international productive practices in...

International Productive Practices in

Education

Productive Practice Report: Pre-Service and

In-Service Teacher Education and Professional

Development Programmes

Mayumi Terano, David Scott, Chris Husbands,

Marie Lall, Geeta Kingdon and Raphael Wilkins

International Best Practice Exchange Leading to Innovation in Sarva

Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) Project | Research Report

Research Report prepared by the Institute of Education, University of London

Project coordinated by Save the Children

Funded by The European Union

The contents of this publication are the sole responsibility of the authors at the Institute of

Education, University of London, and the project partner, Save the Children, and can in no way be

taken to reflect the views of the European Union.

Productive Practices (1) and (2) – Teacher Education 2012

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Contents

INTRODUCTION ................................................................................................................................................ 3

CHAPTER ONE: PRODUCTIVE PRACTICE (1): A PRE-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION AND

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME ..................................................................................... 5

1.1. A PRE-SERVICE TRAINING PROGRAMME ............................................................................................... 5

1.2. LEARNING OUTCOMES OR CURRICULUM STANDARDS ........................................................................... 9

1.3. TEACHING AND LEARNING APPROACHES ............................................................................................. 17

1.4. THE TEN MODULES.............................................................................................................................. 23

CHAPTER TWO: PRODUCTIVE PRACTICE (2): AN IN-SERVICE TEACHER EDUCATION AND

PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME ................................................................................... 43

2.1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 43

2.2. TEACHER DEVELOPMENT AND REFLECTION ........................................................................................ 45

2.3. ACTION RESEARCH .............................................................................................................................. 48

2.4. TEACHER LEARNING COMMUNITIES AND COLLABORATIVE ENQUIRY ................................................. 50

2.5. EXTERNALLY-SITED MODULES ........................................................................................................... 51

CHAPTER THREE: IMPLEMENTATION ................................................................................................... 53

3.1. THE NEW PROGRAMME STRUCTURE .................................................................................................... 53

3.2. IMPLEMENTATION SITES ...................................................................................................................... 55

3.3. IMPLEMENTATION PRACTICES ............................................................................................................. 56

3.4. INSTITUTIONALISATION AND SUSTAINABILITY PROCESSES .................................................................. 58

APPENDIX: PRE-SERVICE AND IN-SERVICE TEACHER TRAINING – CURRICULUM ANALYSIS

.............................................................................................................................................................................. 60

4.1. INTRODUCTION .................................................................................................................................... 60

4.2. ISSUES AND THEMES ............................................................................................................................ 62

4.3. CONCLUSIONS ...................................................................................................................................... 81


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Introduction

We recognise that there are real challenges facing teacher education in India and that re-

writing and re-working teacher training curricula is only one step in a difficult reform

process. For example, we refer at the end of this report to another challenge facing teacher

training, that of up-skilling or capacity-building, and this clearly requires more than a

reworking of the curriculum document to which the teacher trainer works. Any teacher-

trainer will always find it difficult to cope with all the pressures that are placed on them in the

delivery of a programme, and further to this, a curriculum is only a framework and as a

consequence complex choices have to be made by the teacher trainer during delivery. There

is much to praise in the coherence of the vision displayed in the curricula we examined, as

there is in the National Curriculum Framework for Teaching Education (National Council for

Teacher Education, New Delhi, 2009/2010) and other important government documents.

However, we have concentrated here on those elements of teacher training (both pre-service

and in-service) which we feel are either neglected or marginalised in the published

curriculum syllabi currently being used; whilst at the same time being fully aware of many of

the strengths of current programmes. We have set out in the first two chapters ideal models of

a pre-service and professional development programme and an in-service and professional

development programme. We have not commented in detail on the way these models can be

used to improve teacher training in India; in other words, this report deals with underlying

principles and not the process of implementation, i.e. matters such as teacher training

recruitment, teacher training induction, weighting of different elements in a syllabus,

different types of degrees which offer in full or in part teacher training elements, in-service

programme structures, or incentives for teachers to undergo further training. These are issues

which should be determined at the local level, though we argue strongly that all these issues,

and others that we have not identified but that are still relevant to teacher training, need to

conform to the sets of principles and precepts that we identify in this report.

And, further, that some of the problems that other people have identified with teacher training

in India (i.e. the over-use of didactic methods and approaches; the disjuncture between

learning outcomes and the methods used to achieve them; the inability of the system to cope

with demand; the failure of much in-service training to up-skill teachers; and more

importantly, the inability to implement and embed reforms in the system) can in part (though

not fully) be solved by following a set of principles and precepts that we set out in the pages

below. Chapter three then, in response to this, sets out an implementation strategy in the form

of a series of questions which reformers and implementers need to answer if the reform is

going to be safely embedded in the system.

The report concludes with an examination in Appendix One of current pre-service and in-

service programmes in India and of a series of ideal models of both programmes developed at

the national level. As a result of our analysis of these programmes, we suggest the following:

1. A pre-service or in-service training programme should have the following content

elements: subject knowledge, educational foundations, educational infrastructure,

dispositional learning, classroom management, teaching and learning approaches,

planning classroom activities, classroom task management, reading and creating

educational texts, and professional development processes; though how these are ordered


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and arranged should be determined at the local level and in relation to the means and

capacities for implementation.

2. A second concern we have with many of the syllabuses is the tendency to conflate

knowledge, skills and dispositions, and to omit references to teaching and learning

approaches which are appropriate for these three different elements. We therefore suggest

that there is a need to specify that a knowledge element should be taught and learnt in a

different way from a skill, and it also follows that dispositional learning is very different

from the learning of a skill or piece of knowledge. If this is not taken into account, the

teacher-trainer is unlikely to teach the knowledge set, skill or disposition in the most

effective way. (Dispositional learning refers to relatively stable habits of mind and body,

sensitivities to occasion (i.e. classroom activities) and participation repertoires (i.e. going

on in practice of teaching).)

3. The syllabuses confused formative and summative forms of assessment or at least did not

specify how the two work in different ways, and how each is important in any pre-service

or in-service curriculum. By confusing the two or ignoring the issue they impoverish the

many acts of learning that take place on a programme. Choosing the right people to be

teachers and accrediting or licensing those who subsequently become teachers are

important issues. However, any curriculum (either at pre-service or in-service levels)

needs to focus on learning, and in this case learning how to be a teacher (pre-service) and

learning how to improve their practice (in-service). Some of the syllabuses gave

prominence to forms of assessment (i.e. examinations) which are not suitable for

assessing many of the knowledge constructs, skills and dispositions associated with

teacher training (both pre-service and in-service).

4. The syllabuses we examined, in our view, did not focus sufficiently on learning processes

and certainly none of them argued for a fit between learning outcomes or curriculum

standards and learning approaches. What this means is that inappropriate teaching and

learning approaches are likely to be used, with the consequence that training programmes

(both pre-service and in-service) become poor vehicles for delivering learning outcomes.

5. It has been suggested that there is an over-emphasis on educational theory and a lack of

relevance of much of this theory to the practice of teaching. Theory-to-practice activities

are generally more prominent at pre-service levels and practice-to-theory-to-practice

activities are more prominent at in-service levels. There is a need therefore in pre-service

and in-service syllabuses for these relations to be made more explicit.

A syllabus cannot reflect what is taught and how it is taught on a programme of study in any

precise sense. Changes and amendments to the syllabus and to what was originally intended

by those who write these syllabuses are inevitable as teacher trainers (at both pre-service and

in-service levels) adapt the available material to suit their purposes and to fit their current

capacities as they deliver these programmes. Secondly, missing elements and weaknesses in

the syllabuses require teachers to fill these gaps and correct these weaknesses, in the context

of their own teaching practice and in terms of any implementation constraints they encounter.

In order, therefore, to fully understand teacher training practices, there needs to be a thorough

empirical examination of the teacher training practice itself.


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Chapter One: Productive Practice (1): A Pre-Service Teacher

Education and Professional Development Programme

1.1. A Pre-Service Training Programme

This programme has the following general learning outcomes (sometimes expressed as

curriculum standards) for the trainee-teacher. Each student teacher should:

Master a body of knowledge (which includes cognitions, skills and

dispositions), that constitutes the content knowledge domain in teaching.

Understand how this body of knowledge (which includes cognitions, skills

and dispositions) can be translated into pedagogic knowledge, and develop

the capacity to translate the one into the other.

Develop understandings of the contents of the four foundational bodies of

knowledge, i.e. psychology of education, sociology of education, history of

education, and philosophy of education; and their applications in schools.

Acquire knowledge of systemic and institutional educational structures in

India.

Develop the capacity to undertake action research projects and to take part

in teacher learning communities.

Develop classroom teaching dispositions related to performance, behaviour,

communication, and relations with students.

Develop the capacity to apply knowledge, skills and dispositions in

educational settings.

Understand the ethical dimensions of common situations faced by teachers

in school settings, develop and put into operation an appropriate plan of

action in the workplace in response to an ethical dilemma, and develop the

capacity to behave in ethically appropriate ways in different circumstances.

Develop the capacity to appropriate and apply professional standards in real-

life educational settings.

Develop the capacity for independent and workplace learning over the life-

span of a professional career.

Understand the different models of classroom management, with particular

reference to the maintenance of discipline and maintaining a positive

learning environment, and how they are applicable in different contexts.

Develop a capacity to use appropriate classroom management strategies,

with particular reference to discipline-maintenance and maintaining a

positive learning environment, in the school classroom.

Understand the general principles of learning, and in particular, how all

learning is context-specific and related to developmental stage; develop

strategies for applying each of the theories of learning in the classroom;

develop the capacity to apply the various teaching and learning strategies in

the classroom; and develop those dispositions which are required for

implementation of these teaching strategies.


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Develop the capacities for, and dispositions relating to, planning and

anticipation.

Develop the capacity to read and construct educational texts, such as

national, state or district curricula, syllabi, textbooks, policy and media

documents, where those capacities refer to critical thinking, educational

literacy, re-conceptualisation, and textual application

Use the spoken and written language clearly, fluently and appropriately to

interact in different educational contexts; and recognise and appreciate the

country’s linguistic diversity.

Use arguments and reasoning when analysing situations, identifying

problems, formulating questions, expressing judgements and providing

solutions to problems.

Select, analyse, evaluate and share information from different sources, and

use the technical resources available for in-depth study and continuous

extension of their knowledge.

Be familiar with the human rights and values that favour democratic life,

putting them into practice when analysing situations and making decisions

responsibly and in accordance with the law.

Recognise and value different cultural practices and processes, and

contribute to respectful coexistence with regards to social, ethnic, cultural

and linguistic diversity.

Develop knowledge of self; the capacity to project the self in present and

future educational settings; and the capacity to regulate the self.

Rationale

The learning outcomes, expressed in general terms above and in more specific terms below,

take the form of sets of knowledge, skills and dispositions which it is intended that students

should have acquired during the programme of study, although it is important to stress that

the programme of study extends beyond its formal boundaries, and needs to be understood as

an integral part of a continuous professional development process which lasts throughout the

work-span of the individual teacher. These sets of knowledge, skills and dispositions are

organised as ten themes or modules (see Figure One), each of which is sufficiently different

to qualify as a learning module in its own right.

Figure 1: Pre-Service Teacher Education Modules

1. Content Knowledge

2. Educational Foundations

3. Educational Infrastructure

4. Dispositional Learning

5. Classroom Management

6. Pedagogy and Learning Approaches

7. Planning Classroom Activities

8. Classroom Task Management

9. Reading and Creating Educational Texts

10. Professional Development Processes


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There are two principles which structure the choice and order of content within this

curriculum: a spiral element or a re-visiting of concepts, skills or dispositions at a higher

level of intensity and at a later point in the programme of study, and theory-transfer from

theory to practice and from sites of learning to sites of application. The first of these is the

need to incorporate a spiral element into the curriculum: ‘a metaphoric spiral in which at

some simple level a set of ideas or operations were introduced in a rather intuitive way and,

once mastered in that spirit, were then revisited and reconstructed in a more formal or

operational way, then being connected with other knowledge, the mastery at this stage then

being carried one step higher to a new level of formal or operational rigour and to a broader

level of abstraction and comprehensiveness.’ (Bruner, 1970, pp. 3-4).

And the second refers to the relationships between experience, theory or concept-

development (in the three different domains of knowledge, skill and disposition), developing

strategies for the application of this theory or set of concepts (including the development of

knowledge, skill and dispositional application capacities), applying these learning and

practice skills, strategies and plans for action in real-life educational settings, and evaluating

these practices with the purpose of changing them (including the development and use of

knowledge, skill and dispositional deployment capacities). The effect is to move the student

teacher into the centre of the practice and away from the periphery.

In short, content knowledge, skills and dispositions, foundational and infrastructural

knowledge and dispositional learning precede classroom management, pedagogy and learning

approaches, planning classroom activities and classroom task management, which in turn

precedes reading and creating educational texts and professional development processes.

However, some elements from these modules are best learnt at later stages and phases of the

programme.

The learning outcomes do not specify how the knowledge, skills, and dispositions should be

taught. As a consequence the teacher-trainer needs to reconceptualise each learning outcome

into a programme of learning or action learning set. Pedagogic approaches and strategies

range from didactic to imitative to reflective and meta-reflective action learning sets. To

specify a pedagogic approach there is a need to:

Specify the circumstances in which it can be used in the specific learning environment;

Specify the resources and technologies needed to allow that learning to take place;

Specify the type of relationship between teacher and student, and student and student, to

effect that learning;

Specify a theory of learning – how can that construct (i.e. knowledge set, skill or

disposition/inclination) be assimilated; and

Develop a theory of transfer held by the teacher – that is, how can the learning which has

taken place in a particular set of circumstances (i.e. a classroom, with a set of learners, in

a particular way, with a particular theory of learning underpinning it, and so forth)

transfer to other environments in other places and times.

Learning outcomes need to be distinguished from assessment standards. It is therefore

important that the outcome is not compromised in any way by whether it can or cannot be

used as a testable construct. An assessment standard specifies those knowledge-sets, skills or

dispositions which a student is required to have, and which are expressed in such a way that

they can be tested in a controlled environment, such as an examination. The principal


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problem with assessment standards is that testing a person’s knowledge, skills and aptitudes

is likely to have washback effects on the original knowledge or skill set. Instead of the

assessment acting merely as a descriptive device, it also acts in a variety of ways to transform

the curriculum it is seeking to measure. Washback effects work on a range of objects and in

different ways. So, for example, there are washback effects on the curriculum, on teaching

and learning, on the capacity of the individual and more fundamentally on the structures of

knowledge, though these four mechanisms are frequently conflated in the minds of

educational stakeholders. Micro washback effects work directly on the person, whereas

macro washback effects work directly on institutions and systems, which then subsequently

have an impact on individuals within those institutions and systems. Finally, a student may

have to reframe their knowledge or skill set to fit the test, and therefore the assessment of

their mastery of this knowledge or skill is not a determination of their competence, but a

determination of whether they have successfully understood how to rework their capacity to

fit the demands of the examination technology. As a result teaching to the test occurs and the

curriculum is narrowed to accommodate those learning outcomes which can more easily be

assessed.

The reason for separating out learning outcomes from assessment standards is now clear. If

assessment standards are the same as learning outcomes, then this is likely to have a

detrimental and reductionist effect on the curriculum and more importantly on the type and

content of learning that takes place. However, there are different needs within a system of

education, and one of those needs is that at certain points in time national, state and district

educational bodies need to have information about how well the system is doing. This is a

very different process from improving learning with an individual student teacher. However,

there must be some connecting link between actual learning and reporting, so that the latter

doesn’t distort the former, and this is the role of learning outcomes.

This doesn’t mean that assessment is not an essential part of any teaching and learning

programme. Assessment for Learning can be presented as five key strategies and one

cohering idea. The five key strategies are:

1. Engineering effective classroom discussions, questions, and learning tasks;

2. Clarifying and sharing learning intentions and criteria for success;

3. Providing feedback that moves learners forward;

4. Activating students as the owners of their own learning; and

5. Activating students as instructional resources for one another;

and the cohering idea is that evidence about student learning is used to adapt instruction to

better meet learning needs; in other words, that teaching is adaptive to the student’s learning

needs (cf. Black and Wiliam, 2009). This ties closely together assessment and learning.

Learning and assessment practices on the teacher-training programme can be regarded as

formative if: there is evidence of the student's achievement; that evidence is elicited,

interpreted, and used by the teacher-trainer, the individual student and their fellow students,

and such evidence is used by the teacher-trainer with the specific intention of deciding on the

subsequent steps in the teaching-and-learning process (i.e. 'instruction' with the intention of

further developing learning). The interaction between the teacher-trainer and their student(s)

is formative when it influences the learner's cognition: the teacher-trainer’s external stimulus

and feedback triggers an internal production by the individual student (cf. Black and Wiliam,

2009).


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This pre-service teacher-training programme then makes a clear distinction between

summative and formative assessment. Learning outcomes can be used in a number of

different ways, with different consequences. They can be used to determine whether and in

what way the individual is meeting them, as well as providing information about how the

individual can perform better in the future. (This requires a learning outcome having attached

to it a pedagogic approach or strategy.) Or they can be used to summarise levels of

achievement at group, institution or national levels. (This requires a learning outcome or

curriculum standard to be translated into an assessment standard.) In summary, they can be

used summatively or formatively. If these two functions are combined, then the curriculum is

liable to be distorted.

In order to raise standards of achievement (i.e. increased levels of knowledge, enhanced skill

levels and dispositional improvements), the following need to be taken into consideration: i) a

minimisation of washback effects; ii) an emphasis on curriculum, rather than assessment,

driven reform; iii) the preservation of the curriculum as the principal driver of a teacher-

training programme rather than what can be most easily assessed; iv) a clear separation of the

evaluative and learning functions in any educational reform; v) a clear set of curriculum

specifications, expressed as learning outcomes or curriculum standards; and vi) the use of

assessment devices for determining individual and group levels of achievement which are

different from those assessment devices connected specifically to the learning process.

1.2. Learning Outcomes or Curriculum Standards

There are ten thematic areas or modules in this pre-service programme of teacher-training

(see Figure 2). However, this arrangement of content is no indication of the length of each

module, the order in which the modules are taken by students, the sites of learning for each

module, how these modules are embedded in programmes, or even the types of learning that

the module requires. These matters are addressed in chapter three. For each theme, learning

outcomes or curriculum standards for student teachers are provided.

Figure 2: Thematic Areas or Modules












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Learning Outcomes or Curriculum Standards

Gain mastery over a body of knowledge (which includes cognitions, skills and

dispositions), that constitutes the content knowledge domain in teaching;

Provide a rationale for this body of knowledge;

Understand the relations within the body of knowledge and with other bodies of

knowledge;

Provide a rationale for these intra- and inter-relations;

Develop understandings of the relations between knowledge, skills and

dispositions within the domain;

Understand how this body of knowledge (which includes cognitions, skills and

dispositions) can be translated into pedagogical knowledge;

Develop the capacity to translate this body of knowledge (which includes

cognitions, skills and dispositions) into pedagogical knowledge;

Understand the principles of assessment for learning (i.e. engineering effective

classroom discussions, questions, and learning tasks; clarifying and sharing

learning intentions and criteria for success; providing feedback that moves

learners forward; activating students as the owners of their own learning;

activating students as instructional resources for one another; and that evidence

about student learning is used to adapt instruction to better meet learning needs; in

other words, that teaching is adaptive to the student’s learning needs);

Understand how the learning of this body of knowledge can be assessed

summatively.



Develop understandings of the contents of the four foundational bodies of

knowledge, i.e. psychology of education, sociology of education, history of

education, and philosophy of education, and their applications in schools;

Develop understandings of the following: childhood; child and adolescent

development; learning theory; gender, class, race and (dis)ability in education; the

aims of education; knowledge and values; developing the self; language and

numeracy proficiency and communication; assessment and evaluation; equality

and inclusion; professionalism; and policy formation;

Understand how these learnings are applicable to teaching in classrooms;

Develop strategies for applying these learnings in the classroom;

Develop the capacities and dispositions for operationalising these strategies in the

classroom.


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3. Educational Infrastructure – Systems and Institutions


Develop understandings of systemic and institutional structures in India;

Develop understandings of the following: the primary education system, the

secondary education system, the tertiary education system, the higher education

system, the private education sector, home schooling, technical education, open

and distance learning, literacy, attainment, women’s education, rural education,

workforce quality, funding and infrastructure, curriculum issues, central

government policies and policy-making, the legislative framework, and district

and state policies and policy-making.

Develop cognitive, affective and strategic responses to these matters.



