• OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS

A) TEACHER EMPOWERMENT

B) TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS

• OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

• HYPOTHESES

• LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

OPERATIONAL DEFINITIONS

(A) TEACHER EMPOWERMENT

Teacher empowerment is defined as a process, which will

affect every teacher and every school in the some way and lead more

or less automatically to more favourable situations. Teacher

empowerment is important to enhance educational effectiveness. It

must relate to learning process themselves and to the essential tasks to

teachers and schools. Effective teaching is the outcome of being

empowered teachers.

To be an empowered and effective teacher, one should be

primarily a good human being. This demands various roles to be

played such as being a committed worker, helper, communicator,

effective person and on enthusiastic learner.

The term 'empowerment' is derived from the literature on

organisational management and sociology of work and it has become

a topic of discussion in recent years at regional and international

conferences on education. Floretta Dukes Mckenzie summarises it

as empowerment of teachers to participate directly in their schools'

decision-making' process to get their ideas deliberated and

incorporated for improving the learning outcome of students. On the

management side empowerment means a part of the authority to be

139
delegated to the teachers and proper physical facilities provided to

them for creating better working conditions with young children in

the schools. On the academic side the educationists and planners of

education have accepted the concept of teacher empowerment as

strengthening of the content knowledge of teachers along with the

required pedagogical skills and the sense of motivated

professionalism of teachers which will ultimately lead to

improvement in class-room teaching-learning transaction and pave

the way for better understanding by the students.

The term 'empowerment' has both social and cognitive

i

objectives. It has become associated with notions of self-efficacy,

achievement, autonomy, staff development, as well as with discourses

of consumer power, access and entitlements. In development work, it

has become associated with self-help and grass-roots community

initiatives among urban and rural poor, especially through NGOS.

Empowerment, in this context, is a crucial component in

sustainability. Whitmore defined empowerment as, "an interactive

process through which less powerful people experience personal and

social change, enabling them to achieve influence over the

organizations and institutions which affect their lives, and the

communities in which they live."

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 Early thinking on empowerment drew on mechanistic,

behaviourist notions of reward and punishment. Bandura identified

four means of empowering others -

(1) Through positive emotional support during experiences

associated with stress and anxiety.
(2) Through words of encouragement and positive persuasion.
(3) By providing opportunities to observe other's effectiveness and
(4) By enabling the mastering of a task with success.

Shrewsbury claimed that- 'to be empowered is to recognise our

abilities to act to create a more humane social order. To be

empowered is to be able to engage in significant learning. To be

empowered is to be able to connect with others in mutually

productive ways. According to Robinson, "empowerment is a

personal and social process, a liberatory sense of one's own strengths,

competence, creativity and freedom of action, to be empowered is to

feel power surging into one from other people and from inside,

specifically the power to act and grow.

Various commissions set up by the govt, have emphasised on

improvement of the status of primary education by according proper

teacher empowerment both academically and professionally. With

regard to teacher empowerment the main emphasis is on programmes

o f in-service training of teachers so that they can undertake activities

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with most of the class room activities Moreover, the Govt, has

initiated policies like O. B. scheme, MLL strategies, establishment of

DIET to improve teacher competency and teaching-learning process,

and decentralisation of planning and management.

Teacher empowerment is one of the essential ingredients of

UEE. Teacher by his/her capacities, abilities and enthusiasm can

influence a lot towards the achievement of the programme. The

Indian Education Commission (1964-66) have also recognised that

the quality, competence and character of the teacher are the most

significant factors influencing the quality of education and contribute

to national development. By empowerment we mean development of

capacity and skill for better interaction. When a teacher is

empowered, he/she is expected to interact effectively with the pupil

so that teaching and learning become lively, interesting, amiable and

the objectives of the lesson are achieved.

It may be seen that empowerment of teacher for a backward

area like a tribal area i^ set with the delicate balance of training to

meet the immediate and long term needs. Teacher empowerment is as

much the task of the management and the system as it is the task of

the teacher himself. Hence only willing and committed teachers

should take to such a profession at such places.

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 The empowerment of teacher and school effectiveness is

achieved by a united effort of the management, teacher, parent and

community. It is explicit in the minutest activity the teacher performs

and is filled with the sole objective of excellence of the child. The

picture of the teacher as an empowered professional person is

important in the short-term and in the long-term for the following

reasons:-
v

> It recognises the reality o f daily life in class-rooms - the fact

that each teacher makes critical decisions, and the
consequent potential of the teacher's role for good or ill.

> It provides a vision of where the teaching and teacher

education enterprise should go and sets the scene for a
gradual withdrawal of unduly tight state /ministry of
education controls which tend to downgrade and demoralise
teachers, and in many instances, constrain schools and
render them less flexible and effective in meeting pupil and
local needs.

> It presents teaching on a complex area where the knowledge

base is incomplete, subject to change and always open to
improvement. It also helps to break down defensive barriers
to in-service education on their part. It does this by
clarifying and justifying the need for constant updating and
skill development on the past of all professionals/including
teachers.

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 > It portrays teachers as persons needing initial and ongoing
professional development. Trainees and practicing teachers
should not be prepared simply to perform certain skills in
certain prescribed ways, but, rather, must be given the
mental tools needed to meet professional tasks in ways that
are adaptive, questioning, critical, inventive, creative and
self-reviewing.

> A professional vision of their occupation will motivate

teacher effectively by giving them a realistic and justifiable
pride in themselves and in their work.

THE RELATION BETWEEN INSTRUMENTS OF

EMPOWERMENT AND EDUCATIONAL EFFECTIVENESS.

(Source- CREEMERS 1997)

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 Empowerment can take place in different forms and by

different instruments at all levels of the educational system. - the

context level, the teacher level and the school level. At the context

level, by which we mean the national level of the educational system,

the instruments for empowerment are teacher profiles, initial training

o f teachers, core goal or a core curriculum and finally assessment and

evaluation systems. At the teacher level, the instruments for

empowerment are the procedures for selection of educational

materials and the implementation of materials by means of grouping

procedures and teacher behaviour. At the school level, the instruments

for empowerment are educational leadership combined with a system

o f in-service training and forms of intervention and coaching. So any

conceptual model of teachers empowerment at primary level is to be

derived from-

> Contextual issues relevant to teachers empowerment at

primary level.
> Emerging paradigms of primary education and their
implication for teacher education.
> Agenda for tomorrow's child.
> Teacher empowerment strategies derived from empirical
research findings on contextual issues relevant to teachers
empowerment at primary level.

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TEACHER EMPOW ERMENT ISSU E S:

How to help teachers in getting answers, solutions to questions

related to various dimensions of teacher empowerment ?

How to equip the teacher with solutions ?

ISSUES RELATED TO TEACHER EDUCATION/TRAINING :

Training needs of teachers have never been assessed.

> Teacher Education Curriculum

■ Heavily loaded with disconnection information’s/subject

matters on broad theoretical issues.
* Should are emphasize education as a discipline or education
as a profession ?
* Should are educate teachers or train the teachers ?
■ Pedagogical theories suggest idealistic 'global solutions' -
which cannot be implemented in a multicultural classroom.
■ Pedagogical theories are structured subjects having no

o Interventional roles

o Diagnostic roles

o Remedial roles

o Preventive roles

> Teacher competencies are obsolete since they are global - not
contextual.
> What competencies the teachers would require to improve the
learning capability and conditions of learners belonging to

146
 disadvantaged and marginalized groups and to integrate such
children in society?
> Teachers education does not expose the teachers to empirical
research findings on

■ Teaching-Learning Process.

