Education-watch-report- 2002

sahe education watch report 2002

Learning To Teach

Contents Introduction........................................................................................1

Acknowledgments...........................................................................2 Acronyms..............................................................................................3 1. Teacher Development and the Quality of Teaching Fawad Shams and Fareeha Zafar......................................................4

2. Transforming Teachers for Capacity Building: Some Successes and Challenges Muhammad Memon and Sadruddin Pardhan ................................14

3. A Case Study of a Government School in Northern Areas: Whole School Improvement Programme Safida Ayub and Abdul Jahan..........................................................24

4. Teacher Education for Community Based and Public Sector Schools: SAHE’s Experience Najiba Ali ........................................................................................29

5. Excerpts: PEP-ILE, NWFP......................................................................................44 PDCN, Gilgit.........................................................................................46 PTMP, Balochistan................................................................................48 PITE, Sindh...........................................................................................51 Teacher Education, Punjab..................................................................53

6.

Private Schools Teacher Training Programs: Learning from the experience of two school systems Fatima Zia Dar................................................................................54

7. A Learning Paradox: Seeking Good Teachers and Ignoring Higher Education Abbas Rashid..................................................................................61

8. Annexure List of Participants..........................................................................70

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Introduction Teachers are perhaps the most critical component of any system of education. How well they teach depends on motivation, qualification, experience, training, aptitude and a host of other factors, not the least of these being the environment and management structures within which they perform their role. This report is focused primarily on some of the teacher development and training programs in the public and the private sector. It comprises papers as well as excerpts from short presentations made at the seminar on `Perspectives on Teacher Education’ organized by the Society for the Advancement of Education (SAHE) in November 2001 As the report indicates there are a variety of training programs in the public sector. However various studies that have sought to measure their impact by reference to student outcomes paint a less than encouraging picture. Some of the private sector programs may be more successful but there we have the problem of going to scale. It is logical, therefore to attempt a partnership between the two sectors and various initiatives are underway in this regard. But, the necessary and urgent improvement in public sector education will also have to be effected by raising the standard of higher education so that teachers acquire the essential content knowledge apart from teaching skills. We hope that this report will help in generating further informed debate on how best to create the conditions necessary for teachers to learn in order to make the fullest use of their potential. Our children deserve no less.

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Acknowledgements A number of people worked hard to make this report possible; in particular colleagues at SAHE. It is based primarily on the proceedings of the SAHE conference on “Perspectives on Teacher Education” held on November 10, 2001in Lahore. The conference was attended by more than sixty participants from all the provinces, the Northern Areas and the federal capital. Representatives from the government, civil society organizations, private schools and international organizations contributed to the discussions. In particular we would like to thank the following who made formal presentations and those who served as respondents: •

Dr. Asif Iqbal from the Government College of Education Lahore Respondents for the presentation: Professor Farooq Akbar from Teachers Training Project Balochistan Ms. Shahida Khattak from PEP-ILE Peshawar Mr. Manzoor Hussain Bhutto from PITE Sindh

•

Ms. Najiba Ali from SAHE Respondents for the presentation: Ms. Fauzia Muhammad from Society Quetta Ms. Shaista Naseem from TRC Karachi

•

Ms. Fatima Dar from Lahore Grammar School / SAHE Respondents for the presentation: Ms. Kishwar Hameed from Beaconhouse School System Ms. Farrukh Pracha from Khaldunia High School Islamabad

•

Ms. Safida Ayub and Mr. Abdul Jahan from PDCN Gilgit Respondents for the presentation: Mr. Anthony Jalal from St. Patrick’s College Karachi

Not least, we would like to thank Dr. Muhammad Memon and Dr. Sadrudin Pardhan who contributed a paper though they were unable to attend the conference.

Education Watch Report

Acronyms /Abbreviations ADISM Advanced Diploma in School Management AKES Agha Khan Education Services AIOU Allama Iqbal Open University AKU Agha Khan University CEM Certificate in Education Management CT Certificate in Teaching GCE Government College of Education GCETs Government Colleges for Elementary Teachers IED Institute of Education Development INSET Intensive In-Service Education and Training NGO Non-government Organizations NWFP North West Frontier Province PDCN Professional Development Centre Northern Areas PDT Professional Development Teacher PEP-ILE Primary Education Program-Improvement of the Learning Environment PITE Provincial Institute of Teacher Education PTC Primary Teacher Certificate PTOC Primary Teachers Orientation Course PTMP Primary Teacher Mentoring Program SAHE Society for the Advancement of Education SOCIETY Society for Community Support to Primary Education in Balochistan SST Subject Specialist Teachers TRC Teachers Resource Centre TTI Teacher Training Institutes TTP Teacher Training Program VTP Visiting Teacher Program WSIP Whole School Improvement Program

3

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Teacher Development and the Quality of Teaching Fawad Shams and Fareeha Zafar*

