PROFESSIONAL COMMITMENT IN TEACHERS: CHALLENGES AHEAD

JOY KIRT SIDHUPRINCIPALHIMALAYA COLLEGE OF EDUATIONRANWAR, KARNAL: 132001+91-9996020762

ABSTRACTTeaching encompasses each and every facet of human life. To leave out anything would be rendering it incomplete. As professionals it has become imperative that we see the changes in the very social structure we live in. The skills and competencies needed to survive have changed. The teacher is no longer ‘a repository of all wisdom’ because the very concept of wisdom has changed. Training the teacher to be able to meet the changing world order needs scientific vision and humane perception. The technological advances and the changes they have brought about have affected the economic structure. The role of women and the expectations from the members of the modern society has changed. The very basis of society, the family is undergoing a total change and this has to be kept foremost in mind before thinking of anything related to education. We have to work together to develop the professional ethos and standards of teaching so that the demands of the new world order are met satisfactorily. Survival of the learners is at stake and the onus of empowering them is on the professional acumen of the teachers.

Our first commitment and aim should be complete elimination of child labour through Universalisation of Education. All children must attend full-time formal day schools. Any child out of school is a child labourer. All labour is hazardous and harms the overall growth and development of the child. There must be total abolition of child labour. Any law regulating child work is unacceptable. Any justification perpetuating the existence of child labour must be condemned. It all can happen with the unflinching support of the community groups who are constantly motivated to join the crusade against child labour. The parents, community leaders, ward members, panchayat presidents, youth, local political leaders, Self Help Groups and TEACHERS.

The professionalism of the teachers has to help them overcome suspicion of changing methodology of teaching, egoism, uncooperative attitude, complaining nature, insulting children, neglecting schools and irregularity. The teachers have to be involved in the process of planning. Positive teachers should be contacted regularly and roped in to help in the entire process. Reflection with teachers on the fact that children are the basis for schools and without children, teachers and schools will become redundant and vice-versa is needed. Teachers are the motivators and only they are trained and competent to provide real education.

The evolution in teacher attitudes is needed and interaction with parents through extensive meetings encouraged. Teachers must meet every parent in the village and locality and motivate them to send their children to schools. Teachers have to respect and welcome parents and community members to schools.

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EDUCATION

Education is one of the most important drivers of India's social and economic

development. Higher levels of literacy lead to greater economic output, higher

employment levels, better health, better social structures, and higher marks along a

number of other development indicators. More specifically, the impact of educating girls

and women has been shown to result in rapid improvements in family planning, nutrition,

health, and income and is seen as one of the best tools for promoting social and economic

development.

The 1986 National Policy on Education (NPE) first emphasized Universalization of

Elementary Education (UEE) as a national priority. Yet, despite a huge expansion in

India’s formal education system in the last few decades, there are still roughly 50-60

million children out of school in the age group 6-14 years, or nearly 25 percent of total

child population in the elementary age group.

The key challenges to achieving UEE are:

Access: The reasons for children being out-of-school are to do with lack of physical

access as well as social access. In several parts of the country, especially in small, remote

habitations, children still do not have access to schooling facilities and thus remain out of

school. Seasonal migration of families in search of work for several months every year is

another reason which deprives children the chance to go to school. In addition, a sizeable

proportion of children live in villages and habitations where formal schools exist, but due

to social reasons such as caste and gender they are either not allowed to go to school, or

not given the proper treatment in school.

Retention: This is an issue of serious concern. According to statistics 53% of children

drop out of school before completing the elementary level, or grade VIII. This high drop

out is due to poor functioning of schools, for example, dilapidated school buildings,

overcrowded classrooms, irregular attendance of teachers and children, lack of teaching

learning materials, ineffective teaching, unintelligible language used by the teachers and

the discriminatory attitude of teachers towards children of the marginalized sections of

society.

Quality: Many studies have shown that children who do complete primary schooling

attain abysmal learning levels. A majority of grade V children are estimated to be at a

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level no higher than grade II or III. The causes stem from the poorly functioning

educational system which is transmitted down to the schools.

Challenges to the World

The vague and rather distant threat (or promise?) of globalisation is an entity which has

changed the old way of life in all its aspects. The threat of pandemics such as avian flu,

swine flues etc. have brought down barriers we held sacrosanct. The global economic

forces and the ongoing financial meltdown has assumed universal proportions. The

climate change and global warming has spelt changes in the very geography and crop

patterns posing a total change in our way of life. The latest challenge to transcend all man

made borders is terrorism which has spread its ugly head irrespective of borders. The

increasing gaps between the rich and the poor have grown wider despite increase in

awareness and education. The violent wars waged over dwindling but life-giving

resources such as water, food, and energy have assumed threatening proportions.

Challenges to Education

The decentralization of educational governance is another gift or evil of liberalization and

globalization we have to accept. Privatization has opened Pandora’s Box. Increasing

corruption in education systems has shaken this hitherto untouched field. A rapidly

expanding diversification of programmes at all levels of the system is taking place. The

debate over whether education should serve to promote globalisation or localisation rages

on with no end in sight. The need to teach for creativity and adaptability, for continued

learning throughout life, and for living together in peace and harmony has become the

last savior and redeemer. The challenge of teaching learners of ever more diverse

backgrounds, identities, values, and skills with commitment a challenge the teacher as a

professional has to face. The increasing evidence that many education systems and

schools are failing to teach their learners what they need to – and want to – learn has

made the role of the teacher as a professional a challenging one.