■ Curriculum.

■ School environment/essential learning conditions.

■ Evaluation

> Teacher Education Lack Focus on

■ Action research.

■ Diagnostic research.

■ Interventionist research.

■ Policy research.

> Classroom Practices are routine, unimaginative and lacks purpose.

> Lack focus on inseparability between pre-service and in-service
education of Teachers - life long learning.
> Lack of schemes for school based pre-service education of
teachers.

JOB / WORKING CONDITIONS RELATED ISSUES

> Teacher absenteeism

> Teacher's attrition / premature departure from profession.
> Teacher's recruitment influenced by socio-political pressure.
> Absolute salaries are so low that teachers held other jobs to
supplement income.

147
 > Overload in working conditions imposed by curriculum
transaction policy.
> Irregular payment of salaries.
> Discrepancy between demand of curriculum policy and
inability to appoint more teachers due to resource constraints.

ISSUES RELATED TO PROFESSIONALISM: -

> Lack of professional commitment / professional ethics of

teachers.
> Lack of professional 'standards'.
> Lack of opportunities for professional advancement.

> Unprofessional attitude to students.

> Lack of accountability in performance.
> Lack of distinct professional language and the primary
teachers do not share common theoretical models or
theories.

ISSUES RELATED TO TEACHERS MOTIVATION: -

> J> Loss of teacher motivation after a few years joining in

the profession.
> I} Lack of teacher motivation results in
■ Teacher absenteeism

* Indifferent classroom transaction

* Early departure from profession

■ Unprofessional attitude to students

■ Lack of role clarity

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 ■ Lack of values

> Factors Effecting Teachers Motivation career structure and

renunciation, Recognition, Professional status, Job security,
promotion, success / competition, Responsibility, conditions
of service, conditions of working place.

ISSUES RELATED TO TEACHERS ROLE PERCEPTION / ROLE

PERFORMANCE.

> Role ambiguity

* Expectations about teachers role performance are

not defined.
■ Lack of clarity about the bound aries / scope of
teachers role / responsibilities.

> Role conflict

■ Conflict between sub-roles i.e. role of teachers a

disciplinarian v/s role of teacher as a counsellor.

> Lack of partnership between

■ Teacher

■ Parent

■ Community functionaries

■ Teacher training institutions.

> Training unrelated to role perception

> Confusion between teacher as a role taker and as a role

maker.

149
IMPLICATION FOR TEACHER EMPOWERMENT:

Global Form at:

Massive training programme which is-

■ Particularly (to remove alienated isolation)

■ Activity based (to infuse academic motivation)

* Need-specific (to remove different ignorance)

■ Anchored on cognitive conflict (to eradicate illusion of

non-ignorance).
■ Interactive (to remove conceptual smug)

■ Teacher friendly (to erase crisis of confidence) to be

taken up in a time targeted made.

Strategies:

■ Teaching the teacher through a cascade system of

training schedule.
* Taking the training to the teachers.

* Arranging cluster level meetings as a part o f regular

routine.
■ Developing suitable self-learning material.

Contextual Format:

(a)

■ General awareness about all subject.

* Structure of competencies.

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 ■ Linguistic framework.

■ Joyful activities.

* Diagnostic approach.

■ Process-based competencies.

■ Evaluation.

(b) Suitable concept specific (hard spots identified) modules

written in an interactive made and with lots of diagrams and

activities be made available to the trainer and to the

teachers.

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P L A N O F S T U D Y O F T E A C H E R E M P O W E R M E N T

T H R O U G H I N T E R P E R S O N A L M A N A G E M E N T

( S A X E N A & S H A R M A 1 9 9 7 )

152
TEACHER EMPOWERMENT STRATEGIES:

153
OPERATIONALISATION OF THE STRETEGIES: -

■ Development of need assessment / diagnostic

tools.
■ Development of training design.

■ Development of training package.

■ Development o f training guidelines to develop /

organization of

a) Local specific materials.

b) Teacher's facilitation role.
c) Self-learning / group-leaming/peer assisted learning,

d) Teachers guide.
e) Work book / Teacher's diary / children's diary.

f) Child-centered activity based joyful learning.

THE PARTNERSHIP WEB FOR TEACHEREMPOWERMENT:

An attempt has been made to identify partnership patterns for

improving in-service training and its application in primary schools in

rural areas by Dr. Paranjpe through NCERT. These patterns have

been diagrammatically presented in the figure. For purposes of

simplification and clarity the web can be described as operating at 4

functional levels. The figure clearly depicts the intricate relationship

at all levels resulting in the so called "WEB". The web structure itself

indicates a more decentralized, functional, interactive and

154
collaborative system so necessary for effective partnership

development. The center of the web is small corresponding to the

village level expanding slowly into concentric ever widening circles

at the cluster, block and district levels. Most of the partnership

patterns are triangular in nature with circular / horizontal lines of

communications linkages between the different groups.

THE WEB:

Level I:

At the very centre of the web lies the rural village where in

parents, different community members and the village education

committee (VEC) form a triangular relationship with the school as the

central structure of interaction.

Level II:

The second level represents a cluster o f villages. Within each

village partnerships identical to that depicted at the center are

advocated However, keeping in mind inter village differences and the

need for flexibility within each village, it is envisaged that those

community members be identified and associated with the school

depending on their potential, interests, availability and experience

amongst other factors Horizontal lines of interaction and

communication are depicted before the cluster of villages. Linkages

155
between all the villages in a cluster is absolutely crucial in

establishing teacher peer group centers, which was one structure

stressed categorically by all the respondents, especially for promoting

in-service training activities. Strong inter village linkages before

partnership structures will go along way and facilitate sharing of

ideas, common problems and practical implementation of in-service

training inputs depending upon local specific needs and requirements.

Level I I I :

The web widens further at the block level within the need for

establishing stronger partnerships with government departments and

structures is apparent. In the previous section teachers acknowledged

that the state through its various department/officers had a supportive

and facilitative role to play, which is what emerges clearly in the

figure.

Level IV:

Finally at the district level a variety of partnerships with all the

important organizations and government structures is depicted in the

figure, giving emphasis to multisectoral collaborative action. It was

also suggested by teachers that a co-orinatior committee could be

established for effecting multisectoral linkages comprising the Block

Development Office (BDO's)- Block Education Office (BEO's) -

156
DIET- Training institutions-cluster level parent and community

representatives with the major aims of identifying needs, training

inputs/activities as also monitoring in-service training progremmes

and future follow-up activities. Besides this, providing support both

infrastructure and financial and evolving new partnerships with new

persons, groups and demands emerged stressing the dynamic nature

of partnership development.

Finally, the researcher acknowledges the obvious rural bias

apparent in the type of partnership suggested across the different

operational levels. This could be modified according to the contextual

situation of training and location of school.

157
 ili^uic 3

ilt* PrtrlnffsWii iOTBfii r Tfrucher Zfflfeiftwwnt

IMPLECATIONS:

> Schools/teachers should establish a continuous dialogue

between the parents, VEC and other community members at
the village level.

> All the partners should review and analysis the school position
on a continuum of educational change vis-a-vis children’s
needs and parent / community expectation.
> At the cluster level teacher peer groups should be established
and meetings held at least once a month.

158
 > Community members who can function as auxiliary/part-time
help should be identified for support in school.

