scholarly journals Teachers’ Standards in Ghana’s Initial Teacher Education Programme: Some Implementation Issues and Challenges

2021 ◽  
Vol 7 (1) ◽  
pp. 376
Author(s):  
Eric Daniel Ananga

Ensuring high standards in the preparation of teachers is critical for the effective professional practice of the Ghanaian teacher. This study examines the National Teachers Standards (NTS) for teachers in Ghana with particular focus on the initial teacher education (ITE) programme, and how tutors and student teachers (mentees) apply the NTS. Adopting a mixed methods approach to the collection of data from participants (368 tutors, 3,600 students of whom 408 are mentees), the findings of this study show that not all of the tutors apply the NTS in their practice as expected. The study also found that few of the student teachers (mentees) demonstrate application of the NTS. In terms of policy, there is a need to deepen further training for tutors if they are all expected to implement the NTS as intended.

Author(s):  
Darshana Sharma

Teaching Practice is widely recognised as the sine-qua-non of any teacher education programme. It is a component in the teacher preparation programme where prospective teachers are provided with an opportunity to put their theoretical studies into practice, get feedback, reflect on practice and consequently further improve their teaching skills. As teaching practice is an important component of a teacher education programme, considerable attention must be given to make it more effective and fruitful. This paper is based on a research study conducted to know pre-service teachers' experiences of the quality of teaching practice and the common concerns they have during teaching practice. On the basis of focussed group discussion a total of five themes were identified, these are (1) usefulness of teaching practice (2) experiences/concerns with pupils' behaviour (3) experiences/concerns with own behaviour (4) experiences/concerns with supervisors' behaviour (5) experiences/concerns with institutional and personal adjustments. The outcome of the focussed group discussion was used to prepare a structured questionnaire. Among other things, the study recommended rigorous practical training in lesson planning, demonstration lessons by teacher educators, simulated teaching before the commencement of practice teaching, school orientation programmes, a separate internship of two weeks and writing a journal by student teachers during teaching practice.


2017 ◽  
Author(s):  
Arab World English Journal ◽  
Morshed Salim Abdullah Al-Jaro ◽  
Adelina Asmawi ◽  
Zuwati Hasim

This study aims to analyse the pedagogical content knowledge (PCK) in the current curriculum of the English teacher education programme (ETEP) at a Faculty of Education in a Yemeni University. PCK and teaching competencies take shape within the initial preparation of ETEP in which student teachers spenda long time receiving knowledge and understanding the teaching context before they practically experience teaching at schools. During their BA study, students are required to study 49 courses which can be categorised into four main components: skills, linguistics, literature and professional. This study analyses the content of the curriculum courses so as tovisualise the way student teachers translate what they have learned into pedagogical practices during their teaching practices. In this study, the curriculum content of ETEP is qualitatively analysed using the inductive approach. Categories emerged from the analysis demonstrate various aspects of student teachers’ PCK. The analysis reveals that the pedagogical skills courses are not enough to enhance and strengthen the student teachers’ PCK needed to be reflected in their teaching practices. The findings show that the curriculum lacks courses necessary to provide student teachers with basic knowledge and pedagogical principles which are of vital significance to demonstrate their understanding before they are practically engaged in the teaching experience.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Francesca Robinson

This research project explored how best to embed the use of social web tools in an initial teacher education programme by involving participants in the design process. A mixed-methods approach was used to find out participants’ experience of participatory learning using social web tools and interest in learning more about their use in higher education as part of the course. It also sought out participants’ preferred ways of learning and levels of interest in giving and receiving peer support. Results indicate that overall many participants have experience of using a range of social web tools as students, professionally or for personal use. The social web tools most participants selected to learn more about were cloud-based software for creating slides and topic curation tools and the least popular choices were video and podcast creation for courses or as assignments for students. Although participants expressed interest in a range of ways of learning, using the technology as part of a session and reading a bi-monthly newsletter were the most popular means. A proposal for introducing social web tools into the programme was made following on from the findings and the activities have been reviewed and adapted as part of an ongoing process.


Author(s):  
Brendan Mac Mahon ◽  
Seán Ó Grádaigh ◽  
Sinéad Ní Ghuidhir

Research on the use of iPad in initial teacher education is limited. This paper outlines a study to examine how the professional learning and pedagogical knowledge development of student teachers could be supported following 1:1 iPad deployment on a second level initial teacher education programme in Ireland. Findings show that iPad can be utilised both as an effective pedagogical tool and as a medium for the creation of new learning spaces where student teachers' professional and pedagogical knowledge development is supported through feedback, peer-learning, resource sharing and critical reflection. Creating resources with and for iPad as part of a collaborative design process can also support student teachers in developing and integrating technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) within their approaches to teaching, learning and assessment. Implications for initial teacher education providers and the integration of technology within schools are outlined.


