primary school teachers the twists and turns of ... - ERU Consultants

Version 20 Oct 08, edited finalThis BookletThis booklet starts from the assumption that teachers are a product of the system thatselects, prepares, supports and evaluates them. Teachers do not enter the professionknowing what to do: they learn what is expected of them, and it is the educationsystem itself that teaches them their role within it, not only in training programmesbut in many other ways both obvious and subtle. In other words, what teachers do inthe classroom reflects a set of conditions on the ground that establish the realparameters within which they work. We emphasise ‘on the ground’ because policieson paper and implementation in the field can often look very different.A few examples might help to clarify this point:• If beginning teachers are required to have completed Class 12, but are neverscreened for teaching aptitude either initially or at any time during their careers,what message does the ‘system’ transmit about the importance of teachingability?• If teachers are told in training programmes that they must use creative teachingtechniques to promote ‘joyful learning’, but are evaluated by supervisors onwhether or not they have covered the textbooks, which set of instructions arethey likely to follow?• If students’ learning levels make absolutely no difference to a teacher’s access toa better job or a higher salary, why then should she bother to try to teach better?• If a local politician can have a teacher transferred simply because he wants to,can we really expect her to put the needs of her students before her own need forjob security?In this booklet, therefore, we look at the ways in which conditions on the groundaffect how teachers perceive and implement their work. These conditions aresometimes the result of stated, formal policy measures (such as those that specifycriteria for promotions) and sometimes the outcome of unstated but neverthelesspowerful informal processes and mechanisms (such as local politicians’ ability totransfer teachers). Taken together, these conditions reflect the reality, as opposed tothe theory, of ‘teacher development’ in India.By ‘teacher development’ we mean much more than teacher-training, although thisis unquestionably a key aspect. We view teacher development as a process that beginswith the definition of the criteria that define who can become a teacher; continueswith the design and implementation of pre-service training courses; involves hownewly-trained teachers are assigned to schools and what they are expected to do on aday to day basis once appointed; depends heavily on the nature of regularinstitutional support and supervision provided; and is affected by the optionsavailable to teachers for getting better jobs, higher salaries or advanced degrees.Following Leu (2004):Effective professional development is a process that runs along a continuum that extendsthroughout a teacher’s career. Different kinds of professional development and supportare needed at different stages of this continuum from preservice programs for studentspreparing to become teachers, to mentoring and inservice support for new teachers in thefirst years of practice, to continuing inservice for experienced and all other teachers andschool leaders to introduce and explore new teaching ideas, new practice, and thechanging role of education as systems evolve.7