> Schools along with block and district level authorities should
identify other organizations / groups / individuals that
would help in the realization of in-service training inputs.

> A core group needs to be constituted for establishing linkages

between identified partners at different levels in the district.

> Future in - service training programmes should be onsite,

recurrent, short term with an opportunity for field try outs.

> Training inputs should be based on the changes required as

identified by school - parents - VEC.

> A mobile expert facilitator or a team should be identified for

providing continuous guidance and support to in-service
training programme.

> Community should be prepared before any changes are

implemented in class - rooms as a result of in-service training
progremmes.

> Training should include identified partners besides teachers.

In a word undergoing rapid change, in-service training has

become all the more vital as no school reform can succeed without

continuous teacher empowerment: This highlights the central vole of

159
in - service training programme in view of obsolescence as well as

explosion of knowledge and changing educational and social realities.

The findings of the study emphasize that simply providing in-service

training is not the solution to effecting school reform vis-a-vis the

teacher. What needs to be acknowledged is that teachers are a part

and parcel of the community where they teach particularly in rural

areas. Their involvement should therefore respond adequately to local

needs and expectations.

The partnership web for teacher empowerment provides a way

forward to successful and realistic school reforms.

TEACHER EMPOWERMENT STRATEGIES:

During training programme the following strategies are to be

disseminated and practiced to enhance performance competencies of

the teachers. There is a need to discuss how to use teacher’s manuals,

teacher’s guides and guidelines during the training.

> Strategies to assess school readiness:

■ Development of tool to measure basic cognitive abilities

like conservation, seriation and classification,
■ Development of simple manual for primary teachers
indicating the procedure to use the tool, interpret the data
and linking it with teaching - learning.

160
 > Diagnostic Strategies:

■ Simple teacher made diagnostic tool to identify learning

needs / disabilities / errors.
■ Identification of teachers training needs in multigrade /
large class size context.
■ Need for development of teachers manual in regard to
how to prepare the diagnostic tool.

> Strategies to define the end product of learning:

* At the end of the activities related to content areas the child

should attain concepts and well-defined abilities.
■ Concept attainment strategies and ability development
modalities should be interacted during training period.
■ Training sessions should highlight the procedure of concept
identification, concept mapping, concept attainment strategies,
identification of abilities to be developed and ability
development strategies.

> Remedial strategies:

■ How to develop remedial instructional material?

* How to use them?

■ Should these be used in self-learning or group learning
situations?

> Intervention Strategies:

■ How to improve T-L process in multigrade/large size

context?

161
 ■ Class seating strategies.

■ Curriculum organization strategies.

■ Same subject across different classes.

* Blending of competencies across different subject areas.

■ Ability grouping across classes.

* Group leaming/senior student teaching.

■ Time table strategy.

■ Strategies to develop free practice materials.

■ Group and pair practice strategy.

During teacher training period, these strategies are to be practised

by teacher.

> Strategies to formulate multiple learning mode and their

interlinking:

■ Activity based joyful learning

* Co-operative leaming/small group learning.

■ Peer/senior assisted learning.

* Self learning.

■ Drill.

* Interlinking multiple mode of learning. There is need to

develop guidelines for teachers highlighting how these
strategies could be operationalised. During training
programme teacher should work on these strategies.

162
 > Strategies to go beyond facilitating role of teachers and
parents:

■ Going beyond planning, demonstrating, facilitating,

observing, assessing, guiding, collecting, selecting,
arranging and maintaining the environment, strategic for -

o Smooth transition from home to school,

o Nature of child’s uniqueness and facilitating personal

development of the child,

o Meeting all sort of developmental needs,

o Sharing information with parents,

o Collective task oriented performance,

o Accountability for educational goals,

o Democratic schooling and concern for equity,

o Diagnosis, remediation and acceleration.

There is need to develop self learning package for teachers which

could be transacted during training.

> Strategies to extend learning opportunities/ choice by

environment building

■ Self regulated practice

■ Wise range of tools/ equipment to support to learning

■ Equity in choices/opportunities to use materials.

163
 ■ Guideline opportunities to take responsibility.

■ Use of teacher/parents as resources for learning by students.

■ Non-directive/ flexible mode for working.

■ Strengthening social dimension of learning.

■ Group learning.

■ Partnership and co-operation in learning.

There is a need to develop guidelines for teacher’s which

would be discussed through interactive sessions.

> Strategies to develop learning materials.

r
•V

■ Competency based learning materials.

■ Local specific materials.

■ Materials for use in group leaming/self-leaming/drill.

* Fixation of content standards.

There is need to develop teacher's manual to guide teachers in

development of various learning materials.

> Evaluation strategies.

The focus of evaluation should be shifted to measurement of

abilities / skills and attainment of concepts. New criterion reference

tests are to be developed for measurement of abilities/skills and

concept attained. There is a need to develop teachers manual. During

164
training sessions, practical work on development of tools should be

undertaken.

> Strategies to facilitate learning to learn.

Ability to investigate / explore / enquiry questioning will lay

the foundation of further learning, independent learning and learning

to learn it also includes -

* To understand learning techniques.

* To be responsible for own learning.

■ To identify concepts to be attained and abilities to be

acquired.

* To work systematically step by step.

■ Conceptual modeling of each ability/skills.

■ Practice of skills

■ Teacher feed back/group feed back

> Teacher policy to improve working condition/Enhance job

satisfaction / Motivation.

There is need to formulate teacher policy by the govt, to

improve working conditions and to enhance job satisfaction and

motivations since these are interlinked.

■ Recruitment policy: Two years pre-service training after +2

level minimum education. More female teachers are preferred

165
 at primary level. Socio-political interference in

appointment/transfer of primary teachers should be stopped.

* M arketing policy: Maintaining a balance between demand and

supply o f trained primary teachers. For example, in Assam pre­

service programme of DIET has been stopped due to incidence

of unemployment among trained primary teachers and political

pressure in case of non-trained unemployed youth.

■ Pay policy: Primary teachers should be given a realistic salary

structure. Payment of salaries should be regular.

■ Promotion policy: A well defined career structure with

provision for upward mobility should be formulated. Career

rewards and work rewards will motivate teachers.

■ In-service Training policy: In-service programme should be

compulsory and need-based. In-service training needs of the

teachers should be assessed through diagnostic tool. School-

based in-service programmes should be initiated.

THE ROLE O F A TEACHER:

The thrust for the current national review of in-service

education was provided by the report of the James Committee in 1972

in which it was argued that "the best education and training of

teachers is that which is built upon and illuminated by a growing

166
maturity and experience. In-service training comprehends the whole

range of activities on which teachers can extend their personal

education, develop their professional competence and improve their

understanding of educational principles and technique". To perform

these concrete tasks with adequate quality and efficiency, the teacher,

first and foremost, should have love and affection for children,

concern for optimum attainment, regular contact with parents for the

best possible education of their words, eagerness to elicit community

support for optimum functioning of the school in all aspects and

achieving a high degree of commitment to attain higher professional

standards. In several consultations organised by NCTE (National

Council for Teacher Education) at different levels, the following five

crucial commitment areas have been identified.

■ Commitment to the learner.

■ Commitment to the society.

* Commitment to the profession.

■ Commitment to attaining excellence for professional

actions and

* Commitment to basic values.

