope and duration, nor too specific.
31

Consider the following example for understanding the concept and difference between
the aims, objectives and goals.
Let an individual intends to become a medical doctor, which is a long term purpose or
an ultimate aim. In order to do so, he/she will have to study the biological sciences or
to get admission in a medical college. Seeking admission in a medical college is not
the ultimate aim; rather it is a step towards the aim and hence it is the goal of the
individual. After getting enrolment in a medical college, he/she has to study the
subject matter or to understand a given concept in a given lesson. This understanding
of the lesson, for instance, is a short term, purpose and hence it is the objective. It
should be noted that there is no demarcation line among the aims, goals and
objectives, as the aim of one individual may be an objective for another and vice
versa. For example, the long term aim of a poor individual to make money of a sort
may be a short term objective for a rich one.
In educational context, to make good criticizes, to empower socialization, to enhance
patriotism, to develop morality, to practice and transmit culture etc. are all the aims,
which are achieved through a series of objectives framed for a single lesson in a
classroom situation, where combination of minor objectives make the goals achieved,
which in turn combine to achieve the aims, at later stages.
Broadly speaking, all educational purposes can be defined in terms of what it is
intended that the teacher will do or what it is intended that the student will have
learnt, or will be able to do, as a result of a learning experience. In the past, objectives
have often been defined in terms of the teacher's activity.
Classification of Educational Objectives
Educational objectives can cover a range of different types of intended learning
outcomes. The most recent of which lists the following:
The acquisition of knowledge, the development of understanding and other general
intellectual abilities, the development of conceptual, intellectual and subject-specific
skills, the development of generic or transferable skills, and the development of
values, motivation or attitudes.

32

Personal transferable skills, including inter-personal as well as personal skills;

includes also most enterprise competencies. Conceptual knowledge and skills, also
known as methodological; e.g. critical thinking, writing, creativity, hypothesis design
and testing, etc. which focus on knowing how to learn.
Discipline-related knowledge and skills, i.e. subject knowledge and understanding,
subject specific skills (e.g. in lab).
Attitudinal, values, motivation and attitudes.
There should be an appropriate balance between the efforts devoted to each of these
objectives. Hence it is important that the objectives should include examples of each
of the four types.
The Framing of Objectives
Objectives should be phrased in terms of what students will know and can do rather
than what teachers intend, but there is debate about the form that these statements of
outcomes should take. As a principle, they should be framed as explicitly and
precisely as possible, taking account of the nature of the course and the nature of the
outcomes. Where the outcomes are concerned with students acquiring a simple skill or
relatively straightforward knowledge then what is termed a behavioral approach may
be adopted. For example, for a course in Medicine an objective could have been stated
as "To understand how sound is heard", but from this statement it is unclear what
precisely students are expected to know. Objectives stated as behaviors may give
better guidance for students and staff. In this case, these would read as list the main
structures of the human outer, middle and inner ear; explain how sound waves are
transduced to nerve impulses and identify where this occurs; contrast conductive with
sensori-neural deafness; outline the neurological pathway between the cochlear hair
cells and the auditory area of the cortex. However, these behavioral objectives are not
necessarily equivalent in every respect to the concept of understanding. In many
courses in higher education, it is difficult to capture the full range of complexity of
desired student learning outcomes by having to define them in the terms of behavioral
objectives and in these cases it is genuine to use terms such as "understanding",
"becoming aware of', "appreciating", "comprehending" etc.

33

There are also difficulties in defining objectives in terms of academic content when
students' own investigations play an important part in the process and it then may
become impossible to pre-specify the subject knowledge that students will learn. To
define objectives, the teacher then has to consider the overall educational purpose of
the activity and the nature of the conceptual or I ransferable skills which it is intended
should be developed.
Similarly, assessment activities should be designed so as to enable the students'
achievement of all objectives to be assessed. Equally, students should not be assessed
on anything which has not been specified in the objectives. Each objective does not
need to be assessed separately. The implementation of this principle should not lead to
a restriction in the range of objectives specified, but to the introduction of an
innovative approach to the design of assessment activities.
Bloom's Taxonomy
The standard classification of educational objectives was done in 1956 by Benjamin
Bloom, which was a product of the research conducted over designing a theoretical
framework to correlate the educational processes of curriculum design and evaluation
procedures.
At present, the educational experts set the learning objectives for students in the light
of this taxonomy. Etiologically, taxon refers to a division and taxonomy means the
study of defining, classifying or giving order to something. Bloom's Taxonomy
divides educational objectives intq, three area called domains which are namely the
Cognitive,

Affective,

and

Psychomotor

(sometimes

loosely

described

as

knowing/head, feeling/heart and doing/hands respectively). Within the domains,

learning at the higher levels is dependent on having attained prerequisite knowledge
and skills at lower levels. A goal of Bloom's Taxonomy is to motivate educators to
focus on all three domains, creating a more holistic form of education.
Cognitive Domain
Cognition refers to the intellectual or thinking capacity of an individual. The focus of
cognitive domain is over the mental abilities of an individual. Skills in the cognitive

34

domain revolve around knowledge, comprehension, and critical thinking on a

particular topic. There are six levels in the taxonomy, moving through the lowest
order processes to the highest:
Knowledge
It exhibit memory of previously learned materials by recalling facts, terms, basic
concepts and answers. The knowledge aspect specifically focuses over the rote
memory which may not be understood by an individual. It includes:

Knowledge of specifics, i.e. terminology, specific facts.

Knowledge of ways and means of dealing with specifics, i.e. conventions,

trends and sequences, classifications and categories, criteria, methodology.

Knowledge of the universals and abstractions in a field, i.e. principles and

generalizations, theories and structures.

An answer provided by a student as 1947, when he is asked about the year when
Pakistan came into being is totally a knowledge based question, where the student
may not know what Pakistan is and what is meant by 1947.
Comprehension
It refers to understanding of facts and ideas by organizing, comparing, translating,
interpreting, giving descriptions, and stating the main ideas. The Translation,
interpretation and extrapolation are the comprehensive abilities of an individual.
It involves questions like; give a comparative account of a human heart with that of a
frog.
Application
Application refers to the use of new knowledge, solving problems in new situations
by applying acquired knowledge, facts, techniques and rules in a different way.

35

Analysis
Analysis means examination and breaking down information into parts by identifying
motives or causes. It also refers to make inferences and find evidence to support
generalizations. The analysis may be related to that of elements, relationships or
organizational principles.
Synthesis
Synthesis means compilation of information together in a different way by combining
elements in a new pattern or proposing alternative solutions. For example, production
of a unique communication, production of a plan or proposed set of operations and
derivation of a set of abstract relations, etc.
Evaluation
Presenting and defending opinions by making judgments about information, validity
of ideas or quality of work based on a set of criteria is called evaluation. It may
involve judgments in terms of internal evidence or external criteria.
Affective Domain
Affective domain describes 'the way people react emotionally and their ability to feel
another living thing's pain or joy. Affective objectives typically target the awareness
and growth in attitudes, emotion, and feelings.
There are five levels in the affective domain moving through the lowest order
processes to the highest.
Receiving
It is the lowest level where the student passively pays attention, but without this level
no learning can occur. Receiving is about the student's memory and recognition as
well. Giving attention to anything keeps it in memory which on practice and rehearsal
becomes available for long time duration.

36

Responding
The phase where student actively participates in the learning process, not only attends
to a stimulus but the student also reacts in some way.
Valuing
The student attaches a value to an object, phenomenon, or piece of information, such
as associating a value or some values to the knowledge he/she acquired.
Organizing
It is the level where the student can put together different values, information, and
ideas and accommodate them within his/her own schema; comparing, relating and
elaborating on what has been learned.
Characterizing
The student holds a particular value or belief that now exerts influence on his/her
behaviour so that it becomes a characteristic.
Psychomotor Domain
The Psychomotor domain describes the ability to physically manipulate a tool or
instrument like a hand or a hammer. Psychomotor objectives usually focus on change
and/or development in behavior and/or skills.
The subdivisions in this domain are not given by Bloom; however, other educators
divided the psychomotor domain into the following subsidiary parts..
Perception
The ability to use sensory cues to guide motor activity is called perception. This
ranges from sensory stimulation, through cue selection, to translation. For examples,
detection of non-verbal communication cues, estimation of a ball where to land after it
is thrown and then moving to the correct location to catch the ball, adjustment heat of
stove to correct temperature by smell and taste of food, etc.

37

Set
A set means readiness to an act. It includes mental, physical, and emotional These
three sets are dispositions that predetermine a person's response to different situations
(sometimes called mindsets). For example, knowing and acting upon a sequence of
steps in a manufacturing process, recognizing one's abilities and limitations, showing
desire to learn a new process (motivation), etc. It should be noted that this subdivision
of Psychomotor Domain is closely related with the "Responding to phenomena"
subdivision of the Affective Domain.
Guided Response
During the early stages in learning a complex skill that includes imitation and trial and
error, while adequacy of performance is achieved by practicing refers to the guided
response, a subdivision of the Psychomotor Domain. For example, performing a
mathematical equation as demonstrated, following instructions to build a model, etc.
Mechanism
This is the intermediate stage in learning a complex skill, wherever, the learned
responses have become habitual and the movements can be performed with some
confidence and proficiency. For example, using a personal computer, driving a car,
etc.
Complex Overt Response
The skillful performance of motor acts that involves complex movement patterns is
called the complex overt response. Proficiency is indicated by a quick, accurate, and
highly coordinated performance, requiring a minimum of energy. This category
includes performing without hesitation, and automatic performance. For example,
operating a computer quickly and accurately, displaying competence while driving a
bike, etc.
Adaptation
When skills are well developed and the individual can modify movement patterns to
fit special requirements, it is called adaptation. For example, responding effectively to
38

unexpected experiences, modifying instruction to meet the needs of the learners,

performing a task with a machine that it was not originally intended to do (machine is
not damaged and there is no danger in performing the new task), etc.
Origination
Organization means creating new movement patterns to fit a particular situation or
specific problem. Learning outcomes emphasize creativity based upon highly
developed skills. For example, constructing a new theory, developing a new and
comprehensive training programme, etc.
Vision and Objectives of Teacher Education
Teacher education has to become more sensitive to the emerging demands from the
school system. For this, it has to prepare teachers for a dual role of;
Encouraging, supportive and humane facilitator in teaching learning situations who
enables learners (students) to discover their talents, to realize their physical and
intellectual potentialities to the fullest, to develop character and desirable social and
human values to function as responsible citizens; and,
An active member of the group of persons who make conscious effort to contribute
towards the process of renewal of school curriculum to maintain its relevance to the
changing societal needs and personal needs of learners, keeping in view the
experiences gained in the past and the concerns and imperatives that have emerged in
the light of changing national development goals and educational priorities.
These expectations suggest that teacher operates in a larger context and its dynamics
as well as concerns impinge upon his/her functioning. That is to say, teacher has to be
responsive and sensitive to the social contexts of education, the various disparities in
the background of learners as well as in the macro national and global contexts,
national concerns for achieving the goals of equity, uniformity, and social justice etc.
To be able to realize such expectations, Teacher Education has to comprise such
features as would enable the prospective teachers to

Care for children, and who love to be with them;

39

Understand children within social, cultural and political contexts;

View learning as a search for meaning out of personal experience;

Understand the way learning occurs, possible ways of creating conductive

conditions for learning, differences among students in respect of the kind, pace
and styles of learning.

View knowledge generation as a continuously evolving process of reflective

learning.

Be receptive and constantly learning

View learning as a search for meaning out of personal experience, and

knowledge generation as a continuously evolving process of reflective
learning.

View knowledge not as an external reality embedded in textbooks, but as

constructed in the shared context of teaching-learning and personal
experience.

Own responsibility towards society, and work to build a better world.

Appreciate the potential of productive work and hands-on experience as a

pedagogic medium both inside and outside the classroom.

Analyze the curricular framework, policy implications and texts. Have a sound
knowledge base and basic proficiency in language.

The objectives of teacher education would therefore be to provide opportunities

To observe and engage with children, communicate with and relate to

children.

Provide opportunities for self-learning, reflection, assimilation and articulation

of new ideas; developing capacities for self directed learning and the ability to
think, be self-critical and to work in groups.
40

For understanding self and others (including one's beliefs, assumptions, the
ability for self analysis, self-evaluation, adaptability, flexibility, creativity and
innovation. To enhance understanding, knowledge and examine disciplinary
knowledge and social realities, relate subject matter with the social
environment and develop critical thinking.

To develop professional skills in pedagogy, observation, documentation,

analysis, drama, craft, story-telling and reflective inquiry, etc.

Attitude
An attitude is a hypothetical construct that represents an individual's degree of like or
dislike for an item or they are generally positive or negative views of a person, place,
thing, or event.
The underlying way we think, feel and act and react to the world around us
determines the quality and effectiveness of all of our thinking, emotions and behavior
and, thereby, the positive or negative consequences of that behavior, which is called
attitude.
Attitude means the orientations developed towards various objects, beliefs etc. which
are expressed verbally. A person's overall inclination towards an object, entity,
organization or belief system is called his/her attitude.
Attitudes are always acquired through an extended period of life. They are developed
both consciously as well as unconsciously. A person's knowledge and value system
are the two basic elements of his/her attitude development. The attitude of an
individual is directly related to his/her personality. For example, a person may have
negative attitude towards a race because the people of that race have aroused strong
feelings of guilt to him. Psychoanalytic approach to psychology states that attitudes
are mostly present in the unconscious of an individual.
Types of attitudes
Attitudes can be of various types, some important of which are given as follows:

41

Instrumental attitude
The attitude of a person which is due to the fulfillment of his/her own desire is called
instrumental attitude, i.e. to arrange things according to an individual's own needs.
Knowledge-based attitude
The attitude governed by our needs to make sense of world and sense of ourselves is
called knowledge-based attitude.
Value expressive attitude
These attitudes are related with our moral beliefs and self concept. Social attitude
The attitudes generated by our desire to feel social and political community is called
social attitude.
Pessimistic attitude
The attitude by which a person looks only to the negative aspects of things (negative
mindedness) is called pessimistic attitude.
Optimistic attitude
The attitude of a person where only the positive aspects of things are taken under
consideration is called optimistic attitude.
Realistic attitude
The attitude of a person where both the positive and negative aspects of things are
given due consideration is called realistic attitude.
Objective or scientific attitude
The attitude of a person when the negative aspects of things are considered with solid
logical reasons is called scientific attitude.
Attitude formation
Learning can account for most of the attitudes we hold. The study of attitude
42

formation is the study of how people form evaluations of persons, places or things.
Theories of classical conditioning, instrumental conditioning and social learning
conclude that unlike personality, attitudes are expected to change as a function of
experience. In addition, exposure to the attitude objects may have an effect on how a
person forms his or her attitude. Consistent exposure to a thing even may lead towards
positive attitude. Similarly, genetic approaches towards attitude state that there may
also be an indirect role of heredity and transmission of characters in attitude
formation, such as consistency in beliefs and values are due to genetic influences on
personality.
Measurement of attitude
Attitudes are measured by the tools called the attitude scales. The term scaling is
applied to the attempts to measure the attitude objectively. Attitude is a resultant of
number of external and internal factors. Depending upon the attitude to be measured,
appropriate scales are designed. Scaling is a technique used for measuring qualitative
responses of respondents such as those related to their feelings, perception, likes,
dislikes, interests and preferences etc. Likert attitudinal scale is one of the important
attitude measuring scales.
Teacher Education and Attitude Change
Attitudes change is a complex socio-psychological process where a number of factors
are involved. Research conducted on attitude change reveals that persuasion and
response to communication are important factors involved in the process. Since,
certain attitudes are needed to be changed and considered as the route objectives of
the educative process, therefore, they may be changed through the following factors
related to the persuasiveness of a message. Target Characteristics
These are characteristics that refer to the person who receives and processes a
message. One such trait is intelligence and it seems that more intelligent people are
less easily persuaded by one-sided messages. Another variable that has been studied
in this category is self-esteem, although it is sometimes thought that those higher in
self-esteem are less easily persuaded. People of moderate self-esteem are being more
easily persuaded than both those of high and low self-esteem levels. The mind frame

43

and mood of the target also plays a role in this process.