Understand the ethical dimensions of common situations faced by teachers in

school settings;

Develop and apply an appropriate plan of action in the workplace in response to

an ethical dilemma;

Develop the capacity to behave in ethically appropriate ways in different

circumstances;

Understand the characteristics of meta-learning and its general applications in a

variety of learning situations;

Develop knowledge of personal learning processes and preferences;

Develop the capacity to use meta-learning in a variety of learning settings;

Develop knowledge of self, and the capacity to project the self in a variety of

educational settings, present and future;

Develop the capacity to regulate the self;

Understand how materials are organised in a library or electronic database;

Understand the functions and characteristics of the regulations for and practices of

the use of libraries and the internet;

Understand the importance of information conservation and develop the skills to

retrieve information;

Apply these research skills to solve problems in real-life educational settings;

Develop the skills associated with inter-personal relationships, managing

workplace relations, problem-solving in educational settings, leadership and

working in teams;

Develop the capacity to apply the skills associated with inter-personal

relationships, managing workplace relations, problem-solving in educational

settings, leadership and working in teams in real-life educational settings;


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Develop the capacity for independent and workplace learning over the life-span of

a professional career;

Understand the function, purpose and characteristics of action research processes

and teacher learning communities;

Develop the capacity to undertake action research projects and to take part in

teacher learning communities;


communication, and relations with students;

Develop the capacity to apply knowledge, skills and dispositions in specific

educational settings;

Develop the capacity to apply professional standards to real-life educational

settings.



Understand the different models of classroom management, with particular

reference to the maintenance of discipline and maintaining a positive learning

environment, and how they are applicable in different contexts;

Develop classroom teaching dispositions, relating to performance, behaviour,


Develop a capacity to use appropriate classroom management strategies, with

particular reference to discipline-maintenance and maintaining a positive learning

environment, in the school classroom;

Understand the characteristics and purposes of different communicative

approaches and how they can be used in the school classroom;

Develop strategies for the use of these different communicative approaches in the

school classroom;

Deploy these communicative approaches at appropriate moments and in

appropriate circumstances in the school classroom;

Identify the five types of classroom talk and understand how they can be

deployed;

Develop strategies for the use of these types of talk in the school classroom;

Deploy these types of talk at appropriate moments and in appropriate

circumstances in the school classroom;

Understand how the different types of teacher-student groupings can be used in

the school classroom, and the value and purpose of each;

Develop strategies for the use of these teacher-student groupings in the school

classroom;

Deploy these teacher-student groupings, individually and in combination, at

appropriate moments in appropriate circumstances in the school classroom;


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Understand the characteristics and functions of task, process, self-regulating, and

personal evaluation and affect forms of feedback and how they can operate in the

school classroom;

Develop strategies for the use of task, process, self-regulating, and personal

evaluation and affect forms of feedback in the school classroom;

Deploy these feedback strategies at appropriate moments and in appropriate


Understand the characteristics and function of student classroom technologies (i.e.

word-processing, use of the internet, creating spreadsheets and databases, using

email and other communicative devices, using presentation devices, digital camera

work, digital video work, creating web pages, video-conferencing, reading books,

using work sheets, and creating displays), and how they can be used in the school

classroom;

Develop strategies for the use of these student classroom technologies in the

school classroom;

Deploy these student classroom technologies at appropriate moments and in

appropriate circumstances in the school classroom;

Understand the characteristics and functions of teacher classroom technologies

(i.e. digital games, simulations, social networking, inscription, preparation,

communication devices, displays as aids to instruction, classroom management

devices, and storage devices), and how they can be used in the school classroom;

Develop strategies for the use of these teacher classroom technologies in the

school classroom;

Deploy these teacher classroom technologies at appropriate moments and in

appropriate circumstances in the school classroom.



Understand the general principles of learning, and in particular, how all learning is

context-specific and related to developmental stage;

Develop strategies for applying each of the theories of learning in the classroom;

Develop the capacity to apply the various teaching and learning approaches in the

classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for implementation of these

teaching strategies;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of observation as a form of

learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using observational learning approaches;

Develop the capacity to facilitate observational learning approaches in the

classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for observational learning to take

place;


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Understand the characteristics, structure and function of coaching as a form of

learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using coaching approaches;

Develop the capacity to facilitate coaching in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for coaching to take place in the

classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of mentoring as an aid to

learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using mentoring approaches to learning;

Develop the capacity to facilitate mentoring approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for mentoring to take place in the

classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of peer learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using peer learning approaches;

Develop the capacity to facilitate peer learning approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for peer learning to take place in

the classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of simulation as a form of

learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using simulation approaches to facilitate

learning;

Develop the capacity to facilitate simulation approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for simulation learning to take

place;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of instructional approaches

to learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using instruction in the classroom;

Develop the capacity to facilitate instructional approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for instruction to take place in the

classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of conceptualisation as a

form of learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using conceptualisation as a form of learning;

Develop the capacity to facilitate conceptualisation as a form of learning in the

classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for conceptualisation as a form of

learning to take place in the classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of reflection as a form of

learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using reflective learning approaches;

Develop the capacity to facilitate reflective learning approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for reflective learning to take place

in the classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of meta-cognition as a form

of learning;

Develop classroom strategies for developing meta-cognitive learning approaches;


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Develop the capacity to facilitate meta-cognitive learning approaches in the

classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for meta-cognitive learning to take

place in the classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of problem-solving as a

form of learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using problem-solving learning approaches;

Develop the capacity to facilitate problem-solving learning approaches in the

classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for problem-solving learning to

take place in the classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of practice as a form of

learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using practice as a form of learning;

Develop the capacity to facilitate practice learning approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for practice approaches to learning

to take place in the classroom;

Develop the capacity to implement learning strategies in the classroom.

7. Planning Learning Activities


Plan a lesson or series of lessons;

Develop strategies for the use of these plans in the school classroom;

Specify in the planning process how learning can take place in relation to the

particular learning environment;

Specify in the planning process the resources and technologies needed to allow

that learning to take place;

Specify in the planning process the type of relationship between a teacher and a

student (in a formal setting where the intention is that learning relating to a

learning outcome(s) should take place), or between a student and another student,

to effect that learning;

Specify in the planning process a theory of acquisition (of a knowledge construct,

skill or disposition); in short, how that knowledge set, skill or

disposition/inclination can be assimilated;

Specify in the planning process a theory of transfer held by the teacher – that is,

how can the learning which has taken place in a particular set of circumstances

(i.e. a classroom, with a set of learners, in a particular way, with a particular

theory of learning underpinning it, and so forth) transfer to other environments in

other places and times;

Determine in the planning the learning theory’s capacity to transfer to other

learning environments, including those characterised by different ages, sectors,

geographies, cultures, national systems, and histories.

Execute the plan in a school classroom;


16

Evaluate its success or otherwise;

Use what has been learnt in the next round of planning;

Develop the dispositions of planning and anticipation.



Understand the characteristics and functions of different types of tasks that can be

used in classrooms (e.g. gaming, research activity, debating, group work, team-

building, conceptualisation, reading, writing, dispositional learning, listening,

artefact construction, skill acquisition, problem-solving, simulation, practice, and

observation);

Develop the capacity to structure tasks, i.e. chunking, segregating, sequencing, or

otherwise structuring a task into or from its various components;

Understand how classroom tasks can be broken down into a series of action steps,

and determine a strategy for their use;

Translate these task activities into pedagogic activities that work in specific types

of classrooms by determining a series of action steps;

Experiment with these different types of tasks in real-life classrooms;

Evaluate the process and effects of such tasks as they are enacted in school

classrooms;

Adjust the various action steps involved in using these tasks to refine their

delivery;

Experiment in the classroom by using the new set of action steps.



Understand the form and function of different types of educational texts, i.e.

research reports, written media reports, audio and visual media reports, internet

content, policy documents, and classroom texts, including textbooks, and artifacts;

Understand how these educational texts impact on the classroom and the school;

Develop the capacity to read these texts by adopting a critical reading approach;

Develop the capacity to construct these different types of educational texts;

Develop the dispositional capacity to read and construct these educational texts,

where those dispositions refer to critical thinking, educational literacy, re-

conceptualisation, and textual application;

Develop the capacity to critically read, evaluate, re-write and re-evaluate a

national, state or district school curriculum.


17



Understand the characteristics and functions of action research processes, and in

particular, their cyclical nature;

Understand how action research can be used as part of a professional development

programme in school;

Undertake an action research programme in school;

Develop the capacity to act in an action research capacity;

Understand the ethical dimensions of action research, and integrate them into

action research programmes;

Understand the characteristics and functions of teacher learning communities;

Understand how teacher learning communities can be used as part of a

professional development programme which extends across the career of the

individual teacher;

Act effectively in a teacher learning community in school;

Develop the capacity to maintain and sustain a contribution to a teacher learning

community;

Understand the characteristics and purposes of professional standards;

Develop the capacity to apply professional standards to and in real-life educational

settings;

Understand the ethical dimensions of professional situations faced by teachers in

school settings;

Develop and apply an appropriate plan of action in the workplace in response to a

professional ethical dilemma;

Develop the capacity to behave in professional ethically appropriate ways in

different circumstances;

Care for and maintain high standards throughout a working career;

Understand the characteristics and purposes of career maintenance.

1.3. Teaching and Learning Approaches

Teaching and learning approaches used on teacher-training programmes range from

didacticism to imitation to reflection and meta-reflection. To develop a teaching and learning

approach or pedagogic standard for teacher-training there needs to be:

A specification of the circumstances in which it can be used in the specific learning

environment;

A specification of the resources and technologies needed to allow that learning to take

place;

A specification of the type of relationship between teacher-trainer and student-teacher, or

between student and student, to effect that learning;

A specification of a theory of learning - how can that construct (i.e. knowledge set, skill

or disposition/inclination) be assimilated;


18

The development of a theory of transfer; that is, how can the learning which has taken

place in a particular set of circumstances (i.e. a classroom in a university or training

institute, with a set of learners, in a particular way, with a particular theory of learning

underpinning it, and so forth) transfer to other environments in other places and times, i.e.

schools.

A general model of teaching and learning is characterised as a scaffolding process.

Scaffolding essentially means an aid which is developed and offered to the learner by a more

experienced person in support of the learning process with a focus on learning objectives (i.e.

learning outcomes or curriculum standards). It has a number of characteristics: it is a

temporary support; it is offered to the learner in relation to specific tasks that they are asked

to perform, those tasks being derived from the learning outcomes; the learner is unlikely to

complete the task without it; and the scaffold is provided to the student teacher by the

teacher-trainer in their capacity as 'expert' in relation to the satisfactory completion of the task

(cf. Van der Pol, et al. 2010).

Scaffolding involves the following processes (Tharp and Gallimore, 1991): modelling, i.e.

offering behaviour for imitation; feedback, i.e. providing information on a performance as it

compares to a standard; instructing, i.e. requesting specific actions; questioning, i.e.

requesting a verbal response that helps by producing a mental operation that the learner

cannot or would not produce alone; cognitive structuring, i.e. providing explanations, and

task structuring, i.e. chunking, segregating, sequencing, or otherwise structuring a task into or

from components. While almost any learning aid can be a scaffold, scaffolding in teaching

takes place only when the teacher-trainer provides specific help that meets the following

criteria: contingency, i.e. the teacher-trainer’s support is attuned to the student teacher’s

current state of understanding; the student teacher accomplishes the task with the teacher-

trainer’s situated help, and the student teacher performs the task independently; fading, i.e.

the level and amount of support is gradually withdrawn from the student-teacher; and transfer

of responsibility, i.e. the student-teacher takes increasing control of their own learning in the

performance of a task.

The efficacy of scaffolding is influenced by the teacher-trainer’s thoughtful combination of

techniques and tasks, and the extent to which the teacher-trainer provides their students with

multiple chances to engage with the relevant concepts and ‘high-order’ thinking processes.

Teacher-trainers need to appreciate the different levels of scaffolding (i.e. intense, moderate,

and minimum) and become skilled in applying them accordingly, providing more support

when a particular student struggles with a specific task and reducing help as they collect

evidence that the student is now proficient in that task (Leat and Nichols, 1997). Technology-

based scaffolds are regarded as valuable to support procedural tasks and to offer suitable cues

for meta-cognitive processing. They also help by freeing up some of the teacher-trainer’s

attention in the training institute classroom, allowing them to give more attention to their

students’ reasoning. This allows a greater degree of personalisation in the learning process.

Here is a range of teaching and learning mechanisms or action sets:


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Forms of Learning

1. Observation

2. Coaching

3. Goal-Orientated Learning and Anticipation

4. Mentoring

5. Peer Learning

6. Simulation

7. Instruction

8. Concept Formation

9. Reflection

10. Meta-Cognition

11. Problem-Solving

12. Practice

1. Observation

Here the teacher performs the action which the learner is required to imitate in the classroom,

and then later in the context of application. Three types are noted: a live model involving a

demonstration or acting out of the behaviours to be learnt; a verbal instructional model where

this comprises descriptions and explanations of behaviours; and a symbolic model, i.e.

scenario learning, plays, etc. These are stimuli for learning. The skills required of the student

are: observing a performance by the teacher, whether live modelling, verbal instruction or

symbolic modelling; comparing the performance with an embodied form of that display

already held by the learner; adjusting their current construct through modification or

substitution; practice by the student whilst being supported within the artificial environment;

practice by the student without support within the artificial environment; transferring the

skill to the real environment whilst being supported; and consolidation without support

through use in the real environment (cf. Bandura, 1977).

2. Coaching

Here the focus is on a series of steps: modelling by the expert; coaching whilst the learner

practices; scaffolding where the learner is supported during the initial stages with that support

gradually being withdrawn as the learner becomes more proficient (coaching here involves

the teacher in identifying for the learner deviations from the model in the performance of the

learner, and then supporting the learner as they make attempts to correct this performance);

articulation by the learner of that process; reflection on those processes and comparison with

the expert’s reasons for action; and exploration where the learner undertakes the various

activities without support.


Goal clarity is a component of effective learning. To that end, teachers need to provide

learners with explicit statements and explanations about the instructional objectives in a

lesson or series of lessons. Goal clarity has three learner-focused aspects: explanations about


20

how they are expected to perform the tasks assigned to them; opportunities for them to grasp

what is expected of them; and reflections about their capacity as self-directed learners in the

completion of the task.

Goal-oriented teaching requires that the teacher undertakes specific actions to ensure goal

clarity and a focus on task completion at three stages of the learning process: at the

beginning, setting learning goals and providing learners with a model of the meta-cognitive

strategies to start the task; in the middle or during the lesson, monitoring and assessing their

goal progress; motivating learners to look for explanations by means of exploration; and

supporting them when they struggle, e.g. by suggesting relevant learning strategies and

giving them personalised feedback such as how to adjust those strategies; and at the

conclusion, providing learners with an overall assessment of their goal progress, motivating

them to extend their efforts, to persist and to keep adjusting their strategies, and developing

new goals as they fulfil the old ones.

4. Mentoring

This supports the informal transmission of knowledge, social capital or psychosocial

resources. It is usually conducted face-to-face and involves a relationship between two

people, one of whom is considered to have greater knowledge, wisdom or experience. Five

possible mentoring techniques have been identified: supporting the student and even taking

part in the same activity and learning side-by-side with the learner; preparing the student for

the future even if they are not ready or able to learn what is being offered to them in the

present; catalyzing learning, provoking a different way of thinking, a change in identity or a

re-ordering of values; showing through personal example; and finally, helping and supporting

the learner in reflecting back on their previous learning (cf. Aubrey and Cohen, 1995).

5. Peer Learning

This is defined as learning from and with the learner’s peers. The other forms of learning

comprise unequal relations between the teacher and the learner. Here the assumption is made

that the learning relationship is between equals, and thus a different form of learning is

implied. Examples of this type of learning include: affective support – being offered

emotional support if learning proves to be difficult and this is always a better form of support

if given by someone who is going through the same learning process; dyadic performance

confrontations – learning is provoked by confrontational exchanges between students so that

each student can test their theories, ideas and constructs against those held by learners

engaging in the same form of learning; pair-problem-solving – here learning is enabled

through cooperation between two learners of roughly equal standing, so that in a problem-

solving exercise, better solutions are forthcoming because there are two problem-solvers

rather than one; reciprocal peer tutoring – non-expert tutoring between equals has the

advantage of each person being able to make their own evaluation of the advice being offered

unencumbered by status or hierarchy; and scripted cooperative dyads – here peer engagement

is focused on the joint production of a script, artefact, performance or text with the result that

alternative and new interpretations/readings are forthcoming.

6. Simulation

A simulation is a reproduction of an event or activity, conducted outside the environment in

which that event or activity usually takes place. Simulations can be produced through


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computer games, role-plays, scenarios, presentations and affective and conceptual modelling.

The purpose of this learning process is to simulate a real event, and this is to allow the person

or persons taking part in that simulation to explore it, to experiment within it, to understand

the process, to begin the process of internalization, to experience albeit in a limited way the

emotions and feelings that would normally accompany the experience in real-life, and

fundamentally, to allow learning to take place through trial and error and making mistakes in

safe situations, which do not have the consequences they would have in real-life situations.

Simulations compress time and remove extraneous detail. They are immersive learning

experiences, where skills and performances can be enhanced in a way that is not possible

outside the simulation.

7. Instruction

Gagne (1995) suggests nine events relating to instruction:

The teacher needs to gain the attention of the group of learners. This can be done by

asking questions or addressing the purposes of the learning programme.

The teacher then informs the learners of the objectives of the learning exercise, i.e. what

is intended to be learnt.

The teacher needs to stimulate recall of prior learning amongst the group of learners, so

that the new information is related productively to previous and current learning.

Content is now presented to the students, and this has to be carefully structured or

scaffolded so that it can be accessed by the students.

While ‘almost’ any learning aid can be a scaffold, scaffolding in teaching takes place only

when the teacher provides specific help that meets the following criteria: (i) contingency,

i.e. the teacher’s support is attuned to the student teacher’s current state of understanding;

the student accomplishes the task with the teacher-trainer’s situated help, and the student

performs the task independently; (ii) fading, i.e. the level and amount of support is

gradually withdrawn from the student, and (iii) transfer of responsibility, i.e. the student-

teacher takes increasing control of their own learning in the performance of a task.

The next event is a performance relating to the institutional objectives and this needs to

be elicited from the student in an appropriate format.

Feedback needs to be provided which is a comment on the student’s performance and

allows corrective action to take place.

The new performance is then assessed in order to determine if the desired performance

has taken place.

Students then apply that knowledge in appropriate ways.


This process of learning focuses on the re-forming of conceptual schema that the learner has

about the world and in the particular case here, about those conceptual matters relating to

schools, classrooms and teaching-learning processes. Learning is complex and potentially

rich and rewarding, where the student is presented with a mass of information, ideas, schema,

opinions from a number of different sources (i.e. books, articles, lectures, seminars, emails,

eseminars, personal communications and so on). What the learner does is shape this mass of

information, and this shaping can take a number of different forms: partial shaping, complete

shaping, discarding with no replacement, confusion, on-going, going backwards and forwards

and so on. Shaping takes place against a scholarly background; aspects of which may or may


22

not be implicit and where some but not all of its aspects can be surfaced for deliberation. For

individuals mediating between their various multiple identities, conceptual learning is

irredeemably social, embedded, and selective. So the learner has to absorb some of the ideas

they are presented with and discard or partially discard others. Even if the student is prepared

to operate through a notion of multiple identities, they are still selecting, filtering, endorsing,

rejecting, enhancing and discarding.

9. Reflection

The Learning Cycle, developed by David Kolb, is based on the belief that deep learning

(learning for real comprehension) comes from a sequence of experience, reflection,

abstraction, and active testing.

Figure 3: The Reflective Cycle

Reflection is a form of evaluative thinking. It is applied to ideas for which there is no obvious

solution and is largely based on the further processing of knowledge and understanding and

possibly emotions that we already possess. It is thus a second-order internal activity, which

can in certain circumstances be transformed into a learning strategy. There are some optimum

conditions for reflection: time and space, a good facilitator, a supportive curricular or

institutional environment, and an emotionally supportive environment. A number of tasks

encourage reflection: ill-structured, ‘messy’ or real-life situations; asking the ‘right’ kinds of

questions because there are no clear-cut answers; setting challenges to promote reflection;

setting tasks that challenge learners to integrate new learning into previous learning; setting

tasks that demand the ordering of thoughts; and setting tasks that require evaluation.