Background The Education Sector in Pakistan suffers from insufficient financial input, low levels of efficiency for implementation of programs, and poor quality of management, monitoring, supervision and teaching. As a result, Pakistan has one of the lowest rates of literacy in the world, and the lowest among countries of comparative resources and social/economic situations. With a per capita income of over $450 Pakistan has an adult literacy rate of 49%, while both Vietnam and India with less per capita income have literacy rates of 94% and 52%, respectively1. Literacy is higher in urban areas and in the provinces of Sindh and Punjab, among the higher income group, and in males. Literacy levels continue to be low with male literacy being higher at 61. 3% and female literacy considerably below the average at 36. 8%. According to the 1998 provincial population census reports, the school age population of the age group 5-9 years is more than 20 million. 2 Of this about 11 million (57%) have never attended school. The nexus between poverty and education is reflected in the data which shows that 42% of the population living in households with illiterate heads is poor, compared to 21% of those in households with literate heads. Net primary enrolment rate is 59% for the non-poor, and 37% for the poor, and is particularly low among poor female children in rural areas. 3 On the other hand, Pakistan reportedly has the highest number of private schools in the region with candidates for foreign held examinations at the secondary and higher secondary levels also being the highest. This situation is reflective of widespread discrimination in access and opportunity, which has serious social implications. Compared to other countries in the region Pakistan is lagging behind in all the important EFA indicators as indicated by the table below. Key Education Indicators Adult literacy rate % (1999) Female literacy rate % (1999) Primary enrolment (% gross (1997) Secondary enrolment (gross) % (1997) * 1

2 3

Pakista n 45 30 74

India 56. 5 44. 5 100

Sri Lanka 91. 4 88. 6 109

26

49

75

Society for the Advancement of Education, (SAHE) Lahore The Education Challenge: Human Development in South Asia, 1998 – Human Development Center, Islamabad SAHE Education Watch Report 2000 SPDC 2002

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Percentage of children dropping 50 48 3 out before grade 5 (1995-1999) Public expenditure on education 2. 7 3. 2 3. 4 (as % of GNP) 1995-97 Source: Human Development Center 1999. In addition to the public sector, the private sector is emerging as a major contender in providing access to education at all levels and in all fields including professional and technical. There are 36, 096 private schools in the country. Of the total the majority are in the Punjab 66. 4%, while Sindh accounts for 17. 9%, NWFP 12. 3%, Balochistan 1. 5%, FATA 0. 9%, and Islamabad Capital Territory 1%. Urban areas account for 61% and rural areas 39% of private schools. (FBS Survey 2001). • There are approximately 350, 000 primary school teachers in Pakistan • Of these, about 82% have received some kind of training (mostly government teachers) •

Only 30 - 35% of all primary school teachers are female

• Pupil/teacher ratio is 30:1 (in government primary schools in the 4 provinces) • There are about 9. 5 million children enrolled in about 120, 000 primary schools in the 4 provinces • 92% of all government schools are in rural areas and girls enrollment in rural areas is almost half to that of boys • Private/NGO schools account for almost 35%-40% of the total enrollment in urban areas Under Pakistan’s Social Action Programme billions of rupees were allocated to the four social sectors with education as a priority area. Yet, there was an actual decline in the gross enrollment rate for primary education. Thus between 1991 and 1996/97 while girls’ participation increased from 59% to 64%, boys’ participation rate went down from 86% to 80%1 To address the malaise of the system, the Education Sector Reforms were initiated in 20012 by the Government which are aimed at targets for each sub-sector from 2001-2004:

•

Literacy

from 47%......to.............60 %

•

GER

from 89%......to...........100 %

•

NER

from 65%......to...............75%

•

Middle School Enrolment

from 47. 5%. .to...............55%

1 2

FBS, PIHS Survey, Round 2, 1998 Education Sector Reforms Action Plan 2001-2004, Ministry of Education, Islamabad. 2001.

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•

Secondary School Enrolment

from 29. 5%. .to...............40%

•

Higher Education

from 2. 6%....to.................5%

The reforms identify eight areas for interventions aimed at addressing issues of access and quality. These include (i) National Literacy Campaign (ii) Madrassa Education (iii)Universal Primary/ Elementary Education (iv) Quality Assurance (v) Technical Education at Secondary Level (vi) Higher Education (vii) Public Private Partnership (viii)Innovative Programs. The quality assurance component of the Education Sector Reforms is directed towards reforms in teacher education & training together with changes in the curriculum and assessment systems.

Quality Of Teachers The quality of teachers, which is a key factor in any education system, is poor in Pakistan. The main reason is the low level of educational qualifications required to become a primary school teacher; which includes ten years of schooling and an eleven-month certificate program. It has been established through various studies that pupil achievement is closely related to the number of years of formal schooling of teachers. Thus, students of teachers with 12 years of schooling perform better than students of matriculate (10 years education) teachers, who in turn perform better than students of teachers with only grade eight qualifications. The second factor relates to the quality of teacher certification programs, which suffers from the lack of adequately trained master trainers, little emphasis on teaching practice and non-existence of a proper support/monitoring system for teachers. In the absence of any accredited body to certify teachers, the mere acquisition of a certificate/diploma is considered sufficient to apply for a teaching position. In addition, teacher appointment in schools is subject to interference from local interest groups seeking to place teachers of their choice within their constituency. This has opened the system to graft and rent seeking leading to high levels of teacher absenteeism accentuated by the absence of an effective supervision system.

Pre-service training for Government teachers The administration of teacher training in Pakistan is a provincial responsibility. However, the Curriculum Wing at the federal level is also responsible for teacher education institutions. Government primary school teachers are trained through Government Colleges for Elementary Teachers (GCETs), the distance education program of the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), and teacher training courses run in secondary schools known as Normal Schools or PTC units. Graduates of these institutions are taught a similar curriculum, and receive the primary teaching certificate (PTC) or certificate in teaching (CT) at the end of one year. Generally, the number of

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applicants is far greater than the number of places available. There is also an acute shortage of teacher training facilities, particularly for female teachers in certain regions and especially in the province of Balochistan.

