tec_15_-_conference_brochure_low_res

Day 3: Sunday 1 March
Time Venue Activity
09.00 – 10.00 Main Hall PLENARY
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09.00 – 10.00 Main Hall Plenary: A fine balance: English language teacher education in
21st-century India, Alison Barrett
Over the last five years, the role of the teacher educator has risen to
prominence in India and beyond. Through the input and support that a
teacher educator provides to practising classroom teachers, the potential
contribution that she can make to achieving quality in the classroom is
immense. But to be effective, a teacher educator has to balance the
priorities of a number of different stakeholders within the system and she
needs to ensure that her approach is based on sound pedagogical
principles, is relevant, appropriate and feasible. Not only this, but a
teacher educator must balance what she knows from the evidence she
has gained from academic research and experience with the specific
realities and needs of the context within which she works. For example,
she knows that teachers must be motivated and supported to become
self-directed learners, but how can they be when they have no time,
resources or experience of autonomous learning? How can in-service
programmes move away from one-off face-to-face teacher training input
to holistic programmes of continuing professional development where
knowledge and experience is co-constructed rather than force-fed? How
can technology be best exploited to facilitate improvements in quality
teacher education when infrastructure is new and teachers ICT skills are
low? How can teacher educators balance the need for data which drives
accountability with data that drives improvements? This session will
explore the tensions that result from trying to balance what we know
theoretically with what can actually be done, and recommend some
practical ways to move forward in the 21st century.
Alison Barrett is Director English for Education Systems, South Asia,
British Council, and responsible for overseeing English language
development programmes in partnership with the public sector across the
region.
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10.15 – 11.30 Various PARALLEL SESSION 1
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10.15 – 11.15 Main Hall Towards understanding teacher motivation for professional
development, Krishna K Dixit
The aim of this paper is to explore some key factors affecting English
teacher motivation for professional development. The paper is based on a
study involving 100 teachers working at secondary, higher secondary and
tertiary levels. The findings indicate that support, incentives, recognition,
perceptions about professional development, career structure play a
crucial role in sustaining and cultivating teachers’ motivation for
professional development.
Krishna K Dixit is a teacher and teacher educator. He has an MA (English
Literature) and MEd (ELT) from Marjon (UK) on Hornby Trust Scholarship.
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