The Role of Institutional context and Time in Teacher Education

Name: Drashti V. Dave

 Submitted to: Smt. S. B. Gardi Department of English

Maharaja Krisnkumarsinhji Bhavnagar University

 Assignment topic: The Role of Institutional context and Time in Teacher Education

Paper no-12- English Language Teaching (ELT)

Enrolment no: PG13101007

Roll no: 06     Sem: 3      Year: 2014    M.A. part 2

The Role of Institutional Context and Time in Teacher Education.

Introduction: Second Language Teacher Education is chapter-10 by Freeman. The chapter is freeman’s views about second language education, gap between teacher education and knowledge construction, different strategies of teacher education, role of institute and time.

What is second language teacher education?

Second language (L2) teacher education describes the field of professional activity through which individuals learn to teacher L2. (As per Freeman’s View) Second language teacher education (SLTE) is book by Jack C. Richards and David Nunan. In this text they provides a detailed about current approaches to the education of teacher of second language. Teacher education is also connected with teacher training and teacher development. Formal activities are generally referred to as teacher training. Experienced teacher, individual basis are referred to as teacher development. The shifting ground of terminology has plagued L2 teacher education for at least the past 30 years. The four-word concept has tended to be an awkward integration; (Richards & Nunan, 1990)

As the relative emphasis has shifted the focus among these four words has migrated from thus capturing the evaluation in the concept of L2 teacher education in the field.

Here content is second language, person is the teacher and process of learning means ultimate goal of the learning process is education. (Freeman’s view)

The field of teacher education is a relatively underexplored one in both Second and Foreign language teaching. The literature on teacher education in language teaching is slight compared with the literature on issues such as methods and techniques for classroom teaching.           – Richards and Nunan 1990   (Carter & Nunan)

In teacher education role of time and place are very important tools. These are basic things in teacher education they are necessary part of any educational field.

Institution is very important and basic step of education because from the very beginning institution plays a vital role for learner as well as teacher.

Time is also another important step; because of time teacher and learner both learn something.

They three are connected with each other, now we deeply understand that how institution and time are important in teacher education.

The Role of Institutional context:

First of all what is institute?

Institute is a kind of organization having a particular purpose; another meaning is place for advanced learning.(Encarta Dictionary)

Prior knowledge in teacher education has lead directly to serious reconsideration of the role of institutional context in learning to teach clearly teacher-learners’ idea about teaching stem from their experiences as students in the context of schools; similarly their new practices as teachers are also shaped by these institutional environments. One big question is;

What is the role of schools in learning to teach?

What is the role of institute in education system?

Answer of these question is –Institutional environments can shape impede, encourage, or discourage new teachers. Classrooms, students and schools have been seen as seating practice in which teacher-learner can implement what they are learning or have learned in Formal teacher education.

In teacher education teacher-learner learn how to teach; in institutional context teacher learn and teach both the things together. Role of the institution has been much more central.

(image are taken from Google)

As researchers have looked at schools are more effective than others. Institute is organized within a defined set of formal and informal beliefs, values, roles, and behaviors. Institute is mixture of so many things main is sociocultural forces and values are also a part of institutions.

 

An institution therefore refers to: 1) The setting of the activity- design, location and anything that is removed from that many influence. 2) The structure of the activity- the various restrictions that are added to or removed to activity is organized. 3) An attitude of the members- the various policies, rules, roles, hierarchies of the members. 4) In role of institutional context teacher education in place Freeman and other thinkers gave examples and exemplified the things;

For example: in the late 1980s drawing on work in the sociology of education, researchers began to investigate the notion of schools as ‘technical cultures’ (Rosenholtz 1989) Kleinsasser and Sauvignon 1992: 293 define these cultures as;

“the processes designed to accomplish an organization’s goals and determine how work is to be carried out”. This research as well as other work in teacher cognition has helped to establish that learning to teach is not simplified a matter of translating ideas encountered in teacher education setting into the classroom. (Freeman and other researchers’ idea)

Clark and Peterson 1986 they talk about TESOL

TESOL: Teaching English to Speaker of Other Language.

Main two types of institutes I) Formal institute and II) Informal institute.

1.    Formal institutions: Are defined by the agenda, mission, statement, objectives, values and behaviors of the business, service or organization. These are generally set out by a code of ethics and behaviors that can be used to measure the outcome of the institution; these institutions….

-         Provides the role of the business, service or organization within society for this information questions are also related with this that what is its role?

-         Defines the way business, service or organization functions within society when how does it do it?

-         Third is about business that is boundaries of the organization when does it do it?

-         Defines the role of the members in institute who does what?

This all factors are related with context of place in education. Process of institutionalization starts within our family, we can plan and work toward future and those institutions are a part of the background. The amount of restrictions in the person’s life depends on the institutional care as well as the skills and resources of the service or educational institute.

              

Goff man  acknowledge that the concept of a “ total institution” is a concept only that institutions can never be total but can be positioned on a continuous from open to closed. Goff man uses the term “institution” to describe the building, the idea of institutionalized context is observed by Goff man and other researchers as well.

‘It is also interesting that a person is not considered institutionalized where the experiences and outcomes of the institutionalized care are positively valued.’

2.    Informal institutions: It allows the members or groups to function within the organization. These kind of institutions may according what the members do within the organization. These institutions are informal because they are more about the way these members and the groups interact with each other rather any formal policies, rules or regulations.

These informal institutions could also be described as the social systems of organization or community.

-         Departments

-         Divisions

-         Policies

The institutions of each layer also determine the way community functions within society. Institutional project which engage an entire school or academic department in rethinking and reworking all aspects of its work or once which link schools tend to adopt a systemic approach to schools tend to territory teacher education institutions in professional development and educational change. (Fullan-1991-93)  (Freeman)

These initiatives are predicated on the notion that teacher educational change, because of this education field achieves their goals.

This change holds that no single, discrete entity can be fully understood apart from complex whole of which it is an integral part.

The whole concept provides the context without which our knowledge of the part is necessarily limited, (Clark-1998:64) concept of school and social process of schooling this entire process, and idea given by (Freeman and Johnson. 1998)

The Role of Time:

In second Language Teacher Education role of time is another important tool. Appropriate time for teacher learner is three year. In this time teacher-learner learns so many things. This three are basic year of teacher education. Freeman and other scholars idea are presented here; If school as institutions provide teacher education with a context in space, teacher-learners’ personal and professional lives offer a similar context in and through time. Here researchers’ talk about prior to the work of Lortie(1975) and others, the nation of teachers’ professional life spans was not a major concerns. Major research and conceptualizations by Berliner (1986), Huber man (1993) and others served to establish the concept of professional development throughout a teacher’s career. This concept definite stage in the development of knowledge and practice. It is clear that at different stages in their careers, teacher have different professional interests and concerns.

For example: this research shows novice teacher

Novice teacher means those who have less than three year classroom experience. Those novice teachers tend to be concerned with carrying out their image by managening the classroom and controlling student.

On these concerns another expert teachers tend to concern themselves with the purpose and objectives of their teaching and how they may be accomplishing them.

Expert teacher means those who have five or more than five year’s experienced in classroom. One of the basic contexts of teacher education is time also, in that many things are necessary in the role of time; strategies of reflection, self-assessment, inquiry, and particular research may be more suited for these learners of teaching. 

Conclusion: In time between specific needs and broad professional development. In place between the school and teacher education institution here main point in knowledge between what teacher learners believe and what should they know. That will always be central in the provision of teacher education providers of teacher education can account of time, place and prior knowledge in their programme designed so in teacher education context of time and place both are very important steps.