2018 ◽  
Vol 20 (1) ◽  
pp. 121-134 ◽  
Author(s):  
Maria Gimena San Martin

This study seeks to examine how a supervisor scaffolds the student-teachers’ learning-to-teach process in the context of one-to-one tutoring sessions in an English as a foreign language teacher education programme in Argentina. The findings indicate that scaffolding implies two main phases: a diagnostic and an intervention phase. Moreover, the supervisor was found to provide contingent help, which suited the student-teachers’ perceived needs and/or difficulties. In conclusion, scaffolded help should be understood in relation to the function it serves and how it accommodates the students’ level of understanding.


Author(s):  
Saif Al-Maamari ◽  

Educational system in Oman is attempting to educate Omani students to be "good" citizens in an increasingly globalized society. However, a few studies that have been conducted until now in Oman revealed a gap between the intentions of the educational policy of teaching citizenship education in the schools and the actual practices of teacher education preparation programs. Therefore, any endeavor to develop citizenship in Oman schools will not achieve its goals without taking teacher education into account both pre-service and in-service. Accordingly, the present study aims to propose a framework for developing citizenship education in the initial teacher education in Oman. This descriptive study highlighted the gap between the policy and practice in social studies teacher education. The international literature reveals that student teachers feel insufficiently prepared to develop citizenship and Omani student teachers are not exceptional. Thus, the present study proposed a framework to incorporate citizenship education in the current teachers' preparation programs. Furthermore, the study reveals the inadequate presence of the topic of citizenship in teacher education. Therefore, teachers' understanding of citizenship becomes shallow, which undoubtedly leads to superficial learning on the part of the students. Therefore, a framework was proposed to develop citizenship in teacher education. This framework consists of the rationale behind the change, the Layout of the ground for change in teacher education, the mechanisms of the change, and the areas of the change.


2017 ◽  
Vol 22 ◽  
pp. 36
Author(s):  
Sally Hansen ◽  
Alison Sewell ◽  
Sarojinie Fernando ◽  
Abdelhamid Safa

The aim of this study was to explore the changes in student teacher efficacy beliefs for teaching priority learners over the course of a one-year postgraduate initial teacher education programme. The sample comprised 23 participants enrolled in the 2015 cohort in a pilot initial teacher education programme specifically tailored to enhance student teacher expertise to teach priority learners. Participants completed a specially designed and refined self-efficacy scale – Self-Efficacy with Diverse Learners: Student Teacher Scale – that targeted their efficacy beliefs about successfully promoting learning for priority learners at the start and at the end of their programme. Changes in efficacy beliefs were statistically measured and the findings indicated that student teacher efficacy beliefs for teaching priority learners had improved significantly over the course of their teacher education programme. In particular, the findings showed that their reported efficacy beliefs for implementing strategies for teaching English speakers of other languages, students with low socioeconomic status, and Māori learners had nearly doubled. Such findings have significant implications for teacher education reforms that aim to enhance student teacher adaptive expertise and in so doing, assist with the long-term goal of achieving more equitable educational outcomes in New Zealand.  


2020 ◽  
Vol 15 (6) ◽  
pp. 1642-1658
Author(s):  
Fadhilah Suralaga ◽  
Siti Nurul Azkiyah ◽  
Rumtini Rumtini ◽  
Yenny Rahmawati ◽  
Yunita Faela Nisa

Teachers play crucial roles; therefore, this study is intended to examine student teachers’ motivation (instrumental vs. integrative) and commitment (committed passionate, committed compromiser, undecided and uncommitted) to teaching. Quantitative approach using a questionnaire was conducted involving 328 English student teachers from some universities in Indonesia. Using the descriptive analysis, the findings show that those having integrative motivation are 56% and the highest figure for the level of commitment is, as expected, committed passionate (44%). Concerning gender differences, more males (M: 60%, F: 55%) were surprisingly found to have integrative motivation, although more females were found to have the highest level of commitment (M: 35%, F: 47%). These findings at the same time reveal a considerably high proportion of those who did not have a genuine motive to enroll in a teacher education programme and to commit to becoming teachers implying necessary measures from both the government and the teacher education institutions.  Keywords: Commitment, motivation, student teacher, teacher, teacher education.


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