Critical Review : New 2 years M.ED Curriculum

 

A CRITICAL REVIEW OF THE HITHERTO ONE YEAR M.ED PROGRAM (1998-2012)

This review has already been made by NCERT,India. Below is being provided a summary of the same.

The context

Recent a very significant critical study was made by the NCERT, India of the M.Ed course that was conducted all over the nation, that was before designing the New Framework in order to find out the relevance and strength of the course in creating well equipped teacher educators to prepare even more competent teachers to teach at the schools.

it came up with the following observations...

• The M.Ed curricula in universities are stale and were not revised suiting to the emerging needs of teacher educators following M.Ed Curriculum recommended by UGC curriculum framework during 2001. Only about one fourth universities have revised the M.Ed Curriculum after NCFTE 2009. But not in the light of NCFTE 2009. Most of the universities follow semester system . The annual system is followed only in one fourth of  universities. 
• The no coordination and linkages between curriculum of school education and teacher education. NCF was brought out in 2005 and NCFTE in 2009. During 1998 teacher education curriculum framework was brought out before school  curriculum framework (2000). Even NCFTE 1988 did not mention the outline of M Ed programme. NCFTE 2009 did not mention the clear guidelines and outline for M.Ed. Course. 
• The entry requirement for being eligible for admission into M.Ed programme is B.Ed degree with 50%  or 55% marks in most of the universities. 
• Mandatory attendance is 75% in most the University. Calicut University requires 84 days of attendance out of 105 days in each semester.
• Medium of instruction is English in most of universities.
• Foundation Courses almost all the universities except NCERT/RIEs and Sikkim University, Aligarh Muslim University and Lovely Professional University are following the UGC pattern of 2001,  Majority of the universities have only prescribed three core subjects. Some of the universities have prescribed core subjects more than three. 
• Optional/Elective Courses universities have followed different patterns of offering the optional papers. Some of the universities, provide (3 of the 7 options),or (2 of the 10 options), or (2 of the 23 options), or (2 of the 7 options), or (2 of the 10 options), or (2 of the 6 options), (2 of the 8 options),  (2 of the 7 options),  (3 of the 11 options) in Semester II have followed UGC and NCERT pattern, without grouping the different options. Etc.
• The suggested reference books in curriculum and syllabus of M.Ed programme of different universities are old and outdated. Almost one-half of the universities have included supervision and evaluation of practice-teaching and other aspects of school experience of B.Ed/D.Ed students in practicum component. Reflection and maintenance of reflective journal is a feature in four universities. Presentation/Panel Discussion in Seminar included in fourteen universities.
• Workings with community/visit to an Institute have been included in fifty percent of universities.
•  Sessional work for each theory paper is a compulsory component and is being followed by almost all the universities. The sessional work is assessed internally. 
• Evaluation Scheme: Two patterns are adopted by the universities for evaluating M.Ed course – through Marks and Credit/Grade. Marks in some universities are also converted into grade system. Further, for each course/paper, ‘credit system’ is defined by specifying teaching hours for a unit. Each university has assigned weightage for external and internal marks for theory papers. In evaluation of dissertation as part of M.Ed Programme, majority of universities follow allocation of marks for dissertation between external and internal assessment. Internal assessment is made by the supervisor of the candidate. There is a provision for both external and internal evaluation for viva voce. For evaluation of practical, universities follow different pattern. However, much of practical work is evaluated internally. But some universities like allot marks for external evaluation too. Majority of universities have not mentioned separately curriculum transactional methodology in their curriculum.
• However, some universities have included these parameters in the practicum and also in session assignments. NCTE based NCFTE-2009 and RIE Mysore curriculum for Master of Education include classroom observation, reflections, seminar, library, lecture cum discussion, self-study, project/research, ICT, field visit, interview, demonstration and formal discussion for curriculum transaction. Central Institute of Education, Delhi specifies only four parameters in the curriculum namely classroom observation, seminar, lecture cum discussion, project/research. IGNOU has specified two parameters, self-study and ICT.
• ICT has been introduced in all universities in M.Ed Course with focus on technologies and its prospects.

The NCTE model syllabus is for a 1-year MEd programme and therefore does not adhere to the JVC’s and NCFTE’s (2009) and hence there is a recommendation for a move towards longer duration models.

•  There is a skew in the programme contents and design in the favour of psychology and research methods courses at the cost of other critical areas.
• Given that the entrants of the MEd programme would be drawn from longer duration first degree programmes in education, the contents of the courses seem to be basic.
• The various components of the syllabus and the course outlines are not fleshed out in terms of the rationale, focal concerns, modality, and approach. For example, the dissertation component does not explain the vision with which it has been included in the programme, how it has been integrated in the design, how it would be structured, etc.
• The course rubrics are also problematic. For example: “Pedagogy of science education”.