10. Meta-Cognitive Learning

Meta-Cognitive Learning refers to learners' awareness of their own knowledge and their

ability to understand, control, and manipulate their own cognitive processes. However, most

meta-cognitive processes can be placed within three categories (cf. Harris and Graham,

1999). The first is meta-memorisation. This refers to the learners' awareness of their own

memory systems and their ability to deploy strategies for using their memories effectively.

The second is meta-comprehension. This refers to the learners' ability to monitor the degree

https://sites.google.com/site/reflection4learning/why-reflect/kolb-moon.jpg?attredirects=0


23

to which they understand information being communicated to them, to recognize failures to

comprehend, and to employ repair strategies. And the third is self-regulation. This term refers

to the learner’s ability to make adjustments in their own learning processes. The concept of

self-regulation overlaps with meta-memorisation and meta-comprehension; its focus is on the

capacity of the learners themselves to monitor their own learning (without external stimuli or

persuasion) and to act independently.

11. Problem-Solving

The learner finds out for themselves rather than being given answers to problems; this is a

problem-solving pedagogy. The learner is required to engage in a series of interrogative

processes with regards to texts, people and objects in the environment, and come up with

solutions to problems. The learner is also required to use the skills of: information retrieval,

information synthesis and analysis, and knowledge organization. The learner may come up

with inadequate, incorrect and faulty syntheses and analyses. However, this is acceptable

because the learning resides in the process rather than in the end-product. Problem-solving

learning involves the learner in judging their own work against a curriculum standard and

engaging in meta-processes of learning (i.e. an understanding about processes of one’s own

learning; the development of learning pathways; the utilisation of formative assessment

processes; the development of personal learning strategies; and the internalisation of the

curriculum).

12. Practice

Practice is the act of rehearsing a behaviour over and over again, or engaging in an activity

again and again. This reinforces, enhances and deepens the learning associated with the

behaviour or activity.

1.4. The Ten Modules

Three elements of each module are described here: learning outcomes, content knowledge,

and teaching and learning approaches. Implementation strategies, i.e. when, where and how

the modules should be implemented are discussed in Chapter Three.



and teaching and learning approaches. Implementation strategies for this module, i.e. when,

where and how it should be implemented are discussed in Chapter Three.


Achieve mastery of a body of knowledge (which includes cognitions, skills and

dispositions), that constitutes the content knowledge domain in teaching;

Provide a rationale for this body of knowledge;

Understand the relations within the body of knowledge and with other bodies of

knowledge;

Provide a rationale for these intra- and inter-relations;


24

Develop understandings of the relations between knowledge, skills and dispositions

within the domain;


dispositions) can be translated into pedagogical knowledge;

Develop the capacity to translate this body of knowledge (which includes cognitions,

skills and dispositions) into pedagogical knowledge;

Understand the principles of assessment for learning;

Understand how the learning of this body of knowledge can be assessed summatively.

Content Knowledge

This body of knowledge is determined by the structure of the curriculum (i.e. national,

state and district curricula, the degree to which there is discretion within these curricula,

and the extent to which institutional and classroom factors impact on the teaching of this

body of knowledge), and the student-teacher’s preferred teaching sector, subject and type

of school.

This also includes how that body of knowledge is structured in terms of: inter- and intra-

content boundaries and delineations; inter- and intra- boundaries/delineations between

skills and dispositions; relations between content knowledge and skills/dispositions,

including weighting of the different elements; types of content progression; types of

pedagogic progression; pedagogic levels, including differential weightings of subject

domain knowledge and skills/dispositions; relations between curriculum content and

formative and summative processes of assessment; and finally, provision of a rationale

for all these different forms of structure in relation to curriculum aims and purposes.

Content knowledge in this module also comprises a translation into pedagogical

knowledge. This involves: specifying the circumstances in which it can be used in the

specific learning environment; specifying the resources and technologies needed to allow

that learning to take place; specifying the type of relationship between teacher and

student, and student and student, and student and parent, to effect that learning; specifying

a theory of learning – how can that construct (i.e. knowledge set, skill or

disposition/inclination) be assimilated; and developing a theory of transfer held by the

teacher – that is, how can the learning which has taken place in a particular set of

circumstances (i.e. a classroom, with a set of learners, in a particular way, with a

particular theory of learning underpinning it, and so forth) transfer to other environments

in other places and times. This translation implies the development of dispositions and

capacities for its performance.

This pedagogical translation includes an understanding of the principles of assessment for

learning (i.e. engineering effective classroom discussions, questions, and learning tasks;

clarifying and sharing learning intentions and criteria for success; providing feedback

that moves learners forward; activating students as the owners of their own learning;

activating students as instructional resources for one another; and that evidence about

student learning is used to adapt instruction to better meet learning needs; in other words,

that teaching is adaptive to the student’s learning needs) (Black and Wiliam, 2009).

Finally, there is a need to understand how this body of knowledge in its pedagogical form

can be assessed summatively. This refers to issues of reliability, construct validity,

comparability, relationships with curriculum, and relationships with learning.


25

Teaching and Learning Approaches

Instruction

Goal-Orientation and Anticipation

Peer-Learning

Concept-Formation

Reflection

Meta-Cognitive Learning

Practice

For each learning episode, technologies (i.e. tasks/activities/texts/performances, etc.) at an

appropriate level of detail need to be developed which conform to these teaching and learning

approaches.






Develop understandings of the contents of the four foundational bodies of knowledge, i.e.

psychology of education, sociology of education, history of education, and philosophy of

education, and their applications in schools;

Develop understandings of the following: childhood; child and adolescent development;

learning theory; gender, class, race and (dis)ability in education; the aims of education;

knowledge and values; developing the self; language and numeracy proficiency and

communication; assessment and evaluation; equality and inclusion; professionalism; and

policy formation;

Understand how these learnings are applicable to teaching in classrooms;

Develop strategies for applying these learnings in the classroom;

Develop the capacities and dispositions for operationalizing these strategies in the

classroom.

Content Knowledge

The first of these foundational bodies of knowledge is educational psychology. Content

knowledge focuses on the following: the role of research in educational psychology;

theories of human, cognitive, personal and social, and moral development; development

during childhood and adolescence: student diversity, including socio-economic status,

ethnicity, race, multiculturalism, gender and intelligence; behavioural theories of

learning; cognitive theories of learning, including information processing, memory

development and meta-cognition; direct instruction and transference; student-centred and

constructivist approaches to instruction; problem-solving pedagogies; classroom grouping

and personalisation strategies; motivational strategies; effective learning environments;

inclusive education; and assessment and evaluation strategies.


26

The second foundational body of knowledge is the sociology of education. Content

knowledge focuses on the following: conflicting functions and processes in education:

education and the process of stratification; gender, race, and class: equality and

educational opportunity; the school as an organization; school statuses and roles; the

hidden curriculum; the educational system and the environment; school knowledge; and

comparing world educational systems.

The third foundational body of knowledge is the history of education. Content knowledge

focuses on the following: national educational legislation; state educational legislation;

district educational legislation; recent and current equalities and inclusion legislations at

national, state and district levels; and the history of national, state and district educational

systems and institutions.

The fourth foundational body of knowledge is the philosophy of education. Content

knowledge focuses on the following: epistemic aims of education; moral and political

aims of education; thinking, reasoning, and education; indoctrination and authenticity;

philosophy and developmental psychology; educating the practical imagination; the

cultivation of character; values education; curriculum and the value of knowledge;

education and democracy; art and education; science education; educational authority and

the interests of children; and the aims of education.

Content knowledge in this module also comprises a translation into pedagogical

knowledge. This involves: specifying the circumstances in which it can be used in the

specific learning environment; specifying the resources and technologies needed to allow

that learning to take place; specifying the type of relationship between teacher and

student, and student and student, to effect that learning; specifying a theory of learning –

how can that construct (i.e. knowledge set, skill or disposition/inclination) be assimilated;

and developing a theory of transfer held by the teacher – that is, how can the learning

which has taken place in a particular set of circumstances (i.e. a classroom, with a set of

learners, in a particular way, with a particular theory of learning underpinning it, and so

forth) transfer to other environments in other places and times. This translation implies

the development of dispositions and capacities for its performance.


Instruction

Peer-Learning

Concept-Formation

Reflection


Practice



approaches.

3. Educational Infrastructure – Systems and Institutions





27


Develop understandings of systemic and institutional structures in India;

Develop understandings of key issues relating to educational systems and institutions in

India;

Develop cognitive, affective and strategic responses to these matters.

Content Knowledge

This module focuses on educational systemic and institutional structures in India.

In particular, the focus is on: the primary education system, the secondary education

system, the tertiary education system, the higher education system, the private education

sector, home schooling, technical education, open and distance learning, literacy,

attainment, women’s education, rural education, workforce quality, funding and

infrastructure, curriculum issues, central government policies and policy-making, the

legislative framework, and district and state policies and policy-making.

However, in order to make use of this body of knowledge, certain skills and dispositions

need to be developed, such as reflective and critical cognitions relating to how these

structures work and how they could be restructured for better and more inclusive ends;

affective dispositions relating to the workings of these structures; and strategic responses

relating to the student-teacher’s professional practice, in the immediate future and over

the lifetime of their professional career.


Instruction

Peer-Learning

Concept-Formation

Reflection


Practice



approaches.






Understand the ethical dimensions of common situations faced by teachers in school

settings;

Develop and apply an appropriate plan of action in the workplace in response to an

ethical dilemma;


28

Develop the capacity to behave in ethically appropriate ways in different circumstances;

Understand the characteristics of meta-learning and its general applications in a variety of

learning situations;

Develop knowledge of personal learning processes and preferences;

Develop the capacity to use meta-learning in a variety of learning settings;

Develop knowledge of self, and the capacity to project the self in a variety of educational

settings, present and future;

Develop the capacity to regulate the self;

Understand how materials are organised in a library or electronic database;

Understand the functions and characteristics of the regulations for and practices of the use

of libraries and the internet;

Understand the importance of information conservation and develop the skills to retrieve

information;

Apply these research skills to solve problems in real-life educational settings;

Develop the skills associated with inter-personal relationships, managing workplace

relations, problem-solving in educational settings, leadership and working in teams;

Develop the capacity to apply the skills associated with inter-personal relationships,

managing workplace relations, problem-solving in educational settings, leadership and

working in teams in real-life educational settings;

Develop the capacity for independent and workplace learning over the life-span of a

professional career;

Understand the function, purpose and characteristics of action research processes and

teacher learning communities;

Develop the capacity to undertake action research projects and to take part in teacher

learning communities;

Develop classroom teaching dispositions relating to performance, behaviour,


Develop the capacity to apply knowledge, skills and dispositions in specific educational

settings;

Develop the capacity to apply professional standards to real-life educational settings.

Content Knowledge

The module will focus on dispositions which relate to professionalism, a commitment to

lifelong learning, reflection and critical thinking, ethics, meta-learning, research, and a

commitment to diversity; and their acquisition, nurturance and sustainability in the

practice.

The ethical dimension of this module focuses on: different types of ethics, self-

knowledge, autonomy and self-regulation; a capacity for dialogue, a capacity to transform

the environment; critical understanding; a capacity of empathy and social perspective;

social skills and moral reasoning.

The meta-learning element of this module focuses on: knowledge of persons – how they

learn and process information as well as knowledge on their own learning processes;

knowledge of application and context; knowledge of strategy (when, where and how it is

appropriate to use such strategies); connecting new information to existing personal

knowledge; selecting thinking strategies intentionally; planning, monitoring and

evaluating thinking strategies.

The research element of this module focuses on: understanding how materials are

organised in a library or electronic database, and the functions and characteristics of the


29

regulations for and practices of the use of libraries and the internet; understanding the

importance of information conservation and developing the skills to retrieve information;

and applying these research skills to solve problems in real-life educational settings.

The professional practice element of the module focuses on: classroom teaching

dispositions; implementation and application skills; practice dispositions, i.e. mutuality of

engagement; accountability to the enterprise; and negotiability of their repertoire;

sustenance and nurturance of professional elements in the practice, i.e. professional

standards, independent and workplace learning, and professional development learning

processes; institutional elements of the professional practice, i.e. inter-personal

relationships, managing workplace relations, problem-solving in educational settings,

leadership and working in teams.

Finally, there is a set of meta-learning elements involved in the learning of these skills

and dispositions, such as selecting the appropriate skill/disposition, activating a personal

commitment, developing strategies for its use, appraising the effects of its use in

classrooms and schools, and entering into transformative processes, both personal and

institutional.


Observation

Coaching

Peer-Learning

Simulation

Reflection


Practice



approaches.






Understand the different models of classroom management, with particular reference to

the maintenance of discipline and maintaining a positive learning environment, and how

they are applicable in different contexts;

Develop classroom teaching dispositions, relating to performance, behaviour,


Develop a capacity to use appropriate classroom management strategies, with particular

reference to discipline-maintenance and maintaining a positive learning environment, in

the school classroom;


30

Understand the characteristics and purposes of different communicative approaches and

how they can be used in the school classroom;

Develop strategies for the use of these different communicative approaches in the school

classroom;

Deploy these communicative approaches at appropriate moments and in appropriate


Identify the five types of classroom talk and understand how they can be deployed;

Develop strategies for the use of these types of talk in the school classroom;

Deploy these types of talk at appropriate moments and in appropriate circumstances in the

school classroom;

Understand how the different types of teacher-student groupings can be used in the school

classroom, and the value and purpose of each;

Develop strategies for the use of these teacher-student groupings in the school classroom;

Deploy these teacher-student groupings, individually and in combination, at appropriate

moments in appropriate circumstances in the school classroom;

Understand the characteristics and functions of task, process, self-regulating, and personal

evaluation and affect forms of feedback and how they can operate in the school

classroom;

Develop strategies for the use of task, process, self-regulating, and personal evaluation

and affect forms of feedback in the school classroom;

Deploy these feedback strategies at appropriate moments and in appropriate


Understand the characteristics and function of student classroom technologies (i.e. word-

processing, use of the internet, creating spreadsheets and databases, using email and other

communicative devices, using presentation devices, digital camera work, digital video

work, creating web pages, video-conferencing, reading books, using work sheets, and

creating displays), and how they can be used in the school classroom;

Develop strategies for the use of these student classroom technologies in the school

classroom;

Deploy these student classroom technologies at appropriate moments and in appropriate


Understand the characteristics and functions of teacher classroom technologies (i.e.

digital games, simulations, social networking, inscription, preparation, communication

devices, displays as aids to instruction, classroom management devices, and storage

devices), and how they can be used in the school classroom;

Develop strategies for the use of these teacher classroom technologies in the school

classroom;

Deploy these teacher classroom technologies at appropriate moments and in appropriate

circumstances in the school classroom.

Content Knowledge

This module addresses issues associated with classroom management.

The student-teacher is expected to understand, develop strategies about and deploy the

three principal models of classroom management: the assertive discipline model (Render

et al, 1989), the logical consequences model (Dreikurs and Grey, 1968), and the teacher

effectiveness training model (Gordon and Burch, 2003).

Central to this module is the development by the student-teacher of appropriate

communicative approaches, and in particular, an understanding and capacity to use the


31

four principal modes: interactive/dialogic, non-interactive/dialogic, interactive/

authoritative, and non-interactive/authoritative.

In like fashion, the student teacher needs to understand, develop strategies about and

deploy the different types of classroom talk: social talk, exploratory talk, presentational

talk, meta-talk, and critical talk.

The student-teacher also needs to understand, develop strategies about and deploy

different types of teacher-student interaction, i.e. one-to-one tutorials within the

classroom; one-to-one tutorials outside the classroom; paired work; small group work to

solve problems; whole-class discussion; individual or small-group presentational work to

the whole class; independent student work, and teacher talk to the whole class.

Feedback strategies and their deployment are a key to effective classroom management.

Four levels of feedback are suggested for teachers when monitoring individual student

progression: task-level, concerned with interpretation or misinterpretation of the task or

the outcome; process understanding, which focuses on the process required for the

student to understand and perform a specific task; self-regulating level, which refers to

self-monitoring, directing, and regulating a student's actions, with an emphasis on the

degree of student's confidence in the teacher’s feedback, and personal evaluation and

affect, which focuses on the student's personal evaluations and emotions, including

feedback features such as praise and judgement.

The student-teacher also needs to understand the potentiality of, develop strategies for the

use of and be able to deploy in the school classroom: student classroom technologies (i.e.

word-processing, use of the internet, creating spreadsheets and databases, using email and

other communicative devices, using presentation devices, digital camera work, digital

video work, creating web pages, video-conferencing, reading books, using work sheets,

and creating displays), and provide a rationale for their use in the school classroom.

The student-teacher also needs to understand the potentiality of, develop strategies for the

use of, and be able to deploy in the school classroom: teacher classroom technologies (i.e.

digital games, simulations, social networking, inscription, preparation, communication

devices, displays as aids to instruction, classroom management devices, and storage

devices), and provide a rationale for their use in the school classroom.


Observation

Coaching

Mentoring

Peer-Learning

Simulation

Instruction

Reflection


Problem-Solving

Practice



approaches.


32







context-specific and related to developmental stage;

Develop strategies for applying each of the theories of learning in the classroom;

Develop the capacity to apply the various teaching and learning approaches in the

classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for implementation of these teaching

strategies;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of observation as a form of

learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using observational learning approaches;

Develop the capacity to facilitate observational learning approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for observational learning to take place;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of coaching as a form of learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using coaching approaches;

Develop the capacity to facilitate coaching in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for coaching to take place in the

classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of mentoring as an aid to learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using mentoring approaches to learning;

Develop the capacity to facilitate mentoring approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for mentoring to take place in the

classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of peer learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using peer learning approaches;

Develop the capacity to facilitate peer learning approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for peer learning to take place in the

classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of simulation as a form of learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using simulation approaches to facilitate learning;

Develop the capacity to facilitate simulation approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for simulation learning to take place;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of instructional approaches to

learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using instruction in the classroom;

Develop the capacity to facilitate instructional approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for instruction to take place in the

classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of conceptualisation as a form of

learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using conceptualisation as a form of learning;


33

Develop the capacity to facilitate conceptualisation as a form of learning in the

classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for conceptualisation as a form of learning

to take place in the classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of reflection as a form of learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using reflective learning approaches;

Develop the capacity to facilitate reflective learning approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for reflective learning to take place in the

classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of meta-cognition as a form of

learning;

Develop classroom strategies for developing meta-cognitive learning approaches;

Develop the capacity to facilitate meta-cognitive learning approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for meta-cognitive learning to take place in

the classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of problem-solving as a form of

learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using problem-solving learning approaches;

Develop the capacity to facilitate problem-solving learning approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for problem-solving learning to take place

in the classroom;

Understand the characteristics, structure and function of practice as a form of learning;

Develop classroom strategies for using practice as a form of learning;

Develop the capacity to facilitate practice learning approaches in the classroom;

Develop those dispositions which are required for practice approaches to learning to take

place in the classroom;

Develop the capacity to implement learning strategies in the classroom.

Content Knowledge

This module focuses on different teaching and learning approaches or action-sets that can

be used in the classroom. Teaching and learning approaches range from didacticism to

imitation to reflection and meta-reflection. To specify a teaching and learning approach

there needs to be: a specification of the circumstances in which it can be used in the

specific learning environment; a specification of the resources and technologies needed to

allow that learning to take place; a specification of the type of relationship between

teacher-trainer and student-teacher, or between student and student, to effect that

learning; a specification of a theory of learning - how can that construct (i.e. knowledge

set, skill or disposition/inclination) be assimilated; the development of a theory of transfer

held by the teacher-trainer; that is, how can the learning which has taken place in a

particular set of circumstances (i.e. a classroom in a university or training institute, with a

set of learners, in a particular way, with a particular theory of learning underpinning it,

and so forth) transfer to other environments in other places and times, i.e. schools.

A general model of teaching and learning comprises a scaffolding process. Scaffolding

essentially means an aid which is developed and offered to the learner by a more

experienced person in support of the learning process with a focus on learning objectives

(i.e. learning outcomes or curriculum standards). It has a number of characteristics: it is a

temporary support; it is offered to the learner in relation to specific tasks that they are

asked to perform, those tasks being derived from the curriculum standards; the learner is


34

unlikely to complete the task without it; and the scaffold is provided to the student by the

teacher in their capacity as 'expert' in relation to the satisfactory completion of the task.