In a classroom set up, it is necessary for a teacher to keep in mind the target
characteristics, being essential for attitude change of his/her students. Besides the
teacher's own intelligence and self-esteem, the intelligence and self esteem of students
also matters in order to strengthen or change the attitude related to something.
Source Characteristics
The major source characteristics are expertise, trustworthiness and interpersonal
attraction or attractiveness. The reliability of a perceived message has been found to
be a key variable here; if one reads a report about health and believes it came from a
professional medical journal, one may be more easily persuaded than if one believes it
is from a popular newspaper.
Being an authentic source of knowledge and information, a teacher must be truthful
and trustworthy in overall behaviour and in his/her professional matters. According to
the principle of learning primacy, anything taught for the first time must be true and
correct, as it otherwise becomes difficult to change a given concept being learnt. Also
it hurts a lot when a student comes to know that a teacher had taught a concept
incorrectly. Besides the psychological aspects of students, it also influences the
trustworthiness of the teacher, thus it is important for a teacher to be a truthful source
of a message-in order to change the students' attitude.
Message Characteristics
The nature of the message also plays important role in persuasion. Sometimes
presenting both sides of a story is useful to help change attitudes. When people are not
motivated to process the message, simply the number of arguments presented in a
persuasive message will influence attitude change, such that a greater number of
arguments will produce greater attitude change.
In an educational environment, a teacher's command over a given topic and teaching
method becomes important to present information in a desired manner. Having
sufficient information related to a given message with adequate presentation style
helps the teacher in changing the attitude of his/her students.
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Cognitive Routes
A message can appeal to an individual's cognitive evaluation to help change an
attitude. In the central route to persuasion the individual is presented with the data and
motivated to evaluate the data and arrive at an attitude changing conclusion. In the
peripheral route to attitude change, the individual is encouraged to not look at the
content but at the source. This is commonly seen in modern advertisements that
feature celebrities. In some cases, physician, doctors or experts are used. In other
cases film stars are used for their attractiveness.
For a teacher, following both the central and peripheral routs are important to mould
the attitude of students. In its central route, the teacher is cognitively sound with
intellectual abilities, regarding a particular attitude, along with the personality
characteristics of impressive and charming behaviour, in peripheral means.
Conclusion
Attitude can be positive or negative, depending upon the context. It is something
related to social norms and personal experiences of an individual. For example, an
individual having positive attitude towards female education may be considered as
being aware of the present scenario, where female education seems necessary for
national development. However, for instance, the same individual may be disliked by
some other people of the community, where female education is believed to be in
contrast with the social norms. Teachers' attitude development is a very important
aspect of the educational process, as the students are assumed to adopt their attitudes
in the same manner as taught and revealed by the teacher. A teacher having negative
attitude towards a subject can easily demotivate his/her students by reflecting the
negative aspects of the given subject. Similarly, a very boring subject can be made
interesting by the teacher provided he/she has a positive attitude towards it.
Teacher education aims to develop the attitude of teachers and students in accordance
with the requirements. The curriculum may contain subjects related to the reformation
of positive attitudes towards positive aspects of education and vice versa. Here it
becomes important to highlight the positive aspects of the overall educational system

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of the nation, inspite of the existing faults. It is natural to say that no system is perfect
and improvements arc always needed, but the existing positives may be appreciated.
Repeating only the negatives at every step will ultimately spoil the system and hence
the educational objectives will consequently be opposed.
According to the theory of Reasoned Action, attitude serves as limiting factor for a
given behaviour. If people evaluate the suggested behavior as positive (attitude), and
if they think their significant others want them to perform the behavior (subjective
norm), this results in a higher intention (motivation) and they are more likely to do so.
Thus it is a teacher's attitude which enables him/her to motivate or demotivate the
students for a given action.
Skills
A skill is the learned capacity or ability to carry out pre-determined results often with
the minimum outlay of time, energy, or both. In other words skills are the abilities that
one possesses. Skills can often be divided into domain-general and domain-specific
skills. For example, in the domain of work, some general skills would include time
management, teamwork and leadership, self motivation and others, whereas domainspecific skills would be useful only for ,a certain job. Skill usually requires certain
environmental stimuli and situations to assess the level of skill being shown and used.
People need a broad range of skills in order to contribute to a modern economy.
Teacher education and skills needed for a teacher
Special teachers are always remembered in our lives. We want to be that kind of
special teachers kids remember years down the road. In order to be that great teacher,
some important skills are needed. Our students may even become teachers because we
inspired them because of our skills as a mentor and teacher. Consider some of the
important skills needed to become a teacher, among the objectives of teacher
education.
Passion to Teach
Passion and excitement is needed to teach others in order to be a good teacher.
Knowing the subject and showing the students the passion about that subject will
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ultimately result that the students will be willing to learn even more.
Patience
Patience is much necessary for a teacher. While dealing with children or teenagers for
extended periods of time, there may arise worse situations related to classroom
management, discipline and other matters, but a teacher will have to be patient and
calm with the students.
Good Communication
A teacher has to be both a good listener and speaker. Getting kids or adults to answer
questions in front of a class will involve getting their attention and making them
comfortable enough to speak up. A teacher will lose their attention by being dull and
speaking in a monotone voice.
Problem Solver
In a classroom, there arise unique problems. A teacher needs to be a problem solver
and able to think on feet when surprises occur in class.
Supportive
Students need to know that a teacher is there for them if they need help either with
classroom issues or anything else that may be bothering them. A teacher may let them
know that there is someone to which they can come for help.
Interactive
A teacher needs to interact with not only the students, 'but their parents and other
teachers. It should be made sure that he/she is comfortable with all age groups during
interactions.
Leadership
The time spent at school should be actively utilized for learning and only learning.
Teachers are in a leadership role, and students see how they behave. Thus teachers
should always be aware of what they say or do because students are watching and

47

learning from them.

Model learning
One of the prime objectives of teacher education is to enhance the skill of modeling
among the teachers, where the social learning approaches and giving practical
examples from one's own personality act as major source of inspiration for students.
Punctuality
If a teacher is at class before the students, he/she can welcome them to the lesson and
have the chance to speak with individuals if needed. Teacher should always be
punctual, expecting punctuality from students.
Do public speaking
A teacher should explain and discuss a topic with friends and peer before teaching in
class. It can be as simple as a five-minute tutorial on effective marking, but being able
to explain something and being comfortable enough to talk in front of a crowd is a
skill a teacher needs to have. For a nervous teacher, partnership with someone who is
good at it is necessary. This way, if a teacher gets anxious, someone is there to cover
for him/her.
Train someone
The best way to learn is to teach. A teacher should explain to someone the up coming
topic and reveal hidden text on an interactive whiteboard for example.
Listen more than speaking'
Telling students what a teacher thinks they need to know is pointless if he/she doesn't
know what they already know. A teacher should adopt student-centeredness at every
step.
Know basic networking
Teaching is a tough job, but one full of bright, resourceful people. The tools and
technology exist to help teachers nurture a support network of colleagues across the

48

world from which to seek guidance and inspiration. Otherwise, no one is an island.
Devise an effective marking strategy
What matters is quality not quantity. Ticking and flicking books regularly is far less
effective than providing quality feedback which moves students forward. Peer
assessment done properly can be a win, which is a winning of teacher in fact.
Parents contact
Student spend a little time at school as compared to the time spent at home, therefore,
parental responsibility to educate their children is as important as that of teacher. It is
therefore necessary for a teacher to keep contacts with parents for communicating and
discussing the progress of their kids.
Know the difference between summative and formative
Summative assessments provide information of how much students know, understand
and can do at the end of a topic of study. Formative assessments should provide
students with continual feedback on their performance to enable them to improve their
learning. Knowing the importance of both summative and formative assessments, a
teacher should apply it on the situational demand.
Back up
For any activity in class, there should be a written record as back up. Teachers should
meet the deadlines of students and in return, he/she should expect students to meet
his/her deadlines. Giving students ample warning of future deadlines and sticking to
them leads to a teacher's success. Every time giving an extension, discourage them
from planning their time effectively.
Blog
If a teacher had a great lesson, he/she may share it widely so that others may benefit.
It might just be a gain of few suggestions on how a teacher can turn things around
next tune.

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Understanding
Understanding (also called intellection) is a psychological process related to an
abstract or physical object, such as a person, situation, or message whereby one is
able to think about it and use concepts to deal adequately with that object.
Understanding is a relation between the knower and an object of understanding. It
implies abilities and dispositions with respect to an object of knowledge sufficient to
support intelligent behavior. It is the limit of a conceptualization and in order to
understand something is to have conceptualized it to a given measure.
While differentiating between knowledge and understanding, it should be noted that
knowledge is the simple awareness of bits of information, however, understanding is
the awareness of the connection between the individual pieces of this information. It
is understanding which allows knowledge to be put into use. Therefore, understanding
represents a deeper level than simple knowledge.
Knowledge, skill, and understanding are the stock in trade of education. Most teachers
show a vigorous commitment to all these. Everyone wants students to emerge from
schooling or other learning experiences with a good collection of knowledge, welldeveloped skills, and an understanding of the meaning, significance, and use of what
they have studied. So it's worth asking what conception of knowledge, skill, and
understanding underwrites what happens in classrooms among teachers and students
to foster these attainments.
In a phrase, understanding is the ability to think and act flexibly with what one knows.
To put it another way, an understanding of a topic is a flexible performance capability
with emphasis on the flexible. In keeping with this, learning for understanding is like
learning a flexible performance, more like learning to hold a good conversation or
rock climb than learning the multiplication table or the names of the countries.
Learning facts can be a crucial step to learning for understanding, but learning facts is
not learning for understanding.
Teaching for Understanding is an educational pedagogy while understanding goals
refer to the concepts, processes, and skills that we most want our students to
understand. They help to create focus by stating where students are going.

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Teacher education and teaching for understanding

Many people emphasize the importance of good teachers, and many local, state, and
federal policies are designed to promote teacher quality. Research using student scores
on standardized tests confirms the common perception that some teachers are more
effective than others and it also reveals that being taught by an effective teacher has
important consequences for student achievement.
Teaching for understanding is neither magical nor mysterious; however, classrooms
which nurture student understanding do possess distinctive qualities. Understanding is
a matter of being able to do a variety of thought-demanding things with a topic, like
explaining, finding evidence and examples, generalizing, applying, analogizing, and
representing a topic in a new way. In summary, understanding is being able to carry
out a variety of performances that show one's understanding of a topic and, at the
same time, advance it. We call such performances understanding performances or
performances of understanding.
Howard Gardner's view of understanding emphasizes the application of knowledge in
new circumstances. He states that "I consider an individual to have understood when
he or she can take knowledge, concepts, skills and facts and apply them in new
situations where they are appropriate. If students simply parrot back what they have
been told or what they have read in a textbook, then we do not really know whether
they understand".
Since here the focus is on cognitive development, the teacher must have extensive
knowledge of the subject being taught and of how students learn the subject. More
specifically, teaching for understanding requires that the conceptual frames of the
student in that subject be known so that strategies which produce change and growth
can be developed. Research on teaching for understanding has produced a number of
successful experimental programmes which have yielded principles and practices
which appear central to such an effort. The following elements are important
conclusions derived for research conducted on teacher education and understanding.

The curriculum is designed to equip students with knowledge, skills, values,

and dispositions useful both inside and outside of school.

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Instructional goals underscore developing student expertise within an

application context and with emphasis on conceptual understanding and selfregulated use of skill.

The content is organized around a limited set of powerful ideas (key

understandings and principles).

The teacher's role is not just to present information but also to develop
strategies which will support and respond to students' learning.

The students' role is not just to absorb or copy but to actively make sense and
construct meaning.

Activities and assignments feature authentic tasks that call for problem solving
or critical thinking, not just memory or reproduction.

Higher-order thinking skills are not taught as a separate skills curriculum.

instead, they are developed in the process of teaching subject-matter
knowledge within application contexts that call for students to relate what they
are learning to their lives outside of school by thinking critically or creatively
about it or by using it to solve problems or make decisions.

The teacher creates a social environment in the classroom that could be

described as a learning community where dialogue promotes understanding.

Embedded in these principles is an approach to curriculum and instruction which

reduces the breadth of coverage to allow for more. in-depth teaching of selected
content. Understanding rather than coverage is a central principle in teaching for
understanding. Following are some important aspects and guidelines for a teacher to
enhance understanding in a classroom set up.
Generative Topics
A generative topic or theme is one which is central to the discipline, is accessible to
students, and can be connected to diverse topics inside and outside the discipline. In a
study of biology, for example, the themes of health, growth, sickness, or ecological

52

balance might be used to organize a unit of study which would reach beyond the
boundaries of the biology textbook.
Understanding Goals
Several key understanding goals for each topic must .be identified and stated. These
goals serve to focus instruction.
Understanding; Performances
Performances which support the understanding goals must be part of each unit from
beginning to end.
Ongoing Assessment
Assessment is an integral part of instruction, not a summary statement of adequacy.
The key factors are shared and public criteria, regular feedback, and frequent
reflection during the learning process.
Conclusion
In order to maintain a better understanding for students in a classroom, the teachers
must have sufficient knowledge or command over subject, without any exception.
Also, pedagogical content knowledge (how to select, represent, and organize
information, concepts and procedures in a subject area) is important for a teacher to
have. Knowledge of the learner and presuming new strategies of classroom interaction
are necessary. While it is obvious that good teachers have always used powerful
activities in their teaching, they have not always expected students to demonstrate
their understanding by going beyond what they already know. Nor have students
always receive the ongoing assessment needed to learn from performances of
understanding. Covering the curriculum contents may not be important for a teacher
in a classroom; rather, understanding a little is far better than the rote memorization
and reproducing the same by a student during evaluation. Activity based curricula
provide grounds for better understanding, where every topic is provided with its
applied aspect within the textbook. If the focus is on understanding, an educational
system will attain the desired quality, where nothing is more precious than the skills

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one have, and it is the basic objective of teacher education.

Values
Values can be defined as broad preferences concerning appropriate courses of action
or outcomes. As such, values reflect a person's sense of right and wrong or what ought
to be. Equal rights for all, Excellence deserves admiration, and People should be
treated with respect and dignity, are representative of values.
Values tend to influence attitudes and behavior. For example, if an individual values
equal rights for all and he/she goes to work for an organization that treats its managers
much better than it does its workers, he/she may form the attitude that the company is
an unfair place to work; consequently, he/she may not produce well or may perhaps
leave the company. It is likely that if the company had a more democratic policy
based on equality, the individual's attitude and behaviors would have been adore
positive.
The study of values, ethics and aesthetics is a broad field of studies in philosophy,
called axiology, where values are studied from a number of perspectives. The price
and worth given to something becomes important for an individual, based on his/her
ideology. For instance, a pen may not be precious, but its need during exams makes it
valuable. Similarly, a number of precious and beautiful books are ignored when they
come in comparison with an old, worn out page of the Holy Quran.
Factors influencing values of students
Following are some important factors which influence the values of students.

Role models, such as parents, other adults, peers, and mass media, Legends
and heroes, etc.

Stories and narratives in print, film, or games.

Reinforcement (where positive and negative reinforcements, the punishment

and reward system hold good in values development).

Problem solving processes for helping to make choices.

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Thinking in a way that is clear and straight, not distorted; seeing many
possibilities in a situation.

The ability to reflect on experience and to learn from it

The ability to use a framework to make decisions when one genuinely doesn't
know what to do in a hard case.

Schools and values

Schools have always been interested in three kinds of outcomes, i.e.

Skillswhat our students are able to do,

Knowledgewhat they know,

Characterthe kind of people they become.

The last but not the least aspect of schooling and education is to build up the character
of students which emerges in the form of an indispensable objective of Teacher
education, leading towards a new paradigm in education called value education or
character education. In some schools, it's about promoting pro-social thoughts, values,
and behaviors and having students act as good citizens. In others, it's about
developing specific desirable values. For schools in general, it is finding some way to
help students develop good habits or virtues. In our classroom situations, teachers
should emphasize on values as they arc supportive for students in the following
manners.

To develop a love of learning.

To pursue excellence and high standards.

To develop care and respect for themselves and others.

To take pride in their work.

To exhibit a strong sense of fairness and social justice.

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To have respect for and understanding of Pakistan's history including the

cultures and experiences.

To actively participate as citizens.

Teacher Education and Values

In a broad sense, everything educates, and the learning process is an endless cycle
throughout life. Some values change and others are lasting values. Some values are
universal and others are personal or classed with certain groups of people. As an
objective of teacher education, let classify the values under very broad terms of
Respect for Self (personal), and Respect for Others (universal).
Respect for self
In a broad sense of the word, self would be the person's self-image, self-identity and
how he/she relates to him/herself, the school, home or the social world. It is important
for the teacher to know how the child feels about him/herself. The teacher, therefore,
must build confidence and trust and let the child know that he/she is valued. This is
the area of severe importance and many professional educationists as well as parents
would just assume this responsibility be left at the home.
The teacher, whose total pattern of learned ways of behaving and maturing may be
culturally different, has accepted a responsibility for guiding the child's behavior in
school so that it will be possible to achieve realization by ultimate potential both in
the social group whence he/she came and in the larger society into which he/she will
unavoidably move.
If these are some of the expectations from the child, then, teachers also have to
develop greater self-awareness. The better understanding one has for self, the better
he/she is able to be objective about his/her own problems, i.e. to know which ones can
be solved, which ones cannot be, and where he/she can get further help.
Many of the Pakistanis have strong and complex tribal beliefs and strengths;
therefore, many parents would object to the idea of the teachers imposing their values
on the children whom they teach. Respect for others

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Actually, this would bring into focus the second term, respect for others. Whether we
realize it or not, the classroom teacher is placed in a position where he/she is
constantly, either unconsciously or subconsciously,' influencing some behavioral
expectations on the children. When we teach children to take turns on the swings on
the playground, when we encourage cooperation with their classmates in organized
study projects, when we ask for quiet in the library so that others can study, when we
punish or discourage cheating on examinations, we are making individual, very small,
but collectively significant selections of what we want the children to prefer. We
would assume that these are universal values which would apply in any classroom
situation, because no matter what class of people we belong or identify with, some of
these habits are actually a method of survival.
The teacher, then, is not considered a genuine guide trthe young unless he/she assists
the children in developing a sense of values. This means that choices must be made
somehow, somewhere. And the classroom is the place where the teacher has some
authority over the quality of such choices. The teacher is also in a position to be
flexible in learning and accepting ways of behavior and maturing within a particular
social group. He/she can establish many avenues of accomplishing the difficult tasks
and responsibilities of educating the child.
Conclusion
There are differences of opinion and nearly always, the negative attitudes seem to rule
out the positive attitudes, but a lot has to be taken into consideration because there are
actually no solutions that can be concluded. Many would still argue the point of
leaving the teaching of values in the hands of the parents, but as previously
mentioned, we as educators are constantly engaged in this problem as part of our
responsibilities.
Education is a two-way approach. We have to accept the fact that a child is first of all
a child and secondly a member of a race, ethnic group, sect and region. Anyone who
teaches accepts a child first because he/she is a child and then becomes aware of
individual differences in ability and background. When a teacher does this with
children, his/her attitude is imitated by the children and a child will more readily
become comfortable, and a happy contributing member of the class.
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OBJECTIVES AND STRUCTURE OF TEACHER

EDUCATION CURRICULUM
Introductory
Teacher education is an integral component of the educational system. It is intimately
connected with society and is conditioned by the culture and character of a nation:
The constitutional goals, the directive principles of the state policy, the socioeconomic problems and the growth of knowledge, the emerging expectations and the
changes operating in education, etc. call for an appropriate response from a futuristic
education system and provide the perspective within which teacher education
programmes need to be viewed.
When Pakistan attained freedom, the then existing educational system was accepted
as such because it was thought that an abrupt departure from the same would be
disturbing and destabilizing. Thus the system was retained towards rearrangement for
betterment. Consequently, education including teacher education largely remained
isolated from the needs and aspirations of the people. Presently, certain efforts have
been made to indigenize the system. The gaps, however, are still wide and visible. The
imperatives for building the bridges may be as follows:

To build a national system of teacher education based on Pakistani culture, its

unity and diversity synchronizing with change and continuity.

To facilitate the realization of the constitutional goals and emergence of the

new social order.

To prepare professionally competent teachers to perform their.roles effectively

as per needs of the society.

To upgrade the standard of teacher education, enhance the professional and

social status of teachers and develop amongst them a sense of commitment.

