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Teachers in a transformed education system
Wesley Barrett
Monday, March 24, 2008
To say that teachers have always played the dominant role in the education system is to state the most obvious truth. Yet this truth has not always been reflected on and given the most serious attention required in respect of enhancing teachers' capacities to realise their full potential in contributing optimally to the education system.
Wesley Barrett
At the same time, many teachers have not always extended themselves to master the teaching skills so that they can be as effective as they might be. In light of the announced plan to transform the education system, we could profitably consider this issue dispassionately and define a new path for enhancing the full potential of teachers to drive the transformation.
As a starting point, we could examine the main recommendations on teaching made by the Task Force on educational transformation. These recommendations are embodied in the document, "Task Force on Educational Reform - A Transformed Education System 2004 - Report; Revised Edition". The main discussion on teacher issues appears under the heading, "Management and Organisation of Teaching".
Here, the report begins the discussion with a reference to the "1998 KPMG Peat Marwick Report" which was critical of the management of the school staffing establishments and leave entitlements of teachers. Of course, there were many flawed conclusions in sections of that report. The Task Force Report listed issues such as the terms and conditions of employment, the different leave types, working days and the management of the teaching staff. Presumably against that background it made its recommendations.
Six of the seven recommendations were (1) Renegotiate the leave entitlement of teachers and principals. (2) Establish clear position in respect of the length of instructional time and number of working days for which teachers are employed. (3) Implement a prescribed training programme in leadership and management for all principals. (4) Develop and implement a licensing certification system for all teachers in Jamaica. (5) Develop and implement a comprehensive distance-education programme for pre and in-service training and the upgrading of teachers. The in-service training programmes are to be structured outside of school hours so that there will be minimal disruption of teaching. (6) All teachers to complete Bachelor's Degree in Education. Holders of degrees in other subject disciplines must complete a diploma in Teacher Education.
The recommendations were well-intentioned. Most of them focused on the issue of accountability which was and still is a major issue or talking point for some people. At least two needed some refinement or clarifying statement. The notion in the fifth recommendation that in-service training is best organised outside of school hours is debatable. In fact, some in-service training is best done in real classrooms during school hours. Some of this will take the form of coaching and modelling. Such approaches are gaining currency in many reform efforts internationally.
They should be applicable in our own context but must be managed well to students' benefit.
It will be necessary for all teachers to have some substantial certification in teaching and to be in possession of at least a first degree, but not necessarily in "education" per say. The second sentence in the sixth recommendation renders it a little unclear. The implication is that education is taught as a "discipline" but this is not the case except in the teachers' colleges. Surely the possession of a degree is a necessary but not a sufficient condition.
The present thinking is that in the new environment, teachers should be certified in both content and teaching competence regarding the subject or subjects they are assigned to teach. Notably enough, this a major thrust of The Mico University College in its development plan for teacher training as we have learnt. Training and subject teaching assignment must be in accord.
The recommendations appear to be more sharply concerned with the summative or accountability issues rather than with a balance between the formative or teacher development issues on the one hand and the summative or accountability issues on the other. The way forward must be some equilibrium. Some leading development specialists think that emphasis on teacher development in terms of pedagogy and professionalism will lead more securely to accountability. If they are correct, then the transformation plan is well advised to put great weight on teacher development preferably through the teachers' union, subject associations such as the Reading Association of Jamaica, National Association of Teachers of English and the Mathematical Association of Jamaica, among others. With even relatively modest allocations, one major problem - that of effective teaching - could be addressed effectively. The third recommendation made has seen some implementation since 2003.
Elsewhere, I have urged a rethinking of the methods by which we select prospective trainee teachers and how they are trained. More scientific and rigorous methods need to be employed whereby they undergo aptitude and other psychometric testing. After selection, the trainee teachers ought then to be given a solid grounding in the tenets and practices of effective learning and good teaching, and to be immersed into classroom teaching practice for far longer periods before certification than at present.
Furthermore, teacher educators need to be released periodically on sabbatical to the real classrooms where they experience some of the changes occurring in classroom dynamics and culture. The very experienced and outstanding teachers should also get a sabbatical to the teachers' colleges where they share their experiences and at the same time get exposed to the programmes at the colleges. Mutual benefits will flow.
With the increasing complexity of the modern world economy, where problem solving and understanding and use of information will become a primary means of survival, it follows that teachers will have to be prepared by new and innovative methods in acquiring skills and competencies in problem solving, problem diagnosis, creative thinking and analysis of the learning and wider social environment to be effective.
These skills and competencies have always been cited as necessary, but if the truth be told, they were never genuinely addressed in a focused and dynamic way in the past. There must now be a break with the past. Action research also must become a routine duty of the teacher. If not yet done, a master plan on new ways of addressing teacher preparation and development should be speedily prepared and implemented.