Therefore on the basis of the consultations, five major

performance areas have been identified for the teachers to develop

practical skills. These are -

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 > Class-room performance:

The area of classroom performance assumes most importance

for the teachers, as their first concern is education of the children put

to their change. They are expected to do their best in the classroom to

import as best education and learning to the class as fessible under the

given conditions. This would require practical acquisition of

necessary skills, competencies, attitudes and approaches for

transaction, evaluation and management strategies. The teachers,

therefore need to be quite well prepared for these and similar other

type of classroom performance to do their classroom duties and work

efficiently and effectively, as past of their teacher education

programme, both pre-service as well as in-service.

> School level performance:

Besides their class-room performance, the teachers have to

discharge their roles and responsibilities towards the school they

serve. Organisation of learning oriented social events, festivals,

functions, games and various other interactions within the school

constitutes a very significant part of the teaching-learning process. A

well-prepared teacher can put in dynamism and generate interest and

participation of the total school community in such performances in

order not only to improve the school climate for effective schooling

168
but also to build quite a whole same image of the school for an all­

round development of the whole learning teaching community in the

school.

> Performance in the out of school educational activities:

Various curricular and co-curricular activities, field visits,

community interactions, utilisation of community resources and

identification of other possible resources are same of the aspects

which could develop close relationship of the school with the world

outside. The student teachers have not only to be acquainted with

these during their teacher preparation programme but have also to be

trained to participate activity in organising and conducting these

activities to understand their role performance in these areas.

> Parents related performance:

Several studies revealed that issues of clarification,

remediation and learner attendance are directly co-related at the

interaction level of teachers and parents. The dropout rates decreased

in places where teachers contacted the parents within a week of their

word's absence from the school.

169
 > Community related performance:

In the years to come, village education committees (VEC) and

other similar bodies will play a major role especially in UEE, besides

school education as a whole. Interactions with these bodies would

become necessary for proper development of the school and growth

of its resources as well as its activities. Teacher education shall have

to give this issue its due place and weight age.

A close relationship of the theory with the performance should

ensure greater magnitude of achieving what has been planned in

policies.

Teacher has to play the role of a friend; facilitator or guide who

should provide conducive learning environment and both learners and

teacher should participate as co-learners in a co-operative manner.

Teacher should plan, organise and evaluate learning activities

according to the knowledge, skills, attitudes and experience of

children. Teacher should make effect to create environment where

■children learn on their own through explanation. Rather than

providing mere information for rote learning with the help of

materials teacher should try to create a situation where children can

concretely experience what they learn. For this teacher has to keep in

mind a number of things learning levels of children, their interests,

their abilities, the nature of learning the experience etc. Teacher

170
should know that the effective use of teaching learning material has a

critical role to play in generating learning opportunities for children.

At primary level, it is important to provide children an opportunity to

concretize their learning. This is possible if children are allowed to

handle materials, which provide opportunities for learning. The

following principles help the teacher to use learner centered approach

in classroom.

(a) Understand the child:

In learner-centered approach all children are equally important.

By communicating and establishing rapport with each child, the

teacher can understand about the child. Teacher should know about

the interests, abilities, attitudes, their background, which help him/he

to plan, organize and evaluate learning activities. By observing and

interacting with every child, the teacher can identify individual

learning needs.

(b) Ensuring participation of each child:

Teacher has to involve each child in learning activities. To

make every child participate activity in learning activities the teacher

has to adopt different strategies. Group Learning, peer tutoring, self

leaning and interactive technological devices may be quite useful in

making each child active.

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 Children learn better in-group situation. Inactive children also

interact and participate in-group actively. Communication skills, co­

operation, self-confidence, independence develop among children

through group work. Slow- learners also try to situation. The teacher

should plan organise group activities in a flexible way according to

nature of activity to ensure the participation of all children in teaching

learning activity.

(c) Learning through various Experiences:

For securing and sustaining child interest and attention, teacher

has to provide learning experiences according to the news and

environmental conditions children can overcome the fatigue to a great

extent. Teacher can involve children in collecting and preparing

leaning material.

(d) Evaluation of the Learner:

Evaluation has to cover all areas of development i.e.

knowledge, skills, competencies, social and emotional development

etc. Besides these areas, evaluation also has to be cover in terms of

attaining competencies. Not only quantitative but also qualitative

assessment of dimensions like leadership, self-confidence, sociability,

co-operation should be included. Child’s positive strengths and

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p r o b l e m a r e a s i f a n y h a v e t o t a k e n i n to c o n s i d e r a t i o n , w h i c h i n d i c a t e

w h e t h e r t h e c h i l d n e e d s s p e c i a l a t t e n t i o n i n t h e d e v e l o p m e n t o f c h il d .

E v a l u a t i o n m e t h o d s s h a l l i n c l u d e o r a l p e r f o r m a n c e , o b s e r v a t i o n

t e c h n i q u e s a n d u s e o f c u m u l a t i v e r e c o r d s . T h e t e a c h e r s h o u l d n o t

c o m p a r e a c h i l d w i t h o t h e r c h i l d r e n , b u t h i s / h e r p e r f o r m a n c e s h a l l b e

c o m p a r e d w i t h h i s / h e r o w n e a r l i e r p e r f o r m a n c e , w h i c h h e l p i n

n o t i c i n g i m p r o v e m e n t i n t h e c h il d .

( e ) P r o v i d i n g G u i d a n c e :

T e a c h e r s h a l l g u i d e t h e c h i l d r e n i n i d e n t i f y i n g t h e i r s t r e n g t h s

a n d w e a k n e s s e s s h a l l h e l p t h e m i n a s s e s s i n g t h e i r o w n w o r k , s o t h a t

c h i l d r e n c a n r e a l i z e t h e i r m i s t a k e s b e f o r e t o l d b y o t h e r s a n d c a n s h o w

i m p r o v e m e n t i n t h e i r s u b s e q u e n t l e a r n i n g .

(B) TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS

T e a c h e r e f f e c t i v e n e s s is a n a r e a o f r e s e a r c h , w h i c h is

c o n c e r n e d w i t h r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n c h a r a c t e r i s t i c s o f t e a c h e r ,

t e a c h i n g a c t s a n d t h e i r e f f e c t s o n t h e e d u c a t i o n o u t c o m e o f c l a s s ~

r o o m t e a c h i n g . M a s t e r y o f t h e s u b j e c t m a t t e r , p r o p e r p r o f e s s i o n a l

t r a i n i n g , l o v e f o r t h e p r o f e s s i o n a l , l o v e f o r c h i l d r e n , a b a s i c

k n o w l e d g e o f p s y c h o l o g y , g o o d c o n d u c t , h o n e s t y , p o l i t e n e s s a n d

s i n c e r i t y , p a t i e n c e a n d t o l e r a n c e , o p t i m i s t i c o u t lo o k , s e n s e o f h u m a n ,

173
patriotism and sympathy are requisite qualities of an efficient,

effective teacher.

Recent writing and discussions on teacher education have

indeed reflected the general concern about quality. A great deal is

being said about new directions in teacher education, about reform of

the curriculum, about the organization of teaching practice and the

use of the training year. The potential value of new media has

repeatedly been stressed and more recently, we have heard a good

deal about group dynamics, microteaching and problem solving

techniques.

The possible indicators of efficiency in the process of training

are predictive in character. By examining their relationship to

attainment indicators over a period of time we may be able to

establish which factors significantly affect attainment and to what

extent. Thus for the purpose of this synthesis it seems convenient to

group the result in the following way.