• How the model syllabus locates itself in the context of the contemporary teacher education scenario in the country also does not come across from the document.

The Analysis of the newly introduced two years M.Ed curricular Framework

M.Ed Curricular Framework (New) 

(As Approved in the NCTE Recognition Norms and Procedures, 2014)

Snapshot Of A Critical Review

Would it not be better if the entire education system of the nation was moving with the same objectives in view towards a common set of outcomes ? The author in this review has attempted to point out the merits and demerits of the Curricular Framework for revamped M.Ed program, that was put forth by the NCTE in her Norms and Procedures 2014. One general reading and one gets the feeling that it is very loosely written, the essence being laudable but many gaps and oversights have marred the  vigour of an otherwise a potent document. Very humbly the author has attempted a  mention of the loose ends and suggested a logical reorganization with an objective eye. It may be put to criticism by the scholar fraternity.

Lets first see what the new M.ED Curriculum has to offer....Significant Achievements of this revamp...

• • Increased duration. Earlier it was one year and now it’s been enhanced to two years.
  • Introduction of Choice based Credit system
  • Stress on Ethical Awareness of Profession
  • Visualization of different Roles such as that of pedagogues, Curriculum specialists, Educational Administrators etc. to be played by the teacher educator
  • Stress on Critical Reflection w.r.t gender, marginalization and disability issues
  • Greater Focus on the integration of ICT and ET skills
  • Autonomy to the teacher educators to hold workshops in the courses taught on aspects that go beyond the theory courses such as self-development for mental and physical well being through modalities such as yoga, etc.], seminar and other field-based activities that supplement teaching-learning.
  • Clear cut Stage Specific specializations ( in elementary and secondary)
  • Further thematic specializations in each of the above to develop into the roles chosen later
  •  Longer Internship of 3-4 weeks per year introduced and Researches in specializations chosen.
  • Conceptualization of two  distinct major components that constitute preparation of educators and their continuing professional development, viz., the domain of perspective building and the domain of competence development.
  • Fusion Common Core Subjects introduced under the headings…. Perspective Courses, Tool Courses (best visualized to include all the fundamental competencies required in a teacher) and Teacher Education Courses 
  • Focus on developing in teacher educators skills related to independent study of literature, research, academic writing, professional communication and team work (page 9)
  • Flexibility and Freedom to the Educational Institutions to design courses contents without disturbing the spirit of the curriculum document.

Totaling to 80 credits in all. Definitely a revised one. So where is the hitch then.....?

A Review 

POINT ONE

NCTE in its document clearly emphasizes that the major thrust of the new M.Ed curriculum is on the professional preparation of teacher educators who will pass out equipped with the knowledge and competencies to facilitate and conduct Initial Teacher Training and Continuous Professional Development of the teacher educators. And it says that the preparation of the educators wherein engaging them with the supportive processes like....educational admin., curriculum development, educational evaluation is itself an exercise of professional preparation.

Criticism: 

• Has the balance tipped in the favor of professional preparation than on preparing professionally competent teacher educators ? 
• Is not the term 'professional preparation' different from the term 'preparing for the profession' ?

             
POINT TWO

In describing the programs in Education as  professional programs NCTE quotes Downie in Professions and Professionalism, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol, 24, No. 2, 1990 which gives the characteristics of an ideal profession ......

• Skill or expertise based on broad knowledge base
• Service provided with a relationship characterized by desire to help and with a sense of integrity, and authorized by an institutional body.
• Entails duty to speak on matters of public policy, going beyond duties to specific clients and jobs. 
• Independence of influence of state and commerce.
• Educated and not merely trained.
• Moral and legal legitimacy depends on the satisfaction of the criteria 1 to 5 above.

Expertise emanating from broad base of knowledge and understanding, skill and judgment being guided by theoretical considerations, public function, integrity and independence of professional judgement are generally accepted as necessary characteristics of a profession.' And ahead of it states on page 7 that this profession is distinct  from  other specialized programs and  liberal education programs in that...… 'There are certain specific kinds of expectations from the  professionals in education that are distinct  from those in other professions. In more apparent ways, this is because education demands a training in pedagogy of school subjects, which itself requires a deeper engagement with the epistemological bases of the cognate disciplinary areas. In addition education demands a greater integration of the contributing disciplines.'