In-service training for Government teachers In-service training is the responsibility of the Curriculum Boards and Extension Centers. In addition, the provinces have assigned in-service responsibilities to one or more GCETs. There are three different types of inservice education possibilities for the teachers: •

In-service training of untrained staff through full-time crash programs of three months duration provided by the government

•

Short term refresher courses for those already teaching provided by the government

•

Limited private sector initiatives (short as well as medium term)

•

Varied donor-funded projects directed towards in-service training of government teachers

Each province has an Education Extension Center and/or Directorate of Staff Development responsible for in-service education. The intention is to provide one in-service training program to each teacher at least once every five years. A recent study of in-service refresher courses in the province of Punjab found that these INSET (in-service education and training) courses reach an insignificant proportion of teachers. There are scores of teachers who are at the end of their career and have not had any in-service training. The majority of teachers get INSET opportunities only once or twice in their entire career.

Private school teachers The quality of education imparted by the majority of private schools is questionable owing to an acute dearth of properly trained and qualified teachers, and any kind of support mechanism for these teachers. Except for large school systems like Beaconhouse, City, Lahore Grammar, and others, which constitute a small percentage of the existing private schools the majority of others have appointed teachers who are qualified up to intermediate (12 years of schooling) or BA level (14 years of education), and are paid much lower salaries compared to their counterparts in the government sector in addition to no job security. The large schools and school systems have instituted their own teacher training programs or access specialized private institutions. There is less inclination in these schools to hiring teachers who have previously been trained by government institutions and hold degrees in B. Ed or M. Ed; their preference is for those fluent in English language. Thus, very few teachers hired by the private schools have had any pre-service training. There is a felt need to enhance the professional skills of those who are currently working through various inset programs.

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NGO/Non-formal school teachers NGOs are operating thousands of schools across Pakistan, a majority of which are located in disadvantaged rural areas where there are fewer opportunities for children to get access to schooling. Most NGOs operate non-formal schools with a single teacher in each school and hire local teachers. These teachers are not trained and their formal educational qualifications are also low compared with the government teachers. Most teachers have only completed grade eight (middle), or in some cases are matriculates, and very few have higher qualifications. The teachers are provided more opportunities by their organizations to attend various in-service workshops and courses, which enhance their teaching skills. However, their limitations in pedagogy continue to exist mainly due to their low academic qualifications and any professional support structure. Some organizations such as Agha Khan Education Services in the northern areas have their own teacher training programs and hire well qualified (B.As or M.As) local teachers. On the whole, compared with the government or the majority of private schools, NGOs are able to provide some professional support to their teacher. This enables them to do better than government teachers despite their lower qualifications. But, even these teachers require more frequent in-service programs.

On-Going Programs In Teacher Education There are approximately 169 Teacher Training Institutions including 90 Government Colleges for Elementary Teachers (GCETs) nation wide in addition to a distance education program offered by Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) and some secondary schools known as Normal Schools or PTC units which offer PTC and CT programs for government primary school teachers. About 30, 000 primary teachers get their PTC through these institutions annually. The minimum educational level for entry into the PTC course is ten years of schooling. The PTC course is nominally of ten months (42 weeks) duration, but in reality is often much shorter. The curriculum is overloaded and leaves no room for creating reflective practitioners. Generally it does not lead to significant improvement in subject knowledge or teaching methodology. A study in NWFP found that entrants were in poor science and mathematics concepts, and there was little difference in their proficiency after completion of the PTC. Another study found that there was no significant difference in the teaching practices of PTC teachers and untrained teachers, or between PTC graduates from different systems. On the other hand, increased academic qualifications made a significant difference in performance of trainees before and after training. In-service training of government primary school teachers is being conducted mainly through various donor funded projects, which include the Teacher Training Project (TTP), Primary Education Project - Improving the Learning Environment (PEP-ILE) in NWFP, Sindh Primary Education Development Program and Primary Education Quality Improvement Program (PEQIP) in Balochistan. Punjab has trained middle school heads through the Middle

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Schooling Project, which concluded in 2000 and continues to train a large number of teachers every year. Since 1981, AIOU, with the Norwegian government support, has been running a 19-week skill based program for in-service teachers called the Primary Teachers Orientation Course (PTOC). The program, which includes correspondence courses, workshops (including micro-teaching), TV programs and audiocassettes, has trained over 50, 000 teachers.

Innovative Teacher Education Models in the Government Sectors: Primary Education Development (PED) Program in Balochistan and NWFP •

Mobile Females Teacher Training Program (MFTTP) in rural Balochistan

•

Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI) project in NWFP for teaching/learning English

•

Integrated Textbooks for Urdu/Pushto in Science/Social Studies in NWFP

•

In-service Training Program on Eleven Skills in NWFP

•

Internship Model of Institute for Education & Research (IER) of Gomal University, Balochistan Primary Teacher’s Mentoring Program (PTMP), Balochistan Train & Visit Model in NWFP

•

Primary Education Project - Improving the Learning Environment (PEPILE) in NWFP

Teacher Education Models in the NGO and Private Sector: The Field-based Teacher Development Program (FBTD) of the Aga Khan Education Service (AKES) Pakistan in the Northern Areas The School Improvement Program (SIP) of AKES in Karachi The Language Enhancement and Achievement Program (LEAP) of the AKES In-service programs for school heads and teachers offered by Teacher’s Resource Center (TRC), Karachi The Institute for Educational Development (IED) of Aga Khan University, Karachi offers M. Ed for in-service teachers in addition to several other programs Society for Promotion of English Language Teaching (SPELT) in Karachi offers a variety of in-service programs Modular professional development programs and in-service training programs for teachers and teacher trainers by the Society for Advancement of Education (SAHE) in Lahore. Hamdard University in Karachi with campuses at Faisalabad (Punjab) and Islamabad offers B. Ed and M. Ed in Secondary Education. It also offers affiliation to other institutions.

