TCA Lectures Discuss the importance of establishment of partnership between the teachers training institutions of Pakistan. BEd

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Ans: Society has developed itself into a complex system of organizations and interactions, therefore the demands on schools and schooling has become greater. The need for professional teachers grew with it. With the recognition of teaching as a profession it has been acknowledged that all teachers require specialized training, in order to develop the knowledge and competencies necessary to take on teaching. However, educating teachers in specialized institutes was not the whole answer in the demand for qualified teachers. At the end of the 1980s the growing dissatisfaction with ‘teaching practice’ culminated in a UNESCO report. (Down, 1995). Teacher preparation was regarded as insufficient, due to a lack of linkages between for instance subject matter and teaching processes, and preparation for diverse class/school situations. Furthermore, the lack of training of cooperating teachers and the lack of credibility of college or university supervisors was seen as a real problem. (Down, 1995). As a result of this, pre-service teacher education practically all over Europe, the USA and Australia went through vigorous changes. One model which tried to address these concerns was one which encouraged a strong partnership between universities, colleges and schools. (Down, 1995). Since then, in different countries in and outside Europe, several models of partnerships and types of cooperation between schools and institutes for teacher education emerged, under the general heading of school-based teacher education. (e.g. Furlong, 1996, Bulloch, 1997 and Snoek, 2001).

What is school-based teacher education?

Teaching is a very complex profession and formative in nature, one grows within the profession and hence through daily experiences. Becoming a teacher is not only a matter of getting access to a certain body of knowledge and acquiring adequate skills. Becoming a teacher is transformational in nature. It is, first and foremost, about developing one’s own personal and professional identity. Such an identity can be obtained and enriched by taking part in school practices and in the daily life of teachers. The metaphor used by Sfard to indicate this type of learning is participation, one which encourages the acquisition of knowledge, skills and the development of values, attitudes and beliefs within a school environment and not solely within the confines of teacher education institutions (Sfard, 1998). School-based teacher education is based on these assumptions. Partnerships between school and teacher education institutes nowadays are about the possibilities for student-teachers to really participate in school practice and at the same time to acquire the knowledge, skills and values necessary to become qualified teachers. Leading principle in designing the curricula are the problems and questions teachers have to deal within the practice of their daily life at school. School-based teacher education in our view is only possible when schools and teacher education institutes work intensively together and recognize the strengths and possibilities each of them can offer to student-teachers learning. As a consequence of this, teachers who teach teachers (teacher educators) can be found in schools as well as in the institutes for teacher education. The question how to link theory to practice however is still an issue within school-based teacher education. Collaboration between schools and institutes in order to improve school development and teacher education is a prerequisite to that objective. This form of collaboration is known as collaborative school-based teacher education and it elaborates on the ideas of the professional development schools (PDS). In Professional Development Schools teacher education is embedded in the overall school development (ten Dam, 2006).

The educational climate within the Faculty of Education has witnessed, especially over the last ten years, “a shift from individualism to social relationships” (Bezzina & Camilleri, 1998). The B.Ed. (Hons.) programme is based on the following main features: “participation, consultation, support, collaboration, reflection, motivation, openness and empowerment”. Various initiatives have been undertaken (e.g. Tomorrow’s Teachers Project, 1997) which have helped both the individuals members within the Faculty but also the Faculty’s own identity and character to grow. Our discourse, together with that of our students has taught us over the years that we need to seriously address the dichotomy between what is learnt at University and the realities in schools. Our discourse, together with a growing literature in the field of Professional Development Schools (Darling-Hammond, 1994; Metcalf-Turner & Fischetti, 1996) have highlighted the benefits that can be gained through school-centred initial teacher training. Therefore the main purpose of the Faculty of Education Professional Development School Partnership will be simultaneous renewal of the teacher education programme at the university and teaching and learning in schools. The setting up of Faculty-School Partnerships offers us the possibility of exploring different ways of learning as a result of which there will be greater relevance to the teaching-learning context (Teitel, 1998; Zeichner and Miller, 1997). PDSs create opportunities, which allow us, st annual atee Association of Teacher Education in Europe conference 749 as teacher educators, to take on different roles. It is within such a context that we expect beginning teacher educators to feel at their best. They have just left the classrooms and are therefore ideally positioned to establish the necessary philosophical and pedagogical underpinnings necessary for any professional discourse to take place. Experience has shown us the need to work together with teachers in schools. On the one hand we need teachers at the school site who, through their diverse qualities, will be good models to prospective teachers. In this respect teachers can serve as mentors or co-operating teachers, both fulfilling different but complimentary roles. On the other hand, the university lecturer has the opportunity of getting closer to the school and establishing the ground for educational discourse to take place between the student-teachers and lecturers alike.