> “Factors” (teacher background and school system

variables) as they related to the “ teaching situation.”

> “Teaching situation characteristics” as they relate to out

comes and

> “Factors” as they relate to out comes.

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 The following figure illustrates the way to which the various sets

o f relationships were postulated, with effectiveness defined in terms

of the association between factors (determinants) and intermediate

and final out comes.

(Factors) Determinants

(Teaching Outcomes)

situation)

Cognitive

Affective

Social

• Teacher effectiveness is loosely defined in term of the

changes which take place in the knowledge, attitudes and

behaviours of individuals and communities as a result of

teacher involvement.

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 • Teaching situation is made up of the behavioural and

attitudinal characteristics of teachers and pupils and their

interaction of an educational setting.

• Factors refer to those personal and professional background

conditions that a teacher brings to the teaching situation,

which might affect its character. They include other

influences such as the school and social system, as these

affect teacher characteristics.

Out comes are those pupil changes in achievement, attitudes

and behaviour that take place in the context of the teaching situation

as well as the institutional or community changes that are due to

teacher involvement.

FACTORS AS RELATED TO THE TEACHING SITUATION:

■ Not all the variables suggested in the framework were found to

be covered by the research reviewed under this heading. For example

there were no studies that dealt with effects of the social context in

which the teacher operates, except for some differences noted

between teaching in rural and urban schools. Results of the available

studies can thus be grouped in two set:

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 A. Teacher factors: Sex, age, personality, socio-economics

status, knowledge, ability, language, instruction, attitudes,

experience, qualifications and training.

B. School characteristics: Location of schools, type o f school

management, subject matter and level taught, resource and

social status of teacher.

SEX, AGE, PERSONALITY AND SOCIO-ECONOMIC FACTORS:

A number of studies comparing male and female teachers for

the most part in Primary school found that female teachers were more

satisfied with their career, possessed a better attitude toward the

profession, students and school work, exhibited better mental health

and suffered less from problems related to their teaching activities.

Females appeared to have a better perception of an open school

climate and this in turn appeared associated with better job

satisfaction.

Although there did not appear to be a clear relationship

between sex and teaching attitudes, there was some indications that

female teachers use more “modem” teaching approaches such as

participatory, problem solving methods and in the case of student

teachers, females performed better.

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 Not much research related age to teacher performance, but a

few studies did indicate that teachers in the 30 to 40-age bracket

showed greater job satisfaction than younger or older ones. Teachers

in this age bracket also appeared better adjusted with a better

knowledge of educational principles and a better educational attitude.

Much less is said about the impact of socio-economic factor on

teacher performance. The study shows males in the upper socio­

economic groups were less satisfied than females. The same sets of

relationship appeared with respect to perception of class-room

discipline where males of the upper socio-economic groups appeared

less patient than females.

TEACHER ATTTUDE TO VARIOUS ISSUES, ROLE

CONCEPT AND EXPECTATIONS:

Teacher attitudes towards educational, political, social and

religious issues and their effect on the teaching situation were hardly

looked into. Teacher attitudes to educational aspects dealing with

teaching, teacher-pupils relationship, discipline, curriculum, pupil’s

home work, teaching aids and management were found to affect class

room behavior in relation to these aspects.

Teacher attitudes in favour of political democracy were found

related to “indirect” behavior and democratic and social attitudes such

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as those termed unbiased, progressive, sympathetic and friendly were

found related to teaching efficiency.

Teachers are viewed by the community in a multiplicity of

roles and research confirmed this assumption. Consensus on role

among colleagues and Head Teacher was found to contribute to a

teacher’s job satisfaction and in turn, role anxiety related to

ineffectiveness. How ever with one sole exception in which teacher

perception of himself as ‘director of learning’ was found to be related

to effective behaviour, no studies showed how differences in role

perception could affect a teacher’s behaviour and attitudes.

SCHOOL SYSTEM:

The impact of the characteristics of a school system was mostly

investigated in relation to teacher attitudes. It was found that the

location of a school affected teacher attitude toward teaching o f major

subjects in primary school and that authoritarianism was an attitude of

teachers in Rural areas in some settings. It was also found promoted

favourable teaching attitudes, that subject matter taught affected

attitude to teaching as did the school level.

Some effect of school system variables on teacher behaviour

was also reported. Location of school was found related to practice

teaching behaviour and to lesson planning in teacher training. In one

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case practice teaching in village school appeared more beneficial than

that carried out in town school.

Also in elementary stage, lack of teaching aids and library

resources are linked to in-efficient teacher behaviour. In respect to

subject taught and teacher behaviour, MALHOTRA found that

science teaching was looked to indirect behaviour. The examination

system in India was reported to be negatively related to teacher

behaviour as was heavy syllabus additional workload and lack of

teaching aids. Teacher satisfaction with the curriculum was found

related to indirectness ratio of primary teachers.

Finally, with regard to job satisfaction it was found that

incentives such as recognitions, advancement and inteipersonal

relationships contributed highly to it, while policy and administrative

i

factors, low salary, the nature of work and the social status of teachers

die not. Teacher’s morale, presumed to be related to leadership

qualities of school, Head Masters were found to be positively related

only Head Master’s qualifications.

EXPERIENCE AND TRAINING:

a) Experience:

What perhaps appears more clearly from the reviews is that there

is some positive effect of length of experience upon the type of

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techniques used in the class-room; the evidence, however is limited

and even contradictory regarding what type of techniques are

associated with different levels of experience.

The study by SWET reports an association between experience of

less than five years and the use of participatory and less authoritarian

techniques. With regard to teacher attitudes toward pupils and

teaching, they either do not appear related to experience at all, or to

experience beyond 13 years. However GAYATRI reported a positive

relationship between maturity of experience and attitude toward

pupils and work in the school.

b). Training:

At first question here is of the relationship between training

(whether academic or professional) to teaching behaviour like

attitudes,

■ Knowledge

■ Job satisfaction

■ Personal adjustment

■ Teaching styles and

■ Modes of interaction.

Generally speaking training does appear to make a difference

with regard to some aspects of teacher behaviour. Teacher

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a t t i t u d e s w e r e f o u n d t o b e a f f e c t e d b y t r a i n i n g in a n u m b e r o f

s t u d i e s a n d u s e o f m o r e a u t h o r i t a r i a n p u p i l c o n t r o l m e t h o d s w e r e

r e p o r t e d f o r u n t r a i n e d t e a c h e r s . A g a i n t r a i n i n g w a s f o u n d

r e l a t e d t o i n d i r e c t s t y l e o f t e a c h i n g , b e t t e r p r e p a r a t i o n o f l e s s o n s

a n d t o t h e q u a l i t y o f p r o f e s s i o n a l r e l a t i o n s h i p s .

I n o n e g r o u p o f s t u d i e s , h i g h e r q u a l i f i c a t i o n s a p p e a r e d r e l a t e d

t o p o s i t i v e a t t i t u d e s t o w a r d t e a c h i n g a n d t o w a r d t h e p r o f e s s i o n .

H i g h e r q u a l i f i c a t i o n s w e r e a ls o r e l a t e d t o t h e u s e o f v a r i o u s

c l a s s r o o m t e c h n i q u e s c h a r a c t e r i z e d a s i n d ir e c t , p a r t i c i p a t o r y a n d

e m p l o y i n g m o d e m a id s a n d i n q u i r y p r o c e d u r e s .

