Making teacher quality a priority

Dr. Nihal Wickramasinghe

Good teaching does not come about through imposed requirements but through the individual teacher’s commitment to high professional standards.

The important changes needed in teaching are those that teachers must create, governments can mandate or unions can achieve by themselves, to create the conditions to revitalise teaching by making it possible for teachers to draw on the deep well of their own professionalism.

Our success as a society and as an economy depends on quality teaching for good student learning; the starting point to achieve this priority begins with high quality teacher education. All possible steps must be taken to provide high quality teacher education. To this end, we can follow the Singapore experience about teacher education.

To give effect to making teacher quality a priority, it will be necessary that: Every institute involved in and committed to teaching as a profession to give teacher education the highest priority in their strategic planning, funding and reporting.

Universities and the NIE (involved in teacher education) develop arrangements to enable responsibilities for the preparation of teachers, including appropriate knowledge, skills, attitudes and pedagogy and the values required.

Secondly, the NIE, together with the MOE, Universities and the profession, support the development of standards to be applied at all stages of initial and continuing teacher education.

Entry into initial teacher education to include process which enable the NIE and Universities to access suitability to teach, including personal qualities and capacities regarded as important to success in the profession.

The NIE, Universities in the consultation with the MOE, the unions and the profession structure initial teacher education to give students significant professional experiences early in their course to inform them about their suitability for teaching and enable them where teaching is not a suitable option, to pursue other study pathways.

It is very important that, NIE, MOE, Universities and the unions in conjunction with the profession facilitate and support increased research into the career and employment decisions of teachers in Sri Lanka to inform workforce planning.

The provision of teacher education in Sri Lanka to be sought from a range of institutions which are prepared to meet determined requirements and have a strong commitment to its provision.

Furthermore, teacher education to be structured and funded to meet the unique needs of regional and rural communities.

Standards to be established for the external assessment and endorsement of programs of initial teacher education. Family, The MOE, and the NIE, in their leadership and management structures take account of how the quality of teacher education and teaching can be improved through greater localisation of authority and decision making in schools.

Strengthening behavioural management

Teacher skills in managing student behaviour are essential for quality learning. No student can learn when they are distracted by the behaviour of others, or are themselves the course of distraction. Behavioural management, however, cannot be considered in isolation.

The evidence indicates that our very best teachers give priority to creating positive conditions in which good teaching can take place. They know that one of the areas they must work on is building good relationship with and among students, as well as with parents. Behavioural management is only part of this.

Many teachers have outstanding skills in behavioural management. They should be recognised for their expertise and have a significant role in initial and continuing teacher education programs.

All teachers should have increased opportunities to reach the standards these teachers have attained in the creation of positive learning environments. Behavioural management is essential for effective teaching, attention was drawn to instances where teachers imposed strong discipline but where the quality of their teaching may be limited.

The systems in which such teachers work need to deal with problems. It is one which system have created, not teachers.

In order to strengthen the effectiveness of the teachers’ skills in the management of student behaviour and the creation of positive learning environments, it will be necessarily that: Approaches in initial and continuing teacher education program give priority to issues related to interpersonal relationships.

Learning about behavioural management in initial teacher education be addressed primarily within the framework of professional experiences, and provide courses for teachers in behavioural management.

Integrating information and communication technology into pedagogy

In the very near future there is general recognition that schools must respond to the information technology revolution. Students have the knowledge and skills essential for the transition for schools to work.

During this review outstanding examples of the use of computers in teacher education and in teaching were identified.

The general picture, however, is not so positive. Special importance is placed on the role of educational leaders in promoting information technology in education.

Improve the quality of teaching through the adaptation and integration of digital information and communication technology, it will be necessary that: Priority be given in initial and continuing teacher education to providing teachers with knowledge and skills to use information and communications technology to create learning environments that are both broad in scope and deep in concept development.

Information and communications technology be used strengthen and expand professional communication between education personals. The implications of information and communications technology for pedagogy and structure of teaching become a major focus in educational leadership development programs.

These are some directions and suggestions to develop quality teaching.

The writer is Director, Department of Teacher Empowerment, National Institute of Education, Maharagama.