Scaffolding involves the following processes: modelling, i.e. offering behaviour for

imitation; feedback, i.e. providing information on a performance as it compares to a

standard; instructing, i.e. requesting specific actions; questioning, i.e. requesting a verbal

response that helps by producing a mental operation that the learner cannot or would not

produce alone; cognitive structuring, i.e. providing explanations, and task structuring, i.e.

chunking, segregating, sequencing, or otherwise structuring a task into or from

components. While almost any learning aid can be a scaffold, scaffolding in teaching

takes place only when the teacher provides specific help that meets the following criteria:

contingency, i.e. the teacher’s support is attuned to the student’s current state of

understanding; the student accomplishes the task with the teacher’s situated help, and the

student performs the task independently; fading, i.e. the level and amount of support is

gradually withdrawn from the student; and transfer of responsibility, i.e. the student takes

increasing control of their own learning in the performance of a task.

Central to this module is a range of teaching and learning mechanisms, which are

appropriate for different types of learning in relation to different types of content (i.e.

observation, coaching, goal-orientation and anticipation, mentoring, peer-learning,

simulation, instruction, concept-formation, reflection, meta-cognitive learning, problem-

solving and practice – for detailed accounts of these see Chapter Two).

This module is about learning, and in particular, those dispositions which are required for

using teaching and learning approaches to learning in the classroom. The content of the

module will also focus on developing the capacity to implement learning strategies in the

classroom.


Observation

Coaching

Mentoring

Peer-Learning

Simulation

Reflection


Practice



approaches.


35

7. Planning Learning Activities





Plan a lesson or series of lessons;

Develop strategies for the use of these plans in the school classroom;

Specify in the planning process how learning can take place in relation to the particular

learning environment;

Specify in the planning process the resources and technologies needed to allow that

learning to take place;

Specify in the planning process the type of relationship between a teacher and a student

(in a formal setting where the intention is that learning relating to a standard(s) should

take place), or between a student and another student, or between a student and his or her

parent, to effect that learning;

Specify in the planning process a theory of acquisition (of a knowledge construct, skill or

disposition); in short, how that knowledge set, skill or disposition/inclination can be

assimilated;

Specify in the planning process a theory of transfer held by the teacher – that is, how can

the learning which has taken place in a particular set of circumstances (i.e. a classroom,

with a set of learners, in a particular way, with a particular theory of learning

underpinning it, and so forth) transfer to other environments in other places and times;

Determine in the planning the learning theory’s capacity to transfer to other learning

environments, including those characterised by different ages, sectors, geographies,

cultures, national systems, and histories.

Execute the plan in a school classroom;

Evaluate its success or otherwise;

Use what has been learnt in the next round of planning;

Develop the dispositions of planning and anticipation.

Content Knowledge

The module focuses on the planning process and the need for teachers to anticipate what

is going to happen when they put those plans into action.

Lesson planning is a process that increases the teacher’s ability to help their students learn

a body of knowledge (including cognitions, skills and dispositions) in a way that is: in

accord with the discipline from which it is taken, and national values and aspirations, in

line with the learning outcomes or curriculum standards; and adapted to make it

accessible and suitable for their students, who are not yet acquainted with it. Planning is

an essential pedagogic activity, and is underpinned by a notion of anticipation, that is

anticipating what will happen during the forthcoming lesson.

Lesson planning by teachers needs to take account of the following:

their performance as a teacher (i.e. how they use the learning outcomes or curriculum

standards; the pacing or sequencing of the lesson; what type of classroom relations

(between teacher and student, and between student and student) they establish within


36

the classroom; and the most apt pedagogic relations, i.e. those relations which inhere

in pedagogic modes, such as: didacticism, inquiry-learning, modelling, demonstrating,

eliciting, facilitating, testing, and scaffolding;

the most appropriate arrangement of relevant resources, in relation to: texts – artifacts,

written material, electronic resources, displays, and their availability, the curriculum

standards, and those enabling and amplifying technologies for learning, e.g.

computers, microscopes, chemicals, etc., within the classroom;

spatial and temporal arrangements within the classroom and during the lesson;

a learning theory which specifies: how learning can take place in the particular

learning environment; the resources and technologies needed to allow that learning to

take place; the most optimum type of relationship between a teacher and a student (in

a formal setting where the intention is that learning relating to a learning outcome(s)

or curriculum standard(s) should take place), or between a student and another

student, or between a student and their parents, to effect that learning; and a theory of

acquisition and transfer of knowledge and skills.

Effective lesson planning is time-consuming. Furthermore, if that lesson planning is

carried out merely to fulfil a bureaucratic demand, either from the school or from the

local authority, then it is likely to be an unproductive exercise. If, on the other hand, the

planning of the lesson is seen by teachers as an essential part of determining the

arrangements for learning in their classroom, and for allowing them to better anticipate

classroom events and happenings, then it is likely to be beneficial.

Finally, a difference needs to be noted between planning and documenting that planning,

and the need to record the planning process may not be conducive to effective classroom

teaching. Indeed, the recording and documenting process needs to be carefully thought

through, so that it doesn’t become a bureaucratic procedure; and it is of value to what

takes place during the lesson itself.

The module is also concerned with the capacity of the student teacher to execute a plan in

a school classroom; evaluate its success or otherwise; and use what has been learnt in the

next round of planning.


Observation

Mentoring

Peer-Learning

Simulation

Instruction

Concept-Formation

Reflection


Practice



approaches.


37






Understand the characteristics and functions of different types of tasks that can be used in

classrooms (e.g. gaming, research activity, debating, group work, team-building,

conceptualisation, reading, writing, dispositional learning, listening, artefact construction,

skill acquisition, problem-solving, simulation, practice, and observation);

Develop the capacity to structure tasks, i.e. chunking, segregating, sequencing, or

otherwise structuring a task into or from its various components;

Understand how classroom tasks can be broken down into a series of action steps, and

determine a strategy for their use;

Translate these task activities into pedagogic activities that work in specific types of

classrooms by determining a series of action steps;

Experiment with these different types of tasks in real-life classrooms;

Evaluate the process and effects of such tasks as they are enacted in school classrooms;

Adjust the various action steps involved in using these tasks to refine their delivery;

Experiment in the classroom by using the new set of action steps.

Content Knowledge

This module is focused on designing tasks for use in the classroom.

It focuses in the first instance on the characteristics and functions of different types of

tasks that can be used in classrooms (e.g. gaming, research activity, debating, group work,

team-building, conceptualisation, reading, writing, dispositional learning, listening,

artefact construction, skill acquisition, problem-solving, simulation, practice, and

observation).

Participants should develop the capacity to design such tasks, taking account of the

different knowledge domain which the task is located in, the pedagogical structuring of

the task, the arrangement of resources in relation to the task, the endpoint or purpose of

the task, and the capacity of the learner(s) to complete the task.

This implies a need to structure tasks, i.e. chunking, segregating, sequencing, or otherwise

structuring a task into or from its various components.

Finally, task implementation involves a series of action steps; beginning with

experimentation with these different types of tasks in real-life classrooms, evaluating the

process and effects of such tasks as they are enacted in school classrooms, adjusting the

various action steps involved in using these tasks to refine their delivery, and

experimenting in the classroom by using the new set of action steps.


Observation

Peer-Learning

Simulation

Instruction


38

Reflection


Problem-Solving

Practice



approaches.






Understand the form and function of different types of educational texts, i.e. research

reports, written media reports, audio and visual media reports, internet content, policy

documents, and classroom texts, including textbooks, and artifacts;

Understand how these educational texts impact on the classroom and the school;

Develop the capacity to read these texts by adopting a critical reading approach;

Develop the capacity to construct these different types of educational texts;

Develop the dispositional capacity to read and construct these educational texts, where

those dispositions refer to critical thinking, educational literacy, re-conceptualisation, and

textual application;

Develop the capacity to critically read, evaluate, re-write and re-evaluate a national, state

or district school curriculum.

Content Knowledge

Educational texts, whether research reports, media texts or policy documents are pro-

active; they seek to change the agenda and not merely describe it. The agenda itself is

complicated, multi-linear and always changing. Indeed, one of the problems with

characterising the written educational media as anti-progressive is that many examples

can be found which contradict this view.

Educational texts can only be understood in terms of the way they are constructed and

each site is characterised by a set of rules. So, for example, the written media follows a

particular set of rules about what is considered to be newsworthy and what constitutes a

good piece of reporting.

The relationship between the different forms of textual production is complicated.

Educational texts are designed to influence practice, where practice is understood as those

activities which occur in schools, colleges and universities. The ultimate direction of

influence is therefore always downwards, though it may take a circuitous route. For

example, policy texts seek to directly influence media reporting of events rather than

practice at the institutional level; the calculation being that practitioners are more likely to

read media reports than the original document itself. Research reports are characterised

by a desire to influence the debate about education in the long-term, that is, by creating


39

knowledge structures which offer alternative viewpoints, and their effects are not likely to

be immediate. Media reporting of educational events seeks to directly influence policy

deliberations in two ways; firstly by creating a consensus about the most suitable

arrangements which should be put in place for education, making it difficult, though not

impossible, for governments to construct policy proposals which do not fit with this

consensus, and secondly, by supporting the policy discourse constructed by governments

if it is thought that this will prove to be popular.

Reading educational texts in a critical way allows the reader to reposition themselves in

relation to arguments, policy prescriptions and directives in ways which are not intended

by the writers of these texts. The educationally literate teacher therefore understands

educational texts, whether they are policy documents, press reports or research reports, as

constructed, works-in-progress and ideologically embedded artifacts. There are four

dimensions of critical thinking:

Identifying and challenging assumptions – those assumptions might be taken-for-

granted notions about education, accepted ways of understanding educational matters

or habitual patterns of behaviour. They may refer to behaviours at the level of practice,

but equally to the way teachers are positioned within political, policy-making and

representational contexts.

Challenging the importance of context – being aware of these contexts allows the

reader or practitioner to transcend them. It allows the practitioner to develop alternative

ways of understanding and alternative modes of practice to those intended by policy-

makers, journalists or researchers.

Imagining and exploring alternatives – the thinking of the practitioner goes beyond the

merely conventional or accepted way of thinking and behaving. Thinking about

practice becomes rooted in the actual context of teaching and learning and it allows the

practitioner to experiment within their own practice.

Developing reflexive scepticism – this is not a negative exercise, though it has been

construed in this way. It involves being sceptical of all claims to knowledge unless and

until the reasons for those claims have been evaluated and deemed appropriate.

Many educational texts seek to position teachers as technicians whose role is to

implement policy which has been decided upon at the policy level. Educational literacy

challenges the implicit assumptions underpinning this view of practice.

The module also seeks to develop the capacity to critically read, evaluate, re-write and re-

evaluate a national, state or district school curriculum.


Observation

Goal-Orientation and Anticipation

Peer-Learning

Instruction

Concept-Formation

Reflection


Practice


40



approaches.






Understand the characteristics and functions of action research processes, and in

particular, their cyclical nature;

Understand how action research can be used as part of a professional development

programme in school;

Undertake an action research programme in school;

Develop the capacity to act in an action research capacity;

Understand the ethical dimensions of action research, and integrate them into action

research programmes;

Understand the characteristics and functions of teacher learning communities;

Understand how teacher learning communities can be used as part of a professional

development programme which extends across the career of the individual teacher;

Act effectively in a teacher learning community in school;

Develop the capacity to maintain and sustain a contribution to a teacher learning

community;

Understand the characteristics and purposes of professional standards;

Develop the capacity to apply professional standards to and in real-life educational

settings;

Understand the ethical dimensions of professional situations faced by teachers in school

settings;

Develop and apply an appropriate plan of action in the workplace in response to a

professional ethical dilemma;

Develop the capacity to behave in professional ethically appropriate ways in different

circumstances;

Care for and maintain high standards throughout a working career;

Understand the characteristics and purposes of career maintenance.

Content Knowledge

This module focuses on professional development processes in classrooms and schools,

the use of professional standards, and the care and maintenance of the professional career.

The first of these professional development processes is action research. This involves

teachers in curriculum development and implementation and allows practitioners to ‘own’

the knowledge they generate. It is assumed that innovation is more likely to be accepted if

teachers are involved in the design of materials that is relevant for their students and

adapted to their needs. Since curriculum development depends upon a high level of


41

professional judgment, it is appropriate to build professional development around a

teacher-as-local-expert model.

This comprises a series of steps: areas of practical concern are identified; these areas of

concern are expressed as questions; the purpose is identified; evidence is collected to

enable these questions to be answered; this allows the practitioners to modify their

perceptions about their practice, to identify change mechanisms and to evaluate the state

of readiness of the school and the individual participants; changes are made by the

practitioner to their practice; the effects of these changes are monitored and evaluated; the

experiences and new insights are shared with others in similar contexts; a new research

programme is instituted; and the practitioner starts a new action research cycle.

Action Research can be realized through a wide range of qualitative and quantitative

methodologies. Among these are for example: ethnographic field-notes (running accounts

of the social setting and interaction); audio or video recordings; classroom observation

checklists and rating scales; document analysis (examination of lesson plans, programmes

of study etc.); participants’ accounts and narratives, e.g. diaries, individual and group

journals; questionnaires and surveys; interviews; and focus groups.

The selection depends, as in any other forms of investigation, on the definition of the

research object and the concomitant research design. It is therefore necessary that the

teacher-participants already have or will be developing an understanding of and practical

experiences with these different methodologies, i.e. different ways of gathering and

analysing data. The knowledge created through Action Research is both unique and

generalisable. It originates in a particular institutional context with particular agents but it

can at the same time inform practices in other schools and contribute to their pool of

resources whenever the unique characteristics of the original context are made explicit.

Action Research is based on democratic procedures and values and can involve reflection

upon the internal dynamics of the workplace, i.e. the way students, teachers and

administrators interrelate and interact in an institution. Ideally, Action Research projects

emphasize collaboration, access to and sharing of information and knowledge, open-

mindedness and dialogue. Building and sustaining Teacher Learning Communities

(TLCs) is hence an essential precondition for effective Action Research cycles.

Professional learning is both a process internal to the individual (construction) and social

(enculturation), as it requires the participation in socially organized practices in particular

communities. Effective professional development should therefore not only encourage

reflection and lifelong learning on an individual level but also collaboration through

Teacher Learning Communities (TLCs). Such communities share and critically

interrogate their practices in a collaborative, inclusive and growth promoting fashion and

ultimately pursue the common goal of improving their effectiveness for the benefit of

their students.

There are several additional reasons why TLCs are particularly appropriate. TLCs are a

non-threatening venue allowing teachers to notice weaknesses in their content and

pedagogic knowledge and get help with these deficiencies; TLCs are embedded in the

day-to-day realities of teachers’ classrooms and schools, and thus provide a time and

place where teachers can hear real-life stories from colleagues that show the benefits of

adopting these techniques in situations similar to their own. Without that kind of local

reassurance, there is little chance teachers will risk upsetting the prevailing “classroom

contract” (Brousseau, 1997: 31). Even though it is limiting, the old contract at least

allowed teachers to maintain some form of order and matched the expectations of most

principals and colleagues. As teachers adjust their practice, they are risking both disorder

and less-than-accomplished performance on the part of their students and themselves.

Being a member of a community of teacher-learners engaged together in a change process


42

provides the support teachers need to take such risks. In short, TLCs provide a forum for

supporting teachers in converting the curricular reform into ‘lived’ practices within their

classrooms.

The professional practice element of the module focuses on: classroom teaching

dispositions; implementation and application skills; practice dispositions, i.e. mutuality of

engagement; accountability to the enterprise; and negotiability of their repertoire;

sustenance and nurturance of professional elements in the practice, i.e. professional

standards, independent and workplace learning, and professional development learning

processes; institutional elements of the professional practice, i.e. inter-personal

relationships, managing workplace relations, problem-solving in educational settings,

leadership and working in teams.


Observation

Coaching

Mentoring

Peer-Learning

Simulation

Instruction

Reflection


Practice



approaches.


43

Chapter Two: Productive Practice (2): An In-service Teacher

Education and Professional Development Programme

2.1. Introduction

This programme has the following general learning outcomes (sometimes expressed as

curriculum standards) for the practising teacher. Each teacher should:

Update their body of knowledge (which includes cognitions, skills and

dispositions), that constitutes the content knowledge domain in teaching.

Understand how this reconstituted body of knowledge (which includes

cognitions, skills and dispositions) can be translated into pedagogic

knowledge, and strengthen the capacity to translate the one into the other.

Update their body of knowledge (which includes cognitions, skills and

dispositions) relating to the four foundational forms of knowledge, i.e.

psychology of education, sociology of education, history of education, and

philosophy of education; and their applications in schools.

Update their understandings of systemic and institutional educational

structures in India.

Undertake action research projects and take part in teacher learning

communities, and be supported in this activity.

Reconstitute their classroom teaching dispositions relating to performance,

behaviour, communication, and relations with students.

Strengthen their capacity to apply knowledge, skills and dispositions in

educational settings.

Strengthen their capacity to behave in ethically appropriate ways in different

circumstances.

Strengthen their capacity to appropriate and apply professional standards in

real-life educational settings.

Strengthen their capacity for independent and workplace learning over the

life-span of a professional career.

Reconstitute those strategies that relate to classroom management, with

particular reference to the maintenance of discipline and maintaining a

positive learning environment.

Revisit the general principles of learning, and in particular, how all learning

is context-specific and related to developmental stage; reconstitute those

strategies for applying each of the theories of learning in the classroom;

strengthen their capacity to apply the various teaching and learning

strategies in the classroom; and strengthen those dispositions which are

required for implementation of these teaching strategies.

Strengthen their capacities for, and dispositions relating to, planning and

anticipation.


44

Regenerate their capacity to read and construct educational texts, such as

national, state or district curricula, syllabi, textbooks, policy and media

documents, where those capacities refer to critical thinking, educational

literacy, re-conceptualisation, and textual application.

Continue to use the spoken and written language clearly, fluently and

appropriately to interact in different educational contexts; and recognise and

appreciate the country’s linguistic diversity.

Continue to use arguments and reasoning when analysing situations,

identifying problems, formulating questions, expressing judgements and

providing solutions to problems.

Select, analyse, evaluate and share information from different sources, and

use the technical resources available for in-depth study and continuous

extension of their knowledge.

Be familiar with the human rights and values that favour democratic life,

putting them into practice when analysing situations and making decisions

responsibly and in accordance with the law.

Recognise and value different cultural practices and processes, and

contribute to respectful coexistence with regards to social, ethnic, cultural

and linguistic diversity.

Continue to develop knowledge of self; the capacity to project the self in

present and future educational settings; and the capacity to regulate the self.

Care for and maintain high professional standards throughout a working

career.

These are the learning outcomes of the in-service professional development programme.

However, at the moment they lack a rationale. This can only come from an understanding of

the characteristics and functions of a classroom teacher in the Indian context. Apart from the

content and methodological knowledge that teachers need in order to plan and teach a lesson,

they also have to take a variety of other factors into consideration and integrate them in a

coherent, efficient and pedagogically effective way. Among these are the previous

knowledge, schooling biographies and expectations of their students, the individual

differences between them (e.g. abilities, interests and motivations), the objectives of the

programme and the overall institution, as well as their own pedagogical aims, theoretical

assumptions and values. Teachers have to make a considerable amount of instantaneous and

ad hoc decisions: they need to react to and take the lead in classroom interaction and modify

their plans and methodological procedures according to the needs of students at specific

points in time during the lesson. Ideally they should create an atmosphere that encourages

learning and communication and make sure that the task level is neither too high nor too low.

In addition to this, institutions as well as classes have their own particular norms and patterns

of interaction and communication. Teachers play a key role in mediating between this

institutional culture and the students. They usually determine the content of classroom talk,

organize the distinct phases of the lesson, determine the behaviour that is expected from

students, select who is permitted to respond to a question or contribute to a discussion, decide

what kind of answers are regarded as valid, etc. In sum, one

... striking feature of classrooms is the cheer complexity, quantity and rapidity of

classroom interaction. As many as 1,000 interpersonal exchanges each day have been


45

observed, and the multiplicity of decisions which have to be made, and the volume of

information relevant to each decision are such that for the teacher logical consideration

and decision making would seem to be impossible … (MacLeod and McIntyre 1977:

266, quoted in Wallace 1991: 13)

The fact that teachers have to take a multitude of sequential and simultaneous decisions

which include personal, interpersonal, interactive, disciplinary, pedagogic and institutional

factors requires a new approach to in-service teacher-training and development. Imposing a

pre-defined and fixed innovation on teachers (and students) in diverse institutional and

regional contexts in a coercive, top-down fashion is counter-productive and likely to make

teachers revert to ‘safe’ routinized practices. It seems more promising to encourage

practitioners to try out new ideas in their classroom, to make adjustments, generate new

material and justify their decisions. To this end an awareness of the contexts teachers work in

and their own behavioural and communicative patterns has to be developed. Participants have

to be enabled to analyse their own classes, strengthen their communicative competencies and

classroom management strategies, and amplify their pool of teaching resources. In order to

advance these goals we have adopted a particular approach to teacher-training and education

that is outlined below.