These are but a few of the major concerns which call for an immediate action. A
comprehensive, dynamic and responsive system of teacher education needs to be
continually evolved keeping the overall scenario.

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General Objectives
The general objectives of teacher education curriculum derived from the contexts,
concerns and issues of education, teacher education, and the perceived profile of the
teacher include the following:

To promote capabilities for inculcating national values and goals.

To enable teachers to act as agents of modernization and social change.

To sensitize teachers towards the promotion of social cohesion, international

understanding and protection of human rights and rights of the child.

To transform prospective teachers into competent and committed professionals

willing to perform the identified tasks.

To develop competencies and skills needed for becoming an effective teacher.

To sensitize teachers and teacher educators about.emerging issues, such as

environment, ecology, population, gender equality, legal literacy, etc.

To empower teachers to cultivate rational thinking and scientific temper

among students.

To develop critical awareness about the social realities.

To develop managerial and organizational skills.

Characteristics of the Curriculum Framework

The curriculum framework for teacher education needs to be of high quality and its
perceived characteristics may include the following:

Reflects the Pakistani heritage, acts as an instrument in the realization of

national goals and fulfills aspirations of people.

Responds to the latest developments in the field of education.

59

Establishes

integration

of

theory

and

practice

of

education.

Provides multiple educational experiences to teachers.

Enables teachers to experiment with new ideas.

Ensures inseparability of pre-service and in-service education of teachers.

Sets achievable goals for various stages of teacher education.

Provides for use of communication technology.

Specific Objectives of Curriculum for Primary Stage

The formulation of curriculum framework for this stage (classes Ito V) has been
guided by general and specific objectives of teacher education and perceived
characteristics of curriculum development. The specific objectives of primary teacher
education curriculum may include the following:

To develop understanding of the psychological and sociological foundations

relevant to the primary stage.

To enable teachers to manage appropriate resources for organizing learning

experiences of children.

To acquaint them with methods and techniques of caring for children with
special needs.

To enable them to acquire necessary skills so as to develop cariosity,

imagination and creativity.

To develop in them the capacity to understand and analyze the social and
emotional problems.

To develop communication skills.

To enable them to establish mutually supportive linkages with the community.

60

To enable them to understand implications of research for teaching-learning

and undertake action research and use innovative practices.

To enable them to organize games, sports, physical activities and other cocurricular activities.

The teacher needs to be empowered through training inputs to gain greater insights
into the complexities of the society and the historical perspective of the
developmental process. Theoretical component is essential for understanding the
learner, community and the society, the internal and external forces imposing upon the
school and the internal and external variables operating upon the learner.
In the training programmes, the prospective teachers are imparted training in a
manner that theory and practice are organically integrated. Correlation within the
curricular areas of learning and exlemal environment is established. Psychology of
Teaching and Learning, School Organization and Pedagogical Analysis of primary
school subjects provide a sound base for the adoption of integrated approach to
teaching and learning and for establishing meaningful and interactive bonds between
theory and practice. The aim of including Action Research is guided by the fact that
every prospective teacher has to know the elements of action research, surveys,
community services etc.
Specific Objectives of Curriculum for Elementary Stage
The specific objectives relevant to the Elementary 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

organizing 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

61

problems of children.

To enable them acquire necessary skills so as to develop curiosity, imagination

and self-confidence among children.

To develop communication skills.

To enable them to mobilize and utilize community resources as educational

inputs.

To enable them to organize supplementary educational activities

To undertake action research projects.

To enable them to establish mutually supportive linkages with the community

To enable them to organize games, sports, physical activities and other cocurricular activities.

The course on Contemporary Social Issues will enable the prospective teachers to
understand the demands that society expects education to fulfill. Similarly, course on
'Elementary Education in Pakistan, its status, problems and issues' will promote the
capacity to examine if these expectations can really be met. The course on
Educational Psychology 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. 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 Guidance and counseling 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.

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Internship for teaching practice in a school will offer the prospective teachers the
varied experiences needed for working in a school. They will internalize 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 educational
activities will develop the capacity for planning and undertaking such activities as are
essential for the development of personality of the student. The theoretical and
practical courses suggested in this frame are capable of preparing a competent
elementary school teacher.
Specific Objectives of Curriculum 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
&Ed. (honors); which is a four year programme and B.Ed through correspondence or
distance education mode.
Teacher education programme at this stage, like at all other stages, includes the
theory, practice teaching in schools, and practical work in the light of contexts,
concerns, profile of teachers and general and specific objectives.
The specific objectives at this stage may include the following:

To enable the prospective teachers to understand the nature, purpose and

philosophy of secondary education.

To develop among teachers an understanding of the psychology of their pupils.

To enable them to understand the process of socialization.

To equip them acquire competencies relevant to stage specific pedagogy, curriculum

development, its transaction and evaluation.

To enable them to make pedagogical analysis of the subjects they are to teach
at the secondary stage. To develop skills for guidance and counseling.

63

To enable them to foster creative thinking among pupils for reconstruction of

knowledge.

To acquaint them with factors and forces affecting educational system and
class morn situation.

To acquaint them with educational needs of special groups of pupils.

To enable them to utilize community resources as educational inputs.

To develop communication skills and use the modem information technology.

To develop aesthetic sensibilities.

To acquaint: them with research in education including action research.

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
'Perspectives of Education and Contemporary Social Issues', would develop an insight
into the nature of Pakistani society, its variety and complexities and making teacher
education programme relevant to the community.
A professionally trained teacher is expected to identify the strengths and weaknesses
of secondary education in Pakistan and after having gained insights into the status,
problems and issues concerning education at this stage, develops a mental make-up of
evaluating the system. and utilizing 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 ire 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' gives optimum results in specific
unies of curriculum, and in what. ways the outcomes need to be evaluated is the main
focus,
Distinct departure from the existing programme is noticeable in including a course on
Educational Psychology. The teaching of educational psychology to the B.Ed. trainees
64

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
emphasis is on teaching-learning processes, group dynamics, learners' background,
the internal and external forces of the institution and the community. Psychology of
teaching and learning requires adjustments at different levels of schooling and for
different grade levels. Comparative perspective of educational systems in developing
and developed countries enables 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 preschool education and elementary school education, Teacher education in Pakistan,
secondary education, comparative, education, foundations of education, Modern
approaches in education, etc. have been included as optional subjects. Teachers will
also be required to get in-depth understanding of areas like non-formal alternatives to
school education. Similarly avenues for in-depth studies in emerging areas of concern
like vocational education, environmental education, population education etc. are also
available.
The message of educational technology has to reach the classrooms in the form of its
application. Prospective teacher has to he so equipped in the course of training as to,
enable him/her 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.

65

Tasks Ahead
Recently, it has been attempted to modify the curriculum framework in keeping with
the emerging challenges and demands for better schooling and quality education.
Teacher education in Pakistan, with a view to making it relevant to the school system
as well as training needs for preparing teachers at different levels will have to be
further restructured, reorganized, and revamped. Multiple models of teacher education
may have to be evolved by the universities and other agencies. The innovative models
to be undertaken have to be relevant from the point of view of the teacher educator as
well as those tvho will assume the role of a professional, requiring inter-di scipl
inarily, broader vision and goal consciousness and commitment. These would lead to
the improvement in the standards of teacher education and develop professional
competencies. Another significant feature of such models would be their feasibility
and cost effectiveness. Mis-matches between the needs of teacher education
institutions and the professional preparation of teacher educators working in such
institutions will have to be bridged.
There are several workable propositions for evolving a variety of models like school
based model, community based model, discipline-oriented models, integrated models,
comprehensive models etc. Needless to say, it would be necessary to initiate
integrated and comprehensive programmes of teacher preparation in both academic
and vocational streams. The stage-specific and need-specific models will have to be
evolved. These innovative models should be promoted and financially supported.
Teacher Training Institutions
The Profession of Teaching
The teaching profession, by and large, does not attract the best talent in Pakistan.
Those considered bright either join the professions such as medicine and engineering
and try to migrate to the West or are attracted by higher-level civil service positions,
which open the doors towards relations with authoritative people and corruption. A
few exceptions would be some highly respected university faculty and those scientists
working at the highest levels of the country's research establishment, especially those
involved in missile and nuclear technology.

66

Among the reasons for the unwillingness to join the teaching profession at the
primary and secondary levels are relatively low salaries, unattractive working
conditions, and the high teacher-student ratio, which is around 1:40 at the primary and
1:36 at the secondary level. In the early 1990s there were 87 elementary teachertraining institutions offering a one-year programme leading to the Primary Teaching
Certificate (PTC) for teachers in grades one to five or the Certificate of Teaching (CT)
for teachers in grades six to eight. While the FTC course needs 10 years of education
for admission to it, the CT course requires 12 years and an FA/FSC certificate.
Quality of Teacher Education
Teacher education plays vital role in reforming and strengthening the education
system of any country. At present, in Pakistan, Colleges for Elementary Teachers,
Colleges of Education, University Departments of Education/ IERs, Provincial
Institutes for Teacher Education (PT1'Es) and Regional Institutes for Teacher
Education (RITEs) are major institutions that impart teacher training through various
academic programmes.
Showing concern about the quality enhancement of higher education, the government
of Pakistan has lately taken some concrete initiatives which have relevance to and
implications for teacher education institutions (fEIs). Higher Education Commission
(HEC) has established the Quality Assurance Division (QAD) with the mission to
provide an integrated quality assurance and management service for higher learning.
One of the objectives of the QAD is to develop a viable and sustainable mechanism of
quality assurance in higher education sector of the country. One of the major
initiatives taken by the QAD is the creation of Quality Assurance Agency (QA,A) at
HEC for regulating and facilitating the Quality Enhancement Cells (QECs) to be
constituted at all universities. The QECs, now established at 30 public universities,
are becoming instrumental for implementing the quality assurance policies developed
by HEC to improve the internal academic and administrative processes. The main
focus of QECs is on self -assessment of different quality parameters including
programme mission objectives and outcomes, curriculum design and organization,
laboratories and computing facilities, student support and guidance, faculty, process
control, institutional facilities and institutional support. The issue of quality has been

67

focused by the HEC through its multi-dimensional approach that emphasizes

improvement of faculty, infrastructure, research, academic environment, curricula,
governance, assessment, and accreditation of academic programmes and institutions.
The New Education Policy (2009) aims at revitalizing the present education system
with particular focus on increasing access and improving education quality by making
it relevant to economic needs. The said policy plans the standardization and
institutionalization of accreditation and certification procedures in teacher education
in the country. The Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (ACTE) has also
been established currently at national level, which is working on development of
specific standards and requirements for teacher education programmes and
institutions. The recent development from the Council is formulation of National
Standards for Accreditation of Teacher Education Programmes, which are related to
the following seven aspects:

Curriculum and instruction

Assessment and evaluation system

Physical infrastructure

Academic facilities and learning resources

Human resources; finance and management;

Research and scholarship; and

Community links and outreach.

Teacher Training Institutes with special reference to Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

At present, there are a total of 83 teacher training institutes at KPK, out of which 28
institutes (33 percent) are managed by the, public sector and the remaining are
managed by the private sector. Among these institutes, 71 percent are having an equal
arrangement for both males and females (i.e. co-education system), while the
remaining are specifically for the females.

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Among the given teacher training institutes, three are offering Ph.D. five are offering
M.Phil. and 35 are offering M.Ed. in the subject of Teacher Education. Most of these
institutes offer B.Ed, CT and PTC etc.
ThePeshawar region has the highest number of fourteen teacher training institutes, out
of which 5 are managed by the government and 9 belong to the private sector. There
are 8 institutes at Mardan, 7 at Malakand, 7 at Kohat, 6 at abbotabad, 5 at Bannu, 5 at
DIK, 5 at Swabi and 5 at Swat.
At Batagram, Dir Upper, Buner, Kohistan, Shangla, Tank and Hangu, there is a single
institute, in each district. The seven districts have the lowest literacy rate too.
Functions
There are three types of programmes for training of teachers in Pakistan. The first is
the one-year primary school teacher training programme in basic subjects and
methods of teaching, including child psychology. The secondary school teachers are
required to join one of the numerous teachers' training colleges or a university
department of education either for a one-year programme leading to the Bachelor of
Education diploma or a three-year programme leading to a Bachelor of Education
degree. The higher-level work leading to degrees in education at the master's or the
doctorate level is done in the departments of education in the universities, which
produce specialists as well as academic administrators. There are also several inservice training programmes for untrained teachers or for upgrading the curriculum.
Teachers sent to such programmes are nominated by the school principals and
approved by the district officer and they generally receive full salary during the inservice training.
Science and technical teaching has been given special emphasis by the federal
government. Thus, Islamabad's Institute for the Promotion of Science Education and
Training (IPSET) and National Technical Teachers Training College (NT-FTC) have
been doing excellent work in upgrading the knowledge base of secondary school and
junior college science teachers as well as instructors in technology colleges and
polytechnics. For educational administrators there is the Academy of Educational
Planning and Management (AEPAM) at Islamabad, providing courses and in-service

69

training for school and college principals, district education officers, and regional
directors.
There are few facilities in Pakistan for special education. The first to start courses
leading to a master's degree in special education were the University of Karachi, the
National Institute for the Handicapped at the University of Islamabad (NIHUS), and
the Allama Iqbal Open University. With the establishment of the office of DirectorGeneral of Special Education within the Ministry of Health, Social Welfare, and
Special I:taut:al-ion in 1985, special education attracted a national focus. In 1989
NIHUS received a major boost with the opening of 45 centers for special education
with a combined enrollment of 3,500. Additionally, a National Training Center for the
Disabled and a national Mobility and Independence Training Center for producing
teachers in special education were established in Islamabad. Most of these projects
were made possible with funds, overseas training, and technical guidance from WHO,
UNICEF, UNESCO, and UNDP. Programmes were instituted for training fellowships
abroad as well as for visits by experts from Europe and the United States.
All of the stated teacher education institutes provide know how related to the
managerial and professional skills to the pre-service and in-service programmes,
while following the FIEC recognized curricula. There are variety of programmes,
both in pre-service and in-service modules for elementary and secondary level, where
the diplomas, certificate and bachelor programmes in teacher education in various
dimensions are specified for elementary schooling, while the degree programmes are
specified for secondary, higher secondary and tertiary level teacher trainings.
Similarly, a number of degree programmes at higher levels are specified for
managerial and administrative purposes such as to produce educators and
educationists, subject specialists and experts, curriculum setters and reformers,
textbook designers and implementers, etc. A brief summary of the functions of the
teacher training institutes with respect to its pre-service and in-service programmes is
given as follows.
Pre-service teacher education programmes
In the pr-service teacher education programmes, important are PTC or PST, CT, B.Ed.
M.Ed. MA Education, B.Ed (Honors), M.Phil, Junior Diploma in Physical Education
70

(JDPE/D.P.Ed), Senior Diploma in Physical Education (SDPE/B.P.Ed), Diploma in

Education (D.Ed), Drawing Master (DM) Training, Bachelor in Physical Education,
Master in Health and Physical Education,
English Language for Jobless. Certificate in Agrotech, Home Economics, Masters in
Business Education (MBE), Masters in English Language ,Teaching and Linguistics
(MELTS). Masters in Technology Education (MTE), Masters in Early Childhood
Education (MA ECE) etc.
In-Service Teacher Education Programmes
Among the In-service Teacher Education Programmes, important are:
DMD, Women Leadership, CIE (Primary Education), Short Courses to Head Teachers
(W/S, B.Ed (in-service), Conduct Training on Contents, Pedagogy and Need based,
Planning and Management (short courses), Monitor Trainings, Training of Master
Trainers, Community Participation and parent Teacher Council, Psycho-social training
of teachers, Visiting Teachers Programme (VT), Educational Leadership and
Management (ELM), Advanced Diploma in ELM, Advanced Diploma in Education,
Language Enhancement and Achievement Programme (LEAP) etc.
Areas of Teacher training
A range of options exist in the general and/or specific training of teachers by the
various teacher training institutes, consider for instance:

ECE/Kachi: Early Childhood Education is a new stream for which initiatives

have been recently launched by some government and private sector
providers.

Primary: Pedagogy, content, subject-based focus, assessment systems and

approaches for both formal and non-formal primary schools

Middle: Content, subject based focus, methods, assessment systems and

approaches

Secondary: Content and subject based, approaches and assessment

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Higher Secondary: Content and subject based, approaches and assessment

systems

Drawing Master

Physical Education

Agro-tech

Special Education and AV aids (minimal support) Management Cadre:

Principals, Head masters, Head teachers, their roles, responsibilities and skills

Technical Education in Middle and Secondary schools

Short Literacy Programmes to enhance numeracy, literacy and life skills, such
as credit linkage and NEE

The number of teachers trained (pre-service) in the public sector is 97 % with

traditional certification as required by the government such as PTC (for primary), CT
(post primary/middle), B.Ed/M.Ed (secondary/postsecondary.) The comparable
percentage of teachers trained in the private sector is 66%. However, this gap in
teacher training between the public and private sector cannot immediately be
presumed to reflect quality in public sector.
There is a wide range of certification options available from Primary Teachers
Certificate (PTC) to PhD in education. Whilst the PTC/CT certification is approved
by the Boards of Secondary and Intermediate Education (BISE), the jurisdiction of
certification of all other degrees at graduate levels and beyond lies with the
Universities and the Higher Education Commission (HEC). Public sector employment
eligibility conforms to professional qualifications in pre-service programmes such as
PTC, CT, B.Ed, and M.Ed, whilst the non-state sector is flexible in its recruitment
entry requirements and has few rigorous rules on professional. qualifications.
Consequently, there is little compulsion to abide by any formal criteria for teacher
recruitment.
Link between School Curriculum and Teacher education curriculum
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Teacher education is directly connected with students in schools regarding the

implementation of teacher trainings in schools. This linkage of teacher training with
curricula at school basically refers to the practical application of what teachers learnt.
In other words, the applied aspect of teacher education in schools at various levels
links the two curricula.
Studying a variety of subjects and understanding their themes by the teachers doesn't
necessarily mean the same to be studied by students at schools. i.e. there is a vide gap
between the course contents of teachers and students, however, a connection between
the two is important, where teacher plays the key role in this regard. A teacher applies
the theoretical knowledge in a practical manner in schools where a number of
prevailing factors are operational. Enabling the teachers to work effectively and to
achieve the educational objectives in a smooth fashion is only possible through the
connectivity between the training curricula framed for teachers and the working
curricula designed for students.
TEACHERS' ROLE
Being an important pillar of the educative process, a teacher has a number of tasks to
perform. A teacher is not only supposed to teach the subject matter but also he/she has
to take active part in the root structure of the educational process. Consider the
following important tasks of a teacher.
As Curriculum Planner
The most reasonable and successful form of curriculum for being a teacher is the one
where teacher is actively involved in its constriction. Such a curriculum design refers
to the teacher-centered curriculum. Planning curricula for students can actually be
implemented when teachers are given due consideration. A teacher with a successful
career understands the pros and cons of whatever is being taught related to the subject
matter, its importance and methods to be adopted for teaching, the evaluation
strategies and others. A curriculum indoctrinated by the authorities without being
informing the teachers may not be as successful as expected by the educational
policies framed for a nation. Thus, its in fact the teacher who plans a better curriculum
for upcoming generations, based on the situational analysis.

