What is teacher education?
Teacher education is the formal and systematic approach through which individuals are equipped to become competent and effective educators. Individuals through this process are able to develop knowledge and pedagogical skills for teaching in educational institutions. They, in this way facilitate their learning experiences to foster the development of students and ultimately improvement of education system.
Types of Teacher Education
There are two types of teacher education.
Pre- service teacher education
It is the process of providing education as well as training to the students before their taking any teaching. In other words it means education of teachers before their entry into the teaching profession.
To understand the complexities of teaching, some theoretical courses like child development, educational psychology, curriculum, school management are taught to the students. Additionally these aspiring students are taught the subject contents which help in effective transfer of knowledge to the students. These students are also able to learn about the teaching techniques and instructional strategies. Practicum and field visits are also essential components of pre-service teacher education program. They enable the students to apply the theoretical knowledge into practice.
Another essential part of pre-service teacher education is the reflective practices. These practices allow the aspiring teachers to reflect on the teaching experiences, identify the improvement areas and develop strategies for growth. For this purpose, workshops, training sessions, and conferences are arranged for balanced development and growth.
Overall, the prospective teachers are provided comprehensive training to equip them with the latest teaching methods and techniques and enable them to play their role in the development of the nation.
In-service teacher education
It is a continuous process of enhancing the knowledge, skills, and effectiveness of teachers during their career as teachers. The education has the purpose to equip the teachers with the latest knowledge, skills to deal effectively with the changing needs of the society. For this purpose need assessment is carried out. The purpose of need assessment is to identify professional development areas of the teachers.
Based on the need assessment, professional development goals and objectives are established which are aligned with the needs of the teachers. After that, workshops, conferences, online courses, seminars and peer collaboration are arranged for these teachers and teachers encouraged to remain engaged in professional development activities.
Importance of teacher education
Development of the effective teachers depends on the quality of teacher education. It is because quality of education plays pivotal role in overall progress of the society.
1. It enhances the teaching competence:
The most important reason is that teacher education gives opportunity to teachers to enhance their pedagogical knowledge and skills for effectively delivering the lectures. This competence facilitate improve student engagement; enhance critical thinking along with meaningful learning experiences.
2. Raising the student achievement:
Students’ achievements are profoundly influenced by the quality teachers. Teacher education programs provide opportunities to the teachers to stay updated with regards to the latest and best practices in education. This ultimately affects the overall achievement including academic achievement of the students.
3. Creation of positive learning environment:
The importance of teacher education is evident from the fact that teachers are able to develop and adopt a positive and supportive environment within the classrooms. This supportive environment facilitate student engagement, love for learning and active participation.
4. Adopting to trends in education:
There is continuous evolving of the field of education due to the new research and use ot technology in the field of education. Teacher education enables the teachers to teach through modern teaching methods and adopt latest technology in the field of education.
5. Inspiring students:
Passionate teachers are able to inspire their students. Teachers who learned in teacher education to become fully prepare become role model for students. In this way they become able to develop motivation and pursuit of knowledge of the students.
6. Addressing challenges:
It provides tools to the teachers for addressing numerious educational challenges. These challenges can be in the form of behavioral issues of students, classroom problems, and emerging educational needs of students.
7. Contribution of the development of the society:
Progress of the society needs well- educated citizens. Importance of teacher education is evident from the fact that teachers are equipped to produce responsible citizens who are able to contribute in the develpement of the society.
8. Making the foundation of future generations:
Investment in the teacher education is essential for the development of the future generations. Such investment enables the teachers to architect of the future generations.
Conclusion
Teacher education is one of the cornerstones of Effective education system. Both pre-service and in-service teacher education enables the teachers to get knowledge, skills, as well as strategies to enrich the students’ learning experiences of the learners. The influence of teacher education extends beyond classroom. It influences the quality of education, learning outcomes of the students and development of the society. So it is essential to invest in teacher education programs because it prepare highly skilled and motivated teaching force which eventually help in paving the way for bright future of the learners and well balanced development of the society.