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Regular evaluation improves performance of one-third teacher trainees: Study

26 May 2021

By Ruwan Laknath Jayakody   Sri Lankan teacher trainees’ performance, in terms of learning the process of teaching, could be improved through regular evaluation, according to the responses of one-third of teacher trainees in a survey. This finding was made in a research article titled “An Evaluation of the Performance of Teacher Trainees in Initial Teacher Education: A Case Study” authored by CINEC Campus Faculty of Humanities and Education Senior Lecturer V.K.N. Kurukulaarachchi and published recently in the CINEC Academic Journal. The location of the study was the headquarters of one of the largest higher education institutions and well known non-state universities offering TVEC (Tertiary and Vocational Education Commission)-registered teacher education diplomas. Over one-third of teacher trainees (38%) at this institute had noted that the learning of the process of teaching improved with regular evaluation, while 22% had said that they need revision and 11% had stated that they needed to use multimedia frequently. The study notes that teaching is a profession through which the students’ behaviour along with knowledge, attitudes, and skills are transformed by teachers, and in this regard, as explained by Kurukulaarachchi, the students’ performance to a degree depends on the teachers’ performance, and therefore, teacher education is vital.
  1. Rahaman, N.B. Jumani, Y. Akhter, S.H. Chisthi, and H. Ajmal noted in the “Relationship between the Training of Teachers and the Effectiveness of Teaching” (2011) that teacher education is an integral part of the education system, which has to be expanded to cater to the fast-emerging needs of a country. According to the United Nations Educational, Scientific, and Cultural Organisation (UNESCO), teacher education constitutes formal training for teachers who can be in pre-service or in service, and which is intended to furnish them with the knowledge, attitudes, behaviours, and skills required for teaching at the relevant level. Under the Government's higher education policy, there is a formal teacher education system where state sector teacher education starts from the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (GCE A/L) or the National College of Education (NCE) level or university level. As far as tertiary vocational and education rraining (TVET) providers are concerned, there are also an increasing number of private higher education institutes and academies which conduct teacher education programmes including diplomas. Higher education institutes (including those whose organisations and programmes are registered with the State's TVEC) focus on teacher education at the tertiary (defined as third level or post-secondary education upon the completion of secondary education at school and consists of both academic and vocational education) and vocational level, which will lead to employment or job opportunities thanks to the assistance given with regard to acquiring skills and the preparation for employment as noted by S.M. Edirisinghe in the “Research Study on the Effectiveness of Vocational Training Programmes Conducted by the National Vocational Training Institute, Narahenpita” (2016).
Only limited numbers of teacher trainees are recruited to state teacher training colleges or the NCE with all three subjects qualified (passes are sufficient) in the GCE A/L examination as the minimum entry qualification. In the higher education sector, these higher education institutes should maintain entry-level qualifications for teacher trainees or prospective teachers. However, private higher education institutes maintain a flexible registration process specifically with regards to the entry qualification of teacher trainees where, as pointed out by Kurukulaarachchi, occasionally the institute is unable to comply with having at least two passes in the GCE A/L qualification. As noted by L. Weelahan in the “Literature Review: Quality of teaching in Vocational Education and Training” (2014), qualifications for vocational and tertiary-level teacher trainees could vary depending on the level at which they are teaching. Due to the lack of a proper evaluation mechanism, there are also issues pertaining to the teaching practice and supervision. As pointed out by N. Edirisinghe, H.K.N. Thusharika, and P.G.R. Damayanthi in the “Impact of the teacher training programme on the teaching and learning process in Technical Colleges and Vocational Training Centres in Sri Lanka” (2016), there is a lack of a monitoring, evaluation, and co-ordination system in the TVET sector. Institutions also entertain or at times struggle with the needs of students including the provision of lame excuses, especially in relation to the teaching practice, Kurukulaarachchi elaborated. The data for the study was collected through a questionnaire, key informant interviews (three including one with key organisational stakeholders – the Head of the Department and the Co-ordinator of the Programme), informal discussions, and the analysis of documents (including secondary data through relevant reports and documents of the institute, newspapers, articles, gazettes, the minutes of meetings, the internet, and the intranet). A simple random sample was used along with a random number being assigned to each respondent to select 90 teacher trainees from a population of 105. The response rate was 100%. Their age range varied from 19 to 35 years. They represent various parts of the country. Their educational background ranges from the GCE A/L qualification to the degree level. The majority of teacher trainees are female (69%) compared to male (31%). Age wise, the majority (55%) are between the ages of 18 and 23 years while 25% are in the age range of 24 to 29 years, 11% are in the 30 to 35 age range, and 5% are in the age range of 36-41 years. With regard to their educational qualifications, the majority (69%) have partial or full qualification at the GCE A/L while 26% have a diploma, 1% have a degree, and 4% are GCE Ordinary Level (O/L) qualified. Beyond teacher training, the majority of respondents in the survey (63%) believed that their performance is very good while 29% believed that it is good and 8% believed it to be average. It was, however, found that there is no significant relationship between the level of education and the performance. Furthermore, it was found that although the tertiary authority uses online platforms, the institute faces constant challenges due to practices of procrastination and bureaucratic procedures, and that it struggles with the supervision of the teaching practice. The study concluded that the performance of teacher trainees is at a good level. The findings of the study, Kurukulaarachchi explained, would help the managements of higher education institutes to formalise their registration process, particularly with regards to the entry qualifications, evaluation, and the monitoring of the teaching practice, for better co-ordination with the TVEC, to attract more trainee teachers and to improve the quality of teacher education in private institutes.   PHOTO © Child Protection Force


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