73

As Curriculum Implementer
A designed and approved curriculum by the stake holders is practically implemented
by the teacher, where teacher is the only agent for doing so. A trained and qualified
teacher performs this effectively using his/her personal experiences in methodologies
and instructional approaches. The role of teacher as curriculum implementer is
indispensable, where the educational policies become useless because of the lack of
practicality.
As curriculum developer
Bringing changes from time to time in the existing curricula in terms of inventions
and innovations is necessary for going with the pace of time. A teacher being aware of
the ongoing social, cultural, economic, environmental and other realities tries to
transmit this awareness to the general community, where curriculum acts as the
pathway of this transmission. Teacher plays active role in changing and developing
the curriculum by bringing changes in contents, methodologies, evaluation strategies
and other important issues required in the educative process.
As curriculum evaluator
Curriculum evaluation is as important as the curriculum itself. A teacher has another
important role of curriculum evaluation with respect to the objectives being stated for
a given grade, the achievement of these objectives, the analysis of instructional
techniques, the students' gain and teachers' own improvement in the overall teaching
learning process. Both summative and formative evaluation techniques are taken into
account for judging the overall effectiveness and compartmentalized approaches in
the process of analysis. Diagnostic evaluation for pointing out the important problems
for their solution, both in contents and methods may also be conducted by a teacher to
develop the curriculum of to suggest for innovation. Action research and applied
research may be conducted by the teacher for improving g the curricula. Similarly,
longitudinal and comparative studies hold good in curriculum evaluation where a
teacher can play important role for being a researcher as well'as a subject of the
ongoing study.

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Linking the students' and teachers' curricula

While linking the students' and teachers' curriculathere may be followed a variety of
perspectives, including the psychological, philosophical, socio-cultural and objectivity
based aspects etc. Consider the following.
Psychological Perspective
Beside the psychology of child, study of the psychology of curriculum is also
important for a teacher. Training a teacher in educational psychology enables him/her
to implement the same in practical situation.
It may be in a variety of options, some of which are given as follows.
The bulk of curriculum
The contents of curriculum are said to be psychologically feasible provided they are
timely studied and understood by the students. A curriculum with a huge bulk and
large variety of contents may hinder students' courage in a sense that it will increase
the anxiety level above the normal and majority of students may consider the subject
matter as a burden rather than. a fun. A teacher knowing the psychology of subject
may make it psychologically feasible in classroom situation by reducing its bulk and
number of topics through the prescribed criteria.
The Sequence and order of curriculum contents
Another important psychological aspect of the curriculum is the order and
organization of its contents. An approach leading from simplicity towards complexity
is generally more psychological than the reverse order for majority of students. A
lesson or topic needed to be studied at the beginning may not be delayed at later
stages of the session. A student while laying a bird eye view over the end of
curriculum contents may get puzzled and discouraged as it seems too difficult to study
the same at the beginning. However, these contents may seem easier at later stages
just due to the sequential study of the course.

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The time table

Psychology of time table refers to the feasibility and adequacy of time allocated for a
given subject. Generally, it is more psychological that difficult and hard subjects are
to be taught at the very start of the day, when the students and teachers are fresh and
thus the objectives are achieved easily. For easy and less important there may be
allocated a time which serves as refreshment.
The teaching style and method
A teaching method being needed by students may be adopted, which is a very
important psychological aspect of the curriculum. It has been generally observed that
often students are not satisfied of the teaching methods of extremely capable teachers,
due to the fact that the teachers follow their own pace, ignoring the method demanded
by the students. In other words, it is more important for a teacher to get down to the
level of student, for making the achievement of classroom objectives easier.
The evaluation procedures
A psychological evaluation procedure is the one which maintains a mild level of
anxiety among students for making them motivated. However, severe level of anxiety
created by the evaluation methods may lead to malfunction and thus instead of
motivation, the students may develop hatred about the study.
The IQ and decision making power
Human psychology reveals that the intelligence of an individual is age dependent and
thus it changes with time. The teacher while knowing the facts related to students IQ
may adopt specified procedures based on the students intellectual abilities.
The age demand
The developmental studies of humans reveal that certain experiences and activities are
the characteristics of certain age levels. Consider for instance, the over-activity,
muscular abilities, language development and understanding of concrete concepts is
the characteristic of early childhood. Thus mischievous behaviour of a child may not

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be considered as a fault; rather, it may be reshaped for constructive acts, provided the
teacher has the skills of this transformation.
The special children
Certain students are special in their characteristics, Le. either above or below average.
Generally the students below the average or students with a disability are considered
as special, however, the over-capable students are also of this category. It is simple to
say that special children need special attention regarding their study habits, picking
power and other educational aspects.
Philosophical perspective
A teacher being trained for a considerable period of time, studying the philosophical
background and thematic view points of the curricular framing process, implements
the same while achieving the related objectives in a classroom situation. Consider for
example, teaching a lesson with patriotic theme in a classroom situation, the teacher
achieves the objective by transmitting the philosophy in a manner that the students
ultimately become the same as desired by the lesson. Similarly, the religious,
ideological, health and sociological objectives are achieved by the teacher through the
application of the studied philosophy, making understanding of the how and why of
the inclusion or exclusion of a lesson in the contents.
Socio-cultural Perspective
The socio-cultural perspective of curriculum refers to the obedience to social norms
along with the application and transmission of the culture, through the curriculum.
Any flaw in curriculum in contrast to the social and cultural norms may be extremely
problematic. A teacher who doesn't obey the social norms may find it difficult to
socialize his/her students. Similarly, a lesson which opposes the culture may not be
liked by the students and the overall society.
Objectivity based perspective
The fact that curriculum is not an. end in itself; rather it is just a way towards the
achievement of certain educational objectives, therefore, a teacher may maintain

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linkage of the teacher education curriculum with that of students'. i.e. a lesson taught
may not be important in itself but its basic theme and objective behind is more
important. While keeping in view the variety of objectives to be achieved in
classroom, a teacher may focus over all of the domains of educational objectives.
Curriculum may not 'be only a source of knowledge and comprehension, but there
may also be included the applied aspects of problem solving, the evaluation
procedures in general life, the enhancement of analytical and synthetic abilities,
improvement of muscular skills and language development, the morality, attitude and
interest development, the development of creative skills and inquisitive mind, the
critical approaches and values development etc.

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TEACHER EDUCATION THROUGH NON FORMAL

AND DISTANCE EDUCATION
The Non Formal and Distance Education
According to UNESCO, any organized and sustained educational activity that does
not correspond exactly to the definition of formal education is called non-formal
education. It may therefore take place within and outside the educational institutions,
and may be applicable to persons of all the ages. Depending on country context it may
cover the educational programmes to impart adult literacy, basic education for out-ofschool children, life skills, work skills, and general culture. Non formal educational
programmes do not necessarily follow the ladder system and may be differing
durations, and may or may not confer certification of the learning achieved.
Distance education or distance learning is a mode of delivering education and
instruction, often on an individual basis, to students who are not physically present in
a traditional setting such as a classroom. Distance learning provides access to learning
when the source of information and the learners are separated by time and distance, or
both. Distance education courses that require a physical. on-site presence for any
reason (including taking examinations) have been referred to as hybrid or blended
courses of study.
The traditional formal system of education has long been used for the training of
teachers. By and by many factors led to the adoption. of the distance mode of
education for teacher education due to an increase in the need for a greater number of
teachers. Distance education has established its authority in delivering teacher
education at a distance.
As we are aware of the fact that distance education is a relatively new paradigm, it is
aimed at providing education to many different groups of populations, especially to
some geographically distributed. Distance education is emerging as a feasible and
vital force in educational delivery systems in recent years, especially in higher
education. Much of the growth comes from a rapidly growing demand for educational
opportunities directed toward and designed for some specific target groups. The
definitive characteristic cif distance education is the separation between teacher and
79

learner and among learners. As a result, interpersonal communication is not a natural

characteristic of distance education.
Distance education integrates correspondence, instruction, use of periodicals and
learning aids, mass media, audiovisual lessons, social interactions, computer-assisted
instruction, and various technologically advanced formats.
In sum, distance education establishes a system that provides learning opportunities to
various groups of learners who have no access to the traditional, high education
institutions. There are two basically different approaches to distance education. One is
based on structured, pre-programmed learning materials and the other is based on the
computers' communications functions. These two approaches have completely distinct
philosophies of education. The former is the black box approach which views the
computer as a black box to substitute for the traditional face to face teacher.
Therefore, it is the computer that teaches the students and the most frequent example
is computer assisted learning (CAL) software. The later view is called networks
approach. This approach views the computer as a channel of communication between
learners and teachers. The frequent example is computer mediated communication
(CMC) systems.
Therefore, it is the teacher who teaches the students, online but at a distance and
asynchronously. These two approaches are not mutually exclusive and can be
combined to become a powerful medium for distance education. The integration of
these two approaches is termed as the fourth generation distance system that has no
barriers of time and place.
Distance education in contrast to traditional classroom or campus based education is
characterized by a clear separation in space and time of the majority of teaching and
learning activities. It is teaching and learning in which learning normally occurs in a
different place from teaching. It emphasizes over how teaching is to a large degree
mediated through various technologies (print, audio, video, broadcasting, computers,
etc.). The quality of teaching materials, level and variety support for independent
study depends on the nature and resources of the institution or organization
responsible for a given programme and the available communication infrastructure.

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By distance education, presently, it is meant education through radio, television or

internet whereas open learning means that anyone can enroll and start and finish when
they like. It is an
organized educational activity based on the use of teaching materials, in which
constraints on study are minimized in terms of either of access, or time and place,
pace, method of study, or any combination of these. Hence the terms open and
distance learning cover educational approaches of this kind that reaches teachers in
their schools, provide learning sources for them or enable them to qualify without
attending college in person or by opening up new opportunities for keeping up to date,
no matter where or when they want to study.
We are now living in the information/communication age. The source of power in the
infonnation/communication age is knowledge. The present era is of knowledge
society, and in such a society more knowledge, and especially advanced knowledge
will be acquired beyond the age of formal schooling, through processes that do not
focus on traditional school.
Distance education can be a part of an open learning system which offers open access
to courses, or it can be part of strict and formal degree programme. It is concerned
with the educational process in which a significant proportion of learning and
teaching happens while learner's tutors are removed from each other in space and
time. The learner can study at home, workplace or university campus, in learning
centers or through a combination of such arrangements.
Distance education is often also flexible. Formally educated individuals can also
continue their education through this system in which the student and learner are at a
distance from one another. They share their activities through correspondence, face to
face contact and through the use of various instructional media. It is considered as an
important mode for the training of teachers. Distance education has gone some way to
establishing a significant and valid way of training teachers.
The evidence, on its success, is probably no worse than the comparable evidence on
conventional teacher education, and, in some cases, it can have economic advantages,
but yet it remains on the sidelines.

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In Pakistan, as the learner and teacher are at a distance from one another, learning
materials are usually sent to students by postal services or via internet. This material
should been written in simple and understandable language. Necessary diagrams, self
assessment questions and activities are added in the course for the guidance of
students. It is considered best that students understand the material without any
external assistance.
Distance Education for teacher training
From a review of more than 300 studies on the effectiveness of .distance education, it
is -summarized that teaching and studying at distance, especially that which uses
interactive telecommunication media, is effective, when effectiveness is measured by
the achievements of learning, by the attitudes of students and teachers, and by cost
effectiveness. The strengths of offering distance courses in which there are a wide
variety of learners and where communication is supported by both synchronous and
asynchronous technologies include the potential for:

More time for learners (and teachers) to reflect,

Increased individual participation,

More individualized feedback from the instructor,

A wider range of opinions and views,

Self paced/directed learning,

Group learning and collaboration, and

Resource-based rather than lecture-based learning. Teachers, specifically, on the job,

are provided special programmes under the umbrella of in-service teacher training.
Similarly, the pre-service teacher trainings provided through distance education have
also achieved. fame, throughout the country, as it consumes a little time, energy .and
economy.
Problems may arise when the technologies for communicating old styles of teaching

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do not mix with new styles of communicating, and expression is limited to the written
words. Distance course designers must address how teacher educators can observe
students applying concepts and what to do so students do not feel isolated and ensure
that feedback is appropriate. Distance teaching will support student motivation and
promote learning pleasure and effectiveness if learners are engaged in discussions and
decisions, and the programme provides for real and simulated communication to and
from the learners. As in any classroom. interaction is the core of teaching. Distance
education is believed to work very well, and produce results as effective as traditional
classroom instruction. The distance education currently in practice has the potential to
provide more effective learning with updated pedagogy, more experience, and greater
understanding and knowledge of methods. Numerous studies have evaluated student
achievement in specific distance learning programmes in higher education.
Learning at a distance is seldom superior to traditional instruction, particularly for
promoting higher level achievement and complex skills. These weaknesses may stem
from social and intellectual isolation. Improved distance education practices have the
potential to enhance educational outcomes, especially when the amount and kind of
learner interaction is increased using technology supported collaborative learning.
ALLAMA IQBAL OPEN UNIVERSITY (AIOU)
The Allama Iqbal Open University, a Mega university, was established in 1974 under
an Act of Parliament. The main campus of the university is situated in sector H-8,
Islamabad. It was the second open university of the world and the first of its kind in
Asia and Africa. The aim of establishing AIOU was to provide affordable and
accessible education through distance learning at the door-steps to those people, who
could not continue their education journey through formal system of education. The
University operates on semester system and admits students in Autumn and Spring
semesters. Under graduate admissions are offered in both the semester where as post
graduates are offered once a year. The enrolled students are given course books
specially prepared by the university on self instructional principles. However at post
graduate level reprints of foreign books, allied material with university prepared study
guides help students to polish their skills.
In 1976, the university started with a few courses of Arabic, a Primary Teachers
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Orientation Course (PTOC) and Foundation Courses, with nine regional offices in the
country. On the request of the government, it started Teacher Education Programmes
like PTC/CT/ATTC for training and orientation of the untrained teachers working in
different government schools. Later on, the range of its teacher education programmes
was extended up to B.Ed (General), B.Ed (Arabic), M.A., Education, M.Ed, M.A
EPM, Diploma TEFL, M.A TEFL and M.Phil. The university also started Bachelor
and Master's Degree Programmes in Business Administration (MBA and BBA)
through the distance learning system, subsidized by the government to meet the
increasing needs of the business community. Recently, Computer. Programmes have
been started and face-to-face instruction/teaching is provided at the study centers. At
present, the AIOU is offering programmes from matric to PhD level in .diverse,
disciplines comprises of four faculties. The university has established study centres
across the country, where distance education students are provided necessary
guidance by their respective tutors. Moreover, the university has established full time
study centres, wherein the students of MBA (IT), MBA (Banking and Finance), BS
(CS), B.Sc. (Engineering), etc. are being provided instruction, guidance and
counseling through face-to-face education. It is also offering four year under graduate
degrees.
Apart from curricular and extra-curricular activities during the academic year, the
AIOU and its regional centres actively participate in the co-curricular activities by
arranging educational and literary seminars, workshops and conferences, attended not
only by the students and faculties of the university but also by the renowned
dignitaries and scholars. For the science students and research scholars, a science
complex has been built where they use the latest equipment of international standard
for experiments and research. To meet the present day challenges, interne facility is
also available in the student's hostel and the Central Library where computers have
been provided to enable students to access latest information available through open
source databases.
Faculty of Education
The origin of the Faculty of Education predates the university itself. The National
Institute of Education was established in 1973 under the Federal Ministry of

84

Education. It became part of the university in June 1975 as Institute of Education in

the then Faculty of Social Sciences. The progressively extending functions of the
Institute brought the needs for structural change and in 1984 it got the status of
Faculty of Education.
Departments
1.

Faculty of Education comprises of the following seven departments:

2.

Distance, Non-Formal and Continuing Education

3.

Educational Planning, Policy Studies and Leadership

4.

Early Child hood and Early Teacher Education

5.

Secondary Teacher Education

6.

Science Education

7.

Special Education

8.

Institute of Mass Education and Literacy

Programmes
The Faculty has developed and launched more than 190 courses in various disciplines
from SSC to Ph.D. programmes. :it is now fully recognized by both the Government
of Pakistan and International agencies as the prime national provider of professional
education and training at all levels.
The faculty is offering the following academic programmes.

Ph.D (M.Phil Based) Distance, Non-Formal and Continuing Education,

Educational Planning and Management, Secondary Teachers Education and
Special Education

MS/ M.Phil leading to Ph.D. Distance, Non-Formal and Continuing

Education, Educational Planning and Management , Secondary Teacher
Education and Special Education.