Criticism: 

 When one is discussing Professions, one cannot rely on ideas stated in such general terms. All said and done about the characteristics of a general profession albeit       inadequately,  why wasn't the Nature of Teacher Training as a profession described for all to understand.... wherein the following points could have been considered  and  especially described---

• The commonality of the corpus of knowledge in the domain of teacher training
• Commonality and cooperation achieved through professional bodies wrt policy making, curriculum making resource generation, training of faculty etc.
• The various kinds of professionals that will be prepared through this course.... curriculum makers, teachers, counsellors, researchers, administrators etc.
• Need of a formal period of preparation and then further education for continuous development.
• Control over  standards of education, award of degrees and admissions, need for continuous professional growth, ethical and professional standards, professional discipline and code of conduct
• The extent and degree of autonomy accorded to the professional.
• Definition of teaching quality standards as visualized by the apex governing bodies, in terms of knowledge skills and attitudes to be demonstrated by the outgoing teacher educators.
• Professional duties of the Teacher educators towards their trainees, school students, parents and other stakeholders, and personal professional development with every single term clearly defined.

The contention here is,  nothing has been said  neither about the Nature of Teacher Education/Training  nor about the professional Characteristics/Competencies of the outgoing teacher educator nor about the functions of the various roles a teacher Educator may espouse later on as his job !

Also it states,' professional programs have a distinct additional emphasis on hands-on and field-based experiences, deep and protracted reflective practice, development of competencies and skills, particularly those related to practice of the profession, and inculcation of ethical principles that characterize the profession. Professional training in education in this sense would be constituted by the above features that are common to most of the professional fields.'

• Agreed. But how specifically have the two aspects....Education and Skills development been articulated? esp with respect to the various roles envisaged for these teacher educators
• Which general, and specific skills and competencies, attitudes, values are the planners planning to inculcate in the outgoing teacher educators? 
•  And  what exactly are the expectations from the teacher educators by the society or teaching community; those have not been spelled out in unambiguous terms ..

There need be a  one to one correspondence of the units with the professional skills & competencies, ethical principles, suggests that the institutions will have to work to the best of their knowledge

So on and so forth. There arise so many questions, one feels sure that all the stakeholders would like to seek clarification. 

To be continued....

copyrighted 

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नवीन दोन  वर्षीय एम. एड  अभ्यासक्रम (२०१२ -१६)

एक समालोचन 

NCTE  च्या  संहितेत  ऎसे  स्पष्ट  म्हंटलेले आहे की M.Ed  च्या या नविन अभ्यासक्रमात् आता शिक्षक प्रशिक्षकांच्या  व्यावसायिक तयारी  वर भर देण्यात येत आहे जेणे  करून या अभ्यासक्रमातून बाहेर पडताना त्यांच्या जवळ  पुढील पिढीच्या  शिक्षकांना घडविण्यासाठी घेण्यात येणाऱ्या प्रारम्भिक शिक्षक प्रशिक्षण  आणि सातत्यपूर्ण व्यावसायिक विकास  करणे साठी आवश्यक  ते ज्ञान  आणि क्षमता  असतील। आणि पुढे त्यात ऐसे ही म्हटलेले आहे की प्रशिक्षकांना  तयार करीत असताना ते ज्या ज्या सहाययभूत प्रक्रियेतून  उदाहरणार्थ,,,,शैक्षणिक प्रशासन, अभ्यासक्रम विकसन, शैक्षणिक मूल्यमापन  इत्यादि तून जातात त्या सर्व व्यावसायिक तयारीचाच भाग आहेत। 

 आता प्रश्न पडतो तो हा की,,,,,, हा भर व्यावसायिक  प्रशिक्षक तयार करण्यापेक्षा  प्रशिक्षक  शिक्षकांच्या     व्यावसायिकपणे  होणारे तयारीवर तर अधिक पडला नसावा ? काय बरे अंतर असावे दोहो मध्ये ? असे वाटते कि  शिक्षकांची व्यावसायिकपणे  तयारी  करणे हे व्यावसायिक  शिक्षक तयार करण्यापेक्षा वेगळे असावे . (शब्दांच्या जराशा संदिग्ध वापराने अर्थ बदलून जातात)

शिक्षणशास्त्र  यामधील कार्यक्रमांचे वर्णन करीत असताना  NCTE,  Downie, यांचा (Professions and Professionalism, Journal of Philosophy of Education, Vol, 24, No. 2, 1990) यामधून उल्लेख करते   ज्यात त्यांनी खालील आदर्श शिक्षकी व्यवसाया (!) करिता वैशिष्ट्ये नमूद केलेली आहेत (फ़क्त)….  