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Notre Dame Institute (NDI) in Karachi offers a B. Ed in Primary Education. ILM in Lahore offer a number of programmes including B. Ed. and M. Ed. It is affiliated with the Hamdard University. Private schools initiatives include the Bradford Community College, UK programs adopted by Beaconhouse and the Strathclyde University, Scotland programs adopted by the City School System, both being for their own teachers. Beaconhouse is now setting up a University and the first departments likely to be established are those of Education and Media.

Need for a Holistic Approach Despite these efforts the education scene continues to portray a sorry picture in Pakistan. Raising the entry qualification level is one solution. The hiring of only graduate teachers is a suggestion made under the Education Sector Reforms. The recent introduction of a new programme (10+3 and 12+1) to upgrade teacher qualifications is another. However, the real need lies in improving the quality of general education, teacher education programs (PTC, CT) and teacher trainers (GCET staff as well as NGO trainers), and creating an efficient support/monitoring system. In the case of private schools which employ mostly untrained teachers, in-service programs are needed for a majority of teachers, and there is also a need to develop master trainers at the school level for ongoing training and classroom support. Innovative teaching methods and learner-centered approaches will not be effective in the presence of a text-book centered curriculum, a syllabus which is cumbersome owing to repetition which leaves no provision for innovation, and an assessment/examination system based on rote memorization.

Education Sector Reforms Action Plan 2001-2004 Quality Assurance Component •

Revision of Curricula and introduction of multiple textbooks

•

Teacher Education training and professional development

•

Examination Reform and setting up of Private Examination Board

•

National Education Assessment system

•

National Education Testing Service

•

Academic audit – linkage of grants/incentives with quality

•

Increase of non-salary budget by 3 percent

Thus, priority areas for improving the quality of education in Pakistan include training master trainers, head teachers and education managers; review of curriculum and development of relevant and learner centered teaching materials including textbooks and teaching aids; effective monitoring and support for teachers and changing assessment and examination systems

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which requires working with education department officials, and involving community and parents in the process of education. Teacher education is certainly a key factor in improvement of the quality of basic education. However, we see a consistent decline in teacher education and support that has contributed among other factors to deterioration of quality. This situation is more serious in the case of those who are likely to impact the majority of the children of Pakistan i.e. the rural primary teachers. The main findings of a survey in the mid nineties1 highlighted the main deficiency areas: • Lesson planning •

Use of a variety of appropriate instructional methods

•

Presenting content knowledge in a way that related it to students lives, needs and interests

•

Soliciting students ideas and opinions and using them to reinforce learning

•

Creating opportunities for students to become independent learners

•

Use of resource materials to facilitate and support learning

•

Professional commitment and enthusiasm for teaching.

The teachers also reported great difficulties during teaching with: •

evaluation

•

classroom management

•

overcrowded and large number of classes

•

shortage of time

•

academically weak children

•

administrative problems.

They also reported that the schools suffered from lack of resources and that the only teaching aid available to them was chalk and blackboard. The situation remains the same in the majority of rural and even some urban schools. Although almost 82% of all the teachers working in government schools have received pre-service training, the quality of this training remains dubious in the absence of a coherent program, well-trained master trainers, and support and monitoring systems. There is thus a need to develop training strategies and packages for in-service rural primary teachers as well as teachers in urban areas. It is likely that a large majority of those who have already received pre-service training will need to go through such trainings.

1

Final Report on ‘Improving the quality of rural primary school teachers in Pakistan’, prepared by AIE, Lahore and IED, Karachi. 1996. A project supported by UNESCO.

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Then there is the need for an effective monitoring/support system, which should be available as and when needed. For continuous professional development, monitoring and support of teachers, a resource base ideally located at the doorstep of teachers is essential. GCETs, Normal Schools and AIOU do not provide the kind of support, which is necessary. Teachers need a school/ classroom-based support system in addition to other in-service programs and the current systems, whether in government or private schools, do not provide such support. GCETs and AIOU require help to restructure their programs and enhance the skills of their resource persons. The restructuring should retain the strengths of the existing resources/programs while proposing alternatives for weaker areas. Support to the existing teacher education programs in the private/NGO sector is also required through special programs for developing master trainers at the school/cluster level for providing ongoing facilitation to their teachers. Developing need based modules for professional growth of teachers and follow up of trainings are part of the process of ensuring quality education in the classroom. In case of Punjab, one private sector initiative, the Ali Institute of Education (AIE), was started in 1992 which has since been offering pre as well in-service programs for primary schools. A number of other teacher education programs have been initiated recently, but so far either their quality is far from satisfactory or they have yet to have made an impact. It is evident from the list of innovative programs in the government as well as private and NGO sectors that very few are being implemented in the Punjab, the largest province. Under the Government of Pakistan’s Education Reforms Agenda, reforms specific to teacher education and training are directed towards: •

Upgradation and rehabilitation of Teacher Training Institutes (TTIs)

• Establishment of National Institute of Education and Research (NIE&R) and networking with Provincial Institutes of Teacher Education (PITEs) • Up-gradation of Elementary Teachers by Improving Educational qualification through Bridging Courses • Intensive In-Service Education elementary and secondary levels

and

Training

(INSET)

at

the

• Introduction of a new programme (10+3 and 12+1) to upgrade teacher qualifications. The recent upgradation of institutions such as the Directorate of Staff Development (Punjab) as a University of Education to which all government teacher training colleges and institutes will be affiliated is an attempt to provide standardization of existing teacher training programmes. However, in the absence of any in-depth assessment of existing programmes of