M.Ed. Distance and Non-Formal Education, Science Education, Special

Education and Secondary Teacher Education.
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M.A Distance and Non-Formal Education, Educational Planning and

Management, Secondary Teacher Education and Special Education

Bachelor of Education

Post Graduate Diploma in Educational Planning and Management, Special

Education and Physical Education

Certificate of Teaching

SSC, HSSC and B.A Level Courses Related to the Faculty

Literacy Programme

Distance, Non Formal Education and Continuing Education

The department was established in 1984 and was renamed as Distance, Non Formal
and Continuing Education in 2008. It offers specialized degree programmes/courses
in Distance Non-Formal and Continuing Education, Adult Education and Educational
Technology at M.A Education, M.Ed., MS/ M. Phil leading to Ph. D and Ph.D. (M.
Phil Based) in Education. It also offers courses at BA level. Moreover, the department
also provides on job training in distance learning system to the academic staff of
AIOU.
Educational Planning, Policy Studies and Leadership (EPPSL)
The department was established in 1976 was renamed as EPPSL in 2008. It offers
programmes in educational planning and management. These programmes are aimed
at producing a cadre of professionals for the educational institutions and organizations
in the country. Programmes of EPPSL include Postgraduate Diploma, MA (EPM),
MS/M.Phil leading to Ph.D. and Ph.D. (M.Phil Based) in Education. The courses of
these programmes are attained to the field requirements of target personnel in the
areas of educational planning and management.
Secondary Teacher Education
The Department of Teacher Education was established in 1985 and was bifurcated
86

into Secondary and Elementary Teacher Education Departments in July 2003. Its
programmes aim at imparting academic and professional knowledge and training to
in-services and pre service teachers and scholars.
The programmes/courses of this department comprises M.A. and M.Ed. Beside these
professional degree programmes, the department also offers MS/M.Phil leading to
Ph.D and Ph.D (M.Phil Based) in Education, which are aimed to prepare highly
skilled leaderships in the field of education.
Science Education
The Department of Science Education was established in 1988. The programmes and
courses of the department are mainly focused on education and training of science and
math's teachers. Presently the department offers specialized courses in science at PTC,
CT, B.Ed./M.A and M.Ed and M.S./M.Phil leading to Ph.D.level. Specialization
courses provide conceptual framework and insight depth into the teaching of science
effectively.
Special Education
The Department was established in 1985. The department imparts education and
training to teachers for the special children in four specialization namely visual
impairment, hearing impairment, physical disabilities and mental retardation with
particular emphasis to facilitate mainstreaming of special children. Parents of the
special children are also admitted to these programmes.
Present programmes/courses of this department comprised of Postgraduate Diploma,
M.Ed., M.A., MS/M.Phil. leading to Ph.D. and Ph.D. (M.Phil. Based) in Special
Education.
M.A Education
The Specializations in this programme include:

Distance and Non Formal Education

Educational Planning and Management

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Secondary Teacher Education

Special Education

Medium of Instruction is English. However, students can attempt assignments and

examination in Urdu if they wish to do so. M.Ed
The emerging needs and shortage of human development resources mixed with higher
qualities of leadership in the field of education at national level demand personnel,
who have sound professional and academic background in the relevant field. The
M.Ed. programme provides such academic opportunities to teachers. These
educational opportunities are aimed at providing education and training facilities in
the country to the persons such as working teachers, tutors, administrators, extension
workers, and interested education graduates.
The Specializations in this programme include:

Distance and Non-Formal Education

Science Education

Secondary Teacher Education

Special Education

Students may choose any one of the given four specializations.

MS/M.Phil Leading to Ph.D.
The Specializations in this programme include:

Distance, Non-Formal and Continuing Education

Educational Planning and Management

Secondary Teacher Education

Special Education and

Science Education
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Ph.D (M.Phil based)

The Specializations in this programme include:

Distance Non-formal and Continuing Education

Educational Planning, Policy Studies & Leadership

Secondary Teacher Education and

semester there is a compulsory

Special Education

d text and allied/supplementary

Methods of instruction
The courses offered at the AIOU are now well recognized nationally as well as
internationally. The teacher education programmes of the AIOU provide an
opportunity for teachers to develop their content and pedagogical skills. The detail of
the methods of instruction at AIOU is as under:
Tutorials (Optional)
Tutor, tutorial and study centre is a triangle of face to face contact and two-way
communication. The tutor of distance education can do much to diagnose and help the
learner to change the behaviour of the learner. The AIOU has a strong system of
tutorials. A tutor is supposed to be available at notified study centre for students to
seek help on their course.
Workshops (Compulsory)
Workshops provide a forum to distance education students as discussion groups
designed to stimulate the problems and circumstances of the subject being discussed
under the supervision of a resource person. The coordinators explain the purpose of
workshops. At the end of each semester there is a compulsory workshop for each
course.
Self Instructional material
It includes self learning printe material, including the following items:
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Course books/Reading material

Study guide

Assignments

Tutorial schedule

Radio/TV schedule

General students guide

Assignment forms

Evaluation
Students are evaluated through both formative (assignments) and summative (final
examination) evaluation.
The weightage for course- assignments and final examinations is 30:70 respectively
and the minimum required marks to pass the assignments arid final examination are
forty percent.
AIOU being a distance education institution relies heavily on all varieties of available
media to reach to its students in an effective manner. The main components of AIOU's
multimedia package for teacher training programmes are the following:

Corresponding

material

including

self-learning

study

package

and

supplementary study materials (Readers, textbooks, allied material and study

guides),

Radio and television broadcasts generally related to the study materials of the
package. AIOU is putting on air its educational media material on PTV-2;
which is beaming out its transmission through satellite to more than 45
countries.

Non-broadcast media, including slides, audiocassettes, fillip charts and leaflets

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(generally for basic courses), also audio-video cassettes are the integral part of
learning material.

Tutorial instructions, through contact session and academic guidance facilities

at study centers (mostly in the afternoons).

Group training workshops: for post graduate programme.

Course assignments, as an instrument of instruction, continuous assessment

and general academic guidance of students through which the tutors evaluate
them.

Final examination, held for each course at the end of the semester.

AIOU has effectively used the print, sound and- pictures for its delivery system. The
radio and television programmes produced at the Institute of Educational Technology
(IET) promote and support the distance teaching based courses of the university.
The material produced is transmitted through the national broadcasting network and
non-broadcasting media to be used for small group instruction and individual study.
The media support which supplements the university course material also has a
significant public educational value. The educational television is using satellite to
beam its programmes.
There are 240 courses having media support. The support at present is in the form of
441 TV programmes, 2,345 radio programmes, and 279 audio non broadcast-video
programmes. However, the use of emerging technologies at AIOU is in its earlier
stages and university intends to benefit the potential of these technologies.
The University wanted to go online and the government has also encouraged them to
launch their programmes on the Internet. However, in our education system we have
to reach to the remote areas of the country and that is only possible through satellite.
Now there are plans that the government will have access to some commercial
satellites for the education purpose and we will certainly benefit frOrn this.

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Conclusion
It is an undeniable fact that education is the only factor, which contributes maximum
in the socio-economic, cultural and industrial development of any nation. Pakistan is
one of the densely populated countries in the world. Keeping in view the need of
education for the development of Pakistan in all sectors to go along with developed
countries, the only tool was to educate its maximum mass and in 1974 Government of
Pakistan established the Allama Iqbal. Open University. This was the first university
of its own kind in Pakistan for imparting education through distance mode. The major
stimuli towards starting a non formal educational system included the increased
population, time allocation, giving a dual opportunity to in-service people, making
education more economic, easy and a routine activity, making the distant resources
available and accessed through media, providing open opportunities to all the
members of the community without any limit of age, space and time etc.
It becomes increasingly obvious that a successful distance education system needs a
solid background of effective support system to ensure success for their students. The
students from distance education systems need some help from trained persons
because they have only study material and there is no regular class work like formal
system. Distance Education students have to write assignments, attend workshops and
qualify for examination.
In general, the malpractices in the non-formal system of education, such as the
evaluation relaxation and making everything optional, leaving on the behalf of the
learner, need reconstruction, where proper management may be operated through the
quality assurance and other measures of national and international standards.
IN-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING
It is an ongoing process that goes on continuously throughout the educational life of a
teacher. As one does not finish learning with graduation, likewise the teacher's
training goes on improving with the passage of time by gaining experience and study
through-out the life span of a teacher. It is a means to achieve educational change that
will persist. In-service education and training refers to all those activities that

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contribute to professional growth and qualifications of an employee e.g. reading

educational generals, participating workshops, seminars, conferences and visits to
educational institutions that give the employee a sense of security and a feeling of self
confidence while discharging his/her routine duties in the school. It is a continuing
education of teachers and other educational workers leading to the improvement of
their professional competence. With the rapid increase in human knowledge, new
approaches, new methods of teaching and new avenues for the teachers are being
introduced. If a teacher fails to keep him/herself in touch with these developments
he/she is proving as inefficient and ineffective. In order to achieve this end it is
necessary that a great many opportunities of in-service education should be provided
for teachers.
Sandwich Training
The in-service teacher trainings are provided in a variety of ways, one of which is
termed by the specialized group of training institutes, the sandwich training. The term
sandwich is applied in a dual meaning, covering two aspects, i.e. on the basis of
structure and on the basis of function.
Based on its structure, sandwich training refers to the amalgamation of a number of
aspects in a particular situation, such as training a teacher along with the community,
with a similar objective to enhance the learning outcomes of the child. Similarly, the
parent-teacher council is an effort towards sandwiching the two extremes of parents
and teachers, for common objectives of schooling the children in a better manner.
Some teacher training institutes consider the sandwich trainings as the combination of
a variety of aspects being needed for in-service teachers, e.g. to train them for
teaching methods along with the provision of computer literacy. Or training teachers
for managerial qualities along with the provision of know how about the modern
trends in teaching practices, action research, new evaluation strategies or other such
aspects.
Based on its function, sandwich training refers to a short term training on emergency
basis, such that a sandwich, for instance, serves as fast food for the time being, when
there is no provision of plenty of food. The required trainings which are being

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provided or implemented in a very short duration of time, such as for an hour, day,
week or the same, fall in the meaning of sandwich training. For example, the teacher
training programmes during the emergency conditions of floods, earth-quakes and
other such situations, where teachers are provided with tactics of educational
technology, having no or minimum resources in hand. An emergency training of such
nature may be extended to a broad ranged system, while evaluating its importance and
applicability through a variety of perspectives.
The various techniques of such trainings may include:
Refresher courses
As is evident from the name refresher, it is to give strength or force to the efficiency
and output of the already employed teacher. These courses are of high value regarding
the achievement of the purpose of familiarizing teachers with the tests and techniques
of test and measurement and familiarizing them with the educational plans and
programmes.
Workshops
Workshop is a period of discussion and practical work on a particular topic/subject,
when groups of people share their knowledge and experiences. The members of the
workshop discuss and exchange views on a certain issue. The duration of the
workshop may be from three to ten days depending upon the gravity of the problem.
Seminars
In seminars small group of people meet to discuss a topic and each participant has the
opportunity to gain knowledge and experience. Generally, in a seminar, the presenter
is believed to be of adequate command over the topic, as a resource person.
Symposium
A symposium is a combination of seminars, where a number of presentations are
made by experts, turn by turn. Or it is a series of brief presentations made by a series
of persons to the group.

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Conference
Conference is a meeting for discussion or exchange of views among the experts.
Usually the conference of teachers, principals, supervisors, and administrators can
broaden their professional horizons and cultivate in the participant members a
professional team spirit.
Lectures
Lecture is an oral activity, the simplest of ways practiced for in-service education and
teachers' re-orientation programmes. Lecture is suitable particularly for transmission
of knowledge.
Study Circle.
It is one of the desirable techniques of the in-service education. In this method the
teacher of a particular subject have a meeting and in this meeting they discuss the
ways and means of teaching that particular subject.
Correspondence courses
This is very effective method for the in-service education. With these courses teachers
can improve their profession knowledge. Science club
This is a technique of in-service education for the science teachers. The science
teachers are given instructions in these science clubs from time to time, to promote
their understanding and the capacity of educating the young.
Publications
Teachers may write on certain topic of general interest for the teachers with this
method to communicate their personal experiences. The school may publish the
material or the abstract of certain useful research for the benefit of the teachers.
Vacation institutes
These institutions are of high value for the teachers for many reasons. Firstly because
they enrich teachers treasury of knowledge and the teachers return to the school with

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renewed spirit. Secondly they make full use of the vacation in a better way and thirdly
because the teachers have the opportunity of enjoying the life of studentship.
Demonstrations
This is an activity pre-arranged for the observation of the group. The demonstrator is
usually a skillful expert of the field being demonstrated. Efforts should be made to
make the demonstration genuine and natural so that artificiality could be avoided.
Demonstration may be used for workshop, seminar or any other course of study where
knowledge and skill is being improved. After the demonstration, a follow up is made.
Project group
Project group is used in those occasions where the accomplishment of a specific
project is to be carried out. The project group usually makes survey of the project
assignment and develops a course of study.
Field trip
Field trips are used to provide an opportunity to the in-service teacher see the
activities of his/her field. Field trips may be carried out inland and abroad.
Panel's presentation
A panel is a technique in which two or more persons speak on a single topic. Panel
presentation can be in the form of a Debate which is an organized form of the panel in
which stress is laid on the facts and ideas and the group observes the same may be
large in number. It may also be an informal panel in which everyone has a chance to
speak over the topic informally or it may be in the form of a symposium.
Film
Presentation of film is also a very useful technique of in-service education and
training. An ideal film presentation is when associated with discussion.
Other techniques
Techniques like the visits of teacher to another teacher in action, directed practice and

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activities and extension lecture, exhibition, action research and self reading by
individual teacher can also be used.
Conclusion
The quality of education system of a country depends upon the academic and
professional qualification of teachers of that country. Main purpose of this training is
to produce qualitative manpower, which becomes reliable source of effective teaching
learning process. Teachers, therefore, need various tools to become successful in
effective teaching. Research has proved three main factors within teachers' control
that significantly influence pupil progress. These are:
Teaching skills
These are those behaviors that the effective teacher constantly exhibits when teaching
a class. These include involving all pupils in the lesson, using a variety of activities or
learning methods, applying appropriate teaching strategy and using a variety of
questioning techniques to probe pupils' knowledge and understanding.
Professional characteristics
These refer to teachers' personality, character, qualification, training, knowledge and
skills etc. Teacher's personality is central to learning how to teach better.
Qualifications and training alone do not make a good teacher. Personality, character
and commitment are as important as the specific knowledge and skills that are used in
the daily tasks of teaching.
Classroom climate
It is a measure of the collective perceptions of pupils regarding those dimensions of
the classroom environment that have a direct impact on their capacity and motivation
to learn.
In short, the techniques of teacher training, specifically to train in-service teachers
should emphasize over the professional zeal, focusing over students' involvement and
providing the nation with really educated individuals.

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PROVINCIAL INSTITUTE OF TEACHER EDUCATION

In 1970, Federal Bureau of Curriculum and Extension Centre, was established in
Islamabad. Later on in extension of that Bureau of Curriculum and Extension Centre
established in all the four Provinces in 1972. Provincial Bureau of Curriculum was
assigned to function in the alignment of the Federal Bureau in terms of conducting
trainings, Policy formulation, research and curriculum reviews.
To fulfill the need of teacher trainings, Asian Development Bank and Bureau of
Curriculum Balochistan jointly launched Teacher Training Project (TTP) in 1990, the
role of which was to design and conduct trainings across Balochistan. Various
successful researches were also conducted under the sanie programme of teachers and
students learning and teaching improvement. Indeed the success of TTP gave the
thought of establishing an independent department for conduction of teachers'
trainings. Therefore, Provincial Institute for Teacher Education (PITE) was
established in all four provinces simultaneously.
The vision of PITE is to bring about quantitative and qualitative improvement in
education in Pakistan, through creation and provision of continuous professional
development opportunities and services to teachers and education managers, while its
mission is to develop the educational institutes into real seats and places of learning
for children by transforming teachers and education managers into forward looking
change agents through consistent, innovative and strategic training interventions.
Objectives
The PITE has been established to achieve the following objectives:

To train teachers in effective and innovative instructional strategies.

To train teachers/managers in educational planning and management.

To train teachers/managers in instructional assessment and evaluation.

To develop contextualized instructional material and

98

To train Master Trainers.

Mandate
The mandate of PITE is to conduct and test innovative Pre-Service & In-Service
teacher training programmes including the following.

Training of Master Trainers.

Monitor trainings

Design and conduct research in teacher education, evaluation and assessment.

Develop training materials, etc:

Serve as a Provincial Resource Center in educational trainings.

Coordinate training programmes.

Conduct/organize workshops/seminars as and when required by the

government.

Supervise & facilitate bridging Courses for teachers towards Diploma in

Education, and

Design & maintain Teacher Education Management Information System

(TEMIS).

Functions
PITE has developed a. variety of modules and manuals, specifically for training the
teachers, heads and principals. There are successful programmes of PITE from a
number of perspectives which enable the teachers, students and general community, to
achieve the educational objectives. Some of the important programmes of PITE are
given as follows.
Human Resource Management for Principal/Headmaster

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The headmasters and principals act as the pillars of schools, where their leadership
qualities either progress the school or spoil it. Based on the requirements of
managerial skills along with teaching, the human resource' management manual for
principals and head teachers of Government High Schools and Government Higher
Secondary Schools is an informative and practice oriented development of the skills
and leadership qualities. It involves both the male and female side of the schools.
Financial Management for Principal/Headmaster
Financing in education has now been replaced with the term investment in education.
The management of financial resources including both the income and expenditures
of an institute is a very important aspect of the organizational management; therefore,
same is the case for school leaders, i.e. the principals and headmasters. PITE's
Financial Management for principals and headmasters of GHS and GHSS of both
males and females is an important step towards the financial resource management
which trains the school leaders for developing the skills of dealing with complex
matters of financing in the process of educational management.
School Management
School management is another important aspect where the headmaster/principal is a
key element of this process. PITE's manuals on school management for head teachers
of primary and middle schools are informative training modules, enabling them to
manage the physical resources and educational activities at schools in an adequate
manner.
MS Office training
The present era focuses over the use of computer and information technology.
Teachers and headmasters need to be trained in the field of computer and modern
technology, especially to use automated systems and digitized programmes.
PITE's vision of providing literacy in computer, specifically for the use of daily life
launched the Microsoft Office User Specialist (MOUS) training programme, which is
a successful step towards computer literacy for teachers.

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Personnel Management
Human resource is an indispensable element of every organization, where proper
human resource management and providing the personnel with professional skills is
necessary for better achievement of the organizational objectives. PITE's personnel
management (HRD & FIRM) is an important module of this connection.
Academic Management
Schools' basic function is to provide quality academic environment and to educate the
students through timely and best needed academic materials, through a better
methodological set up. PITE's training on academic management provides the
teachers and heads with excellent managerial skills of method development and
transaction of curriculum in an ideal manner.
Research
It is important to diagnose the problems faced in the educative process and to suggest
for remedies, so as to make the teaching learning process as effective as possible. Also
the existing pool of knowledge needs to be refined and made error free. For theses
purposes, research is mandatory to be conducted in every walk of educative process.
PITE's programmes for Research Methods, Techniques & Study conduction are
effective measures of conducting researches in the field of education for better
achievement of the educational objectives and for bringing reforms in this field, from
a variety of dimensions.
Parent Teacher Council
Considering education as a tri-polar process where a triangle of Students, Teachers
and Parents makes this process complete. Thus, for a student, spending few hours at
school and most of the time at home with parents, it becomes necessary to involve
parents in the educative process.
PITE succeeds in bringing the parents and teachers together for the better education of
students through its Community Participation & Parent Teacher Council (PTC)
programmes.

