International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
Education(NCE) while Universities and Institutes of Education award Bachelors (BSc.Ed, BA.Ed, B.Ed) Postgraduate
Diploma in Education(PGDE) and Masters degree (MEd.MSc.Ed). National Teachers Institute also
awards TC11,NCE and PGDE. The award of bachelor degree in education was started by the University of
Nigeria Nsukka in 1961 through the inspiration the University got from Ashby Commission and the Carnegie
Seminar on Education held in the University. Other universities that followed later also modeled their teacher
education after Nsukka structure (Ukoha,1999).The curriculum structure of Teacher Training Colleges is
basically designed to train teachers for primary schools, the Colleges of Education are to train teachers for the
primary and junior secondary schools while degree programmes in the Universities are basically designed to
train teachers for the secondary schools. The first approach was based on making sure that the teacher trainees
receive more in-depth and specialized training in their chosen subjects in addition to the pedagogical
training(Ukoha1999:21)The second approach is what Ukoha described as consecutive approach whereby the
Universities admit university and polytechnic graduates who read course other than education into one or two
year programmes leading to the award of Post Graduate Diploma in Education (PGDE).The Universities also
train teachers who specialize in courses leading to the award of masters and doctorate degrees. Many of the
teachers with higher degree certificates teach in Universities, Polytechnic and Colleges of Education. Teacher
educators in Nigeria, therefore ,comprise of those that teach in all the teacher education institutions that train
teachers for different levels of school systems in Nigeria.
Mentoring in Teacher Education in Nigeria
The research carried in Nigeria by Aladejana, Aladejana and Ehidero(2006) shows that mentoring among
University academics takes place in informal and unstructured manner that most mentoring relationship were
chanelled towards research and publications while negligible part is directed towards classroom teaching. The
study further finds that most mentoring relationship were initiated and sustained by proximity and academic
related activities. Apart from such academic activities that mostly benefit the mentor heavily mentoring in other
areas (especially professional development) is very negligible Teacher educators depend very much on teaching
practice exercise as a major academic programme through which professional training is developed in the
teacher-trainees. Each of these training institutions gives teaching practice a priority. It lasts a minimum of six
months and three months for regular NCE and degree programmes respectively. Every student teacher is by
regulation supposed to be supervised by teaching practice supervisors ( teacher educators) for a minimum of four
times. The goals of teaching practice are to expose the teacher trainees to initial on the field experience where
they can put theory to practice National Commission for Colleges of Education (1991), Ogwo (1999) and
Amadi (2001) identify the goals of teaching practice as that of providing student-teachers with opportunity
where they can put theory into practical classroom situation. The National Commission for Colleges of
Education outlines the objectives of teaching practice as follows
i.To help student-teachers develop positive attitude towards the teaching profession
ii. To expose student-teachers to real life classroom experiences under the supervision of professional teachers
iii. To enable student-teachers discover their own strength and weaknesses in teaching and develop opportunities
to consolidate and overcome them.
iv. To provide a forum for student teachers to translate educational theories and principles into practice
v. To familiarize student-teachers with school routines
vi.To expose the student-teachers to the total school environment
vii. To provide student-teachers with necessary skills, competencies, personal characteristics and experiences for
full time teaching after graduation.
viii. To serve as a means of assessing professional competence of student-teachers (p.1).
The goals were set on the premise that all the stake-holders namely teacher-educators, co-operating teachers
and schools and the student-teachers will perform their duties .The turn-out of events beginning from the last
three decades of 20 th century till now show that teaching practice in Nigeria can not be hoped on as a sure base
for providing a platform on which much of pedagogical and skill development can be solely relied upon.
Thus it is a pre-service arrangement and not a post–graduation experience. It is believed that after a
successful teaching practice exercise a teacher trainee must have acquired all necessary skills required for full
operation in the teaching profession and therefore could be certified as a professional teacher. Further
professional development could be experientially acquired through interaction with older teachers in the field.
This assumption has failed to deliver the needed results because of the under-mentioned observations .The time
student –teachers spend in the cooperating schools (schools where they are posted for the exercise) depends on a
lot of uncertainties .Uncertainties arising from number of months public schools can be in session without strike
action from the teachers . It is again determined by uncertainties arising from the ability of the teacher-educators
443