Teacher Education is a program of education, research, and training of a person that empowers them to meet the teaching profession's requirements. This program provides teachers with the knowledge, attitude, behavior, and skills they require to perform their tasks effectively in the classroom. The professionals who provide training to the prospective teachers are called teacher educators.
Need for teacher education:
An educational institute plays a significant role in providing knowledge to lead a student to become a successful, full of knowledge, and a good person. Teachers are the key personnel in these schools/institutions who play the most crucial role in bringing out these transformations in students. A teacher is responsible for implementing the educational process at every stage.
Thus, it is imperative to invest in teacher education and their preparation to secure the nation's future. Today’s schools face massive challenges. With the rapidly changing and technology-based economy, schools require teacher training to educate the diverse student body with higher academic standards. The importance of competent teachers cannot be overemphasized in any way.
It is known that the academic and professional standards of a teacher contribute a critical part to the learning and educational goals of a student. Teacher training is necessary for learning and more extensive social transformation. The aspects that need teacher training are:
1. The level and quality of their subject matter knowledge.
2. The performance of pedagogical skills that teachers need to meet the requirements of diverse learning situations.
3. The degree of commitment to the subject.
4. The level of motivation.
5. Ability to handle contemporary problems and issues.
New strategies for teacher education:
Teachers can learn the best by studying, doing, and reflecting. Teacher training will also improve by collaborating with other teachers, looking closely at students and their work, and sharing what they observe.
Better settings for such learning are being created. Many schools of education have created programs that extend beyond the bachelor's degree program, providing both education and subject-matter training courses integrated with teacher training in schools. Many are one or two-year graduate programs for graduates. Some are five-year programs for people who learn teacher education as undergraduates. In either case, these programs allow participants to focus exclusively on preparing to teach. They also provide school-based internships linked to coursework on learning and teaching.
The new models of teacher education and teacher training should emphasize learning to do and learning to think to produce learned thinkers.
- There is a need for participatory teacher education. In this model, teachers will play an active role in the training process. They will become participants in the decisions regarding the needs to what their training must produce, what problems should be resolved daily in the work environment, and what specific knowledge and skills are a must.
In the participatory model, teachers will be self-taught and self-directed. Every aspect of the training will be based on introspection and reflection. The needs, statuses, roles, and problems must be clearly defined, examined, and analyzed by themselves. The actual solid experiences of working with students in the past and future should be emphasized. Teachers will clearly be able to explore and examine the consequences, given by the trainers, in solving problems. - The new teacher education and teacher training should be up to date with the power of technology and decide on a teaching method suitable for both students’ and teachers’ learning. The actual power of technology will come to use when teachers are well trained and have captured the uses of modern technology themselves. In such a way, teachers would be able to furnish the model, and the students are expected to learn and thereby grow up to be more human, productive, and creative.
- Need for in-depth content and practical knowledge of research for teacher education. Research should always be a major priority in teacher training and preparation in the 21st century. Professional teachers will naturally look for answers to questions that will help the students learn better and answer their doubts thoroughly. Teachers are the decision-makers, making thousands of choices on an hourly basis regarding the choice of literature, curriculum pedagogy, appropriate and relevant technology usage, texts, assessment, and measurement. They are the reflectors of the needs of their students. They will encounter failures and successes. However, much of what teachers have to offer remains a secret. Their key to success is a mystery. Good teachers always seek multiple ways of representing their world of teaching and learning to their students by giving them the light of knowledge within the classrooms. Research is one of the most potent keys to help unlock these secrets.
Benefit for students
Evidence suggests that this kind of professional teacher training not only makes the teachers feel empowered and better at their teaching work, but it also enormously helps in student learning, especially in these times with more challenging and these new higher standard demands.
Creating a profession in teaching after teacher education in which teachers have the opportunity for continual learning is the likeliest way to provide greater achievement for children and inspire teachers.
Conclusion
A pedagogy of teacher education involves principles, expectations, and practices that matter in teaching and learning for teachers about teaching. Ordaining a pedagogy of teacher education is about teacher educators setting their intentions and practices so that teaching becomes as simple as it could for the student. Teachers should be able to provide education to students in the best way possible at every step of the way for the development and knowledge of a student. Teacher education has become a must in today's world. With its growth and evolution, higher standards and expectations for both the teacher and the student are being set.
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