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Hygiene Programmes
Maintenance of healthy activities is essential for making the teaching-learning process
more effective. For this purpose, it is necessary to provide schools with important
physical resources, including sanitation, lavatory system and others, along with
awareness regarding pollution and contamination. PITE's Manual on School
Sanitation & Hygiene Education is an effective tool for avoiding unhealthy activities
at schools.
Child Friendly Schools Concept
A good teacher is a good friend, where teaching through friendly methods makes
studies a fun and there arises no psychological and mental stress. In order to make
teachers aware of the importance of child-friendly schooling, PITE has developed a
Manual for Teachers on Child Friendly Schools Concept, which provides teachers
with effective measures of adopting the stated techniques.
Psychosocial Trainings
Teachers need to be well aware of the fact that education is a psychosocial process,
for which PITE has developed another Manual on psychosocial Training for Teachers,
which provides teachers with the basics and skills of the psychological and
sociological aspects of the educative process.
Pedagogical Trainings
Starting from a better childhood education proves better at later stages of life.
Separate methods and techniques are required at early stages of education, which are
totally different from the teaching methods being used for grown ups. Specific
Montessori, activity curricula and play methods are being adopted for this purpose.
PITE has developed important Manuals on Early Childhood Care and Education as
well as on Teaching in Early Grades to provide teachers with adequate skills related to
the stated age of children in the overall educational process.
Special trainings
Special situations like disasters, epidemics and other natural and anthropogenic acts of
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this nature badly influence the educational sector, e.g. during terrorist attacks,
earthquakes and floods, we lost a sum of important resources including personnel,
buildings and communication resources, which severely influenced our educational
sector in the affected areas. PITE has a vision on such situations and such areas being
requiring special trainings for
teachers at those areas, for which a number of manuals and trainings have been
arranged and are being in operation even today. Important of which are Manual for
Teachers of Rehabilitation Centres, Manua on Disaster preparedness and Risk
Management, Manual on Mine Risk Education for Teachers and Manual on Peace
Education for Teachers, etc.
Miscellafmous
Other important trainings and modules developed by ME include Manual on Multigrade teaching & DRM, Manual on Educational Leadership & Management at School
level, Manual on Office Management, Manual on Planning Skills, Training Manual on
Math, Science, English and many more.

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THE ROLE OF PRIVATE SECTOR IN TEACHER

EDUCATION
Introductory
As a response to the growing requirement for different types of needs, which the
public sector may not have been able to provide, non-state providers have
significantly increased. In addition to the public providers, non-state actors encompass
autonomous bodies, private universities, degree awarding and chartered institutions
such as Notre Dame Institute of Education, Beacon House National University, City
School, University of Management Training, Hamdard University, IQRA University,
Tamir-e-Nau TI'C, IERs, Sarhad University of Science and Information Technology,
City University, Dawn Elementary College of Education, Ghazali Teacher Training
Institute, Sindh Elementary TR Qurtuba University, etc. Several of these institutions
have foreign university affiliations in the United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, and
Sweden. NGOs and Civil Society Organizations primarily offer in-service
programmes of teacher education in addition to pre-service training for both the nonformal and formal education sectors. Amongst the established NGOs operating preservice and in-service programmes are TRC, SPELT, ABES, NRSP, RSPs, Sultana
Foundation, Bunyaad, Kashmir Education Foundation, Khwendo Kor, SAHE, Idara-eTaleem-o-Aagahi, Society for Community Support for Primary Education in
Balochistan, Sudhaar, Rozan, and Indus Resource Center. The NGO and private sector
have developed several innovative teacher education models and programmes.
Consider some of the major private sector programmes for teacher education.
Aga Khan Foundation (AKF) Pakistan
A major goal of the Foundation is to improve the quality of basic education by a
programme of grants to governments and NGOs. There are four basic objectives of
this foundation, i.e.

Ensuring better early caring and learning environments for young children;

Increasing access to education;

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Keeping children in school longer; and

Raising levels of academic achievement. The foundation has also some other
programmes such as The Institute for Educational Development (IED)
This programme aims to improve elementary teacher's skills training by establishing a
training facility under the Aga Khan University. AKU-IED, starting from 1993. Its
academic programmes include PhD, Med, Certificate in Education (CE) in
Curriculum Areas and Educational Leadership & Management; and the Advanced
Diploma in Education (A.D.Ed.) in Curriculum Areas and Educational Leadership and
Management. It is important to note that AKU-1ED's mandate is to generate new and
effective ways of improving the quality of education in schools. Its impact is to be
measured not simply in terms of the numbers of schools, teachers or students directly
reached, but rather by the effectiveness and relevance of the models it develops, and
the extent to which these models form the basis of major government and nongovernment programmes that can have a national, regional and global impact. Overall
funding has received contributions from European Commission, Education Sector
Reform Assistance Project, Canadian International Development Agency, USAID
PNI-II Project along with AKF funding.
AKU-IED is one of the only institutions developed to increase the capacity of
teachers, teacher educators, managers, and others involved in education, with the
capacity to support them in implementing change in their own educational context.
Aga Khan Education Services (AKES)
AKES and AKF are also implementing the National Power Elevation Programme
(NPEP), which aims to contribute to the improvement of access, quality and
sustainability of education with increased gender equality and community
participation in the Northern Areas and Chitral District of KPK. Key components of
the programme include improved quality of teaching and learning in schools, nonformal centers and other educational institutions and increased professional
leadership. Its trained teachers taught development courses in content and
methodology with the integration of multigrade approach; English language training
for teachers to teach English, Maths and Science using English medium; initial/pre105

service training for teachers including orientation to multi-grade approach; teachers

trained in Early Years Education, mostly females; teachers trained for sports
education; Leadership, management and other specialized skills training for
academic/professional development leaders; Leadership, school management,
planning and supervision training for head teachers/mentors; and Professional
development and academic upgrading for teachers.
AKES replaced their 9-month Field-Based Teacher Development Programme (FBTD)
with a 19-week in-service programme. The programme has been labeled as very
interactive with six weeks practicum in a multi-grade school. Subsequently, six weeks
of supervised teaching is provided in their own school followed by a last week of a
review of the experience. Trainers and teachers are explained why certain methods are
used and are taught to utilize them in a creative and flexible manner. This was one of
the first programmes designed solely with the multi-grade teaching approach. In
addition, the programme is innovative in providing cutting edge techniques, for
instance, cooperative learning to teachers from remote rural areas.
School Improvement Programme
AKES has been experimenting with this programme in Karachi and Hyderabad. The
Programme provides facilities, equipment and training. Schools were transformed into
activity centers with student-centered activities dominating the classroom. During the
project period, students received a score of 70 percent or more in the school leaving
science examinations. The scores were more than double of the pre-project period. An
evaluation deemed significant gains in teacher skills and student achievement and
attributed the success to a trusting and enabling attitude of the leadership, changes in
organizational structure to reflect this trust, and a significant commitment to teacher
training.
Teachers Resource Center (TRC)
In 1986, TRC was established in. Karachi by a group of working teachers in response
to the deteriorating quality of education in schools. A survey of needs in Karachi
schools revealed that in-service training was the greatest need, followed by having
access to a professional library and culturally relevant learning materials. Its primary

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aim is to improve the quality of children's learning through teacher education and
development. TRC has actively tried to bridge the gap between less privileged schools
in the public and private sector and elite private schools by sharing resources,
information and expertise. Its Initiating Change through Professional Development
project has demonstrated that change can be achieved in government schools and that
teachers. in government schools are eager to develop their teaching strategies
provided they are properly supported in the process. The TRC's Social Institutions
Development Programme focused on seeking to improve primary education, creating
a pool of teacher-educators and strengthening TRC as an institution. Under this
programme, various materials for teachers were produced such as the Pehla Taleemi
Basta, for activity-based learning, and the Navnon ki Dilchasp Minya.
An important national. contribution of TRC has been their collaboration with the
Curriculum Wing of the Federal Ministry of Education for the development of
national Katchi (pre- school) curriculum launched in August 2002. The innovative
curriculum, based on the High Scope approach to learning, has been trialed in over
200 schools under the ITSAJD funded Releasing Confidence and Creativity project
coordinated by AKF. TRC has been instrumental in providing teacher observation
instruments, training manuals and other materials for the national katchi curriculum.
Mif-Laita Children Educational Complex (ALCEC)
A Lahore-based NGO, the ALCEC has developed creative ways of learning for
children such as hobby clubs, art and craft activities, a bus-library, and attractive
teaching-learning materials for young children. It. has also provided training for
teachers to use their child-centered approaches in schools. ALCEC has inspired the
Punjab Government to establish the first Children's Complex in Pakistan.
Society for Promotion of English Language Teaching (SPELT) SPELT has adopted
TRC's approach of organizing teachers for in-service workshops, particularly from
elite schools in the larger cities of the country. SPELT has caught significant interest
from teachers and has been able to organize highly interactive workshops with minor
external financing.

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Adopt A SchooLlSehool Improvement Programme

This programme contractually takes over and manages government schools over a
prescribed time-period. The programme was developed to revitalize failed or low
performing government, schools. The arrangement is governed through a
Memorandum of Understanding that establishes the standards for the duration the
school is under NGO management. The programme has resulted in renovated schools,
better-trained teachers, as well as increased enrolments at these government schools.
The Education Foundations
Between 1992 and 1994, Education Foundations were established in the 4 provinces
as well as at the national level in order to encourage and facilitate private sector
participation in government provided education. The performance of the Foundations
has been uneven and they are currently being restructured to redefine their focus and
reinvigorate their mandate in the education sector. The National Education Foundation
was restructured in 2002 to increase its geographical focus to AJK, FATA, FANA and
ICT. The Community Supported Rural Schools Programme is one of its largest
programmes and encourages pilot interventions to promote education in rural areas.
Teacher training has been a significant component of this programme. The focus is on
enabling in-service community teachers to re-learn modern pedagogical techniques to
manage today's classrooms. Its Cluster-Based Teachers' Training focuses on activitybased teachers' training to educate students through joyful learning environment. The
project arranges a subject specialist to teach in a cluster of schools, visiting 2-3
schools a week and teaching the students in actual classroom theatrics. In this way the
teaching practices of peers and associates are also influenced. The Foundation is
currently in partnership with 13 NGOs and private teacher-training institutions.

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PRIVATE SECTOR TEACHER TRAINING INSTITUTES

IN KPK
The role of private sector in teacher training and development can't be separated from
the efforts shared by the public sector. In other words, private sector is a supporting
agent in this regard, where a number of institutes exist in KPK. Following is a
summary of the private institutes in KPK with the programmes they offer for teacher
education.
Abasin University Peshawar
A private sector university chartered by the Govt; of KPK, situated at Charsadda Link
Road Peshawar, offers pre-service programmes of two year. M.Phil, one year B.ed
and one year M.ed in evening time. The university is functional with qualified staff
and there is a co-education system.
The Abbot Group of Colleges
It has a number of branches situated at Kohat, Lakki Marwat, Abbotabad, Mansehra
and Mingora Swat. The institutes offer Pre-service degree and certificate programmes
including B.ed, M.ed, PTC, PST, CT, JDPE, SDPE, DM, and M.Sc Health and
Physical Education in the evening sessions.
Aga Khan Institute for Education/Professional Development Centre Chitral
It is situated at Danin Booni Road at Chitral, with focus on in-service teaching
trainings. Among the prominent courses, important are women leadership programme,
short course to Head Teachers and CIE primary education for a duration of two
weeks. A pre-service short course programme of one week in morning called English
Language for jobless is also offered by the centre.
Al-Hafiz Fazal College of Education Kohat
It is located at Garhi Atta Khan, Kohat City, which offers pre-service one year B.ed
programme in evening.

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Alpha College of Education Mardan

It is another private sector college offering pre-service B.ed Programme in evening
and is located opposite to the police lines Mardan.
Avicenna College of Education Dargai
It is situated at Dargai Malakand and affiliated with the University of Peshawar. It
offers one year B.ed programme as teacher training.
Aziz College of Education Swabi
The Aziz College f education is located at Yar Hussain, Hameed Abad area of Swabi
and its teacher ;training programme includes one year Red in evening session.
Bakhlawar College of Education Peshawar
It is situated opposite to the Board of finerrnediate and Secondary Education
Peshawar and it also offers one year Red. Programme, both in morning as well as
evening. Its one year M.ed teacher training programme is going to be stinted n the
upcoming session.
Brains Postgraduate College Peshawar
The Brains Postgraduate College Peshawar is located in the main phase 3 chawk
Jamrod road Peshawar and it also offers one year Red programme at evening session.
Capital Institute of Education and Research, Peshawar
It is situated at Phase 6 Hayat Abad and its teacher training programme includes
evening session B.ed degree of one year. Centre of Academics Bann,
Situated near Educational District Office Bannu, the centre of academics provides
pre-service degrees in B.ed, M.ed, JDPE, SDPE and M.Se Health and Physical
Education, both in morning and evening sessions.
Chitral College of Education

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It offers B.ed and M.ed progammes 0,1 one year and is located at airport road Chitral.
It follows evening sessions for the stated teacher trainings.
City University of Science if7Ild fl Peshawar
It is situated at Nishtar abad GT road Peshawar. &sides the one year B.ed and M.ed
pragranames, it also provides two years MPhil (education) and three years Ph.D
(education) programmes in evening sessions.
College of Global Technologies, Swat
It is located at Allah-o-Akbar colony, Saidu Shzuif, Swat and offers Bed and M.ed
programmes of one year each, in evening session. College nf Business
AdminLtrotion Abbottabad
The college of BUSACSS administration is situated near radio station Abbottabad. It
offers the pre-service programmes including one year Red, one year B.P.ed, one year
M. one year MJ?.ed and two year MA education, in evening sessions.
College of Business and IT Batkhela
It is located near AHQ, Batkhela Malakand, and provides the pre-service teacher
trainings in a variety of dimensions, including both degrees and certificates. The
important among them are PTC, CT, B.ed, M.ed, JDPE, SDPE and DM.
Cornwave Institute of Science and IT, Haripur
A private sector institute located at GT road, Haripur provides pre-service teacher
trainings of one year B.ed, one year M.ed, one year JDPE and two years M.Sc.(HPE).
Country Model College Charsadda
It is located at Martian Road Charsadda and provides pre-service teacher trainings in
evening including one year B.ed, M.ed, JDPE and SDPE.
Dot Corn College of Science, IT and Education Kohat
It is a private sector institute located at Shah Abad Jarwanda road, Kohat and it

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provides lied of one year in evening as par-service teacher training.

Frontier Institute of Education, Dir
It is located at Navi. Kaly, Lower Dir and provides pre-service trainings to males and
females in PTC, CT, DM, JDPE, B.ed and M.ed, all of one year duration and in
evening sessions.
Global Girls Degree College Abbottabad
Situated at Jinnah Abad area of Abbottabad, this college offers one year M.ed in
evening session, as pre-service teacher training programme, for girls.
Hassan Model Degree College Karak
It is situated at Chawkaba Karak and offers a number of teacher training programmes
including B.ed, M.ed, PTC, CF, DM, JDPE, SDPE and M.& HPE.
Hira College of education
Its one branch at Sharifabad, Mingora Swat and other at G.T Road Peshawar, are
offering pre-service one year B.ed programme in evening session.
IER Kohat
IER Kohat is located at KDA Kohat and Affiliated with Allthair University MK. It
serves as teacher training institute of private sector through its B.Ed and M.ed
programmes of one year each.
IER Peshawar
The MR Peshawar offers its teacher training programmes of B.ed and M.ed at GHSS
No.3, Peshawar City, in affiliation with Alkhair University.
IER Swabi
It is situated at Jahangira Roas Swabi and also affiliated with Alkhair University AJK.
It also offers B.Ed and M.ed programmes of teacher training.

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IER Karak
Located at Tappi Karak and affiliated with Alkhair University AJK, the IER Karak
offers B.Ed and M.ed .degree programmes of one year duration in evening sessions.
Institute of Education Karak
It is located at Session Court road Karak and affiliated with the University of
Peshawar. It trains teachers through its B.ed programme of one year.
Islamia College of Education Peshawar
The Islamia College of Education is located at Shahi Bagh Road Peshawar and it also
offers one year B.ed at evening session. Jinnah College of Education Mansehra
The Jinnah College of Education, Mansehra trains teachers through one year B.ed
programmes and is located at DAB No.1 Mansehra. Jinnah Institute of IT, DI Khan It
offers both B.ed and M.ed and is situated at North West Circular Road DI Khan.
Khyber College of Physical Education Mardan
Khyber College of Physical Education, Baghdada Mardan offers JDPE, SDPE and
M.Sc. HPE programmes as pre-service teacher trainings.
Khyber Institute of Education, Peshawar
It is situated at the University Road Peshawar with its evening session B.ed and M.ed
as teacher training programmes of one year each.
Kohsar P/S College Karak
It is located at Latamber, Karak and trains teachers through PTC, B.ed, M.ed, JDPE,
SDPE, DM and M.Sc HPE programmes.
Lucky College of Education and Research, Lakki Marwat
It is situated near Railway Station, Lakki Marwat and it offers B.ed, JDPE and SDPE
programmes of one year each.

