Teaching is a very noble profession that shapes the character, calibre, and future of an individual. If the people remember me as a good teacher, that will be the biggest honour for me: APJ Abdul Kalam
The teaching profession is undoubtedly above all other professions and it may not be wrong to call it the mother of all other professions. The way the importance is attached to this profession, it would be absurd and insanity to take it for granted. When a fresh teacher gets recruited, an induction training programme for freshers is conducted so that the one who is recruited gets acquainted with the new job and its demands. Moreover, he or she has to keep abreast with the latest syllabus in the concerned subject. After getting into this profession, the teacher undergoes different training programmes from time to time, through different agencies like SCERT, DIET and at times through different NGOs like Pratham, etc. The motive of all these programmes is to keep a teacher updated with innovative trends and techniques so that he or she may efficiently deliver the content at the grass root level through relevant techniques and make the learner capable of achieving the set competencies. Furthermore, hard spots if any confronted during the teaching-learning process are also recorded and taken up for review by the experts to reach out for their solution.
Department of Education always remains on its toes to equip teaching professionals with modern pedagogical skills and spends a huge chunk of money on this training.
It will be apt to quote a viewpoint about teachers, articulated by Rabindranath Tagore,” A teacher can not truly teach unless he is himself learning” A teacher has to remain acquainted, updated and in touch with the latest trends, techniques, methodology, pedagogical skills etc.
Let’s have a look at the role of different institutes pertaining to in-service teacher training.
Role of NCERT (National Council for Education Research and Training)
1. NCERT is concerned with all the problems of school education in the country and endeavours to improve such education through developing various programmes of research, publication, and extension training.
2. Development of National Curriculum Framework(NCF)
3. Organizes in-service and pre-service training for teachers
4. Develops and disseminate innovative educational techniques and practices.
5. The NEP 2020 aims to set the National Professional Standards for Teachers (NPST) to determine all aspects of teacher career management, efforts for professional development etc. NCERT will undertake an in-depth study of international pedagogical approaches and integrate their findings for NEP teacher training.
Role of SCERT (State Council of Education Research and Training)
Recently SCERT was established by merging the State Institute of Education J&K.One of the assignments envisaged to SCERT is to enable the department to train 134 lakh in-service teachers through various professional training, capacity building programmes, induction courses, content enrichment and contemporary trends and techniques for ensuring quality education. Also, SCERT provides academic and resource support at the grassroots level and functions through existing DIET.
Role of DIET (District Institute of Education and Training)
1. Sole purpose of DIET is to conduct different kinds of training programmes to improve the quality of basic education and create a desirable environment within the district and ensure high literacy percentage. DIETs have an academic faculty with high qualifications who simultaneously work as Zonal In charges especially to supervise the ongoing different schemes of education and guide the teachers to implement them in an effective way.
2. Training of pre-service and in-service elementary teachers.
3. Induction level and continuing education of non-formal and adult education instructors and supervisors.
4. Training and orientation of heads of institutions in institutional planning and management.
5. Academic and resource support to the elementary and adult education system at the district level.
6. Action research and experimentation to deal with specific problems.
7. One-year regular programme for D.El.Ed.(Diploma in Elementary Education) course for untrained undergraduate teachers.
The current practice in vogue is whenever any training programme is to be conducted, a list of teachers as Master Resource Persons by the concerned DIETs through respective ZEOs, is framed who receive training from experts from SCERT. These Master Resource Persons then pass on the expertise to the teachers on the ground. After all the teachers receive training in a particular field, they are then supposed to deliver that in the actual classroom and the concerned DIETs monitor the implementation of the particular training throughout the year. In this regard, one day we were talking about these training programmes conducted for teachers and one of my comrades said that it is simply an old wine in new bottles. The other day another friend of mine remarked that these programmes are conducted only to utilise the money that is sanctioned for the purpose. But these are the speculations and perceptions of a layman that may not be true and the reality is something different.
Looking at the procedure of these training programmes, a thought strikes one’s mind that no doubt the teachers selected as Resource Persons are either well qualified and dedicated in the zone or are interviewed first for the selection but whether these programmes achieve hundred percent success in achieving the set target as per the set guidelines or not? Do such training involve the concerned stakeholders in the process? Do they get hands-on experience to deliver the best in actual classroom transactions? These are the questions that need to be pondered upon.
“Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn,” asserted Benjamin Franklin. As all of us believe that when we get involved in any activity or assignment we come out successful in performing that task. What if a model school as a teacher training institute in each educational zone of the UT is established where children are actually studying? Whenever any training programme is to be conducted by the concerned agencies, the resource persons who receive training from the SCERT/DIET experts, first implement those techniques, trends, methodologies, skills etc in that particular model institution. Thereafter the teachers of that particular zone will receive training and practically hold the classes there in the model institution under the supervision of the RP’s and receive feedback on the spot for modification if any. When the teachers get involved in the actual classroom transaction before the experts, this would bring practicality and expertise in the field and thereby teachers get well equipped with the desired skills. And they become capable of implementing all the skills in their own schools in an effective way.
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