2.2. Teacher Development and Reflection

Donald Schon focuses, in his seminal work The Reflective Practitioner (2005), specifically

on how practitioners operate and learn in workplace settings. He suggests that most of our

knowledge as it relates to action, or knowledge-in-action, is implicit. It does not involve

conscious processes, so that actions, recognitions and judgements are skilled activities which

are carried out spontaneously. Equally implicit is the knowledge the practitioner holds about

the background, the history and the social embeddedness of the respective practice. This

could lead to the assumption that professional action is basically a problem solving activity

where reflection and existing tacit knowledge is applied to emerging problems. Schon

however argues that this widespread understanding of professional practice is too limited and

has to be extended to problem setting, a second order, more complex form of reflection,

where the practitioner also considers wider concerns and implications of the problem,

including for instance, institutional, political and social structures, which are external to the

workplace itself (in our particular case, the classroom) but impact on it:

From the perspective of Technical Rationality, professional practice is a process of

problem solving. Problems of choice or decision are solved through the selection, from

available means, of the one best suited to established ends. But with this emphasis on

problem solving, we ignore problem setting, the process by which we define the

decision to be made, the ends to be achieved, the means which may be chosen. In real-

world practice, problems do not present themselves to the practitioner as givens. They

must be constructed from the materials of problematic situations which are puzzling,

troubling and uncertain (ibid: 39-40).

At this stage, the practitioner might set in motion a process of re-naming and re-framing of

the problem. Indeed, he or she might not even consider the issue at hand to be a problem

anymore; though it is more likely that this meta-process will provide the learner with a

different type of problem requiring a different type of solution.


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Reflexivity and conscious analysis become even more necessary when the professional is

confronted with new situations and as a consequence has to change or acquire new practices.

Though the individual might perceive the new situations to be unique in the first instance, to

make sense of them requires fitting them into existing frameworks of rules and resources.

People do this by looking for similarities and differences:

When a practitioner makes sense of a situation he perceives to be unique, he sees it as

something already present in his repertoire. To see this site as that one is not to

subsume the first under a familiar category or rule. It is, rather, to see the unfamiliar,

unique situation as both similar to and different from the familiar one, without at first

being able to say similar or different with respect to what. The familiar situation

functions as a precedent, or a metaphor, or – in Thomas Kuhn’s phrase – an exemplar

for the unfamiliar one. (ibid: 138)

Schon understands the process of learning as cyclical with successive iterations of comparing

new and familiar experiences with well-established routines of thinking, many of which the

learner (in this case the teacher) may have difficulty with bringing to consciousness. In

professional practice, however, the individual also interacts with and acts upon the

environment and attempts to make sense of it in an experimental fashion that can involve the

following non-sequential processes: exploring the possibilities inherent in the problem;

developing a series of action steps; testing them out to see if they fit the problem; and

evaluating the more successful solutions to develop working hypotheses. Experimenting in

practice then is both reflective and transactional. The teacher-student is at the same time

testing out new hypotheses and seeking to change the external setting in which the problem is

embedded. Change therefore operates at two levels, the psychological and the social:

The inquirer’s relation to this situation is transactional. He shapes the situation, but in

conversation with it, so that his own models and appreciations are also shaped by the

situation. The phenomena that he seeks to understand are partly of his own making; he

is in the situation that he seeks to understand. This is another way of saying that the

action by which he tests his hypothesis is also a move by which he tries to effect a

desired change in the situation, and a probe by which he explores it. He understands the

situation by trying to change it, and considers the resulting changes not as a defect of

experimental method but as the essence of its success. (ibid: 150-151)

Professional development is hence a process of reflection in action with different degrees of

complexity and reflection on action where teachers have to be encouraged to experiment with

and explore new practices, contents and procedures in their actual workplace contexts and to

think about their relevance, usefulness and viability. Reflection however, can be greatly

increased through collaborative meaning-making, dialogue and discussion between different

practitioners who might add alternative perspectives, ideas and experiences. The exchanges

between teachers from the same or different schools enhance a further level of reflexivity to

the teacher development programme, namely reflection on reflection in and on action.

An approach to professional development that emphasizes reflection in action, on action,

experimentation and collaboration stands in stark contrast to common formal modes of

professional development where teachers are asked to reflect on their progress against a set of

descriptors provided for them from an external source, and then have to plan and execute

action steps with the intention of improving their performance. We regard this as a limited

form of meta-reflection that suffers from the disadvantage that the teacher may feel that they


47

do not own the process and that the set of descriptors are not written at the required level of

particularity to enable them to improve their performance. The ideal model of professional

development presented here therefore encourages teachers to find appropriate and justified

ways to implement the acquired knowledge in their own practice setting. To this end, it

brings together three types of knowledge (Jackson and Street 2005: 5), namely the

accumulated experience-based and context-specific knowledge practitioners hold, external

“practical and theoretical public knowledge which might serve to frame, support, structure,

illuminate or (critically) challenge existing contours of knowledge and training”, and ‘new

knowledge’ created by individuals and groups of teachers, e.g. through action research:

This is knowledge which is collaboratively constructed by practitioners or developed

through the processes of interaction, design and creation, but built upon what we know

and what is known. This third field of knowledge attains its place from a belief that

collaborative processes, founded upon respect for existing knowledge, are the vehicle

through which innovation and creativity thrive. (ibid)

Although the concept of the ‘reflective practitioner’ as developed by Schon has become

extremely influential in teacher education and training, the concept has also, as Fullan and

Hargreaves (1996: 67) describe it, “sometimes been used as a slogan”. It is therefore crucial

to make concrete suggestions about how reflexivity can be fostered in professional

development workshops. The following list constitutes an amplified version of the practical

suggestions we consider particularly fruitful for the present context:

Teachers familiarize themselves with the new ideas, their objectives, rationale, contents

and procedures and experiment with these elements in their actual classrooms. They

engage in processes of developing their professional practice and at the same time adapt,

refine and contribute to the refinement of the curriculum which they are implementing.

Teachers reflect on their past and current teaching practice e.g. through a teacher portfolio

or a professional autobiography, two genres in which they can explore, either privately or

publicly, their own development, positive and critical experiences which have shaped

their career, changing goals, values and expectations among other issues.

They reflect upon their professional practices, routine activities and values in their

institutional, socio-cultural, economic and political context, i.e. from different angles and

perspectives. This might encourage the redefinition and re-conceptualization of problems

and their potential solutions.

Practitioners share teaching material and exchange views of and experiences with

particular pedagogic strategies with peers. This allows them to get to know alternatives

and to amplify their own pool of resources.

They look beyond their own classroom through peer coaching, team teaching and

classroom observation. Again, they can learn from others and contribute to the learning of

their peers.

Teachers are introduced to and employ methods of analyzing classroom interaction and

communication in relation to contextual affordances and constraints.

They may seek feedback from their students who are a “great but often underrated source

of teacher development” (ibid: 68) for example, through individual and group journals

and discussions. They also monitor students’ development and learning.

Practitioners connect with the existing knowledge base and research either through

professional or academic publications that relate to specific relevant issues, such as for

example, classroom management or student motivation. These readings could be shared

as a stimulus for professional dialogue among peers.


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Teachers engage in collaborative inquiry, e.g. through action research.

They share and publish the generated knowledge so that it can inform practices in other

schools and contribute to a pool of resources for all teachers involved.

This list can obviously be amplified and adapted according to particular needs that arise

in the process. In the following section we will outline the goals and procedures of Action

Research.

2.3. Action Research

One area that attempts to overcome the gap between theory and teaching practice by

involving teachers as agents in actual investigations is Action Research (AR). Action

Research seeks to solve practical, mostly classroom based problems and to foster the practical

judgment of actors in real situations:

Since all practitioners are actors in social settings, surely the aim of research is not

merely to describe, interpret or even to collect knowledge about the world but to

develop a more profound situational understanding and knowledge with which to

reason about and guide us in choosing appropriate and improved behaviour for action to

identify with in social settings. (McKernan 2008: 124)

Involving teachers in curriculum development and implementation allows practitioners to

‘own’ the knowledge they generate. It is assumed that innovation is more likely to be

accepted if teachers are involved in the design of materials that is relevant for their students

and adapted to their needs. Since curriculum development depends upon a high level of

professional judgment, it is appropriate to build professional development around a teacher-

as-local-expert model.

This comprises a series of steps:

Areas of practical concern are identified:

What is the focus of enquiry?

These areas of concern are expressed as questions:

What question needs to be answered to understand and solve the problem?

The purpose is identified:

What is the enquiry for?

Who benefits from the investigation?

Evidence is collected to enable these questions to be answered:

What do we already know about the focus for enquiry?

What do we need to know in order to answer the question?

How can we access this information?

This allows the practitioners to modify their perceptions about their practice, to identify

change mechanisms and to evaluate the state of readiness of the school and the individual

participants:

Does the empirical data confirm our hypothesis?

Has the data changed our understanding of the problem?

Who needs to be involved in the change?

Are these individuals in favour of the change?

Changes are made by the practitioner to their practice.


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The effects of these changes are monitored and evaluated:

What kind of effects does the intervention have?

Are these the effects we expected?

What needs to be changed in order to bring about the desired effects?

The experiences and new insights are shared with others in similar contexts:

How and where do we share the outcomes?

A new research programme is instituted:

Where does this investigation lead to?

What will happen next?

And the practitioner starts a new action research cycle.

Action Research can also be expressed as a series of phases:

First Phase: identifying a general idea; reconnaissance of that idea; planning a way of

implementing that idea; developing a first action step; implementing that action step;

evaluating its effects; reviewing the plan.

Second Phase: developing a second action step; implementing this action step; evaluating

these steps; reviewing the plan.

Third Phase: developing a third action step; implementing this action step; evaluating

these steps; reviewing the plan.

Action Research can be realized through a wide range of qualitative and quantitative

methodologies. Among these are for example: ethnographic fieldnotes (running accounts of

the social setting and interaction); audio or video recordings; classroom observation

checklists and rating scales; document analysis (examination of lesson plans, programmes of

study etc.); participants’ accounts and narratives, e.g. diaries, individual and group journals;

questionnaires and surveys; interviews; and focus groups.

The selection depends, as in any other forms of investigation, on the definition of the research

object and the concomitant research design. It is therefore necessary that the teacher-

participants already have or will be developing an understanding of and practical experiences

with these different methodologies, i.e. different ways of gathering and analysing data. The

knowledge created through Action Research is both unique and generalisable. It originates in

a particular institutional context with particular agents but it can at the same time inform

practices in other schools and contribute to their pool of resources whenever the unique

characteristics of the original context are made explicit.

Action Research is based on democratic procedures and values and can involve reflection

upon the internal dynamics of the workplace, i.e. the way students, teachers and

administrators interrelate and interact in an institution. Ideally, Action Research projects

emphasize collaboration, access to and sharing of information and knowledge, open-

mindedness and dialogue. Building and sustaining Teacher Learning Communities (TLCs) is

hence an essential precondition for effective Action Research cycles.


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2.4. Teacher Learning Communities and Collaborative Enquiry

Interpersonal and interdisciplinary exchange and collaboration still seems to be the exception

rather than the rule and teachers work in a fairly isolated fashion. Fullan and Hargreaves

(1996: 5) point to the potential negative consequences of teaching as a ‘lonely profession’:

The professional isolation of teachers limits access to new ideas and better solutions,

drives stress inward to fester and accumulate, fails to recognize and praise success, and

permits incompetence to exist and persist to the detriment of students, colleagues and

the teachers themselves. Isolation allows, even if it does not always produce,

conservatism and resistance to innovation in teaching.

Professional learning is both a process internal to the individual (construction) and social

(enculturation), as it requires the participation in socially organized practices in particular

communities (Borko, 2004). Effective professional development should therefore not only

encourage reflection and lifelong learning on an individual level but also collaboration

through Teacher Learning Communities (TLCs). Such communities share and critically

interrogate their practices in a collaborative, inclusive and growth promoting fashion and

ultimately pursue the common goal of improving their effectiveness for the benefit of their

students (Mitchell and Sackney, 1998). There are several additional reasons why TLCs are

particularly appropriate:

TLCs are a non-threatening venue allowing teachers to notice weaknesses in their content

and pedagogic knowledge and get help with these deficiencies.

TLCs are embedded in the day-to-day realities of teachers’ classrooms and schools, and

thus provide a time and place where teachers can hear real-life stories from colleagues

that show the benefits of adopting these techniques in situations similar to their own.

Without that kind of local reassurance, there is little chance teachers will risk upsetting

the prevailing “classroom contract” (Brousseau, 1997: 31). Even though it is limiting, the

old contract at least allowed teachers to maintain some form of order and matched the

expectations of most principals and colleagues.

As teachers adjust their practice, they are risking both disorder and less-than-

accomplished performance on the part of their students and themselves. Being a member

of a community of teacher-learners engaged together in a change process provides the

support teachers need to take such risks. In short, TLCs provide a forum for supporting

teachers in converting the curricular reform into ‘lived’ practices within their classrooms.

Collaborative enquiry and learning has great transformative potential as it involves larger

sections of the teaching force and enhances their capacity to deal with change.

School-embedded TLCs are sustained over time, allowing change to occur

developmentally. Knowledge created will also be disseminated in real time.

The collaborative enquiry is an inclusive activity and thus contributes to the generation

and maintenance of a learning organisation (Street and Timpereley, 2005). The

involvement of the entire institution in a curricular reform is particularly important in

contexts where a mismatch exists between the operational logic of the administrative and

the academic system, usually at the expense of the latter.

Collaborative enquiry creates professional knowledge that is potentially relevant to larger

populations of teachers and can hence be fruitfully transferred to other schools.


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While collaboration in and through TLCs is generally supportive of teacher growth and

development, particular group dynamics can also inhibit development. Teachers might for

example be resistant to sharing their knowledge with peers or collude in withholding

information. This, in turn, could be caused by particular interpersonal or intergroup dynamics

as well as by the very institutional conditions under which these teachers work (Fullan and

Hargreaves 1996: 52-53). The same authors call the tendency of a workforce to split up into

competing and mutually exclusive groups ‘balkanization’ which they define as:

… a culture made up of separate and sometimes competing groups, jockeying for

position and supremacy like loosely connected, independent city states. Teachers in

balkanized cultures attach their loyalties and identities to particular groups of their

colleagues. These are usually colleagues with whom they work most closely, spend

most time, socialize most often in the staffroom. The existence of such groups in a

school reflects and reinforces very different group outlooks on learning, teaching styles,

discipline and curriculum.

It is therefore of utmost importance for the facilitators to link collaboration explicitly with

norms, equal opportunities and transparent rules - some predefined, some negotiated by the

group - for participation. They should encourage sharing, mutual trust, respect, help, open-

mindedness and questioning of taken-for-granted practices and beliefs. Above all, the teacher

developers should create a sense of community and emphasize a common sense of purpose

that helps to sustain commitment and collective responsibility among members.

Arrangements for cross-grouping of teachers from different grades, different disciplines and

different schools can be particularly valuable as they facilitate the emergence of discourse

communities on the basis of shared professional knowledge and interests rather than

interpersonal alliances.

We departed from recent research in the complexity of the teaching task in actual institutional

contexts and concluded that the planned teacher development intervention has to focus on the

interactional competence of teachers and to develop their abilities to reflect upon their own

practices, beliefs and local environments. Practitioner learning is hence understood to be

contextualised and situation-specific.

2.5. Externally-Sited Modules

A series of externally-sited modules, focusing on teachers’ professional practice and

development, needs to be offered. Each district (and in particular, the District Institutes of

Education and Training) should coordinate these activities. In addition, in order to overcome

physical barriers and thereby increase the accessibility to professional development, dialogue

and exchange between teachers, programmes of professional development should combine

face-to-face and online components. The inclusion of a learning platform has several

advantages:

Current research in teacher development clearly stresses the importance of teacher-

centred, individualized coaching that takes place in real world institutional settings.

Online professional development is poised to meet these demands as it offers flexibility,

choice and self-reflection. It can thereby have a more direct and positive impact on actual

teaching practices.


52

The networks created through the online platform allow teachers to relate to each other

beyond the confines of their discipline, level and school context. The established

collaborative network will thereby amplify the possibilities of community building and

hence of learning from and communicating with others from a variety of different

backgrounds and contexts.

Apart from learning about curricular objectives and elements, about material development

and general and disciplinary specific pedagogic strategies etc., teachers will also acquire

imminently necessary computer and internet skills in the process. This will enable them to

start integrating technology into their own classes.

Moreover, they adopt the perspective of the learner in the process which in turn increases

their empathy for their students and thus helps to raise the quality of their instruction.

While there are many advantages of the inclusion of a blended learning component into a

professional development programme, some caveats have to be made: the design and

maintenance of the platform require a considerable amount of work and hence signify costs.

In addition to this, not all schools are equipped with computers or internet access and even if

they had them, not all teachers are willing or able to use this modality.

These modules are designed to reinforce the learnings achieved at the pre-service level. These

sets of knowledge, skills and dispositions are organised in ten modules (see Figure Four),

each of which is sufficiently different to qualify as a learning module in its own right.

Figure 4: In-Service Teacher Education Modules












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Chapter Three: Implementation

There are four dimensions to implementation: i) making sure that the reform programme (in

this case, the two productive practices specified in chapters one and two – a pre-service and

professional development teacher training programme, and an in-service and professional

development teacher training programme) is comprehensive, satisfactory and serviceable; ii)

understanding how the implementation site is currently constructed; iii) specifying how the

current implementation site will need to be changed to accommodate the new initiative; and

iv) determining how this new initiative can be institutionalised so that it functions effectively.

We might want to call these four dimensions: i) The New Programme Structure; ii)

Implementation Sites; iii) Implementation Capacity; and iv) Institutionalisation and

Sustainability Processes.

3.1. The New Programme Structure

An ideal model of a new productive practice (or reform) has the following characteristics:

It has a set of elements arranged in a logically coherent way (i.e. arrangements of

resources, functions and roles for people in the system, and hierarchical relationships).

The model has a causal narrative, i.e. the productive practice is such that a leads to b; or

the implementation of a in ideal circumstances leads to b1, b2, b3 and so on.

A rationale (ethical, practical and consequential) for the productive practice and for its

implementation is provided.

In relation to developing pre-service and in-service teacher training curricula, the following

issues need to be addressed:

3.1.1 Curriculum Standards or Learning Outcomes

In developing a set of curriculum standards or learning outcomes for the programme as a

whole, those standards should refer to:

Mastery of a specified body of knowledge.

Capability to transform this body of knowledge into pedagogical practices.

Capacity to take part in professional development processes during service.

Capacity to operate effectively in the classroom, including responding to internal and

external change mechanisms.

Ability to act ethically in the professional practice.

Capacity to sustain oneself in the practice during a career.

Ability to understand and apply general pedagogical and classroom management

principles.

Capacity to learn in situ.

Capacity to critically read and construct educational texts.

Ability to act in a democratic manner, respecting the rights of others.

Capacity to develop knowledge of the self, to project the self in other educational settings

and to regulate the self.


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3.1.2 Syllabus Content

In developing a pre-service or in-service teacher training programme, it should have the

following content elements:

Subject Knowledge.

Educational Foundations.

Educational Infrastructure.

Dispositional Learning.

Classroom Management.

Pedagogy and Learning Approaches.

Planning Classroom Activities.

Classroom Task Management.

Reading and Creating Educational Texts.

Professional Development Processes.

3.1.3 Relations between Curriculum Standards or Learning Outcomes

In developing a set of curriculum standards or learning outcomes, what are the relations

between the different standards?

Are these curriculum standards cognitive, skill-based or dispositional?

In a taught programme (either pre-service or in-service), how should the different

curriculum standards be weighted as to their respective importance in relation to each

other?

What forms of sequencing are appropriate in relation to these curriculum standards?

What sites of learning are appropriate for each curriculum standard?

3.1.4 Pedagogic Standards or Teaching and Learning Arrangements

1. For each curriculum standard or learning outcome, which of the following teaching and

learning arrangements are appropriate (almost certainly more than one for each learning

set):

Observation?

Coaching?

Goal-Orientated Learning and Anticipation?

Mentoring?

Peer Learning?

Simulation?

Instruction?

Concept Formation?

Reflection?

Meta-Cognition?

Problem-Solving?

Practice?

2. Within each of these learning sets, and in more detail how can specific learning sets be

organised?