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institutions the likelihood of any of the above initiatives succeeding is doubtful and making them the key centres for improvement in teacher quality appears to be a non-starter. Public-Private partnerships for teacher education & training have not emerged as a cross-cutting strategy for increasing access and improving quality owing to the reluctance on the part of Departments of Education to collaborate with private sector institutions and civil society organizations. The government continues to be a major hindrance in developing mechanisms for sharing experiences and expertise for quality teacher education and training. In the Punjab in particular, the Directorate of Staff Development has retained for itself the mandate of being the sole provider of training activities and continues to play a centralized role. Its claim of having trained thousands of teachers resulting in a phenomenal improvement in their performance needs to be assessed and validated. Apparently, ill-planned, mismanaged and poor quality trainings and assessments of teachers during 2001 have in the Punjab been followed by violent protests and further loss of status of the teacher, who is central to delivering education. Another area of concern is the one-line budget for education under the Local Government Plan. While districts are allocated resources for education there is no specification regarding the areas where these are to be utilized and teacher training does not appear to be on the agenda of any district government. The old brick and mortar approach is deeply ingrained and the emphasis continues on opening learning centres and schools and on repair and rehabilitation. There is no improvement in the performance of teachers and no redress for their problems which have increased in conjunction with the multiplication of reporting lines to EDOs (E), 1 DEOs2, DCOs3 and Nazims. 4

1

Executive District Officer (Education) District Education Officer 3 District Coordinating Officer 4 Elected representative at the District level 2

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Transforming Teachers for Capacity Building: Some Successes and Challenges Muhammad Memon and Sadruddin Pardhan

*

Introduction Teachers are considered to be the most significant contributors in the overall development of any country, since they are engaged in the intellectual, moral, social and academic development of children enabling them to become better citizens. Literature on educational change reveals that teachers are key players in the process of education change and school development. They are also engaged in re-defining and re-interpreting curriculum to achieve the desired policy goal, which is only possible if teachers are professionally sound, creative and critical. Bennett and Rolheiser (2001) mention “Teachers are involved in one of the most complex, demanding and important professions in the world- a profession where changes emerge in the blink of an eye” (p.1). Indeed, changes are taking place in the education field so quickly that teachers have difficulty coping with them; inevitably they encounter the ‘implementation dip’ (Fullan, 1990). In this context, teachers’ professional development can play a major role in transforming teachers, to build their capacity for managing change effectively. In fact, transformation deals with the renovation of the education system through individual and institutional capacity building; education systems cannot transform themselves until their teachers are transformed through a rigorous process of professional development, which can allow them to challenge their current beliefs related to curricular and pedagogical practices. Transformation may begin with bringing about change in beliefs, values, ideologies, and practices of individuals for capacity building. It ensures effectiveness, efficiency, and efficacy of systems for sustainable changes.

State-of-the-Art Teacher Transformation in the Public Sector In the public sector, the successive governments (1947, 1959, 1970, 1972, 1979, 1992, 1998) initiated many education reforms based on ‘inside-out’ rather than ‘outside-in’ approach to teacher development for enhancing the quality of education. However, emphasis was given more on ‘borrowing innovations’ in education from the overseas countries without understanding educational, cultural and social implications for the quality of education (Hughes, Urasa, 1997, Memon, 2000). We tend to agree with Crossley (1984) that such practice will lead towards innovation failure or generate unwanted and unanticipated consequences. The issue of ‘western innovation’ versus ‘eastern innovation’ has been under debate for a number of decades. This issue will not be resolved by simply drawing a line of demarcation between the two. Globalization of education has already taken place through elearning and other forms of media. We need to balance the ‘indigenization process within the pervasive globalization phenomenon’ (wheeler, 2001, p. *

Aga Khan University, Institute for Educational Development, Karachi.

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1). Wheeler also says that theorization of education through the internalization and indigenization process may not be viewed as bipolar; however, it needs to be mutually examined for fostering cross-culture learning. This will help us to critically examine the strengths and limitations for policy options (Rodwell, 1998). Indeed, through teacher education reforms, a large number of primary and secondary school teachers have been trained without maintaining balance between supply and demand. As a result, surplus teachers are produced in the subject areas such as social studies, Islamiat, Urdu or local languages as compared to mathematics, science, and English language. There seems to be a greater emphasis on pre-service rather than in-service teacher education in Pakistan. Thomas (1993) argues for four phases of teacher education-a) preteaching education, b) pre-service training, c) teacher induction, and d) inservice training. However, he considered phase four important for further enhancing professional knowledge and skills. Public sector teacher development programmes suffer from several problems such as the short duration of programmes, mismatch between supply and demand of teachers, outdated teacher education curriculum and instructional approaches, inadequate physical facilities at teacher education institutes, poor quality of teacher educators, outdated assessment practices, and less emphasis on practice. Thomas (1993) emphasizes the need for informed policy for the training of teacher educators. Farooq (1990) also highlights the importance of training of teacher educators and revision of teacher education curriculum. Teachers’ development should entail both dimensions of personal and professional development embedded in the humanistic and critical approach to teacher education. The prime purpose of teacher education programmes is to develop effective practitioners who are able to prepare children for their future role in the society. Teacher education has become one of the major contributing factors in school effectiveness and development. It is a vehicle for transforming the education system of any country but in Pakistan it has not yet substantially contributed to the overall transformation of education and society. Teacher education may be viewed as a complex and organic process; otherwise a culture of team learning and critical reflective inquiry would not be fostered. Ling (2002) mentions three perspectives of professional development. These include technical, practical, and critical perspectives. (i)

Technical perspective argues that teachers should acquire knowledge and apply it in the classroom.

