What Is The Importance Of Teacher Education?
Historically, teachers had always been intellectuals or clerics who had no official training in the area of their expertise, i.e., teaching. People used to take the phrase "teachers were born, not made" quite seriously, and hence, they didn’t believe in training or educating them. Later, with the advent of pedagogy, or the "art and science of teaching," as a recognized field, teacher education became necessary. Also, the teacher-student connection has significantly become more complicated and demanding than ever. This prompted a fresh perspective on the concept of teacher training and education.
Under teacher education, teachers are introduced to modern concepts and ideas with an aim to broaden their knowledge and help them adapt to a new learning environment. Such training is about improved teaching skills, strong pedagogical theory, and excellent professional skills. It has a connotation of preparing staff for a professional role as a reflective practitioner. And because of this, in the United States especially, the phrase teacher training seems to lose its momentum and brought an end to the long-standing and ongoing discussion of choosing the best name for this activity.
If you are interested in knowing more about teacher education, read this article. Here we have gathered all the essential information that you must know about.
Meaning Of Teacher Education
Teacher education, often known as teacher training, refers to policies, procedures, and provisions meant to provide teachers with all the required information and skills to execute their responsibilities effectively. The knowledge, behavior, attitude, and skills needed in a classroom, school, or wider community are gained through teacher training. It is an important program in any educational setting as it helps them learn and develop knowledge about different concepts. The training is all related to improving proficiency and developing the competence that would empower the teachers to meet the professional requirements and tackle the problems that come with it. The professionals who train future teachers are known as teacher educators.
Nature Of Teacher Education:
- It is a continuous process
- The training is based on the theory
- It is broad and comprehensive
- The process is ever-evolving and dynamic
Objective Of Teacher Education
Teaching has become more complicated with the changing needs of the education system. To face all the challenges and tackle them rightly, they must be trained for this role professionally. And this is the objective of ‘Teacher Education.’ Here are some of the objectives behind conducting the training.
Impart Adequate Knowledge
The major goal of teacher training is to gain a stronger grasp of the subject matters required to be taught in school and covered in assignments. It helps in skill development and updating the knowledge so that they can impart the right information and follow the right direction of learning.
To Understand The Child Psychology
Every student is different in terms of learning, processing, thinking, and implementing. This requires teachers to understand psychology to deal with each student in the right way. With this in mind, teacher education is conducted. The training aims to recognize child psychology and their problems in academics. This helps in developing new modes and techniques for reaching the goals.
Equipping Teachers With Pedagogic Skills
The ultimate focus of teacher education is to cultivate the ability of a teacher to have varied experiences and teach under an artificially constructed setting with lesser material resources. It is to create an emotional atmosphere with which students can easily relate. The training assists teachers in developing the ability to do, observe, infer, and generalize.
Develop The Right Attitude
The right attitude is required for building a successful career as a teacher. And since teachers come from various backgrounds, the right attitude is much needed. This is one of the primary aims of teacher education. It helps develop an attitude toward teaching that will help better utilize both the material and human resources.
Boost Self-Confidence
Teacher training helps in developing the spirit of self-reliance and self-confidence. Teaching in a distinct environment with students of varied psychology requires a lot of confidence. Hence, they are provided with the right training so that they can adjust to the physical environment, create a healthy relationship, and derive emotional satisfaction.
Stages Of Teacher Education
Although teacher education is viewed as a seamless continuum, it is divided into three phases. A teacher must go through all the stages to gain adequate knowledge and benefit from the training. Here are all the stages.
Stage 1: Initial Teacher Education
The first stage is the primary training, a pre-service course required before entering the classroom. Since most teachers come from different backgrounds, getting the training assists them in attitudinal change towards the profession. This course usually takes place in higher education institutes and helps prepare a good teacher.
Stage 2: Induction
Teaching necessitates broad information about the topic being taught in the classroom along with the required knowledge to teach the subjects to different learners successfully. Induction is carried out to help them perform effectively and make the first few years of their career less stressful. It is the step of teacher education where teachers are trained and assisted throughout the first few years at a specific school.
Stage 3: Continuous Teacher Development
The third stage of teacher training is continuous development, i.e., an in-service process for practicing teachers. Hence, this stage becomes vital among all. It is a process through which teachers evaluate their abilities, maintain them up to date, and further enhance them over a period of time.
Importance Of Teacher Education
Teacher education holds great importance and is essential for a robust smart school future. Here are some of the prominent reasons why it is considered so crucial for a professional career.
- Helps in learning new techniques: The millennial generation has thrived on technology that traditional school educators are unaware of. The teacher training helps them get their hands on the latest technology and assists them in creating an effective online learning environment.
- Improves skills and confidence: There are many skills required for a teacher to improve classroom sessions. By being a part of teacher education programs, they can figure out their weaknesses and learn new skills to improve in their area of expertise.
- Offers experience: Experience is one of the most important aspects of teacher training. By getting the opportunity to teach in a real classroom, one can hone their skills easily. It helps figure out management techniques, lesson timings, planning, and more.
- Improves network with other professionals: Creating professional relationships comes in great help while applying for jobs. In teacher training programs, they can meet various professionals from the same industry, which increases the chances of creating new networks and better relationships.
Summing It Up
Here we come to an end. Teacher education is a crucial process and plays a major role in the life of a teacher. It begins at the initial stage of the career and continues throughout the professional life with frequent and sustained periods of in-service training. As it carries so much importance, it becomes necessary to maintain the viewpoint that a teacher must remain a student throughout the course of their career and keep on expanding their knowledge.