Effective Teacher Training

EFFECTIVE TEACHER TRAINING
“EDUCATION IS NOT THE AMOUNT OF INFORMATION THAT IS PUT IN
YOUR BRAIN AND RUNS RIOT THERE, UNDIGESTED, ALL YOUR LIFE.
WE MUST HAVE LIFE BUILDING MAN MAKING AND CHARACTER MAKING
ASSIMIALATION OF IDEAS. IF YOU HAVE ASSIMIALATED FIVE IDEAS AND
MADE THEM YOUR LIFE AND CHARACTER, YOU HAVE MORE EDUCATION
THAN ANY MAN WHO HAS GOT BY HEART A WHOLE LIBRARY”. “WE WANT THAT EDUCATION BY WHICH CHARACTER IS FORMED, STRENGTH OF MINDS IS INCREASED, THE INTELLECT IS EXPANDED, AND BY WHICH ONE CAN STAND ON ONE’S FEET”

-SWAMI VIVEKANANDA

The knowledge what is to be the students and the skills of how best it can be done are two essential parts of teaching and learning experience. Owing to the absence of any efficient system for the training of teacher, every teacher envolves his own methods of learning and uses it for the teachings as an experiment with the students, which results in de-motivated students and teachers.

It is not enough to select teacher based on qualification alone, and then leave them to develop teaching skills on their own. One important parameter for developing sustaining quality education is to provide continuous and rigorous training, with stress on orientation and reorientation of teaching community.

Training should not only provide missing knowledge and skills in context of the role of the teacher, It should also help to convert potential into useable competencies for use in future, support self development efforts of the individuals as relevant to teaching needs and act as a motivational tool to learn more to become a better teacher. Does the limited training carried out in the name of faculty development at schools, colleges and Universities meet any of these objectives of the training? The answer is an emphatic “No”.

Experience has shown that teachers are inseparably linked with the education system, hence the training and development is also linked to the growth of system as a whole. A teacher’s training and learning objective must keep in view the requirement of the teacher and the education system present and future role and tasks of the teacher, technology and its relationship with the education etc.
Here are some of the reasons of teacher’s training not being taken care of. * Lack of right direction in terms of policy. * In different and lackluster attitude of trainers and trainees due to made organizational and cultural factor, including doubts as to the usefulness of the training. * Methods of the training of instructions are complex monotonous due to lack of application during training, approach that every teacher can be trained by the same method not making the best use of technology etc. * Lack of leadership qualities in the head of institutions, which are not clear and sure of their roles. * A personality trait of trainers and trainees depends on their achievement. motivation and desire to excel. * Operational and logistics problem/inadequacy, this is the area which is often used as an excuse by most of the in-efficient training organizations.
Our education systems include the following questions:- * What kind of teachers de we want? What are the qualities expected that feed our overall vision as a nation? * What type of training should be given to teacher involved at different levels of teaching? * What systems should be used for delivering the training at different levels? * How to know if the training is effective or not? (Comparison of terminal behavior of the teacher with desired behaviour)

How can the training process be improved?

Most of the institutions involved in training of teachers rush into training without investing adequate time in identifying the training needs. Meeting which are organized to determine training requirements, usually end up discussing only stale ideas which are mulled over and over again and at the end everyone involved gets convinced that what is being done is good enough, with only a few cosmetic changes to fool the system. Training and development need analysis, supported by test and evolution activities at appropriate levels, which is a must if fresh are to be implemented.

The basic purpose of any training and development activity is to help individuals convert their potential into usable competencies needed for effective functioning as a good teacher.

Unfortunately, most of the programmes end up only training and that too unintelligently because training institutions do not invest in HRD practices in supporting technologies related with training and development. Also such best practices are possible only under the right set of organizational attitudes. It is common knowledge that whatever is learnt by the participants does not get concerted into new desirable behaviour as learning is not re-enforced at appropriate intervals. There is a need to leverage individual expertise and experience for the benefit of learners by supporting self development and by providing deficit knowledge and expertise to the teacher.

G. BHAGAT