The Response of Educators and Education Systems

More participatory school- and community-based management mechanisms

The introduction of more values-based school subjects in the core curriculum.

A stronger role for education in preserving and revitalizing endangered languages

and cultures

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Greater popularity of child-centered, interactive, inquiry-oriented teaching-

learning methods

The impact of information and communication technologies on educational access

and quality

A growing acceptance of innovative approaches to education as recognised

alternatives to traditional schools and classrooms.

The Role of the Teacher

But teachers are the necessary core of these varied attempts to reform education and to

rescue the world through education. The teacher – as educator, mentor, and guide -- is

here to stay. Undoubtedly to play the vital and pivotal role of being a harbringer and

facilitator of social change for the better. The skill and expertise of the teacher as a

professional who has the vision and wisdom to perceive the future and help the learners

prepare for it.

The Dakar Framework for Action for EFA insists that teachers:

Should be respected and adequately remunerated

Have access to training and ongoing professional development and support

Should be able to participate in decisions affecting their professional lives and

teaching environments

Should be able to understand diversity in learning styles and in the physical and

intellectual development of their students

Create stimulating, participatory learning environments, and

Accept their professional responsibilities and be accountable to both learners and

communities

1) Recruitment: …attracting better candidates to teaching

We must make teaching once again a vocation of choice, and not of last resort, and make

good students want to become good teachers. For example, through financial and career

incentives attracting the cream-de-la-cream to join the teaching profession. Along with

this we need clear political and moral support from the top leadership of a country to the

bottom to be able to implement this plan. Recruitment based on qualitative assessments

of motivation and dedication to teaching, rather than only academically-based entrance

examinations should be the main criterion.

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2) Pre-service teacher education and development

We must create teacher education systems which are not divorced from the realities of

the classroom. The training should provide new teachers with the essential knowledge,

skills, and values needed for their core task of teaching. The idea should be to “push out”

those who don’t really want to teach and inspire those who do to bring back the much

needed professionalism back into teaching and not just as a ‘pass time’ for those who

fitted no where else. Pre-service teacher education should provide necessary academic

content - especially in the teaching of literacy and numeracy – and in human rights and

gender equality, sustainable development, the integration of ICT in education, and skills

development – both life skills and living skills which are needed for survival.

Pre-service teacher education should provide skills in child-centred, interactive, inquiry-

based methods not excluding on the basis of difference but rather respecting and even

welcoming diversity, promoting the expression and preservation of diverse cultures and

being sensitive to gender equality. Our main focus has to be on how to make schools

physically and psycho-socially healthy, safe, and protective on one hand and how to get

schools to welcome the participation of students, families, and communities in its

activities. The main challenge before schools is of fulfilling the individual, special needs

of their learners. To gain such skills, teachers must be trained to become “reflective

practitioners”

3) Deployment:

Assigning good teachers to where they are needed most – and make them want to go

there! The early grades must be taught by the best teachers who are trained in the special

needs of young children assisted by specialist teachers in remediation. All this has to be

supported also by policies that refuse to promote children to higher grades if they do not

know how to read and write.

How to make good teachers want to go to difficult places?

Incentives like extra pay could be given to such teachers. They could be entitled to more

professional development opportunities (e.g., rural teaching experience credited toward a

higher degree). Guaranteed rotation back to less difficult postings would be another

incentive along with accelerated career paths. The other incentive could be adequate

housing and facilities at the school.

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4) In-service professional development

Having strong induction and probation processes for new teachers could be a strong

motivator. Training young teachers not only to reflect more on their own teaching but

also to work with their supervisors and peers in more collaborative methods of classroom

improvement very much similar to the legal profession where the rookies are under

training with a senior whom he assists in the cases. Offering teachers different routes to

further professional development and higher status would be a reward based programme.

Encouraging and facilitating professional teacher associations to take seriously their work

in professional development would definitely provide the right environment and support

within the teaching fraternity.

Three General Comments

Ministries must look for – and nurture – innovative approaches and different

perspectives and encourage new ideas and new ways of working among teachers.

Ministries must be convinced of the need to have a true and accurate picture of

the state of education in their country.

Ministries – and educators in general -- must get rid of an attitude -- which

someone recently called the “plague of blame” --- where the blame for the failure

of children in school is put on them and their parents – rather than on the

education system itself.

Questions for the Conference:

Can pre-service teacher education be saved?

Should it be?

1) Given budget limitations, what additional incentives can make teaching a vocation of

choice and make good students want to become good teachers? Should teacher education

systems more actively “push out” the uncommitted and the incompetent?

2) In order to promote inclusive education and achieve EFA, how can teachers be trained

to welcome diversity in their classrooms and see it as an opportunity rather than as a

problem?

3) How can we ensure that good teachers get assigned to the class levels and schools

where they are needed the most?

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REFERENCES

Britton, e. et al (2003) Comprehensive Teacher Induction: Systems for Early Career

Learning. Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht.

Kirby, S. N. et al (2006) Reforming Teacher Education: Something Old, Something

New. Rand Corporation, Santa Monica.

Kothari, D. S. (1966) Chairman) Report of the Education Commission 1964-66. Govt. of

India, New Delhi

NCTAF, USA (2004) High Quality Teacher Preparation – Higher Education’s Crucial

Role.

Teacher's College, Columbia University, New York

TDA, UK (2007) Supporting Induction Process: TDA Guidance for Newly Qualified

Teachers. Govt. of UK, London.

Wilson, V. et al (2006) Developing Teachers: A Review of Early Professional Learning.

General

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