C o n v e r s e l y , o t h e r s t u d i e s , t h o u g h r e c o g n i z i n g t h e e f f e c t e d

t r a i n i n g , w e r e n o t a b l e t o s u g g e s t t h a t h i g h e r q u a l i f i c a t i o n s w e r e

b e t t e r t h a n l o w e r l e v e l s o f t r a i n i n g .

S o m e w o r k h a s b e e n d o n e o n t h e e f f e c t o f v a r i o u s m e t h o d s

u s e d i n p r e - s e r v i c e t e a c h e r t r a i n i n g . A n u m b e r o f t h e s e h a v e t o d o

w i t h t h e i m p a c t o f m i c r o - t e a c h i n g o n p u p i l - t e a c h e r b e h a v i o u r , t y p e o f

q u e s t i o n i n g , u s e o f p a r t i c i p a t o r y m e t h o d s , a n d u s e o f v i s u a l a id s . A l l

b u t o n e r e p o r t p o s i t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p s b e t w e e n t h i s t y p e o f t r a i n i n g a n d

c l a s s r o o m p e r f o r m a n c e o f p u p i l - t e a c h e r s . O n e o f t h e s e s t u d i e s

r e p o r t e d o n i n t e r a c t i o n b e t w e e n e x p e r i e n c e a n d m i c r o t e a c h i n g ,

s t u d e n t t e a c h e r s w h o h a d m o r e t h a n o n e y e a r o f p r e v i o u s e x p e r i e n c e

182
profited most from a sequences of micro-teaching followed by macro

teaching.

The introduction of simulation techniques into teacher training

was examined mainly in some areas where several studies showed

these to be superior to traditional techniques of teaching and

demonstration in the use of participatory techniques and indirect

behaviour as measured by FLANDER’S Interaction Analysis. Team

teaching was reported in one study to be related to indirect behaviour.

The use of interaction analysis in training was found related to the

development of a child- centered approach to teaching and found to

affect its use in the class room.

The effect of various feedback strategies on student-teacher

behaviour was also detected in several studies. Positive attitudes

changes toward teaching were reported when feedback techniques

had been used, such as pupils’ observation and teachers’ self-ratings.

The relationship between in-service training experience and

teacher behaviour and attitudes was examined in a number of

studies. Several of these reported a positive effect of in-service

training on attitudes regarding teaching and subject matter.

Another effect of in-service training seems to be in the area

of subject matter knowledge, teaching methodologies and class­

room behaviour.

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 In fact, when compared to teachers with only pre-service or

no professional training, there was a positive effect on quality of

lesson training and observed performance, on instructional skills

and personal qualities and on success in implementing curricular

changes or reforms in the educational system. On the whole,

practically all that is reported on in-service training shows a

positive effect on attitudes and teacher behaviour.

However, given the number of in-service courses that have

been organized in our country, some reviewers note the lack of

studies on the effects of in-service training upon students and

especially of longitudinal ones that measure changes in teachers and

students over a period of time. There is also not much evidence of the
«

effectiveness of different ways of organizing in-service training or

methodologies used for this purpose.

THE TEACHING SITUATION AS RELATED TO OUT

COMES.

a) Teaching methods:

The majority of the studies under this category dealt with the

comparative effects of the discovery / inquiry method and the

expository method. Operationally there is a variety of definitions of

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treatments and characteristics of instruments for the measurement of

their effects.

The interaction between cognitive styles of pupils, teacher

methodical performance on tests o f recall, comprehension and

application was measured by KAZEMBE. He found that with a

guided discovery method pupil cognitive styles were a significant

factor on recall and comprehension. Analytic pupils did better than

non-analytic ones. However, LIM indicated that the inductive

approach seemed to have a positive style in dealing with high order

thinking activities.

There were also attempts to compare a “meaningful” method

(teaching for understanding) with a “mechanical” method (role,

convention). ALI found that teaching for understanding is more

effective for problem solving in Mathematics and is superior in

developing scientific attitudes and critical thinking. IBE observed that

the mechanical method was superior in immediate achievement while

the “meaningful” method was better for retention.

PATEL found that the project method is significantly more

effective in the acquisition of language skills among students with

high IQ. GILL and PREMA also found that the activity method

improved achievement in language and science, while JOSEPH

reported for science that the type of activity, whether laboratory or

185
demonstration, has no effect on knowledge, comprehension or

application. Its only effect as one expects was on skill development.

b) Modes of interaction:

A number of studies indicate that a democratic or personal

attitude of teacher as associated with positive student achievement

and a smaller incidence in school retardation. It was also found that a

democratic attitude stimulated creative thinking. With regard to

indirect versus “direct” mode of interaction, KILANI found that

students taught by the indirect approach achieved significantly better

than those taught by the direct approach.

Four studies on motivation indicated a positive effect on pupil

achievement. IP AYE found that although praise was not superior to

blame; it was better than vicarious reinforcement (such as ignoring)

on student achievement. EL NAIB found that the effect of praise or

blame on achievement of Primary school pupils was conditioned by

the extraversion introversion personality trait of the pupils.

An important number of studies investigated the effects of

different types of questioning techniques such as question-answer-

feedback-problem solving approach, divergent-evaluative

questioning, broad questions with feed back, upon achievement.

186
c ) T e a c h e r e x p e c t a t i o n s :

S t u d i e s d e a l i n g w i t h t h e e f f e c t o f t e a c h e r e x p e c t a t i o n s o n

s t u d e n t o u t c o m e s p o i n t i n t h e d i r e c t i o n o f t h e s u b j e c t i v e o r p r e ­

j u d g i n g a t t i t u d e w h i c h t e a c h e r s m a y e v i d e n c e a n d w h i c h c o n t r i b u t e to

p r o m o t e o r f a i l a s t u d e n t. A s t u d y s h o w s t h a t t h e p r e v i o u s k n o w l e d g e

t h a t t e a c h e r s h a v e a b o u t t h e d e g r e e o f i m m a t u r i t y o f t h e i r s t u d e n t s

n e g a t i v e l y a f f e c t s t h e i r p r o m o t i o n . B R A V O a n d S A L A S f o u n d a

c l o s e c o r r e l a t i o n b e t w e e n t e a c h e r ’s s u b j e c t i v e e v a l u a t i o n o f p u p i l s

i n t e l l i g e n c e a n d t h e n u m b e r o f f a i l u r e s . C H I A M o b s e r v e d a n e f f e c t

o f t e a c h e r p o s i t i v e e v a l u a t i o n u p o n t h e s t u d e n t ’s a c a d e m i c s e l f -

c o n c e p t , w h i c h i n t u r n w a s f o u n d t o h a v e e f f e c t u p o n a c h i e v e m e n t .

d ) S o c i a l a n d s c h o o l s y s t e m f a c t o r :

O n e s t u d y r e p o r t e d a p o s i t i v e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n t h e

p o s s e s s i o n o f a e s t h e t i c a n d p o l i t i c a l v a l u e s b y t e a c h e r s a n d t h e

p o p u l a r i t y o f t h e s e t e a c h e r s a m o n g p u p i l s .