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Carefully designed learning sets (specifying: resources, resource arrangements, tasks,

temporal sequences, spatial arrangements, relations between teachers and learners,

knowledge framing, progression, and assessment processes, which are appropriate for the

specific curriculum standard or learning outcome).

Formative assessment processes which are designed to enhance learning and not to

provide summative accounts of students’ achievements.

3.1.5 Questions to be answered by educational reformers, policy-developers and

jurisdictional authorities:

Which practices are most suitable for your jurisdiction?

Why are the practices you have chosen the most suitable?

What are the characteristics of the ideal model (i.e. identification of elements, relations

between these elements, a causal narrative and possible effects)?

Why is the ideal model appropriate?

3.2. Implementation Sites

3.1.5 Accounting

There is a need to provide an account of how the current system works. In the cases of pre-

service and in-service teacher training programmes, the following are relevant:

Teacher training recruitment and prior qualifications;

Teacher training induction;

Weighting of different elements in a syllabus;

Different types of degrees which offer in full or in part teacher training elements;

In-service programme structures;

Incentives for teachers to undergo further training;

Certification and Qualification.

This means that the investigator should identify and evaluate:

How the system currently works;

Current arrangements of people and resources;

Current allocations of people to functions and roles;

Current outputs from the system.

3.1.6 Identification

The evaluation should identify:

Which elements of the system relating to the chosen productive practice (i.e. the reform)

are satisfactory and which are unsatisfactory

Why they are satisfactory or why they are unsatisfactory?

Which arrangements of people and resources in relation to the chosen productive practice

(i.e. the reform) are satisfactory and which are unsatisfactory;



56

Which allocations of people to functions and roles in relation to the chosen productive

practice (i.e. the reform) are satisfactory and which are unsatisfactory;


Whether outputs from the current system are satisfactory or unsatisfactory?

Why they are satisfactory or unsatisfactory?



How does the system currently work?

What are the current arrangements of people and resources in the system?

What are the current allocations of people to functions and roles?

What are the current outputs from the system?

Which elements of the system relating to the chosen productive practice (i.e. the reform)

are satisfactory and which are unsatisfactory

Why are they satisfactory or unsatisfactory?

Which current arrangements of people and resources in relation to the chosen productive

practice (i.e. the reform) are satisfactory and which are unsatisfactory;


Which current allocations of people to functions and roles in relation to the chosen

productive practice (i.e. the reform) are satisfactory and which are unsatisfactory;


Which current outputs from the system in relation to the chosen productive practice (i.e.

the reform) are satisfactory or unsatisfactory?


3.3. Implementation Practices

3.1.7 Accounting

In the cases of pre-service and in-service teacher training programmes, the following are

relevant:

Teacher training recruitment and prior qualifications;

Teacher training induction;

Weighting of different elements in a syllabus;

Different types of degrees which offer in full or in part teacher training elements;

In-service programme structures;

Incentives for teachers to undergo further training;

Certification and Qualification.

An account needs to be provided of:

Arrangements of resources in the new productive practice (i.e. the reform);

Likely changes to the arrangement of resources as a result of implementing the productive

practice (i.e. the reform);

Arrangements of people to functions and roles in the new productive practice (i.e. the

reform);


57

Likely changes to allocations of people to functions and roles as a result of implementing

the productive practice (i.e. the reform);

The desired rate of change;

The intended effects of implementing the productive practice (i.e. the reform) – these are

planned consequences;

Possible unintended effects of implementing the productive practice (i.e. the reform) –

these are speculations about what might happen and this refers to unplanned effects;

Strategies for minimising unintended effects if they occur.



What are the arrangements of resources in the new productive practice (i.e. the reform)?

What are the likely changes to the arrangement of resources as a result of implementing

the productive practice (i.e. the reform)?

What is the arrangement of people to functions and roles in the new productive practice

(i.e. the reform)?

What are the likely changes to allocations of people to functions and roles as a result of

implementing the productive practice (i.e. the reform)?

What is the desired rate of change, and why?

What are the intended and planned effects of implementing the productive practice (i.e.

the reform)?

What might be the possible unintended effects of implementing the productive practice

(i.e. the reform);

What can we do to minimise these unintended effects if they occur.

3.3.3 Capacity-Development

Capacity development, central to the implementation of the productive practice (i.e. the

reform), is a learning process. This means that there is a need to:

Specify the circumstances in which learning can take place in the specific learning

environment;

Specify the resources and technologies needed to allow that learning to take place;

Specify the type of relationship between teacher and student, and student and student, to

effect that learning;

Specify a theory of learning, i.e. how can that construct (i.e. knowledge set, skill or

disposition) be assimilated;

Develop a theory of transfer held by the teacher; that is, how can the learning which has

taken place in a particular set of circumstances (i.e. a classroom in a university, with a set

of students in a particular way, with a particular theory of learning underpinning it, and so

forth) transfer to other environments in other places and times;

Specify an appropriate fit between learning outcomes or curriculum standards and

learning approaches;

Specify appropriate theory-to-practice, practice-to-theory, and practice-to-theory-to-

practice, relations in the learning sequence.

Put in place appropriate arrangements of resources to allow that capacity to be realised.

(Capacity also needs to relate appropriately to new arrangements and amounts of

resources, and to new allocations of persons to functions and roles. The reason for this is


58

that developing and realising human capacity has two elements: what is learnt, i.e.

knowledge sets, skills and dispositions; and, just as importantly, arrangements of

resources which allow such knowledge sets, skills and dispositions to be realised.)



1. What are the appropriate characteristics of the capacity-building learning environment?

2. What are the resources and technologies needed to allow that learning to take place?

3. What type of relationships should there be between teacher and student, and student and

student, to effect that learning?

4. What is an appropriate theory of learning to allow this capacity-building to take place?

5. What is an appropriate theory of transfer for that capacity-building; in other words, how

can the learning which has taken place in a particular set of circumstances (i.e. a

classroom in a university, with a set of students in a particular way, with a particular

theory of learning underpinning it, and so forth) transfer to other environments in other

places and times?

6. What is an appropriate fit between the capacity-building learning outcomes or curriculum

standards and learning approaches?

7. What are appropriate theory-to-practice, practice-to-theory, practice-to-theory-to-practice,

relations in the learning sequence?

8. What are appropriate arrangements of resources to allow that capacity to be realised?

3.4. Institutionalisation and Sustainability Processes

3.4.1 Issues

1. Ongoing Evaluation: It is important to formatively evaluate the implementation of the

productive practice (i.e. the reform) to allow continuous improvement to the initiative.

Evaluative practices can be regarded as formative if: evidence is gathered relating to the

programme of activity being evaluated; that evidence is elicited, interpreted, and used by

the practitioner, the policy-maker or an interested party, and such evidence is used by

them with the specific intention of deciding on the subsequent steps in the development of

the productive practice. The productive practice (i.e. the reform) therefore is in a constant

state of change and development.

2. The longevity and sustainability of: resource arrangements, allocations of particular

people to positions of responsibility, particular roles and arrangements of power and

authority, the capacity of key people in the system, policy discourses and new policies.

3. The capacity to adapt to changes to: resource arrangements, allocations of particular

people to positions of responsibility, particular roles and arrangements of power and

authority, the capacity of key people in the system, policy discourses and new policies.



1. What evaluative systems are in place for monitoring the progress of the reform?

2. What resource arrangements are in place for ensuring longevity and sustainability to the

reform?


59

3. What allocations of people to positions of responsibility are in place for providing

longevity and sustainability to the reform?

4. What arrangements of power and authority are in place for ensuring longevity and

sustainability to the reform?

5. What capacities do people in the system have for ensuring longevity and sustainability to

the reform?

6. What capacities are there within the system for adapting to changes in resource

allocations?

7. What capacities are there within the system for adapting to changes in policy discourses

and new policies?


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Appendix: Pre-Service and In-Service Teacher Training –

Curriculum Analysis

This document is prepared as part of a technical cooperation exercise by the Institute of

Education (IOE), University of London, for the project, International Best Practices

Exchange leading to Innovation in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). The purpose of this

document is to identify issues relating to pre- and in-service teacher training in India; and it

complements the Institute of Education’s earlier report on teacher training: A Pre-Service

Teacher Education and Professional Development Programme. We recognise that there

are real challenges facing teacher education in India and that re-working teacher training

curricula is only one step in this difficult reform process. We examined syllabuses from

institutions within the pilot states, which include Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal

Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. We also looked at model curricula developed by the

NCTE. These included: the revised B.Ed Curriculum, the revised DECCE Curriculum, and

the revised M.Ed Curriculum. Specific programmes referred to in this review are the

Bachelor of Education (B.Ed), the Master of Education (M.Ed) and The Bachelor of

Elementary Education Programme (B.El.Ed.)

The review offers a series of comments about: content elements; relations between

knowledge, skills and dispositions; formative and summative assessment; learning; theory-to-

practice and practice-to-theory-to-practice relations; capacity development and delivery

through blended learning approaches. For example, we argue that the teacher training

curricula we examined could be improved by more attention being paid to learning processes,

and certainly in these curricula we generally found a poor fit between learning outcomes or

curriculum standards and learning approaches, a curriculum principle we consider to be

important. In the syllabuses there was some confusion about the distinction between

formative and summative forms of assessment, or at least, the syllabuses did not specify how

the two work in different ways, and have different functions in pre-service or in-service

programmes. Choosing the right people to be teachers and accrediting or licensing those who

subsequently become teachers are important issues. However, any curriculum (either at pre-

service or in-service levels) needs to focus on learning, and in this case learning how to be a

teacher (pre-service) and learning how to improve their practice during their career (in-

service). Some of the syllabuses gave prominence to forms of assessment (i.e. examinations)

which are not suitable for assessing many of the knowledge constructs, skills and dispositions

associated with teacher training (both pre-service and in-service). We also suggest that

theory-to-practice relations (generally pre-service) and practice-to-theory-to-practice relations

(more likely to be relevant at in-service levels) in the various programmes need to be given

more thought and attention. Throughout we identify pre-service and in-service teacher

training practices which we feel need greater definition in the context of reform processes in

India.

4.1. Introduction



process. For example, we refer at the end of this document to another challenge facing

teacher training, that of up-skilling or capacity-building, and this clearly requires more than a


61

reworking of the curriculum document to which the teacher trainer works. Any teacher-

trainer will always find it difficult to cope with all the pressures that are placed on them in the

delivery of a programme, and further to this, a curriculum is a framework and this requires

complex choices to be made by the teacher trainer during delivery. There is much to praise in

the coherence of the vision displayed in the curricula we examined, as there is in the National

Curriculum Framework for Teaching Education (National Council for Teacher Education,

New Delhi, 2009/2010) and other important government documents.

However, we concentrated here on those elements of teacher training (both pre-service and

in-service) which we feel are either neglected or marginalised in the published curriculum

frameworks; whilst at the same time being fully aware of many of the strengths of current

programmes. We collected together a number of teacher training syllabuses from the pilot

states (i.e. Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir). We also

looked at model curricula developed by the National Council for Teacher Education in

response to their published framework (cf. NCTE, 2009/10). These included: the revised

B.Ed Curriculum, the revised DECCE Curriculum, and the revised M.Ed Curriculum.

Specific programmes referred to in this review are the Bachelor of Education (B.Ed), the

Master of Education (M.Ed) and The Bachelor of Elementary Education Programme

(B.El.Ed.).

Before we discuss these syllabuses, it is important to qualify our analysis in a number of

ways:

A syllabus does not reflect what is taught and how it is taught on a programme of study in

any precise sense. Changes and amendments to the syllabus and to what was originally

intended by those who write these syllabuses are inevitable as teacher trainers (at both

pre-service and in-service levels) adapt the available material to suit their purposes and to

fit their current capacities as they deliver these programmes. Secondly, missing elements

and weaknesses in the syllabuses require teachers to fill these gaps and correct these

weaknesses, in the context of their own teaching practice and in terms of any

implementation constraints they encounter.

The programmes we chose to examine were only a sample from all the training outputs in

the pilot states. Programmes from Orissa and Andra Pradesh, however, are not included

due to the fact that syllabuses from universities offering relevant programmes were not

readily available. Furthermore, we did not access in-service training programme

syllabuses in the pilot states as these were not always available in publishable form. The

programme sites were as follows: Delhi: Delhi University, Guru Gobind Singh

Indraprastha University (University School of Education); Gujarat: Sandar Patel

University, Faculty of Education; Gujarat University (This programme is run in the

University Department and thirteen other Colleges of Education (PG) affiliated to the

Gujarat University and recognized by NCTE.); Rajasthan: Institute of Advanced Studies

in Education Deemed University; Himachal Pradesh: Himachal Pradesh University,

Department of Education (also, the Government College of Teacher Education,

Dharamsala); and Jammu and Kashmir: Mier College of Education, affiliated to the

University of Jammu.

This meant that we examined B.Ed programmes in: Delhi University; Sandar Patel Univ,

Faculty of Education; Gujarat University; Institute of Advanced Studies in Education

Deemed University; Himachal Pradesh University, Department of Education (also used in


62

Govt. College of Teacher Education Dharamsala); Mier College of Education, Affiliated

to the University of Jammu; and the Bachelor of Elementary Education Programme

(B.El.Ed.) in the University of Delhi. We also examined M.Ed. programmes in:

University School of Education, Guru Gobind Singh Indraprastha University; Gujarat

University (The course is run in the University Department and in the other thirteen

Colleges of Education (PG) affiliated to the Gujarat University and recognized by

NCTE.); and the Institute of Advanced Studies in Education Deemed University in

Rajasthan.

There are intrinsic limitations in any teacher training syllabus because such syllabuses are

frameworks and nothing more; some discretion should therefore be given to the teacher

trainer as they interpret these syllabuses in their classrooms and in their students’ schools.

4.2. Issues and Themes

1. Content Elements

In the syllabuses we found to different degrees omissions of important content elements. Here

is the scheme of work for the Bachelor of Elementary Education Programme (B.El.Ed.) in the

University of Delhi (Figure 5).

Figure 5: Schemes of Work (B.El.Ed)

Year 1: Theory - F1.1 Child Development; F1.2 Contemporary India; C1.1 Nature of

Language; C1.2 Core Mathematics; C1.3 Core Natural Sciences; C1.4 Core Social Sciences

Year 1: Practicum - PR1.1 Performing and Fine Arts; PR1.2 Craft, Participatory Work

Year 1: Colloquia - Colloquia and Tutorials

Year 1: Enrichment - Academic Enrichment Activities

Year 2: Theory - F2.3 Cognition and Learning; F2.4 Language Acquisition; F2.5 Human

Relations and Communications; P2.1 Language Across the Curriculum

Year 2: Liberal Course (Optional-I) - O2.1 English I; O2.2 Hindi I; O2.3 Mathematics I; O2.4

Physics I; O2.5 Chemistry I; O2.6 Biology I; O2.7 History I; O2.8 Political Science I; O2.9

Geography I; O2.10 Economics I

Year 2: Practicum - PR2.3 Observing Children; PR2.4 Self-Development Workshops; PR2.5

Physical Education



Year 3: Theory - F3.6 Basic Concepts in Education; F3.7 School Planning and Management;

P3.2 Logico-Mathematics Education; P3.3 Pedagogy of Environmental Studies

Year 3: Liberal Course (Optional II) - O3.1 English II; O3.2 Hindi II; O3.3 Mathematics II;

O3.4 Physics II; O3.5 Chemistry II; O3.6 Biology II; O3.7 History II; O3.8 Political Science

II; O3.9 Geography II; O3.10 Economics II

Year 3: Practicum - SC3.1 Classroom Management; SC3.2 Material Development and

Evaluation


63



Year 4: Theory - F4.8 Curriculum Studies; F4.9 Gender and Schooling

Year 4: Optional Course - Option A: Pedagogy (one of the following) OP4.1 Language

OP4.2 Mathematics OP4.3 Natural Science OP4.4 Social Science OR Option B: (one of the

following) OL4.1 Computer Education OL4.2 Special Education

Year 4: Practicum - SI : School Internship


Year 4: Project - Project Work


This is a full and almost comprehensive account of all those elements required for pre-service

training of teachers, with the possible exceptions of three important components:

dispositional learning, learning approaches and professional development processes. We have

argued elsewhere (i.e. A Pre-Service Teacher Education and Professional Development

Programme) that a pre-service training programme should have the following content

elements (see Figure 6), though how these are ordered and arranged should be determined at

the local level and in relation to the means and capacities for implementation.

Figure 6: Pre-Service Teacher Education Modules

1. Subject Knowledge










In the syllabuses we examined (at both Bachelor and Masters levels) we noted some

omissions or missing elements in the syllabuses at a more detailed level. However, these were

not apparent, and to the same degree, in all the syllabuses. We further suggest that teacher

trainer programme syllabuses should distinguish between: learning outcomes; content

knowledge; teaching and learning approaches; and logistics of use, i.e. when, where and how

they should be used, and make appropriate connections between them.

2. Conflating Knowledge, Skills and Dispositions

A second concern we have with many of the syllabuses is the tendency to conflate




different way from a skill, and it also follows that dispositional learning is very different from


64

the learning of a skill or knowledge-set. If this is not taken into account, the teacher-trainer is

unlikely to teach the knowledge-set, skill or disposition in the most effective way. For

example, the student teacher cannot be told how they should operate effectively in the

classroom; they need to be able to perform, however inadequately, in the classroom and learn

by reflecting on mistakes they have made, and subsequently make improvements to their

performance. Another example relates to the learning outcome: ‘Develop knowledge of self,

and the capacity to project the self in a variety of educational settings, present and future’.

The student-teacher will learn very little about these two curriculum standards or learning

outcomes if they are told by a teacher-trainer that this or that is what they should think about

themselves and this is how they should project themselves in the classroom, because

dispositional learning doesn’t work in this way.

Figure Seven lists a set of learning outcomes or curriculum standards we had previously

developed for an ideal model of pre-service teacher training, and here we indicate whether

they refer to knowledge, skills or dispositions (See A Pre-Service Teacher Education and

Professional Development Programme).

Figure 7: Learning Outcomes

Master a body of knowledge (which includes cognitions, skills and dispositions), that

constitutes the content knowledge domain in teaching. (Knowledge)


dispositions) can be translated into pedagogic knowledge, and develop the capacity to

translate the one into the other. (Knowledge and Skill)

Develop understandings of the contents of the four foundational bodies of knowledge, i.e.

psychology of education, sociology of education, history of education, and philosophy of

education; and their applications in schools. (Knowledge)

Acquire knowledge of systemic and institutional educational structures in India.

(Knowledge)

Develop the capacity to undertake action research projects and to take part in teacher

learning communities. (Skill and Disposition)


communication, and relations with students. (Disposition)

Develop the capacity to apply knowledge, skills and dispositions in educational settings.

(Skill and Disposition)

Understand the ethical dimensions of common situations faced by teachers in school

settings, develop and put into operation an appropriate plan of action in the workplace in

response to an ethical dilemma, and develop the capacity to behave in ethically

appropriate ways in different circumstances. (Knowledge, Skill and Disposition)


65

Develop the capacity to appropriate and apply professional standards in real-life

educational settings. (Disposition)

Develop the capacity for independent and workplace learning over the life-span of a

professional career. (Disposition)

Understand the different models of classroom management, with particular reference to

the maintenance of discipline and maintaining a positive learning environment, and how

they are applicable in different contexts. (Knowledge)

Develop a capacity to use appropriate classroom management strategies, with particular

reference to discipline-maintenance and maintaining a positive learning environment, in

the school classroom. (Disposition)


context-specific and related to developmental stage; develop strategies for applying each

of the theories of learning in the classroom; develop the capacity to apply the various

teaching and learning strategies in the classroom; and develop those dispositions which

are required for implementation of these teaching strategies. (Knowledge, Skill and

Disposition)

Develop the capacities for, and dispositions relating to, planning. (Disposition)

Develop the capacity to read and construct educational texts, such as national, state or

district curricula, syllabi, textbooks, policy and media documents, where those capacities

refer to critical thinking, educational literacy, re-conceptualisation, and textual

application. (Skill)

Use the spoken and written language clearly, fluently and appropriately to interact in

different educational contexts; and recognise and appreciate the country’s linguistic

diversity. (Skill and Disposition)

Use arguments and reasoning when analysing situations, identifying problems,

formulating questions, expressing judgements and providing solutions to problems.

(Knowledge, Skill and Disposition)

Select, analyse, evaluate and share information from different sources, and use the

technical resources available for in-depth study and continuous extension of their

knowledge. (Knowledge and Skill)

Be familiar with the human rights and values that favour democratic life, putting them

into practice when analysing situations and making decisions responsibly and in

accordance with the law. (Knowledge, Skill and Disposition)

Recognise and value different cultural practices and processes, and contribute to

respectful coexistence with regards to social, ethnic, cultural and linguistic diversity.