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Mardan College of Health and Physical Education

Situated at Mardan Cantt; the Mardan College of Health and Physical Education trains
teachers through SDPE, B.ed, M.ed and M.Sc. HPE.
National College of Health and Physical Education, Mardan
The National College of Health and Physical Education Bank Road, Mardan offers
B.ed, M.ed, JDPE and SDPE programmes as pre-service teacher trainings.
Northern University, Nowshera
Northern University, 3-The Mall Nowshera Cantt, trains teachers through its B.ed and
M.ed. one year degree programmes.
Oxford Education Academy, Batkhela
It is situated at Batkhela Malakand, and it also offers one year B.ed and one year
M.ed,
Qurtuba University of Science and IT
Its one campus at Hayat Abad, Phase 3 and second at Sheikh Yousaf Road, DI Khan
offers B.ed, M.ed, M.Phil and Ph.D. Education. Sarhad Institute of Education and
Research, Lakki Marwat It is situated near PESCO office; Lakki Marwat and its
teacher training programmes include B.ed, M.ed and M.Sc. HPE.
Sarhad University of Science and IT Peshawar
Situated at Chinar Road, University Town Peshawar, the Sarhad University of Science
and Information Technology trains teachers through CT, PTC, B.ed, M.ed, JDPE,
SDPE, DE, DM, M.Phil Education and Ph.D Education.
Sir Sahibzada Abdul Qayyum College of Education, Swabi
It is located at Mardan Road Swabi and it offers B.ed and M.ed programmes of one
year each.

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Sir Syed College of Education

Its one branch is located at The Mall, Mardan Cantt; and second at KDA Kohat, both
of which offer one year B.ed.
Suffa Hi-Tech Girls College Mardan
It is situated at Muqam Chawk, Mardan and besides the technical trainings, it offers
one year B.ed programme as pre-service teacher training for girls.
Swabi College of physical Education, Swabi
It is located near main chawk, Swabi, offering FTC, CT, B..ed. JDPE and M.Sc. HPE.
Swat College of Education,. Swat
At Saida Sharif, Makan Eagh Swat, the Swat College of education offs one year Bed.
The regional College orTalchat Bai Mardan
It is located near Main Post Office Takbat Bai Mardan and its major-teacher training
programmes include Bed,

JDPE and SDPE. Tacks Institute of Management

Education and !7 fianzru The Tracks Institute of Management Education anti

Informa6on Technology is located at Milad Park Bannu and its teacher training
programmes are Wed, JDPE and SDPE. EVALUATION OF 'ITIE PRIVATE SECTOR TM
The importance of teacher training cannot be underestimated. The better a teacher is
trained, the better he or she can educate tomorrow's generations of Pakistan. In
addition, teacher training doesn't just positively impact a teacher's and students'
knowledge of a subject matter. The teaching method used to share information by
teachers helps children not only stay in schoo/, but also engages young students and
encourages them to keep learning.
Teacher training institutes of both Government and private sectors are working side
by side so as to meet with the needs of the era_ Wherever, the Government

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organizations- leave a gap, the private sector is there t.o fill it by providing
opportunities in. connection with. the mother institutes run by the government. In
general, research studies prove that within the educadonal system of Pakistan, the
government and private sectors are in. contrast at low and high levels of education_
Where, the private sector is more qualitative at low level of education, i.e. as school
levels or up to some extent at college level, while the public sector is mom qualitative
at higher level, i.e. the tertiary or university level of education. fn short, the private
sector shows excellence in primary and secondary levels of education while the public
sector is proving itself in graduate and postgraduate levels.
Teacher education, being a point of consideration falls under the higher levels, is
believed to be better in public sector as compared to the private sector. Few of the
private sector organizations are considered as outstanding agents of quality teacher
education, however, the majority of these organizations are not given the same
importance as earned by the public sector. According to UNESCO and USAID report
of 2005, successful private sector educational projects have the following
characteristics:

Involving an initial pilot-testing phase and going up to scale rather than those
starting big;

Which had a strong and on-going technical support

Which were hi-lateral programmes;

More integrated with government systems;

Long-term; and

Focusing on Balathistan and KPK..

No system is perfects and there is always a space for bringing positive changes and
improvements, and same is the case for the private sector teacher training institutions
in. Pakistan. For having a large number of merits, there are also shortcomings in these
institutes which need remedial measures to triainlain quality within the educational

116

system. Consider the following aspects of private sector as a brief evaluative account.
Support
Private sector teacher training institutes are providing support to the public sector
organizations, having similar function. Because of The limited resources of the public
sector it becomes difficult to have an organization at every region of focus and to
offer all of the required preee,ervicc and in-service train ings everywhere for
everyone who wants to be a good teacher. The difficulty is resolved by the private
sector organizations which, along with the public sector institutes perform the desired
functions of teacher trainings at varicms levels and thus the efforts need to he
acknowledged.
Organizational objectives
It is generally assumed that the private, sector institutes are operated for trade purpose
with its basic objective of financial, income. The concept may not be true, for each
and every organization, however, majority of teacher training institutes have been
observed to be of the trade purpose and thus the actual theme of providing teachers
with quality training becomes misleading.
Admission criteria
By definition, a formal educational institute is the one where there is a proper
admission criterion, along with other necessary requirements. It has been found that
the private sector teacher training institutes do not follow a strict criterion for
admission, besides a general procedure of following low merit. It is on one hand an
opportunity for students who are with low academic standards and who are not being
informed timely ibut on the other hand, it is a step towards spoiling the teaching
profession. Majority of the private teacher training .institutes are focused over filling
the allocated seats, which may be done at any duration of the session, where students
with base lined eligibility may be admitted.
Affiliation
Every private sector organization needs to be affiliated with a recognized public

117

sector institute and same is true for teacher training centres. The malpractices in
affiliation with a standard home public organization hinders the quality of teacher
trainings in Pakistan, which is an alarming situation and needs reforms, where the
actual standards may be followed, being set for affiliation:
Timing
Majority of teacher training institutes of private sector are following evening timings
for teacher train ings. The key advantage of which is the opportunities for on the job
people, or for those who are not otherwise free during morning. The same is a
disadvantage of evening timing where the psychological and mental burden after day
long activities does not allow the student teachers to learn effectively and to become
good teachers.
Infrastructure
Mostly, the affiliated private colleges do not have the required physical facilities
including building, library, laboratory school and others. Studies have shown that the
infrastructure of the private sector teacher training institutes is usually limited for the
affiliation requirements, or otherwise not functional. Emergency visits to private
sectors reveal that they are not the actual owners of their library materials, laboratory
equipments and even staff, which have been shown for affiliation.
Traditional practice
Today, teacher training doesn't necessarily mean getting enlisted in a teacher training
college for a one or two year long course. Many private schools have stopped giving
preference to such degrees as B.Ed and M.Ed as part of their employment policies.
The modern concept of teacher training revolves mainly around participatory
workshops of short duration (sandwich trainings), often conducted by other practicing
teachers. However, the private sector (as well as the public sector) teacher training
organizations are still following the traditional practices of teacher trainings.
Curriculum
The contents of teacher training curricula at various levels are not renovated as per the

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demands of the era. For instance, the PTC and CT teacher trainings have a very little
difference in curriculum contents and same is the case for B.ed and M.ed curricula,
where a little advanced study in the same subjects makes it a higher degree, or
otherwise, there is the inclusion of an additional subject in the higher degree
programme. The curriculum contents of teacher education programmes are outdated.
The course work does not fully reflect the emerging global trends in pedagogical
methods, the shifts from Bloom's taxonomies to constructivism, critical thinking and
multiple intelligences, use of ICTs, life skills/environment, citizen rights based
approaches and exposure to inclusive education and early detection of impairments.
The case is again not only an issue of the private sector, but also of the public sector
teacher training institutes. The private sector organizations of claiming a quality
teacher training may adopt renovated curricula to cope with the demands of the era.
Teaching Practices
In general, the practical aspect of teacher training is ignored at all or there is allocated
a very little time to it. The situation becomes further alarming in private sector, where
the objective is focused majorly on acquiring a degree or certificate of teacher
training. The prospective teachers of private sector usually do not know the applied
aspect of their theoretical knowledge of pre-service trainings, where the theory and
practice needs amalgamation for better educational achievements. The link between
theory and practice of teaching is missing in teacher preparation programmes with
little weightage on practicum in target schools. Teaching practice in PTC/CT and all
professional courses needs to be planned more effectively.
Staffing
Following merit and recruitment of capable personnel leads to the success of an
organization. The private sector of teacher training usually do not give proper
incentives and job security to the staff, for which, there happens deficiency of capable
trainers and thus the result is hindering of quality in teacher education. Some private
sector providers, on the other hand do provide diversity in terms of choices and
experience. Mostly, there is a heavy reliance on part time faculty who cannot give
quality time to their students, and teacher training is not an experience to enhance the
quality of pedagogy and learning.
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Evaluation
Standard evaluation procedures make a system enriched with the fulfillment of all the
requirements, therefore, the evaluation and assessment of the educational processes
may be made standardized in all respects. In the private sector teacher training
institutes, the prospective teachers are given qualification through selective studies
and minor testing, with major distribution of marks internally. The theme followed
here usually is to show higher result percentage by any means, so as to make the
organization famous in the society.
There has been no evaluation of the Diploma in Education programme introduced
across Pakistan to replace and upgrade PM and CT. Lack of proactive planning and
resource constraints have been cited as the official reasons for this oversight.
Research
There is insufficient focus on research in private sector teacher education in terms of
preparation and delivery areas. This results in lack of information to track learning
achievements and teacher preparation programmes. The compulsory research being
required for a degree is usually repeated by the students, with minor changes or even
with no change, except the title pages.. The low standards in a majority of existing
teacher education programmes are compounded by increasing instances of plagiarism
and non-authentic research practices. The awarding of undeserved higher degrees both
in the government and private sector institutions add to the deteriorating situation.
Gap between Public and Private Sector
There is no system for accreditation or for the regulation of teacher standards within
and across provinces especially as provinces have started to adopt variations in
criteria for teacher recruitment. Interprovincial transfers are difficult and intra-sectoral
(public and private) employment criteria are non-existent. This lack of equivalence is
identified as a major bottleneck to the standardization within teacher education. The
gap between private and public systems at the local and national levels is therefore
much harder to bridge.

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Private sector providers offering several innovative options for upgrading skills
through short and long duration courses are not always assured of equivalence and
accreditation in public sector institutions. The public sector is selective about
recruitment of teachers from the private sector training institutions. Whilst public
sector will admit teachers qualified from some specialized private teacher training
institutions, it will not always be consistent in entertaining teachers trained by others.
Conclusion
All teacher training institutions, specifically the private sector, need to be
strengthened and made effective and efficient sites for pre-service and in-service
trainings. ICT infrastructure in place and well established skills in training need
assessment/diagnostics, design, research, monitoring and evaluation to improve
teacher education.
There should he made a system of quality assurance for the teacher education and to
maintain coherence between the public and private sector.
While these and other initiatives are welcome, it is clear that the quantity and quality
of teacher training programme in Pakistan must improve in order for the next
generation of Pakistanis to be better educated and better citizens than previous ones.

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PROBLEMS OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN PAKISTAN

AND SUGGESTIONS FOR IMPROVEMENT
Introductory
It is universally acknowledged that education is an effective means for social
reconstruction and to a great extent it offers solutions to he problems a society is faced
with. These problems may be economic, social, cultural, political, moral, ecological
and educational. Since the teachers play a major role in education of children, their
own education becomes a matter of vital concern. Teacher education must, therefore,
create necessary awareness among teachers about their new roles and responsibilities.
Education of teachers needs to strengthen and stress upon the main attributes of a
profession, such as, the systematic theory, rigorous training over a specified duration,
authority, community sanction, ethical code and culture, generating knowledge
through research and specialization. It is acknowledged that formal professional
training on continuous basis is necessary for becoming a good teacher as it caters to
the development of one's personality and sharpening of communication skills and
commitment to a code of conduct. Consider the following problems of teacher
education in our country.
Lack of Policy & Standards
To date, all teacher-training programmes are operating without a viable policy
framework. The government is aware of this vacuum yet it has not taken any concrete
steps to implement a policy to bring all teaching programmes under a single umbrella.
This has led teaching institutions to develop and implement teacher education
programmes at their discretion leading to uneven and sometimes poor quality
curriculum, teaching methods and practices. Hence, lack of standards has led to varied
and substandard training programmes.
During the past decade, many countries such as Britain, Australia and New Zealand
have taken various measures in order to define standards for teaching. Professional
standards, form a key feature of their education systems. The purpose of their
introduction is to develop and maintain high quality teaching and leadership in

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schools and improve learning outcomes for students. Moreover, they assist in ensuring
that employer and management expectations are clear and consistent across each.
Competency standards can enlighten the work of curriculum development as well as
serve as a tool through which good teaching can be identified, celebrated, and
rewarded. In Australia, the National Framework for Professional Standards in
Teaching describes four career dimensions for teachers. These include graduation,
competence, accomplishment and leadership. Each of these dimensions is defined
through four professional components of teachers' work, which are professional
knowledge, professional practice, professional values, and professional relationships.
A lack of standards for education in Pakistan has resulted in the challenge of
harmonization of school education with teacher education as the required
competencies of teachers have not been defined. Moreover, the standards of
assessment have also not been determined due to this gap.
Economic Problems
Poverty, unemployment, and low rate of growth and productivity are some of the
major economic problems of the country which have led to the compulsions of the
backward economy. These problems seek immediate solution and demand a realistic
co-ordination between economic planning and manpower planning. Education can
help find solutions if it is properly coordinated with manpower needs. Introduction of
work education and vocationalization of education in secondary schools will have to
be given a modern and meaningful direction. The attitude towards the work culture
needs a transformation. Our society needs education with special emphasis on science
and technology, vocational inputs and realistic work experiences. Teacher education
curriculum, therefore, has to promote such attitudes as are necessary for the
emergence of a new economic order. Along with the vocational competencies and
skills a new work culture will have to be created which necessarily involves the
inculcation of dignity of work, the spirit of self-reliance and scientific temper among
students. The courses of teacher education need to be enriched to enable teachers to
understand the attributes of modernity and development.
Social Problems

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Increasing delinquency, violence and terrorism and use of inappropriate means to get
one's ends served are threats to the national integration and social cohesion.
Democracy, violence and terrorism cannot coexist Education has to develop a peace
loving personality and the programme of teacher education has to contribute in this
regard.
The explosion of population with all its allied disturbing trends is not only
neutralizing the economic gains but also creating many problems for the country. We
still suffer from evils like child labour, child marriage, untouchability, discriminatory
treatment to women, violation of human rights, etc. and most of the people are
unaware of their legal rights.
Modem model of development which puts man against nature by making it an object
of exploitation has disturbed the harmony mid equilibrium, between the two. Its
consequences are visible in serious environmental degradation, pollution and
ecological imbalances. Strengthening national and social cohesion in a diverse and
plural society, accelerating the process of economic growth, improving the life of the
oppressed and the people living below the poverty line, removing the widely
prevalent ignorance, superstition and prejudices from the masses, inculcating
scientific temper and developing a critical awareness about the social realities of
Pakistani life are some of the issues which call for immediate attention. Teachers and
the teacher educators have a special role to play in such efforts.
Problems of Cultural Reconstruction
Education is the process of transmission of dynamic and responsive compiments of
cultural heritage and its continuous enrichment There is a need to reinterpret the
culture in its distinct identity and composite strength. its capacity to absorb the
sublime from the other cultures needs to be highlighted. The teachers will have to play
their role in cultural transmission and reconstruction.
Crises of Values and Morality
There has been a persistent erosion of values- in the society. In the present day context
certain values need to be redefined and reinstalled. There are situations when the

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values imparted and inculcated in schools are not generally practiced in society. Value
education demands a planned and purposive approach. It is through education and as
of necessity through teacher education programmes that the task of inculcating values
can be substantially accomplished. Whereas values are emotive, the other related
significant dimension is that of moral education which is essentially co-nauve in
character Morals are situation specific and demand immediate decision anti action and
yet there are morals which are considered to he eternal and universal. Through
committed teachers, the art of ensuring moral development in an Islamic, multireligious and multi-ethnic society needs to be cultivated.
Problems within the Education System
The nation has yet to fulfill the constitutional commitment to provide free and
compulsory education to all children till they attain 14 years of age.. The education
system however, has to respond to several major issues and problems which have
hindered the progress in this regard. Maintenance of educational \andards against the
pressure of increasing enrolment, relevance and quality of school 'education are some
of the pertinent issues. in addition, specific requirements and need of social and
economical groups of the society and of the minority communities, vocationalization
of education, scientific and technological literacy, rush for urbanization, perceived
urban orientation of educational system and its inflexibility to respond to rural, tribal
and 'regional requirements are some of the dominant issues. These would determine
the nature and shape of teacher education programmes and the efficacy and
functioning of teachers in their new and emerging multifaceted roles.
Isolation of Teacher Education
Teacher education institutions which were considered 'islands of isolation' have
gradually developed. linkages with schools, peer institutions, universities and other
institutions of higher learning as also the community. However, much remains to be
done in this direction.. The curriculum of the school, its actual transactional MO
daiities, examination system, management processes need to be the main arm of focus
for teacher education programmes. To achieve these ends, teacher educators need to
be made conversant with various aspects of school experiences. It is observed in dayto-day functioning that teacher educators often tend to lose contact with content areas
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relevant to their own disciplines resulting into gaps in communication and latest
information. It is, therefore, a. felt need in. the present-day context that teacher
education institutions keep in continuous touch with institutions of higher learning.
And peer institutions for effective transmission of knowledge and its upgradation.
The breaking of isolation from the community is essential for enabling teachers and
teacher educators to reconstruct pedagogical and educational principles and practices
in the light of experiences gained from mutually beneficial community interactions.
Teacher as a professional and intellectual cannot remain indifferent to the events that
are taking place in society. The academic and social issues are inter-related and interdependent. In contemporary context, the role of the teacher is no longer confined to
teaching alone. The teachers are expected to play an active role in the developmental
activities responding to progress of the community.
Expanding Scope of Teacher Education
Education of teachers is not an end in itself. Its target is the school. Any change in the
nature, purpose, quality and character of the school demands a concomitant change in
teacher education, especially in its curriculum. The implementation of the 10 + 2
scheme at the school level has transformed the complexion of education to a
considerable extent from the pre-primary to the + 2 stage. There has been an increase
not only in the quantum of knowledge, but also in its nature and purpose. In addition,
new transactional techniques and strategies have also been evolved. Certain new
subjects have replaced the old ones whereas some others have changed their context,
content, orientation, theme and philosophy. These changes at the school level, out of
necessity, demand a new pedagogy and evaluation techniques. But the changes at the
level of teacher education have not adequately responded to the emerging realities at
the school level. All that the teachers are expected to do in their work places need to
be reflected in the teacher education activities and programmes.
The teaching community has to face the challenges thrown by science and technology.
There has been an explosion not only of scientific and technological knowledge but
also in the means and techniques of acquiring knowledge. The scientific researches
and developments related to theories of heredity, learning, mental health, neurology,
attention, motivation etc. can no longer be treated alien to teacher education
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programmes.
Evolving a Culture-Specific Pedagogy
Every region and state has its typical cultural identity, and there is a need to utilize the
same as a basis for developing meaningful, relevant pedagogies. Since there is no one
universal way in which the children learn, there is a strong need for looking into the
cultural. context in which a child is placed. A child in a tribal society may process
information in an altogether different manner as compared to the one from the urban
area and high socio-economic stratum. Pedagogy, therefore, should be culturespecific. Cultural practices such as story-telling, dramatics, puppetry, folk-play,
community living, etc. should become a strong basis of pedagogy instead of using one
uniform, mechanistic way of student learning. Cultural specificity should get
embedded in the pedagogical practices which should be evolved for tribal, rural,
urban communities and other ethnic groups.
Inseparability of Pre-service and In-service Education
A learning society visualizes education as a continuing activity. This is equally
applicable to teacher education. The policy stipulation on inseparability of the preservice and in-service education of teachers and emphasis on continuing education
need to be given pragmatic shape at the implementation stage. The curriculum of preservice and in-service teacher education has to be redesigned to maintain continuity
between the two. Teachers who are being educated today will have to devote major
part of their life to education during the coming era. If the present rate of explosion of
knowledge continues, in a few years the teachers will find themselves in a world
where their present knowledge and teaching skills to an extent would become
outdated. They will have to face the challenge of electronic media and information
technology.
Research studies reveal that the content knowledge of pre-service and in-service
teachers in Pakistan is low. When teachers with or without pre-service training were
tested on content knowledge, there was negligible difference between their
performance. This tentatively indicates that the pre-service programmes have added
little value to teachers and directly reflects on the poor level of instruction and