F e w s t u d i e s t r i e d t o i n v e s t i g a t e t h e r e l a t i o n s h i p b e t w e e n s c h o o l

s t r u c t u r e a n d s t u d e n t o u t c o m e s . F O N S E C A f o u n d a p o s i t i v e

a s s o c i a t i o n o f s t u d e n t a c h i e v e m e n t a n d c l a s s a t m o s p h e r e w i t h “ s c h o o l

t r a d i t i o n ” ( i n t e r n a l r e g u l a t i o n s , a d m i n i s t r a t i v e p r o b l e m s , d i s c i p l i n e

e t c .) , b u t n o a s s o c i a t i o n w i t h s c h o o l b u r e a u c r a c y o r s t a t u s o f s c h o o l

p e r s o n n e l . P I L L A I f o u n d s i g n i f i c a n t i n t e r a c t i o n b e t w e e n

187
administrative-organization and social educational student

environment variables in their effect on student achievement.

Studies dealing with the effect of teaching-job conditions on

student achievement are scattered and piecemeal. SW ETT reported a

positive relationship between pupil-teacher ratio and pupils

achievement in the first grade. He also found a significant correlation

between pupils- teacher ratio and years of experience as well as

between pupil - teacher ratio and school slowness. JURIAH found a

positive relationship between lighter teaching load and pupils’

achievement, while FONSECA found that the standard of living of

teachers and the stability of school contracts contributed positively

but not strongly to pupil’s achievement. LULLA reported that the

transfer of teacher had a negative effect on the achievement of

students and large class-size, out dated syllabus were related to

backwardness at the primary level and the unplanned curricula was

related to over all backwardness.

FACTORS AS RELATED TO OUTCOMES:

Most of the studies related teacher background factors to pupils

cognitive outcomes. These include studies dealing with personal

characteristics of teachers, characteristics of training,

qualifications and experience.

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 In two studies dealing with personal characteristics of the

teacher and student achievement, no significant relationships were

reported. However one study reported that female teachers produce

higher achievement. DAVE reported for India that female teachers

were more effective in promoting pupil gains and that a positive

relationship exists between student achievement and age of teacher.

DAVE also reported that personality factors such as emotional

stability and popularity have a positive effect on achievement while

4

authoritarianism and extravertism have a negative effect. Similarly,

desirable personality traits have a positive effect on student attitudes

and on student acceptance of teacher.

MUSA also indicated the following relationship between

personality traits and student achievement:

■ Negative relationship between

(a) Teacher’s ascendancy and

(b) Sociability and female student achievement.

■ Positive relationship between

(c) Teacher responsibility and

(d) Emotional stability and male student

achievement.

• Certain personality traits (emotional stability, extraversion,

clamness, forgiveness relate positively to student achievement.

189
 Regarding socio-economic status of teachers, it was reported

by MEGENDZO and HEVTA that standard of living and stability of

school contract of teachers are weakly associated with student

achievement in certain subjects (mother tongue, social studies,

mathematics) and that teachers of higher social background tend to

get higher achievement of both high and low social status.

TEACHER QUALIFICATION VARIABLES:

The relationship between student performance and teacher

qualification was investigated in a number of studies mainly in terms

o f the following qualification variables:

■ Teacher educational attainment and knowledge (level of

:qualification)

■ Training (credentials and certification)

■ In-service training (short and long term)

■ Teaching experience.

BEEBOUT found a positive correlation between the

percentage of graduate teachers and student academic achievement.

He further found that increasing the percentage of teachers with

higher educational qualifications has a strong positive effect on

student achievement in schools with inexperienced teaching staff but

190
does not seem to have an effect in schools with experienced teaching

staff.

ISAHAK found that median teacher professional qualifications

are not significantly correlated with achievement of pupils at the

primary level. Similarly, SIFUNA and HEYNEMAN found that

there was no significant relationship between the degree of schooling

o f teachers or the performance in academic and educational subjects

and achievement of primary school pupils.

BEEBOUT found a negative relationship between student

achievement scores and percentage of untrained teachers in a school

(less or more then 10%). It was also pointed out that moving a school

from the lower to the upper achievement group by “elimination of

untrained teachers” amounts to about 8.8% increase in the per student

cost of education.

ATTAR also found that the achievement of students whose

teachers had pre-service training was higher than the achievement of

students whose teachers had no training. So the design of the study

however raises questions about the interpretation of results as to

w hether they reflect an effect of teacher variables, a method of

instruction variable or an interaction of both.

\

The study that considered effects of training experiences upon

student achievement was a particularly good experimental study

191
carried out in Nigeria. This study indicated that use of microteaching

in training significantly affected teaching results as for as the

achievement of students in different subjects and their participation in

classroom activities was concerned.

WAHIB, investigating the effect of in-service training on

student achievement, found that the effect is not significant in subject

matter nor on the knowledge level, but significant at both the

comprehension and application levels. BARRIGA showed that while

in-service training affects teacher’s knowledge, it does not affect the

student’s learning out comes. These contradictory results raise

many questions regarding the objectives of in-service training,

the optimum time needed for a possible effect to reach the student

level and measurement of student outcomes.

The effects of a short task-oriented training programme in the

mother tongue, with emphasis on specific objectives and detailed

activities was investigated by DAVE. He found that compared to

untrained teachers, trained ones produced improvement in pupil’s

language skills that affected over all achievement.

MEASUREMENT OF TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS:

Teaching effectiveness has been viewed from various angles as

the extent to which the teacher is able -

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 ■ To encourage and promote pupils’ understanding about the

subject.

■ To mould students to develop favourable attitude towards the

subject.

■ To develop independent study habit for the subject.

* To contribute to the emotional adjustment of the pupils.

MORER describes the teacher as a stimulus object. Teacher’s

wards, ideas, approach and behaviour become conditional stimuli for

responses from pupils in the class. As such, the effectiveness of

teaching depends on the strength of these stimuli in facilitating

independent student involvement with learning materials. According

to RYANS, teacher behaviour is -

■ Function of personal characteristics.

* Observable and

■ Classifiable both quantitatively and qualitatively.

He presented cogent argument for assessing teacher

competency in the light of effects of students.

In view of these considerations, measurement (quality and

quantity) of a few “well defined’ teaching activities that can bring

about certain ‘behavioural changes’ in pupils in respect of

different areas of educational objectives.

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 The criteria suggested by THORNDIKE, for measuring

teaching effectiveness are classified into three categories -

a) Process criteria

b) Presage or pseudo criteria

c) Product criteria

The process criteria consist of those aspects of teacher and

student, which are directly or indirectly related to educational

objectives. Observation of teacher behaviour in the classroom is

frequently used in such a scheme.

The presage criteria consist of those aspects whose relevance

depends upon on assumed or conjectured relationship to either

“process criteria” or ‘product criteria5. Generally, teacher

achievement examination, intelligence test, attitude test and

observer’s ratings are found to be used in such a scheme.

M. PRASAD in evaluating professional efficiency of teacher,

measured teacher’s intelligence under ‘presage criteria’ and

developed ‘teacher efficiency observation schedule’ under ‘process

criteria’.

In this study, categories (a) and (b) are employed in evaluating

class-room teaching behaviour and the category (c) for evolving

effective means for teaching, Two different approaches are justified

for categories (a) and (b) to ensure more dependable conclusion. Thus

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for (a) both pupil’s observation and personal observation on class­

room teaching behaviours are taken into consideration, while for (b)

observer’s, ratings on ‘behaviour traits’ usually considered in such a

study and teacher’s attitudes are made use of.

It is extremely difficult to define, prepare or measure teacher

effectiveness. BRUCE J. BIDDLE however suggests a seven

variable model for teacher effectiveness. He observes that the central

problem for understanding teacher effectiveness is to establish

relationships between teacher behaviours and teacher effectiveness.