(Knowledge, Skill and Disposition)


66

Develop knowledge of self; the capacity to project the self in present and future

educational settings; and the capacity to regulate the self. (Knowledge and Disposition)

It is important to distinguish between knowledge, skills, and dispositions because each of

these requires a different learning approach for the student-teacher or practitioner-teacher.

Though the distinction between knowledge and skill is not clear-cut, we can distinguish

between knowledge as conceptual, i.e. knowing that something is the case or has been the

case in the past, and skill as procedural, i.e. knowing how to do something. In many

discussions of learning it is conceptual learning that is sometimes privileged over learning

practical skills. We suggest that this privileging should not be reflected in any pre-service or

in-service programme, because this produces binary forms such as education/training,

theory/practice, and academic/vocational, which have divided education and thus have not

been particularly productive.

In addition, there is a further category of learning outcome or curriculum standard -

dispositional learning. This is learning which refers to relatively stable habits of mind and

body, sensitivities to occasion (i.e. classroom activities) and participation repertoires (i.e.

going on in practice of teaching). In addition, knowledge and skills are more likely to be

applied effectively if the appropriate dispositions have been learnt and are in place. The

important point to reiterate is that different types of learning outcome or curriculum standard,

expressed as knowledge sets, skills or dispositions, require different learning approaches, i.e.

observation, coaching, goal-orientated learning and anticipation, mentoring, peer learning,

simulation, instruction, concept formation, reflection, meta-cognition, problem-solving,

practice, or combinations of these.

3. Separating Formative and Summative Purposes of Assessment

We found in the published syllabuses some confusions about the distinction between

summative and formative assessment. For example, in the revised DECCE curriculum (2012)

produced by the NCTE, the syllabus suggests a new set of assessment categories, internal and

external, which on the surface correspond to formative and summative purposes of

assessment, but in reality are examples of summative assessment and therefore have a

different relation to learning than does formative assessment. Learning outcomes need to be

distinguished from assessment standards. It is therefore important that the outcome is not

compromised in any way by whether it can or cannot be used as a testable construct. An

assessment standard specifies those knowledge-sets, skills or dispositions which a student is

required to have, and which are expressed in such a way that they can be tested in a

controlled environment, such as an examination. The principal problem with assessment

standards is that testing a person’s knowledge, skills and dispositions is likely to have

washback effects on the original knowledge, skill or dispositional set. Instead of assessment

acting merely as a descriptive device, it also acts in a variety of ways to transform the

curriculum it is seeking to measure. A student teacher may have to reframe their knowledge,

skill or dispositional set to fit the test, and therefore the assessment of their mastery of this

knowledge, skill or dispositional set is not a determination of their competence, but a

determination of whether they have successfully understood how to rework their capacity to

fit the demands of the examination technology. As a result teaching to the test occurs and the

curriculum is narrowed to accommodate those learning outcomes which can more easily be

assessed.


67

Learning and assessment practices on a teacher-training programme can be regarded as

formative if: there is evidence of the student's achievement; that evidence is elicited,

interpreted, and used by the teacher-trainer, the individual student and their fellow students,

and such evidence is used by the teacher-trainer with the specific intention of deciding on the

subsequent steps in the teaching-and-learning process (i.e. 'instruction' with the intention of

further developing learning). The interaction between the teacher-trainer and their student(s)

is formative when it influences the learner's cognition; the teacher-trainer’s external stimulus

and feedback triggers an internal production by the individual student.

In examining pre-service training programmes, we identified a number of concerns with

regards to assessment:

The syllabuses confused formative and summative forms of assessment or at least did not


or in-service curriculum.

By confusing the two or ignoring the issue they impoverish the many acts of learning that

take place on a programme. Choosing the right people to be teachers and accrediting or

licensing those who subsequently become teachers are important issues. However, any

curriculum (either at pre-service or in-service levels) needs to focus on learning, and in

this case learning how to be a teacher (pre-service) and learning how to improve their

practice during their career (in-service).

Some of the syllabuses gave prominence to forms of assessment (i.e. examinations) which

are not suitable for assessing many of the knowledge constructs, skills and dispositions

associated with teacher training (both pre-service and in-service).

4. Learning

The syllabuses we examined, in our view, did not focus sufficiently on learning processes and

certainly none of them argued for a fit between learning outcomes or curriculum standards

and learning approaches. What this means is that inappropriate teaching and learning

approaches are used, with the consequence that training programmes (both pre-service and

in-service) become poor vehicles for delivering learning outcomes. There is a need when

specifying a teaching and learning approach, and this applies to teacher training as much as it

does to school learning, to: i) specify the circumstances in which it can be used in the specific

learning environment; ii) specify the resources and technologies needed to allow that learning

to take place; iii) specify the type of relationship between teacher and student, and student

and student, to effect that learning; iv) specify a theory of learning – how can that construct

(i.e. knowledge set, skill or disposition/inclination) be assimilated; and v) develop a theory of

transfer held by the teacher – that is, how can the learning which has taken place in a

particular set of circumstances (i.e. a classroom in a teacher training institute, with a set of

student-teachers, in a particular way, with a particular theory of learning underpinning it, and

so forth) transfer to other environments in other places and times (including school

classrooms). By doing this, teacher-trainers avoid the problems associated with didactic,

unproductive and sterile forms of teaching.

Here is a range of teaching and learning mechanisms or action sets:


68

Figure 8: Forms of Learning

1. Observation

2. Coaching


4. Mentoring

5. Peer Learning

6. Simulation

7. Instruction


9. Reflection

10. Meta-Cognition

11. Problem-Solving

12. Practice

5. Theory-to-Practice and Practice-to-Theory-to-Practice Relations

This issue was addressed in all the syllabuses we examined, though perhaps not explicitly in

every case. It has been suggested that there is an over-emphasis on educational theory and a

lack of relevance of much of this theory to the practice of teaching. Theory-to-practice

activities are generally more prominent at pre-service levels and practice-to-theory-to-

practice activities are more prominent at in-service levels. There is a need therefore in pre-

service and in-service syllabuses for these relations to be made more explicit. For example, at

in-service level, practice-to-theory-to-practice relations can be addressed by institutionalising

processes of action research and teacher learning communities. Here are some practical steps

which lead to the implementation of these action research approaches and the setting up of

teacher learning communities:

Teachers familiarize themselves with the new ideas, their objectives, rationale, contents

and procedures and experiment with these elements in their actual classrooms. They

engage in processes of developing their professional practice and at the same time adapt,

refine and contribute to the development of the curriculum which they are implementing.

Teachers reflect on their past and current teaching practice.

They reflect upon their professional practices, routine activities and values in their

institutional, socio-cultural, economic and political context, i.e. from different angles and

perspectives.

Practitioners share teaching material and exchange views and experiences of particular

pedagogic strategies with peers.

They look beyond their own classroom through peer coaching, team teaching and

classroom observation. Again, they can learn from others and contribute to the learning of

their peers.

Teachers are introduced to and employ methods of analyzing classroom interaction and

communication in relation to different contexts and constraints.

They may seek feedback from their students who are a great but often underrated source

of teacher development, for example, through individual and group journals and

discussions. They also monitor students’ development and learning.


69

Practitioners connect with the existing knowledge base and research either through

professional or academic publications that relate to specific relevant issues, such as for

example, classroom management or student motivation. These readings could be shared

as a stimulus for professional dialogue among peers.

Teachers engage in collaborative inquiry and this contributes to improvements to their

classroom practice. This is what we mean by action research processes.

The professional isolation of teachers limits access to new ideas and better solutions to

classroom problems, drives stress inwards to fester and accumulate, fails to recognize and

praise success, and permits incompetence to exist and persist to the detriment of students,

colleagues and the teachers. Isolation allows, even if it does not always produce,

conservatism and resistance to innovation in teaching.

Professional learning is both a process internal to the individual and social, as it requires

the participation in socially organized practices in particular communities. Effective

professional development should therefore not only encourage reflection and lifelong

learning on an individual level but also collaboration through Teacher Learning

Communities.

Such communities share and critically interrogate their practices in a collaborative,

inclusive and growth promoting fashion and ultimately pursue the common goal of

improving their effectiveness for the benefit of their students.

Teacher Learning Communities are a non-threatening venue allowing teachers to notice

weaknesses in their content and pedagogic knowledge and get help with these

weaknesses.

Teacher Learning Communities are embedded in the day-to-day realities of teachers’

classrooms and schools, and thus provide a time and place where teachers can hear real-

life stories from colleagues that show the benefits of adopting these techniques in

situations similar to their own. Without that kind of local reassurance, there is little

chance teachers will risk upsetting the prevailing classroom contract.

As teachers adjust their practice, they are risking both disorder and less-than-

accomplished performance on the part of their students and themselves. Being a member

of a community of teacher-learners engaged together in a change process provides the

support teachers need to take such risks. In short, Teacher Learning Communities provide

a forum for supporting teachers in converting the curricular reform into ‘lived’ practices

within their classrooms.

Collaborative enquiry and learning has great transformative potential as it involves larger

sections of the teaching force and enhances their capacity to deal with change.

School-embedded Teacher Learning Communities are sustained over time, allowing

change to occur developmentally.

The collaborative enquiry is an inclusive activity and thus contributes to the generation

and maintenance of a learning organisation.

Collaborative enquiry creates professional knowledge that is potentially relevant to larger

populations of teachers and can hence be fruitfully transferred to other schools.

More analysis of in-service training programmes and theory-to-practice and practice-to-

theory relations is provided in the Institute of Education’s earlier report on teacher training: A

Pre-Service Teacher Education and Professional Development Programme.

6. Detailed Examination of the Syllabuses

Here we provide some general comments about B.Ed, M.Ed and B.El.Ed programmes.


70

B.Ed Programmes

We found many examples of structured arrangements relating to professional learning

(research, participation in the community, an understanding of standards, ethical concerns

and dilemmas, plans of action, and career development). Coverage of the philosophy,

psychology, sociology and history of education seems to be common to these syllabuses.

However, these subjects are taught independently and the linkages between them are not

always addressed.

There were some examples of teaching professional dispositions but these were not

consistently observed in the programmes we looked at. When dispositional learning is

addressed, it is not clear how it is actually achieved in practice and how it is assessed.

The development of lifelong learning by using available resources and networks was

addressed through training in working with the community, either through internship or

some subject courses. Sometimes the importance of lifelong learning was mentioned as

part of the vision of the institution offering the course (e.g. Delhi University) but then

subsequently this was not clearly reflected in the training. Planning for lifelong learning

was not observed.

The most common set of compulsory courses are Education in Emerging Indian Society,

Philosophy and Psychology in Education (normally including both Indian traditional

thinkers and Western thinkers), School Management (sometimes in electives), Computer

Education, Environmental Education, and Internship. The availability of courses on

teaching techniques is not consistent. Research focused subjects are often not compulsory

and research is often included in a psychology course.

The number and type of optional courses varies among the programmes as well as their

credit load. In general, courses with subject-focuses are available. In addition, special

education, guidance and counselling, research, and value based education, such as peace

and human rights, courses are offered.

In general, courses seem to be taught almost independently from one another without

clear linkages between them. Course contents reflect the contents to be covered rather

than making links between contents and teaching approaches.

The ratio of theoretical to practical courses varies depending on how different elements of

the curriculum are categorised, i.e. 'theory' versus 'practicum'. Although some

programmes have up to 50% 'practicum' learning, the school experience generally reflects

about 25% of the overall requirement. The duration of internships is only about two

weeks and they are often organised toward the end of the overall training programme.

This may not give students the chance to reflect on their teaching experience, to

strengthen theory-practice links. Many programmes address knowledge or understanding

of certain concepts and ideas as well as skills, but they often ignore dispositions, and it is

not clear how dispositional learning is assessed as part of the learning process.

Given the importance of diversity, the focus on learning about and managing diversity in

classroom is limited. It is occasionally covered in special education (optional) or

psychology courses.

Because of the way courses are categorised into 'theory' and 'practicum', it is often not

clear which courses are conducted inside or outside the teacher training schools. While

the opportunities for actual teaching in school are limited, many teaching practices take

place inside the teacher training schools. For school internship, there is a dearth of tutors

and supervisors to mentor student teachers, which helps to link the training site to the

internship site.


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Important learning approaches, such as meta-learning, are neglected.

Most of the courses do not emphasise group work/assessment.

Some courses seem to take into account the assessment of learning processes but it is not

clear how this is reflected in assessment tools or testing approaches. School internship

involves keeping records of the student’s experience but it is not clear how this is used to

assess learning processes. A focus on learning processes needs to be reflected in the

learning outcomes, teaching approaches, and assessment tools. Internal assessment needs

to focus more on learning and less on external assessment for knowledge based testing.

Programmes often provide courses on school administration and management but none of

the programmes offer administrator pathways.

M.Ed Programmes

We found many examples of structured arrangements related to professional learning

(research, participation in the community, an understanding of standards, ethical concerns

and dilemmas, plans of action, and career development). Coverage of the philosophy,

psychology, sociology and history of education seems to be common to these syllabuses.

However, these subjects are taught independently and the linkages between them do not

seem to be addressed.

Besides Gujarat University, the specific objectives of the M.Ed courses were not clearly

defined. In terms of the knowledge and skills stated in the objectives and curriculum, it is

not clear how the M.Ed programmes are different from the B.Ed programmes.

Teacher values and critical thinking were often addressed but strategic thinking is rarely

reflected in course objectives, contents, teaching approaches as well as assessment

strategies. Learning of 'strategy' is mentioned but not 'strategic thinking'.

The syllabus from Gujarat University mentions professional development as part of a

programme; however, this is not clearly reflected in its learning outcomes and teaching

approaches.

The compulsory content focuses to a greater extent on research in comparison with B.Ed

programmes. The work experience of IASE includes coordinating a programme for

teachers.

These Masters programmes focus on both theory and practice, and this can be seen in the

course objectives as well as the curriculum structures. There is not a consistent approach

in the syllabuses we examined to teaching, learning outcomes and assessment methods.

The value focused courses in Gujarat University are unique in the way that they

encourage learners to reflect on knowledge as it becomes part of the curriculum. In

general, however, it is difficult to identify approaches in teaching and assessment that

connect theory and practice and identify processes of learning.

Inclusive content is most apparent in Gujarat University, with a focus on career guidance

and sociological foundations. This university however does not offer a separate 'special

education' course.

The contents and objectives of internship, though not clearly stated, seem to focus on

actual experience in schools rather than identifying and learning about the links between

what is learned in the university and school-based experience, to allow both aspects to

complement each other.

Courses sometimes focus on group work as a concept and as a teaching approach but they

do not practice it in their own teaching and do not include it in the assessments that are

made. Course tutors sometimes focus on continuous assessment or sessional work aimed

at assessing the learning process. However, it is not clear that a distinction is maintained


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between formative and summative processes of assessment, and thus learning

opportunities, we suspect, are sometimes lost.

The programme objectives at Gujarat University identify, amongst others, developing the

capacity of high level education administrators. The programme does not, however,

provide the option of specific pathways for education administrators.

The Bachelor of Elementary Education Programme (B.El.Ed.)

The Bachelor of Elementary Education Programme is a four-year integrated degree

programme offered after the senior secondary stage of schooling in the University of Delhi. It

is an attempt to integrate the study of subject knowledge, human development, pedagogical

knowledge and communication skills. At present the programme is being offered in eight

women colleges. This is a highly successful programme that fulfils many of the requirements

of successful pre-service provision, at least as this can be discerned at the level of curriculum

documentation. A closer examination of the programme would require empirical study of the

practice itself, that is, how it is actually delivered.

The programme offers both compulsory and optional theory, compulsory practicum courses

and a comprehensive school internship experience. The student-teacher is expected to study

nineteen theory courses during the four-year programme of study. Theory courses include

study through projects and related field work. The total weightage of the theory courses in the

B.El.Ed. programme is 1,250 marks out of an aggregate of 2,200 marks.

Foundation courses on the programme offer an in-depth study of the process of child

development and learning; how the education of children is influenced by the social, political,

economic and cultural contexts in which they grow; techniques and processes of school

organisation and management; educational theory, and issues and concepts specific to

elementary education. In addition to developing theoretical constructs and frameworks of

analysis, these courses also aim to cultivate skills to build relationships and to communicate

as teachers.

Core courses offer the student-teacher an opportunity to reconstruct concepts learnt in school

and to integrate them within a multi-disciplinary perspective. These also form the foundation

for pedagogy courses. Pedagogy courses provide a study of pedagogical theory to develop

skills specific to the teaching of young children. Liberal courses offer studies in a specific

discipline with academic rigour. They are designed to enrich the knowledge base, to allow for

further study in the discipline and in the pedagogies in which student-teachers opt to

specialize. The optional courses offered in the fourth year provide specialised support to the

student-teacher.

Practicum courses are designed to allow a variety of experiences with children within and

outside the elementary school. In addition, student-teachers acquire a wide range of

professional skills including drama, craft, developing curricular material, classroom

management, systematic observations, documentation and evaluation. Practicum courses

carry a total weightage of 950 marks over the four years of study.

Performing and Fine Arts, Crafts and Physical Education are integrated into the B.El.Ed.

curriculum in the same spirit as they should be in the elementary school curriculum. They

enable the student-teachers to experience and understand the learning process in a holistic

manner, rather than confining it to the ‘cognitive’ domain.


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The School Contact Programme establishes the first contact of student-teachers with children.

While initiating contact with elementary schools, student-teachers engage with issues of

planning and organizing creative activities for children within the school. They also explore

ways of organizing meaningful interaction with children outside the school. Student-teachers

get the opportunity to develop the ability to relate, communicate and develop a positive

attitude towards children and teaching.

The activity of observing children is designed to help establish a crucial link between

theoretical concepts and ground realities. Through systematic observation and study of

children in different settings, the student-teacher evolves scientific ways of understanding

children while also verifying theoretical constructs. Through a process of self-reflection and

analysis in self-development workshops, students sharpen their abilities and learn to question,

and to be critical and reflective.

The Classroom Management and Material Development programme begins with

systematised observations and analysis of pedagogic practices in conventional and innovative

settings. The student-teacher is encouraged to develop their pedagogic practice so that it

addresses crucial concerns of classroom management, design and choice of activities,

material development and evaluation.

Placement in schools forms a major component of the fourth year of the B.El.Ed. programme.

Student interns actively engage in teaching elementary school children. Systematic feedback

and evaluation is provided by supervisors. Functioning as regular teachers, the interns attempt

to translate their knowledge-base and professional skills into reflective classroom practice.

Student-teachers are required to take up projects based on themes arising out of their school

experience. This enables them to acquire basic research skills of systematic observation,

documentation and analysis. An integral part of the B.El.Ed programme, tutorials help

student-teachers to build connections between theory, observations and classroom teaching.

Student-teachers are expected to present term papers and participate in discussions. Colloquia

are structured to include activities on children’s literature, story-telling, drama and music;

organising teaching and learning resource centres and seminar presentations of school

experiences. Colloquia are an essential part of all the four years of study. Finally, seminars

and workshops are an integral part of the programme of study. It offers student-teachers the

opportunity to interact with faculty of diverse disciplines from within and outside the college.

The programme has many strengths. It separates out and clearly distinguishes between

subject knowledge, pedagogical knowledge and practice-based knowledge and skills. It

suggests a dynamic and productive form of pedagogy with an emphasis on reflection and

practice. For example, the programme is:

… designed to compel the teacher-educator to shift her role from one of giving answers

and providing a technical-rationalist view of knowledge to elevating ambiguity and

helping students develop from a position of dependence to autonomy.

It treats seriously the need to connect theory and practice and thus translate theory into

practice, by providing a possible mechanism for doing this. It offers a structured and

progressive route into the practicum and provides an account of the means for doing this. Its


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contents (usually expressed as knowledge, skills and dispositions) cover most of the required

areas for teacher training.

However, there are some weaknesses in the design of the curriculum and these mirror the

concerns we have expressed about teacher training (at both pre-service and in-service levels)

at a variety of sites in the pilot states/districts. These are as follows:

In the syllabus we found some omissions of important content elements. For example,

there are few references to dispositional learning, nor is there any real discussion of

professional (including ethical) standards, and how to use these at the site of practice.

We have already suggested that teacher trainer programme syllabuses should distinguish

between: learning outcomes; content knowledge; teaching and learning approaches; and

logistics of use, i.e. when and where they should be used, and make appropriate

connections between them. This is an area of concern.