(ii)

Practical perspective demands that teachers should employ their own theories-in-use and engage themselves in inquiry for further improving teaching.

(iii) Critical perspective argues that teachers should identify the institutional and structural constraints that affect the achievement of the desired goals of education. Teachers should critically analyze their practices and take actions to correct their practices.

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Critical perspective sees ‘teachers as politically aware change agents who operate to change their school culture (Ling, 2002). However, these three perspectives on professional development should not be considered as mutually exclusive. The nature and practice of pre and in-service teacher education programmes in Pakistan indicates that the teacher education model still seems to be embedded in ‘technical-rationality’ orientation through which teachers are produced as ‘technicians’ rather than ‘reflective practitioners’. Emphasis is given on ‘cascade’ or ‘trickle down effect’ rather than ‘multiplier effect’.

Transformation of Teachers in the Private Sector The Aga Khan University, Institute for Educational Development (AKU-IED) was established in 1993 with the aim of enhancing the quality of education being offered in Pakistan and elsewhere in the developing countries. To improve the quality of education, the AKU-IED started collaborating with three major school systems (public, private and Aga Khan Education Services) within and outside Pakistan. The AKU-IED has initiated professional development programmes for teachers and others from public, private and AKES school systems to enhance their professional skills and competencies for improving the quality of education. These school systems have significantly benefited from the AKU-IED's programmes which include a two year Master of Education (Teacher Education), an eight week Visiting Teacher programme, a one year field based Advanced Diploma in teaching subject areas (English, Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Primary Education), a one year field based Advanced Diploma in School Management, and a ten week Certificate in Educational Management. Further details can be seen in the annexure. These programmes are embedded in the critical paradigm of teacher education through which the participants are encouraged to critically examine their beliefs about teaching and learning processes. Perhaps, this is the first time in Pakistan that a ‘paradigm shift’ has taken place in teacher education programmes. Teachers are being viewed as ‘reflective practitioners’ in facilitating students in constructing their knowledge. This process enables the participants to transform through a reconceptulization process embedded in ‘critical pedagogy’ what Wheeler (2001) calls ‘culturally sensitive pedagogy’. He further notes that “AKU-IED’s Planned Change Model is predicated on the basis that graduates from all programmes contribute to the desired goal of Total School Improvement in those cooperating schools involved in the process’ (p. 8). This has also led to the development of effective reflective practitioners who can serve as ‘change agents’ (Fullan, 1993) for developing internal capacity.

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Beeby (1966) believes that teachers are the real driving forces in the capacity building of any education system which may happen through change in their perspective, attitude, behavior, knowledge and skills. These aspects are seen as an integral part of teachers’ professional development at AKU-IED. The course participants are taken through a rigorous process of re-conceptualization underlying the principles of action learning- unfreezing, moving and re-freezing. During the programmes, course participants are exposed to several western innovative ideas and notions but they are critically examined for contextualization since Kanu (2000) reminds us that teacher educators should be cognizant of ‘cultural realities’. This process not only helped participants to develop cognitively but it also contributed towards their moral, ethical and emotional development which were ‘missing ingredients’ of teachers’ development in the public sector. The AKU-IED’s focus is on developing teachers as ‘reflective practitioners’ so that they are able to engage themselves in continual self-inquiry for their further development.

Some Successes i)

The AKU-IED’s programmes begin with a process of critical reflection in order to re-conceptualize the existing practices and roles as classroom teachers. The participants are provided with opportunity to discuss their personal beliefs and practices of meaningful teaching and learning. This process is integrated with school visits during which the participants observe lessons and share their critical observations with their fellow participants. This allows participants to share their experiences of critical reflections and limitations of their teaching practices. Action research, journal writing and peer learning approaches to their professional development are essential components of teacher education.

ii)

Content knowledge has been the major weakness of teachers. The course participants are provided with ample time, material resources and professional support to enhance their content knowledge through the effective use of pedagogy. The process encourages participants to critically reflect on their existing knowledge of the various subjects and explore alternate ways and means to develop pedagogical content knowledge of their respective subjects.

iii)

The field-based component is an integral part of the AKU-IED’s programmes. This has played an important role in ensuring the success of the programmes. The field-based component enables the course participants to practice their newly acquired professional knowledge and skills for re-framing their concepts and gaining confidence. In many cases this component is located in the course participants’ own schools.

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iv)

On completion of the M. Ed. programme the participants return to their schools as professional development teachers to work with their colleagues in the areas of pedagogy, classroom management, curriculum development and assessment for developing better understanding. A ‘critical mass’ has been created in the schools through bringing about meaningful and sustainable changes. This has allowed the respective school managements to convert their schools into ‘professional development schools’ by engaging them in teachers’ professional development. The AKU-IED has begun system based professional development programmes for teachers in two large systems in Karachi. These programmes have enabled teachers to learn on the job by practicing innovative approaches for improving their teaching-learning process. These programmes have played a critical role in transforming teachers.

v)

A culture of school effectiveness and development has been created in the cooperating schools through transformation of teachers and others. Schools have begun to prepare school development plans with an increased emphasis on enhancement of students’ learning and teachers’ transformation. Schools are engaged in conducting action research for improving their performance. This has allowed finding context sensitized solutions supported by their own research findings.

vi)

Schools have begun networking which is one of the major successes of the AKU-IED’s initiatives. This has allowed teachers and others to share and learn from each other’s experiences. Teachers and others who have participated in the AKU-IED’s programmes have formed their professional associations in several disciplines such as mathematics, science, social studies, primary education, and educational leadership. These associations have provided a platform for teachers and others to work collaboratively for improving the quality of education in their schools. The AKU-IED supports these initiatives by providing financial resources to conduct monthly workshops for providing access to teachers for their professional development.