1. विस्तारित ज्ञानाच्या पायावर आधारलेली कौशल्ये आणि तज्ञता 

2. एखाद्या संस्थेद्वारे  मदत करण्याच्या भावनेने अधिकृतरीत्या प्रदान केली जाणारी सेवा।

3. विशिष्ट पक्षकार आणि कार्यांच्या पलीकडे जाऊन सार्वजनिक नीतिंविषयक भाष्य करण्याचे कर्तव्य

4. व्यापार आणि राज्याच्या प्रभावापासून मुक्तता

5.  केवळ प्रशिक्षित नव्हे तर शिक्षित

6. वरील 1 ते 5 बाबींच्या समाधानकारकतेवर नैतिकता आणि कायदेशीरपणा अवलंबून असणे ।

आणि त्याच्या आधी पान क्रमांक ७ मध्ये  असे म्हटले आहे कि प्रस्तुत व्यवसाय हा इतर तज्ञ शैक्षणिक कार्यक्रमांपेक्षा आणि उदारवादी  शैक्षणिक  कार्यक्रमांपेक्षा  खूप वेगळे आहे. यामधील व्यावसायिकांकडून असलेल्या अपेक्षा या इतर व्यावसायिक अभ्यासक्रमांना शिकवणाऱ्या शिक्षकां कडून असणारया अपेक्षा पेक्षा खूप भिन्न आहेत असे स्पष्ट दृष्टिगोचर होते कारण शिक्षणशास्त्र विद्याशाखा  हे  विविध  शालेय विषयांमध्ये अध्यापान्शास्त्रीय दृष्ट्र्या  प्रशिक्षित असणे अपेक्षित आहे , ज्यात  मुळात  सजातीय  विद्याशाखांचे ज्ञानशास्त्रीय अधिष्ठानांशी सांगड घातली जाणे अपेक्षित आहे .  याशिवाय शिक्षणशास्त्र यामध्ये योगदान देणाऱ्या विविध विद्याशाखांचे एकीकरण /आत्मीकरण होणे  ही अपेक्षित आहे.  

ठीक आहे.

पुन्हा यात असे ही म्हंटले गेले आहे कि, या व्यावसायिक शैक्षणिक कार्यक्रमांमध्ये,  प्रात्यक्षिक अनुभवांवर, क्षेत्रीय उपक्रमातून मिळालेल्या अनुभवांवर, सखोल अशा आत्म चिंतनावर, व्यवसायाशी निगडीत अशा कौशल्ये आणि क्षमतांच्या विकासावर , आणि शिक्षण व्यवसायाला विशिष्ट  असणारया अशा  नैतिक तत्वांच्या विकासावर भर आहे.. तेंव्हा शिक्षणशास्त्र मध्ये व्यावसायिक प्रशिक्षण देणे म्हणजे त्या सर्व गोष्टींमध्ये प्रशिक्षण देणे होय ज्या कि इतर सर्व व्यावसायिक क्षेत्रांना  सामायिक पणे (!)  लागू  पडतात ऐसा अर्थ होतो। 

  

• मान्य पण, नेमक्या कोण कोणत्या सामायिक  व्यावसायिक  कौशल्ये आणि क्षमतांचा, विकास झाला पाहिजे या शिक्षक प्रशिक्षकांमध्ये,   त्यांचा उल्लेख यात  का नाही केला गेला ? त्यांचा साधा विचार सुद्धा  या मधे झालेला  दिसून येत नाही ?!
• शिक्षक प्रशिक्षणास लागू पडणारे कोण कोणते  विशिष्ट कौशल्य , क्षमता, अभिवृत्ति, मूल्ये  यांचा उल्लेख प्रारम्भिच हवा होता तो ही इथे दिसून येत नाही। 
•  आणि शिक्षण आणि कौशल्ये यांची कशी सांगड घातली गेलीये नेमकी, ती  स्पष्ट होत नाही। 
• आणि या  प्रशिक्षकांकडून समाजाच्या आणि उर्वरित शिक्षकी समुदायाच्या नेमक्या कोणत्या अपेक्षा आहेत हे ही  स्पष्ट शब्दात सांगितले गेलेले नाहिये.

मग यांच्या आणि शिकवण्यात येणाऱ्या  घटकांमध्ये सरळ सरळ  संबंध असला पाहिजे. यावरून लक्षात येते कि विविध संस्थांना त्यांच्या आकलनानुसार सर्वोत्तम कार्य स्वतःच करावे लागणार आहे . अशीआणि बरीच प्रश्ने आहेत  की ज्यांची उत्तरे संबंधित सर्व घटकांना माहिती करून घ्यायला आवश्यक आहेत।



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References: 

'Professional standards for teachers' @  https://www.rbkc.gov.uk/pdf/standards_core.pdf

'Nature of Teaching and Teaching Profession', Alberta Teachers' Association @  http://www.teachers.ab.ca/About%20the%20ATA/Governance/PolicyandPositionPapers/Position

'Teacher Education Professional Attributes Policy' @ https://www.coe.uh.edu/student-services/teacher-ed-handbook/professional-attributes/