The seven variables stated by BIDDLE are as follows:

A. Main sequence variables:

1. Formative Experiences ------ ► - Training

- Socialisation

- Ascribed Positions.

2. Teacher Properties - Skills

- Motives

- Habits

- Knowledge

3. Teacher Behaviour ------------ ► - Traits

- Responses to Environment

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4. Imm ediate Effects --------------- - Onset pupil Responses

- Convert pupil Responses

5. Lone term Consequences ^ Achievement on

Adjustment o f pupils

- New Ideas in Education

- A ggrandizem ent of the

profession.

B. Contextual variables:

6. Class room situations ______ -Physical Equipment

- Social Incidents.

6. School and community - Physical Equipment

Contexts ----------------------►
- Cost o f character

- Laws and customs

- Needs and Ideas of

community Members.

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MODALITIES OF TEACHER ASSESSMENT:

^Planned by J.S. RAJPUT

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 M ORTIM ORE (1991), has defined an effective school as one

in which student’s progress further than might be expected from a

consideration of its intake. An effective school adds extra value to its

student’s outcomes in comparison with other schools serving similar

intakes.

FULLAN (1995), conceives school effectiveness as

“Producing the best possible learning outcomes given variable student

characteristics and needs, changing resources and a dynamic

definition of what should be taught.”

REYNOLDS (1996), identified Nine key factors for assessing

teacher and school effectiveness -

* Professional leadership

■ Shared vision and goals

■ An orderly and attractive learning environment.

■ High quality teaching and learning.

■ High expectations.

■ Positive reinforcement.

■ Monitoring pupil’s progress and evaluating social

performance.

* Pupil rights and responsibilities.

■ Purposeful teaching.

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 Behaviour traits are generally used to evaluate student

teachers at all levels. Among them 15 important ‘traits’ have been

selected for the purpose of using them as ‘pseudo criteria’ in

assessing teaching and teacher effectiveness.

The traits are -

■ Co-operation

■ Job-satisfaction

* Job-interest

■ Emotional adjustment

* Teaching attitude

* Instructional Judiciousness

■ Adaptability to novelty

* Classroom sociability

■ Organising ability

* Job responsibility

■ Initiative

■ Adaptability of teaching

* Innovativeness

■ Disciplinary ability

■ Self-improving attitude.

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NEED FOR ASSESSING TEACHER EFFECTIVENESS :

Every successful educational enterprise requires optimum

utilization of human capabilities available to the system.

Consequently, every such enterprise or activity needs periodic

assessment and review. This has to be followed by search for better

conceptual understanding, implementation strategies and practices. It

is now well understood and appreciated that the role of teachers shall

continually change in the 21st century for obvious reasons. While it

will be necessary for the teachers and the teacher preparation systems

to ensure regular acquisition of new skills and up gradation of

existing skills, the assessment of the performance of teachers shall

also remain an essential pre-condition for enhancing the efficiency of

educational processes.

Assessment of teacher performance is essentially based on the

idea and understanding that their performance be improved upon. A

willing teacher who assists in this exercise is likely to gain more and

would also probably help in making evaluation more objective. The

teacher has to be realistic and objective in revealing his or her areas of

strengths and deficiencies to the evaluator, along with his/her positive

contributions and academic interests, Such an approach also requires

the assessor to be well versed not only in the routine tasks assigned to

the teacher but also in the professional practices being adopted by the

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school to meet the community expectations. Any system of

assessment would remain a week system if it does not take these

aspects into consideration. Who could assess remains an active issue

o f discussion among teacher.

One of the outcomes of assessment could be the possibility of

extending vertical mobility, rewards or incentives to the teacher.

Through this, apart from professional up gradation certain amount of

motivation could also be achieved. In view of large scale expansion,

the unstated objective of teacher assessment often becomes ensuring

the ‘maintenance’ of students and norms. Once this is achieved the

same could be utilized to enhance the effectiveness of the system.

The process of assessment and appraisal often gets confined to

administrative inspections. There has been a serious effort to change

the same. Teachers participation in the process of assessment could

be assured through generation of awareness and the positive aspects

that could follow out of such assessment. Most of the teachers would

appreciate transparent systems of appraisal which result into

improvements in establishing communication and rapport between

staff at different levels in the hierarchy in the systems. Many of them

would appreciate receiving critiques on their own performance.

Obviously teachers would be more in favour of an appraisal scheme

which would ensure promotions or professional advancement as

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compared to the one that could lead to disciplinary measures.

However, there would be a numbers of teachers who would perceive

appraisal as a threat to them which is utilized as an instrument of

accountability.

Votaries of greater autonomy for teachers consider appraisal as

a bureaucratic measure intended to keep a firm grip on them. They

also consider it as against the professionalism in teacher education.

The general feeling amongst teachers is that so long as the focus in

the appraisal system is on what teachers do efficiently and

competently rather than on only highlighting their deficiencies, it

would receive their support and would achieve the expected goals.

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OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

The study was designed to achieve the following objectives:

1. To study the retrospect of management training for

primary school teacher in Assam.

2. To study the status of ongoing teacher training

programmes in Assam (specially in Kamrup District).

3. To evaluate the teacher training programmes sponsored by

various agencies like NCERT, SCERT, UNICEF, NGO.

DPEP (SSA), SIE, SISE etc. in terms of their

■ Objectives

* Contents

■ Resource person

■ Training curriculum

■ Training Methodology

4. To analysis teacher effectiveness scores in term of sex.

teaching experience and age.

5. To find out difference in the teacher effectiveness of the

trained and untrained teacher.

6. To give suggestions for the necessary changes in the

ongoing teacher education programme in Assam.

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HYPOTHESES

Objective no. 1, 2 and 3 are fact finding in nature and

probably they do not need any hypotheses. Similarly, objective no

6, hardly need any hypotheses, since, it is a suggestive part.

However, it is a fact that on the whole the following observation in

the form of hypothese for the training programmes as follows:

H! - The ongoing teacher trained programmes under SCERT

are not adequate to the empowerment process of primary

school teachers especially in the remote rural areas.

H2 - Teacher training programme sponsored by different

agencies, mentioned in the objectives have an overall positive

and significant impact with respect to different aspect of

teacher empowerment,

i .e -

■ Update teachers in issues concerning content,

methodology and evaluation.

■ Upgrades serving teachers in tasks with which they

are currently occupied.

■ Initiates and orients teachers to new roles on

technologies.

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 ■ Provides opportunities for unqualified or under

qualified on the job teachers to update and upgrade

their knowledge.

H3 - Teacher effectiveness in terms o f teacher’ s age, sex

and teaching experience differs.

H4 -There is impact o f training on teacher effectiveness.

H5 - Teacher effectiveness is related to teacher

empowerment.

LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY

In the present practice, there are two type o f teacher

education programme in Assam, pre-service and in-service.

Pre-service course covers a periods o f two years and in-service

course for one year/eight months/six months/short term etc. and

it is intended for the teacher, who are working in primary

schools.

In Assam, the two-year pre-service teacher education

programme has recently been introduced in DIETs and still it

is an infant stage. So in the present study, the impact o f in-

service training programme is to be evaluated and two-year

pre-service programme is not in preview records.

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 The study includes most of the schools from remote and rural

areas and less number of urban schools for comparative analysis.

Only die recognized and provincialised primary schools of Kamrup

r
District are selected.

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