vii)

The AKU-IED has been working closely with the federal and provincial governments to develop their institutional capacity building. Through AKU-IED’s programmes a considerable number of professional development teachers and others have been developed. Many of these begun to work with their fellow teachers in their respective schools. In the past, many teachers used to attend in-service teacher education activities in the education extension centers but now teachers are participating in their own school based professional development activities at a small scale level which need to be formalized and institutionalized. The AKU-IED has also been assisting the provincial government in building the capacity of the provincial institutes for teacher education (PITEs). These are considered as ‘apex institutions’. The major emphasis is on the transformation of teacher educators who need to be developed professionally so that they are able to transform teachers.

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viii)

Education policies seem to be a major ‘stumbling block’ since these have failed to provide vision to education, in general and teacher education, in particular. Policies seem to have laid more emphasis on the quantitative rather than qualitative expansion. The AKU-IED has initiated a series of policy dialogues on different issues including teacher education. The first policy dialogue was on teacher education, which critically analyzed the policy initiatives related to teacher education. This allowed policy makers, planners, and implementers to discuss the policy initiatives in the backdrop of global changes in the world.

ix)

Through AKU-IED’s programmes a possibility of ‘cross cultural learning’ has been critically examined by introducing western innovations for transforming teachers as reflective practitioners. The faculty members help the participants in re-conceptualizing new ideas through critical examination. This has led to bridge the gap between indigenization and internationalization in the backdrop of globalization

Some Challenges i)

Many schools have not yet been able to fully understand the philosophy of teacher education programmes at AKU-IED. They seem to look at teacher education from ‘product’ rather than ‘process’ point of view. They attach very high expectations from their teachers to transform their schools within a short span of time. As we understand it transformation is a whole ‘life long learning’ process and it requires time to internalize new ideas.

ii)

Transformation should entail personal and professional aspects of development. During the programmes, the participants are able to transform themselves but emphasis seems to be more on professional rather than personal development. A balanced and holistic approach to transformation is required.

iii)

The AKU-IED is just completing ten years of its establishment. It has offered a variety of programmes for teachers and others but it has not yet been able to document the impact of all programmes on the transformation of teachers for school development and quality improvement.

iv)

One of the purposes of the AKU-IED’s programmes is to transform teachers into classroom researchers. During the programmes, the participants are engaged in several hands-on activities to develop their research and inquiry skills but teachers have not yet been able to create a research culture in their own institutions.

v)

The current straightjacket notion of curriculum and assessment has been a major impediment since schools are bound to prepare their

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students for public examinations. In this regard, teachers tend to work more as ‘technicians’ rather than ‘reflective practitioners’. vi)

Within a short period of time AKU-IED has emerged as a ‘national resource’ in the country. This has raised high expectations of policy makers, planners, technocrats, practitioners, academics, researchers and others. Hence, it receives numerous requests from the key stakeholders in the public as well as the private sector for professional assistance and collaboration. Currently, AKU-IED’s approach seems to be ‘minimalist’ in responding to the partners’ needs until its own capacity is built through masters and doctoral programmes within and out side Pakistan. The result-based progress report (2001) also mentions that AKU-IED is unable to meet all the requests for assistance because of a temporary absence of faculty undertaking programmes of doctoral study with Oxford University, England and University of Toronto, Canada. The report further highlights that this investment in individual capacity building is essential for the long-term viability of AKU-IED as a centre of excellence.

Conclusion It is evident that that without teachers’ transformation we cannot transform the education system for improving the quality of education. In this regard, a series of education reforms in the area of teacher education were introduced in the public sector but their vision seemed to be narrow, hence, they failed to make any substantial impact on the quality of teachers and teaching process. Eventually, it further affected the quality of education being offered in schools. By adopting an ‘evolutionary’ and ‘outward looking’ approach, the AKU-IED introduced innovative approaches to teacher education embedded in the ‘critical pedagogy’ perspective for transforming teachers as ‘reflective practitioners’, ‘problem solvers’, and action researchers. This has contributed significantly towards the enhancement of teachers’ morale, self-esteem and self-efficacy. This has also allowed teachers to see themselves as active professionals and responsible member of community of learners. The quality of education highly depends on teachers’ capacity building in terms of intellectual and professional growth and development. The current wave of education reforms based on the liberal approach requires teachers to grow as intellectual professionals so that they are able to develop their students intellectually and morally. The AKU-IED needs to work more closely with policy makers to reframe the fabric of education policies that can lead us to develop professional development programmes for teachers’ transformation.