Targeting selection, training, upskilling or reskilling over the long run will be more promising of results and sustainable development while at the same time installing defensible accountability mechanisms for all.
wesebar@yahoo.com
Wesley Barrett
Monday, March 24, 2008
To say that teachers have always played the dominant role in the education system is to state the most obvious truth. Yet this truth has not always been reflected on and given the most serious attention required in respect of enhancing teachers' capacities to realise their full potential in contributing optimally to the education system.
Wesley BarrettAt the same time, many teachers have not always extended themselves to master the teaching skills so that they can be as effective as they might be. In light of the announced plan to transform the education system, we could profitably consider this issue dispassionately and define a new path for enhancing the full potential of teachers to drive the transformation.
As a starting point, we could examine the main recommendations on teaching made by the Task Force on educational transformation. These recommendations are embodied in the document, "Task Force on Educational Reform - A Transformed Education System 2004 - Report; Revised Edition". The main discussion on teacher issues appears under the heading, "Management and Organisation of Teaching".
Here, the report begins the discussion with a reference to the "1998 KPMG Peat Marwick Report" which was critical of the management of the school staffing establishments and leave entitlements of teachers. Of course, there were many flawed conclusions in sections of that report. The Task Force Report listed issues such as the terms and conditions of employment, the different leave types, working days and the management of the teaching staff. Presumably against that background it made its recommendations.
Six of the seven recommendations were (1) Renegotiate the leave entitlement of teachers and principals. (2) Establish clear position in respect of the length of instructional time and number of working days for which teachers are employed. (3) Implement a prescribed training programme in leadership and management for all principals. (4) Develop and implement a licensing certification system for all teachers in Jamaica. (5) Develop and implement a comprehensive distance-education programme for pre and in-service training and the upgrading of teachers. The in-service training programmes are to be structured outside of school hours so that there will be minimal disruption of teaching. (6) All teachers to complete Bachelor's Degree in Education. Holders of degrees in other subject disciplines must complete a diploma in Teacher Education.
The recommendations were well-intentioned. Most of them focused on the issue of accountability which was and still is a major issue or talking point for some people. At least two needed some refinement or clarifying statement. The notion in the fifth recommendation that in-service training is best organised outside of school hours is debatable. In fact, some in-service training is best done in real classrooms during school hours. Some of this will take the form of coaching and modelling. Such approaches are gaining currency in many reform efforts internationally.
They should be applicable in our own context but must be managed well to students' benefit.
It will be necessary for all teachers to have some substantial certification in teaching and to be in possession of at least a first degree, but not necessarily in "education" per say. The second sentence in the sixth recommendation renders it a little unclear. The implication is that education is taught as a "discipline" but this is not the case except in the teachers' colleges. Surely the possession of a degree is a necessary but not a sufficient condition.
The present thinking is that in the new environment, teachers should be certified in both content and teaching competence regarding the subject or subjects they are assigned to teach. Notably enough, this a major thrust of The Mico University College in its development plan for teacher training as we have learnt. Training and subject teaching assignment must be in accord.
The recommendations appear to be more sharply concerned with the summative or accountability issues rather than with a balance between the formative or teacher development issues on the one hand and the summative or accountability issues on the other. The way forward must be some equilibrium. Some leading development specialists think that emphasis on teacher development in terms of pedagogy and professionalism will lead more securely to accountability. If they are correct, then the transformation plan is well advised to put great weight on teacher development preferably through the teachers' union, subject associations such as the Reading Association of Jamaica, National Association of Teachers of English and the Mathematical Association of Jamaica, among others. With even relatively modest allocations, one major problem - that of effective teaching - could be addressed effectively. The third recommendation made has seen some implementation since 2003.
Elsewhere, I have urged a rethinking of the methods by which we select prospective trainee teachers and how they are trained. More scientific and rigorous methods need to be employed whereby they undergo aptitude and other psychometric testing. After selection, the trainee teachers ought then to be given a solid grounding in the tenets and practices of effective learning and good teaching, and to be immersed into classroom teaching practice for far longer periods before certification than at present.
Furthermore, teacher educators need to be released periodically on sabbatical to the real classrooms where they experience some of the changes occurring in classroom dynamics and culture. The very experienced and outstanding teachers should also get a sabbatical to the teachers' colleges where they share their experiences and at the same time get exposed to the programmes at the colleges. Mutual benefits will flow.
With the increasing complexity of the modern world economy, where problem solving and understanding and use of information will become a primary means of survival, it follows that teachers will have to be prepared by new and innovative methods in acquiring skills and competencies in problem solving, problem diagnosis, creative thinking and analysis of the learning and wider social environment to be effective.
These skills and competencies have always been cited as necessary, but if the truth be told, they were never genuinely addressed in a focused and dynamic way in the past. There must now be a break with the past. Action research also must become a routine duty of the teacher. If not yet done, a master plan on new ways of addressing teacher preparation and development should be speedily prepared and implemented.
Targeting selection, training, upskilling or reskilling over the long run will be more promising of results and sustainable development while at the same time installing defensible accountability mechanisms for all.
wesebar@yahoo.com