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curriculum of the pre-service programmes. Approximately 75 percent of teachers are

provided outdated and irrelevant training through the PTC or CT.
Moreover, the Diploma in Education Programme introduced across Pakistan to
replace PRA. has not been evaluated due to lack of proactive planning and resource
constraints, while the B.Ed and M.Ed extended duration courses were not even tested.
Teacher training is seen by trainees as just another degree or certificate to fulfill the
criteria (a degree chasing exercise) rather than an opportunity to enhance one's
pedagogical skills and gain deeper understanding of the stibjech Moreover, very little
resources are set aside for follow-up, which is less exciting and more difficult and
time consuming than training.
The courses of in-service training programmes are not designed according to the
requirements of in-service teachers. Few efforts are made to modify and tailor the
syllabus as per the requirements of the classitrainees. Subject knowledge is not
integrated. With teaching skills. Training programmes for various levels of teachers
are not properly assessed and lack adequate materials and delivery aids. Training
specialists and master trainers often themselves are not qualified, competent or
motivated enough to make much difference in improving the knowledge and
capabilities of the trainees. Many master trainers are usually ex-heads of high schools
who have been transferred and other teacher educators as a son of punishment.
Therefore, they are less serious towards their jobs and their chief priority is to finish
their tenure so that they can eventually returrt as administrative heads of a school.
While it is recommended that teachers receive in-service training evert/ three to -five
years,. on average a primary teacher receives in-service training after thirteen years, a
middle school teacher after seven to eight years and a. high school teacher after
sixteen years. Rural teachers and females, who have the greatest challenges in the
form of access and mobility., are able to benefit the leashPhitimary teachers rarely
benefit from in-service training that can be utilized in the course of their work, often
attending halliheattedly, their attention more on niavel and other daily allowances that
are due to them.
Research and Innovation

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One of the. major inputs towards enhancing tse quality of teaching and learning in
schools as 'well as the teacher education institutions would be the extent to which
research outputs and. the outcomes of innovations ate utilized by the system..
Researches on teacher education have been and are being conducted in universities,
national level institutions and other establishments but their utility for the teacher
educator or the classroom teacher remains rather low. Majority of the researches are
undertaken to obtain a degree and hence the focus on its possible utility and relevance
gets misplaced. The situation is compounded by non-availability of appropriate
dissemination mechanisms, like journals, publication of findings in different forms
and opportunities to the target group to get an access to these. institutional capabilities
and resources need to be augmented, enabling them to undertake relevant researches.
There is a definite requirement of bringing in. research methods and methodologies in
appropriate form in teacher education at pre-service and in-service programmes. To an
extent, it finds a place in master level courses in education though in some
universities the same is not insisted upon.. The structure and design of future courses
and programmes need to take this aspect into account. Preparation of teacher
educators can no longer be completed without adequate grounding in various aspects
of research. Researches must respond to policy issues, curriculum issues, evaluative
procedures and practices, training strategies, classroom practices etc.. The areas of
teacher preparation for children with special needs, gifted children and children from
groups with specific cultural, social and economic needs can no longer be ignored.
Surveys and studies also need to be encouraged. These may be exploratory or
diagnostic in nature. The new initiatives and innovations need to be encouraged and
studied. Wherever considered appropriate, these could be brought into th, system of
teacher education for wider and gainful use. Researches. innovations and surveys
must become an integral part of the training programmes of teacher education
institutions irrespective of the stages. The trainees need to be familiarized with
innovations in general and innovative practices in teacher education in particular.
Communication Gap
According to the UNESCO and USAID report of 2005, there exists a wide
communication and collaboration gap between the teacher training institutes. Instead

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of working towards sharing good practices, research and experiences, they have more
or less worked in isolation. They have not built critical partnerships so as to improve
their course content, methodology and pedagogical skills. Similarly weak institutional
arrangements between the provincial and district institutes also contribute to the
complexities in teacher education curriculum and conduct. The management of the
system is uncoordinated with different institutions responsible for staffing, curricula,
examinations and textbooks.
Core Competencies
Teachers have invariably lagged behind in developing core competencies fundamental
to their profession. These core competencies are the pillars on which subsequent
knowledge and skills are built upon.
Recruitment
Not selecting teachers on merit, lack of proper screening and relaxing of qualification
requirements have jeopardized the end objective of providing quality education. Job
descriptions and performance appraisals are lacking. Research has shown that the
performance of students who had teachers with 12 years of formal schooling was
better than students whose teachers had a metric qualification. This leads to the
conclusion that student performance and understanding is directly related to the years
of formal education of teachers. Hence, by compromising on the competency of the
educator itself means a compromise on the standard of education.
Curriculum
The current curricula being taught does not focus on nurturing a creative and learning
environment involving questioning and problem solving. Subject matter is not
regularly updated to keep pace with recent subject advances. There is no attempt to
integrate subject knowledge with pedagogical skills. For most programmes, teacher
trainees employ rote learning to pass the examinations. Not enough emphasis is given
to learning practical teaching skills; instead the emphasis remains on theory. Also,
there is hardly any focus on making teachers efficient in improvising and creating low
cost learning aids. Familiarity with use of modern information and communication

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technologies is also not given due importance.

Teacher Educators
The various levels of teacher educators themselves are caught in the same cycle of
poor teacher quality and delivery. They administer their classes in the traditional
teaching style of lecture giving, dictation and notes. Trainers fail to cultivate any
creative thinking, inquiry and problem solving. among their trainees. Most of them
are not aware of how to improve their own knowledge and skills or to bring
themselves up to date with modern advances in teacher training. An endless cycle of
these ritualistic and poor teaching methods thus engulfs the teacher education system.
Also, teacher educators refrain from group work , and interactive learning techniques
because they have concern it spoils class discipline. This is indeed one of the major
reasons that Pakistan has not been able to bring up its educational level and standard.
Support System and School Management
Teachers require a strong support structure within their schools to provide to their
needs and professional development. A healthy and facilitative teaching environment,
encouragement from peers and administration, efficient internal processes, easily
available teaching aids and mentoring by senior faculty all add up in helping the
teacher grow and focus on his job. A supportive school organization typically is not
present in Pakistani schools, where internal politics, lack of resources, disinterest in
pupil learning and school improvement by management result in demotivating and
ignoring the teachers. Such a culture also inhibits teachers from taking the initiative to
introduce new techniques in teaching and apply whatever new skills they learned in
their training. There is no central or provincial database to keep track of the number of
teachers being trained, the courses attended by them, current enrollments and school
contribution.
Incentives and Career Path
Promotion is currently based on seniority rather than performance. Low salaries
characterize the profession. There is a dreadful need for recognition of performance.
Moreover, no weightage is given to additional qualifications. There is a lack of a well

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defined career structure for teacher educators; chronic shortage of specialist teacher
educators; and most staff lacking experience of teaching in schools for which they
prepare trainees (for instance secondary level subject specialists preparing primary
teachers).
Monitoring and Evaluation
Almost all training programmes lack a systematic follow up to gauge the performance
of their trained teachers. Since evaluation is not as exciting as the training component
of the programme and is more time consuming, little attention is paid to this aspect of
the teacher training. With little guidance, monitoring and follow up, teachers suffer
from a lack of feedback, which eventually causes them to continue inferior teaching
practices. Moreover, the performance appraisal system of teachers known as the
Annual Confidential Reports (ACRs) is merely a formality. it fails to provide any
useful feedback or insights to a teacher's performance.
Allocations and Utilization
Data on national and provincial budgets show that a significant share of the education
budget is allocated towards recurrent activities and evidence from all provinces
depicts that recurrent funds are utilized primarily on salaries. The recurrent allocations
have ranged from 75 to 96 percent of total allocations in the four provinces.
Teacher Quality
Two challenges have been underscored in literature with regard to the much needed
attention on teacher quality. First, it is apparent that student outcomes are more
cloSely related to the level of general education of the teacher rather than professional
qualificationstina service training. Some programmes encourage teachers to enhance
their academic qualifications through provision of scholarships. However, only a
small number of teachers are able to avail this. facility and training programmes have
still to adequately address the dilemma of weak content knowledge. Second, available
institutional mechanisms to ensure teacher training of quality on any significant scale,
or any significant cumulative impact over time, are lacking..
Others
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Teachers are forcefully assigned to conduct and take parr in other activities
e.g. election duties,. vaccination programmes without due compensation,
causing them. to take time away from. class preparation and de-motivating
them further.

Use of punishment and other harsh treatment meted by teachers on students

instills fear among them, hampers their creative abilities and leads to dropouts.
Such practices. must be discouraged at all teacher-training institutes.

BREAKING THE BARRIERS

The critical analyses of the context and concerns help in developing a vision for
teacher education in future. In the Pakistani situation basic character of the framework
must .provide for adequate and inbuilt flexibility for incorporating the regional and
local specificities. Total trust in the capabilities of institutions and organizations to
develop an indigenous, comparable and area-specific curriculum has to be the guiding
principle.
Teacher education has to be conceived as an integral part of educational and social
system and must primarily respond to the requirements of the school system. It can no
longer remain conventional and static but should transform itself to a progressive
dynamic and responsive system. National values and goals need to be meaningfully
reflected and their inculcation attempted with care and caution. The theoretical and
practical components need to be balanced appropriately.. The theory and practice of
education has to be enriched with the latest research findings not only in the field of
education but also in the allied disciplines and areas. While it is essential to develop
identified competencies to prepare effective teachers it is equally necessary to develop
commitment and build capacity to perform as integral part of teacher preparation. The
teachers have to keep abreast of the latest developments not only in their field of
specialization but also in areas of educational developments and social and cultural
issues through continuous in-service orientation. Emphasis on continuing life-long
learning has to become an essential concern of teacher education. A nation 'concerned
with erosion of values needs teachers who are professionally committed and prepared
to present a value-based model of interaction with their learners. The basic code of

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belief identified in the national basic education scheme, i.e. Head, Heart and Hand
need now to be linked to another 'H', i.e. highways. Information highways, websites
and internet are going to become terms of common usage in teacher education. For
sound mind we need strong hand and a vibrant heart. Areas like physical education
and vocational education will continue to gain greater emphasis in years to come and
will serve as the basis for developing competencies and skills in addition to
commitments and values.
A comprehensive theoretical base is essential for a teacher to assume professional role
and develop capacity to conceptualize inputs from other disciplines as well and evolve
strategies to utilize them. A true professional is capable of perceiving complexities
and uncertainties in the society, has a thorough grasp of the subject, possesses skills to
make critical diagnosis, takes decisions and has courage and conviction to implement
such decisions. Consider the following suggestions for improving teacher education in
Pakistan.
Provide a Policy & Framework Cover
It is needed to develop a workable policy and strategic framework, with an
accreditation and certification scheme. Minimum requirements for resourcing
institutes with regard to staffing, infrastructure and organization need to be developed
in conjunction with the respective heads of these institutes in order to ensure system
equity and quality provision. The credentialing of teacher education programmes
should be transferred to an independent body like the Higher Education Commission.
Uniform work requirements, in terms of teaching and supervision loads, should also
be developed. Also, representation of teachers should be mandatory in the formation
and revision of educational policies. Moreover, a National Teachers Forum should be
established in order to influence policies and organize teachers' professional voices.
Fixing the Institutional Puzzle
The existing institutional infrastructure should be molded to adapt to any new policy
and programmes. It should be monitored by a federal level authority responsible for
overseeing their functions and performance. It has been suggested that the Technical
Panel on Teacher Education existing at the national level should be restructured to

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monitor and report on implementation of policy directors. In order to prevent

duplication and overlapping of functions, the various provincial institutes and
universities need to work together to establish academic links and collaboration to
improve the value of their services. Institutes should be provided increased autonomy
to develop sources of income to address their needs.
Developing Teacher Core Competencies
All teaching programmes should stress on developing a list of a core set of
competencies among the teachers (both pre-servi.e and in-service) to prepare them
adequately for classroom teaching and to make them effective arid professional
educators. On the basis of these core competencies a performance appraisal system
can he devised.
Proper Recruitment Practices
Selection of teachers should be merit-based. Schools should select teachers based on a
prescribed minimum qualification and satisfactory performance on a selection test
based on the teachers' core competencies.
Proactive Up-to-Date Curriculum
Courses should be designed around requirements and needs expressed by the teacher
themselves. Revision of pre-service and in-service curricula, with a focus on
improving and enhancing content knowledge and pedagogical skills of the teacher
trainees is also required. Integration of subject knowledge with teaching skills has
also been recommended.
In-Service Programmes
Training should be based on teacher requirements. Teachers' needs should be first
assessed by induction tests, and groups formed according to their scores. These
groups should be then brought up and trained -from their current level. There should
be refresher courses every 5 years. Institutional linkages with an innovative college
should be explored globally to train elementary teachers for the purposes of faculty
in-service development, faculty exchanges and further training.

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Pre-Service & In-Service Trainings

Trainings to focus on improving teachers' resource management skills, promoting
group work and activity based learning as part of the learning experience,
encouraging them to use no/low cost materials as teaching aids where appropriate and
supporting capacity building co-curricular activities for the pupils. Training should
also prepare teachers for multi-grade teaching:
The most preferred approach to teaching for elementary level students is the "activity
approach" with focus on the pupil and activity based learning process. Computer
along with training on other technological aids should be made compulsory and a high
priority for all teacher programmes. It has been suggested that a separate cadre of
teacher educators should be established, linked to elementary schools, who can be
trained on the job to be adult educators and researchers in elementary schools practice
and subject areas.
Healthy School Support Structure
Newly trained and inducted teachers as well as those already working require peer
and school support to continue their professional and personal development.
Encouragement, guidance and a healthy working environment can add tremendous
value to a teachers output and commitment. There is a need to foster a culture of
critical reflection among the teaching faculty of schools. School management should
be responsive and accommodating towards the needs of their teaching staff and give
them due respect and assistance. There is also an urgent need to set up provincial
databases linked to a central repository to maintain up to date records of the teachers,
their qualifications, trainings, current enrollment and other relevant statistics. This
would aid in tracking teacher resources and help make informed management
decisions. The central database can be installed at the federal regulatory body.
Incentives
Offer incentives to teachers in accordance to their need and the stage of their career.
Such incentives can be monetary (salary increase, allowances, and benefits). They can
also include subsidized housing, food, transportation facilities, professional training,

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teacher guides, textbooks, personal notebooks, location, and recognition of

performance. Match up incentives according to the needs and stage of the teacher.
Ensure sustenance of incentives. Start a programme to provide loans to teachers on
low mark ups and soft terms. If contract based, those teachers that perform well can
be hired as permanent employees to acknowledge their value and services.
Monitoring & Evaluation
Systematic follow up with teachers after trainings is central to their professional
development. Their performance in the classroom should be regularly assessed by the
principal and other senior teachers to evaluate the quality of their training, their
subject knowledge as well as their classroom delivery and management skills.
A performance based teacher evaluation and compensation system is required to
motivate the teachers to strive towards excellence. Promotions should be linked with
teacher's capabilities rather than seniority. Additionally there should be an institutional
performance appraisal system to monitor institutional accomplishment against set
.;tirricular objectives and goals. Perhaps what is needed is setting up of a monitoring
wing within each teacher-training institute, under the administrative supervision of the
federal regulatory body, to monitor, ensure and assist with quality control. This wing
among other things would also drive the institutional management to regularly
introducing new and cutting edge teaching techniques for teacher training.
There is also a consistent demand from the teacher educators to form a separate cadre
for them and give due recognition to their roles. This would also prevent pointless
transfers of teachers to government schools where they are not as beneficial as in their
core area of expertise as trainers.
Infrastructure
Most of the teacher training institutes throughout the country are in dire need of repair
and modifications. In order to provide a decent working environment for both teacher
educators and trainees alike, a nationwide renovation of the institutes should be
undertaken. As part of these exercise science labs, teaching materials, aids and IT
equipment should be upgraded and/or made available.

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Supply of Textbooks and Teacher Resource Material

All teacher-training institutes complain of insufficient allocations for procuring
quality textbooks,, teacher learning references, resource materials, library books,
education journals and other required supplementary materials. Sufficient funds
should be allocated to the institutes so that they can be able to procure items
according to their needs. Donors should also come forward and help the institutes
overcome some of these constraints as part of their assistance in improving teacher
education. It is also pertinent to note here that well designed teachers manual in
developing countries accompanying a text book were found to be more effective than
poorly trained in-service teachers.
Refrain from Exceeding the Capacity
Some training institutes admit far more students than they are allowed or can easily
accommodate. This has the effect of straining the resources, which eventually leads to
weakening the quality of education imparted. Institutes should refrain from such
practices of over enrolment.

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