Towards an Understanding of the Work of Teacher Education Professoriate in India

Abstract

Reforming the teacher education system has been a key government policy towards improving school education in India. While recent curriculum and governance reforms articulate a new vision of teacher education that underscores a symbiotic relationship between teacher education and school education, it fails to engage enough with the most important participant of the teacher education system-the teacher educator. Changes to curriculum and governance process in the absence of a pro-active engagement of teacher educators with the reforms can do little to influence the teacher education processes and outcomes. The work of pre-service teacher educators is complex because their responsibilities relate to both school and higher education. The distinctiveness of their work, identity and professional development has always been marginalized in educational discourse. This article analyses select educational documents to examine the construction of work and identity of higher education-based teacher educators. It proposes the development of a professional framework of practice through a collective process, which would help understand the work of teacher educators and offer various possibilities for their professional development.

The Dogme Approach: A Radical Perspective in Second Language Teaching in the Post-Methods Era

“…Teacher colleges, teacher trainers, educational administrators, and educators should aim to develop teachers' capacities to meet the requirements of the language teaching position according to their special teaching contexts rather than relying on the pre-made set of teaching guides. Internships and probation periods are essential to help pre-service teachers acquire sufficient knowledge, competencies, and experience to be prepared for their teaching (Snoek, Swennen, & Van der Klink, 2011;Srinivasan, 2019). Educational institutions also need to create an environment to help teachers develop professionally because teachers' professional development contributes significantly to their teaching performance.…”