Another concern in the syllabus is a tendency to conflate knowledge, skills and

dispositions, and to omit references to teaching and learning approaches which are

appropriate for these three different elements. We consider that this is an important

curriculum principle, and neglect of it results in didactic and unproductive pedagogic

practices here and round the world.

The syllabus does not specify how formative and summative forms of assessment work in

different ways, and how each is important in any pre-service curriculum. By confusing

the two or ignoring the issue learning is subsequently impoverished. Any curriculum

(either at pre-service or in-service levels) needs to focus on learning, and in this case

learning how to be a teacher (pre-service). There is a tendency in this syllabus to give


assessing many of the knowledge constructs, skills and dispositions associated with pre-

service teacher training.

This syllabus we feel did not pay enough attention to learning processes and certainly did

not argue for a fit between learning outcomes or curriculum standards and learning

approaches. What this means is that inappropriate teaching and learning approaches may

be used, with the consequence that training programmes become poor vehicles for

delivering learning outcomes. If this is done, teacher-educators avoid the problems

associated with unproductive and sterile forms of teaching.

7. Model Curricula

We also looked at a series of model curricula developed by the NCTE. These included: the

revised B.Ed Curriculum and the revised DECCE Curriculum.


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Bachelor of Education (B.Ed.)

The B.Ed (secondary) programme is designed for an annual pattern of implementation.

However, it can be reorganized in a semester pattern consisting of two semesters of about

eighteen weeks each including admission, preparatory holidays and examination, assuming

six working days in a week. Reorganisation into semester pattern will have to take in to

account the scheduling of the internship in teaching and the courses which are preparatory to

internship. It consists of five areas of study: Area A: Foundations of Education (A1

Education and Development, A2 Education: An Evolutionary Perspective, and A3

Contemporary Issues and Concerns in Secondary Education); Area B: Pedagogical

Knowledge (B1 Learner and Learning, B2 Teaching: Approaches and Strategies, B3

Assessment for Learning, B4 Learning Resources, and B5 Classroom Organisation and

Management); Area C: Pedagogical Content Knowledge (C1 school subject-1, C2 school

subject-2); Area D: School Based Experiences (D1 Initiatory School Experiences, and D2

Internship in Teaching); and Area E: Add on Courses (E1 Language Proficiency Workshop,

and E2 ICT – Skill Development

The model programme has the following general objectives: i) The student teacher

understands the central concepts, tools of inquiry, and structures of the disciplines and can

create learning experiences that make these aspects of subject matter meaningful; ii) The

student teacher understands how children learn and develop, how they differ in their

approaches to learning and creates learning opportunities that are adapted to diverse learners

and learning contexts; iii) The student teacher plans learning experiences that are based on

the learner’s existing proficiency, interests, experiences including misconceptions and errors;

and an understanding of how students come to view, develop and make sense of subject

matter contained in the learning experiences; iv) The student teacher uses knowledge of

effective verbal, non-verbal and media communication techniques to foster active inquiry,

collaboration, and supportive interaction in the classroom; v) The student teacher understands

and uses formal and informal assessment strategies to evaluate and ensure the continuous

intellectual, social and physical development of the learner; and vi) The student teacher

develops self identity as a teacher through school based experiences and reflective practices

that continually evaluate the effects of his/her choices and actions

In an attempt to move away from didactic and theoretical forms of delivery, student-teachers

are required on the programme to engage with the material in a variety of ways: i) Lecture-

Discussion, where the teacher educator provides a platform for a review of experiences, and

an opportunity to develop insights into the disciplinary knowledge base and relate them to

school realities; ii) Focused Reading and Reflection, where student teachers would be led into

focused readings on various themes with questions inviting reflections either individually or

in small groups; iii) Observation-Documentation-Analysis, which comprises simulated and

real school/community experiences arranged for the student teachers to observe, document in

the form of record/journal/diary and analyze with an intention to revisit their own

understandings or develop new insights; iv) Seminars where students undertake

thematic/topical study, prepare write-up and make seminar presentations, followed by open-

house discussion with a view to enhance their knowledge base and repertory of skills in the

area of presentation; v) Case study involving an in-depth and comprehensive study of a single

or few cases would be taken up as per the guidelines provided and submit a study report; vi)

A School Based Practical, which comprised observing an experienced practitioner, planning-

implementing-receiving feedback from peers and supervisor and reflection on one’s own

performance would influence development of insights, beliefs and attitudes necessary for a


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teacher; vii) Workshops, involving a series of learning experiences in a given performance

area are provided, engaging them in a modelling-practice-feedback sequence with a view to

developing specified competencies required for a teacher.

We have already identified some possible weaknesses of syllabuses such as these; for

example, weak connections being made between curricular objectives and learning

approaches. (This doesn’t mean that teachers do not implicitly make appropriate connections

in their actual practice; what it means is that such connections are neither properly articulated

nor theorised at the level of the teacher training curriculum.). A further point in relation to

learning is that the learning approaches specified above lack detail in relation to what they are

and how they can be applied, with the consequence that they either become detached from

actual practice (e.g. teacher educators describe their practice as progressive but in fact operate

with didactic and unproductive pedagogies) or they are both misdescribed and misapplied.

An example of this detail is provided below in relation to peer learning (see A Pre-Service

Teacher Education and Professional Development Programme). This is defined as learning

from and with the learner’s peers. The other forms of learning comprise unequal relations

between the teacher and the learner. Here the assumption is made that the learning

relationship is between equals, and thus a different form of learning is implied. Examples of

this type of learning include: affective support – being offered emotional support if learning

proves to be difficult and this is always a better form of support if given by someone who is

going through the same learning process; dyadic performance confrontations – learning is

provoked by confrontational exchanges between students so that each student can test their

theories, ideas and constructs against those held by learners engaging in the same form of

learning; pair-problem-solving – here learning is enabled through cooperation between two

learners of roughly equal standing, so that in a problem-solving exercise, better solutions are

forthcoming because there are two problem-solvers rather than one; reciprocal peer tutoring

– non-expert tutoring between equals has the advantage of each person being able to make

their own evaluation of the advice being offered unencumbered by status or hierarchy; and

scripted cooperative dyads – here peer engagement is focused on the joint production of a

script, artefact, performance or text with the result that alternative and new

interpretations/readings are forthcoming.

The Revised DECCE Curriculum

The proposed learning outcomes or standards of the two-year Diploma in Early Childhood

and Early Primary Teacher Education are that the student-teacher at the end of the

programme will be able to:

discuss the rights and developmental needs of children from conception to the age of

eight years;

analyse and reflect on the perspectives, priorities and challenges of early childhood and

early primary education and the inter-relationship between the two;

demonstrate insight into the interdependent processes of child development and learning

and the implications for planning the curriculum;

plan and implement such tasks to meet children’s needs for health, protection, nutrition,

education and development in age appropriate and contextually relevant ways;

demonstrate skill sets appropriate for planning and transacting a play and activity-based

learning curriculum from pre-school to early primary grades;


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network with parents, community and other organisations to generate awareness and seek

this involvement in ECCE programmes;

provide appropriate interventions to meet the requirements of an inclusive classroom;

adapt the programme in accordance with the language and cultural diversity that

compromise the Indian social fabric and many co-existing social realities and its

challenges in the classroom; and

use local talents and skills and resources along with contemporary use of computers in the

classroom.

There is an aspect of this proposed curriculum that successfully illustrates an important

element of learning how to be a teacher, and this is the sequence of learning elements in

relation to the practicum specified as a compulsory part of the syllabus:

1. The learner (in this case, the student-teacher) observes a teacher in action and this is a live

model involving a demonstration or acting out of the behaviours to be learnt.

2. Away from the real-life setting the student-teacher takes part in a simulation of the

activity (Simulations can be produced through computer games, role-plays, scenarios,

presentations and affective and conceptual modelling. The purpose of this learning

process is to simulate a real event, and this is to allow the person or persons taking part in

that simulation to explore it, to experiment within it, to understand the process, to begin

the process of internalization, to experience albeit in a limited way the emotions and

feelings that would normally accompany the experience in real-life, and fundamentally, to

allow learning to take place through trial and error and making mistakes in safe situations,

which do not have the consequences they would have in real-life situations.)

3. A planning process takes place to prepare for a transfer of those skills and dispositions to

real life settings, in this case, the classroom, and this involves reflective and self-

evaluative forms of learning.

4. The student-teacher then practices those skills and dispositions in real-life settings but in

a limited way and is supported in doing this (Practice is the act of rehearsing a behaviour

over and over again, or engaging in an activity again and again. This reinforces, enhances

and deepens the learning associated with the behaviour or activity.)

5. The student-teacher then undertakes a full internship which incorporates all the elements

of actual practice.

8. Capacity Development

As we began by noting, there are extensive challenges facing teacher training provision in

India. It is a tribute to the commitment to improvement that institutions and government have

opened themselves to critical and searching scrutiny. In this document we have focused on

what needs to be done. We do not doubt the commitment, energy and determination of those

with whom we are working to bring about change and improvement. The key to providing

capacity at teacher-training level and then subsequently to developing capacity at school level

(through pre-service and in-service teacher training) is to identify a group of people in the

training institutes who already have those characteristics (expressed as knowledge sets, skills

and dispositions) which contribute to successful teacher training; and then provide the

resources, opportunities and qualification outlets for this cadre of trainers of teacher-trainers

to create productive learning environments. We suggest that those trainers of teacher-trainers

should have:


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school-based experience, and teacher-training experience, so that they can identify

appropriate learning experiences for their students, based on experience rather than

idealisation;

a familiarity with the sites of learning both at teacher training institute and school levels,

including taking part in teacher learning communities and engaging in action research

processes;

a capacity to customise their teaching and learning strategies so that they reflect prior

knowledge and experience of those teacher-trainers who are acting as learners in a formal

learning environment;

a capacity to experiment in their classrooms;

a capacity to engage in processes of professional development;

a capacity to develop a teacher-training curriculum, which includes curriculum standards,

content knowledge; teaching and learning approaches; and logistics of use, i.e. when and

where they should be used, and to translate this into a learning experience for their

students.

A Model Curriculum

A model M.Ed curriculum for training the teacher-trainers has been developed by the NCTE.

This curriculum is committed to an holistic approach to learning, the use of a constructivist

pedagogy and reflective practice, an integration of theory and practice dimensions,

comprehensive evaluation strategies, the use of androgogic approaches such as experiential

learning, field interaction, reflective practice and the teachers’ own experience as the basis

for the training, field-testing of concepts, interdisciplinary enquiry and the re-

conceptualisation of the development of learning resources. It has the following aims:

to integrate ICT to training transactions;

to develop professional skills to conduct/operationalise internship of teaching, practicals,

in-service training programmes, curriculum and textbook development, comprehensive

evaluation, management of education and to provide leadership to educational

institutions;

to reflect critically on issues involving problem-solving;

to develop social sensitivity and finer human qualities;

to develop a rational conceptualisation of educational research and statistics;

to integrate theory and practice.

The contents of the programme are as follows:

Semester One

A) Core Courses – Education as a Field of Study; Learner and the Learning Process;

Methodology of Educational Research.

B) Specialization (two paper from any one area) –


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Group a) Elementary Education: Elementary Teacher Education; Early Childhood

Care and Education.

Group b) Secondary and Higher Secondary Education: Preparation of Secondary and

H.S. Teachers; Curriculum and Evaluation.

Group c) Teacher Education: Pre-service and In-Service Teacher Education;

Pedagogy of Science Education; Pedagogy of Mathematics Education; Pedagogy of

Mathematics Education; Pedagogy of Language Education; Pedagogy of Social

Science Education.

Group d) Distance Education and Open Learning: Foundations of Distance Education;

E-Learning.

C) Foundations of Research Proposal

D) Field Experiences and Practicum

Semester Two

A) Core Courses –Process of Education; Psychology for Social and Individual Development;

Statistical Methods for Data Analysis.

B) Specialization (two papers from any one area) –

Group e) Curriculum Studies: Concepts and Issues in Curriculum Development;

Curriculum Transaction and Evaluation.

Group f) Guidance and Counselling: Educational Guidance and Counselling;

Assessment and Appraisal in Guidance and Counselling.

Group g) Policy, Planning, Management and Financing of Education: Policy and

Policy research; Planning, Management and Financing of Education.

Group h) Inclusive Education: Education for Children with Diverse Needs; Education

of Disadvantaged Groups.

Group i) Educational Technology and ICT: Educational Technology; ICT in

Education.

C) Dissertation

D) Field Experience and Transaction

E) Viva Voce

This is a comprehensive programme for training the teacher-trainers. It has adopted radical

and productive forms of assessment and this will have an influence on what is learnt and how

it is learnt. However, there is little in the curriculum document about learning (expressed as

transactions in the text), except in so far as constructivist, holistic and androgogic approaches

are recommended. This allows the possibility that those transactions are conducted in

didactic, transmissive and unproductive ways. There needs to be in the curriculum itself a

description of, for example, the most appropriate relations there should be between teacher

and student during these transactions in order for those constructivist, holistic and androgogic

approaches to be realised in practice. An example of this follows.

A general model of teaching and learning is characterised as a scaffolding process.

Scaffolding essentially means an aid which is developed and offered to the learner by a more

experienced person in support of the learning process with a focus on learning objectives (i.e.

learning outcomes or curriculum standards). It has a number of characteristics: it is a

temporary support; it is offered to the learner in relation to specific tasks that they are asked

to perform, those tasks being derived from the learning outcomes; the learner is unlikely to

complete the task without it; and the scaffold is provided to the student by the teacher in their


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capacity as 'expert' in relation to the satisfactory completion of the task (cf. van der Pol, et al.

2010).

Scaffolding involves the following processes (Tharp and Gallimore, 2001): modelling, i.e.

offering behaviour for imitation; feedback, i.e. providing information on a performance as it

compares to a standard; instructing, i.e. requesting specific actions; questioning, i.e.

requesting a verbal response that helps by producing a mental operation that the learner

cannot or would not produce alone; cognitive structuring, i.e. providing explanations, and

task structuring, i.e. chunking, segregating, sequencing, or otherwise structuring a task into or

from components. While almost any learning aid can be a scaffold, scaffolding in teaching

takes place only when the teacher provides specific help that meets the following criteria:

contingency, i.e. the teacher’s support is attuned to the student’s current state of

understanding; the student accomplishes the task with the teacher’s situated help, and the

student performs the task independently; fading, i.e. the level and amount of support is

gradually withdrawn from the student; and transfer of responsibility, i.e. the student takes

increasing control of their own learning in the performance of a task.

The efficacy of scaffolding is influenced by the teacher’s thoughtful combination of

techniques and tasks, and the extent to which the teacher provides their students with multiple

chances to engage with the relevant concepts and ‘high-order’ thinking processes. Teachers

need to appreciate the different levels of scaffolding (i.e. intense, moderate, and minimum)

and become skilled in applying them accordingly, providing more support when a particular

student struggles with a specific task and reducing help as they collect evidence that the

student is now proficient in that task (Leat and Nichols, 1997). Technology-based scaffolds

are regarded as valuable to support procedural tasks and to offer suitable cues for meta-

cognitive processing. They also help by freeing up some of the teacher’s attention in the

training institute classroom, allowing them to give more attention to their students’ reasoning.

This allows a greater degree of personalisation in the learning process.

8. The Combined Use of Face-to-Face and Online Components (Blended

Learning)

In order to overcome physical barriers and thereby increase the accessibility to professional

development, dialogue and exchange between teachers, programmes of professional

development can combine face-to-face and online components. The inclusion of a learning

platform has several advantages:

Current research in teacher development clearly stresses the importance of teacher-

centred, individualized coaching that takes place in real world institutional settings.

Online professional development is poised to meet these demands as it offers flexibility,

choice and self-reflection. It can thereby have a more direct and positive impact on actual

teaching practices.

Networks created through online platforms allow teachers to relate to each other beyond

the confines of their discipline, level and school context. The established collaborative

network will thereby amplify the possibilities of community building and hence of

learning from and communicating with others from a variety of different backgrounds and

contexts.


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Apart from learning about curricular objectives and elements, about material development

and general and disciplinary specific pedagogic strategies, teacher trainers can also

acquire computer and internet skills in the process. This will enable them to

start integrating technology into their own classrooms.

Moreover, they adopt the perspective of the learner in the process which in turn increases

their empathy for their students and thus helps to raise the quality of their instruction.

While there are many advantages of the inclusion of a blended learning component into a

professional development programme, some caveats have to be made: the design and

maintenance of the platform requires a considerable amount of work and hence signifies

costs. In addition to this, computers or internet access may be limited, and teachers and

students may not be willing to use this modality.

4.3. Conclusions

This document has been prepared as part of a technical cooperation exercise by the Institute

of Education (IOE), University of London, for the project, International Best Practices

Exchange leading to Innovation in Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA). The purpose of this

document is to identify issues relating to pre- and in-service teacher training in India; and it

complements the Institute of Education’s earlier report on teacher training: A Pre-Service

Teacher Education and Professional Development Programme. We examined syllabuses

from institutions within the pilot states, which include Delhi, Gujarat, Rajasthan, Himachal

Pradesh, and Jammu and Kashmir. We also looked at model curricula developed by the

NCTE. These included: the revised B.Ed Curriculum, the revised DECCE Curriculum, and

the revised M.Ed Curriculum. Specific programmes referred to in this review are the

Bachelor of Education (B.Ed), the Master of Education (M.Ed) and The Bachelor of

Elementary Education Programme (B.El.Ed.)



process. For example, we refer above to another challenge facing teacher training, that of up-

skilling or capacity-building, and this clearly requires more than a reworking of the

curriculum document to which the teacher trainer works. Any teacher-trainer will always find

it difficult to cope with all the pressures that are placed on them in the delivery of a

programme, and further to this, a curriculum is a framework and this requires complex

choices to be made by the teacher trainer during delivery. There is much to praise in the

coherence of the vision displayed in the curricula we examined, as there is in the National

Curriculum Framework for Teaching Education (National Council for Teacher Education,

New Delhi, 2009/2010) and other important government documents.

In this document we have suggested the following:

1. A pre-service training programme should have the following content elements: subject

knowledge, educational foundations, educational infrastructure, dispositional learning,

classroom management, pedagogy and learning approaches, planning classroom

activities, classroom task management, reading and creating educational texts, and

professional development processes; though how these are ordered and arranged should


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be determined at the local level and in relation to the means and capacities for

implementation.

2. A second concern we have with many of the syllabuses is the tendency to conflate




different way from a skill, and it also follows that dispositional learning is very different

from the learning of a skill or piece of knowledge. If this is not taken into account, the

teacher-trainer is unlikely to teach the knowledge set, skill or disposition in the most

effective way. (Dispositional learning refers to relatively stable habits of mind and body,

sensitivities to occasion (i.e. classroom activities) and participation repertoires (i.e. going

on in practice of teaching).)

3. The syllabuses confused formative and summative forms of assessment or at least did not


or in-service curriculum. By confusing the two or ignoring the issue they impoverish the

many acts of learning that take place on a programme. Choosing the right people to be

teachers and accrediting or licensing those who subsequently become teachers are

important issues. However, any curriculum (either at pre-service or in-service levels)

needs to focus on learning, and in this case learning how to be a teacher (pre-service) and

learning how to improve their practice (in-service). Some of the syllabuses gave


assessing many of the knowledge constructs, skills and dispositions associated with

teacher training (both pre-service and in-service).

4. The syllabuses we examined, in our view, did not focus sufficiently on learning processes

and certainly none of them argued for a fit between learning outcomes or curriculum

standards and learning approaches. What this means is that inappropriate teaching and

learning approaches are likely to be used, with the consequence that training programmes

(both pre-service and in-service) become poor vehicles for delivering learning outcomes.

5. It has been suggested that there is an over-emphasis on educational theory and a lack of

relevance of much of this theory to the practice of teaching. Theory-to-practice activities

are generally more prominent at pre-service levels and practice-to-theory-to-practice

activities are more prominent at in-service levels. There is a need therefore in pre-service

and in-service syllabuses for these relations to be made more explicit.

A syllabus does not reflect what is taught and how it is taught on a programme of study in

any precise sense. Changes and amendments to the syllabus and to what was originally

intended by those who write these syllabuses are inevitable as teacher trainers (at both pre-

service and in-service levels) adapt the available material to suit their purposes and to fit their

current capacities as they deliver these programmes. Secondly, missing elements and

weaknesses in the syllabuses require teachers to fill these gaps and correct these weaknesses,

in the context of their own teaching practice and in terms of any implementation constraints

they encounter. In order, therefore, to fully understand teacher training practices, there needs

to be a thorough empirical examination of the practice itself.


83

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