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References AKU-IED (2001) Result-based progress report. Karachi. Beeby, C. (1966). The quality of education in developing countries. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press. Bennett, B. and Rolheiser, C. (2001). Beyond moment: the artful science of instructional integration. Toronto: Bookation Inc. Crossley, M. (1984). Strategies for curriculum change and the question of international transfer. Journal of Curriculum Studies, 16 (1), 75-88. Farooq, R. (1990). A survey study on the problems and prospects of teacher education in Pakistan. Islamabad: Academy of Educational Planning and Management, Ministry of Education. Fullan, M. (1990). The new meaning of educational change. London: Cassell. Government of Pakistan (1947). Proceedings of the Pakistan educational conference, Ministry of Interior (Education Division): Karachi Government of Pakistan (1959). Report of the commission on national education: Ministry of Education, Islamabad. Government of Pakistan (1970). New education policy, Ministry of Education: Islamabad. Government of Pakistan (1972-80). Education policy, Ministry of Education: Islamabad. Government of Pakistan (1979). National education policy, Ministry of Education: Islamabad. Government of Pakistan (1992-2002). National education policy, Ministry of Education: Islamabad. Government of Pakistan (1998-2010). National educational policy, Ministry of Education: Islamabad. Hughes, A. and Urasa, A. (1997). Transnational curriculum transfer and the role of feasibility assessment. Canadian and International Education, 26 (1), 76-90. Kanu, Y. (2000). Curriculum, culture, and teacher learning: a case study of an innovative teacher education programme in Pakistan. Canadian International Education, 29 (2), 21-5. Ling, L, M. (2002). A tale of two teachers: teachers’ response to an imposed curriculum reform. Teacher Development, 6(1), 33-46. Memon, M. (1998) Need for initiating education reform based on school effectiveness and improvement. Education 2000, Vol. 3(5), 11-13. Rodwell, S. (1998). Internalization or indigenization of education management development? Some issues of cross-culture transfer. Comparative Education, 34 (1), 41-54. Thomas, E. (1993). The professional development and training of teacher educators, in Professional development of teachers: policy and practice in initial teacher training. London: Commonwealth Secretariat, Education Programme.

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Wheeler, A. (2001). Culturally sensitive pedagogy: a key to effective crosscultural learning in teacher education, Brock Education, Vol. 11 (1), 1-11.

Annexure

AKU-IED’S Education Programmes AKU-IED teacher education programmes are guided by a belief that all teachers must be ‘reflective practitioners’ and engaged in their continual selfinquiry. All AKU-IED programmes are field-based and emphasize the importance of classroom-based research. Participants in the AKU-IED’s programmes are from government and private school systems and from Pakistan, Bangladesh, Central Asia and East Africa. There is substantial unmet demand for all programmes.

i) M. Ed. Degree Programme Between January 1994 and June 1995 the AKU-IED conducted the University's first academic programme outside of health sciences, offering the degree of Master of Education (M. Ed. ) in Teacher Education. The M. Ed. programme critically examined current knowledge in teaching, teacher education and educational change. Also, the programme emphasized applied research, to unveil new knowledge to improve the quality of education in the developing world. The chief objective of the two-year M. Ed. programme is to prepare a cadre of experienced mid-career teacher educators, educational leaders, researchers and agents of change. The M. Ed. programme is field-based and requires the students to reflect critically on education theory and practice. It focuses on school improvement as a whole and brings together individuals from a diverse educational, cultural and geographical area. The programme graduates are called Professional Development Teachers (PDTs) who serve as teacher trainers within their home schools, as well as facilitators for the Visiting Teacher Programmes at AKU-IED. In the future, PDTs will form the core staff of the various Professional Development Centres PDCs.

ii) Visiting Teacher Programme (VTP) The Visiting Teacher Programme aims to improve the content knowledge of teachers while introducing them to non-traditional teaching methodologies, curriculum development and relevant educational issues. The VTP also attempts to assist teachers in their personal development so that they may gain a better understanding of their own and their students’ roles in teaching and learning. The Programme creates a ‘critical mass’ of teachers in cooperating schools who are able to collaborate with colleagues to bring about school improvement. Like the M. Ed. programme, the VTP is highly practical in its approach and helps teachers to re-conceptualize their current teaching practices. The VTP also provides an opportunity for participants to meet with teachers from various regions of Pakistan and other countries including Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Bangladesh. Programme instructors

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include AKU-IED faculty, visiting professors from Oxford University and the University of Toronto and M. Ed. graduates, otherwise known as PDTs. Programme participants must be affiliated with AKU-IED’s cooperating schools and/or the Aga Khan Development Network. (AKDN)

iii) Visiting Teacher Extension Programme (Advanced Diploma in Subject Specialization) There had been increasing evidence that many of the VT certificate holders would benefit considerably if they could enhance their content knowledge by becoming subject specialists in their areas of teaching. AKU-IED, therefore initiated a field-based professional enhancement programme leading to an Advanced Diploma for existing VT Certificate holders which has been especially designed to enhance their subject knowledge and teaching methodology. The first Specialist Subject Teacher (SST) Programme in Mathematics and Science commenced in July, 1997. The SST programme is designed mainly as a field-based professional development effort. As such, most of the programme takes place in the home schools of the specialist teacher. Content-based seminars are held regularly at AKU-IED. The programme is structured to minimize disruption to school activities. Classes taught at AKU-IED use techniques and approaches consistent with the overall philosophy of the programme.

iv) Advanced Diploma in School Management In order to facilitate the change process in schools and to achieve lasting school improvement, an improvement in the quality of school governance is crucial. AKU-IED has introduced a field-based school management programme for head teachers/deputy head teachers leading to an Advanced Diploma in School Management (ADISM). The programme recognizes the key role of educational leaders in school improvement and in supporting the work of AKU-IED’s graduates. The programme was developed and, is being run, with assistance from Sheffield Hallam University (UK). ADISM aims to equip head teachers of cooperating schools with the skills to reflect critically on their own management practices and to develop the required attitude, skills and knowledge to make effective changes in their schools.

v) Certificate in Educational Management In 1998, AKU-IED commenced a ten-week full-time Certificate in Educational Management programme initially targeted at middle management officers of the Sindh Government Education Department. The Programme aimed at helping education officers to reflect on their current management practices through critical analysis and to acquire new management and leadership skills so as to bring about improvement in the management system in government schools. The programme has since been modified and has been conducted for non-

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government/community based organizations of Sindh head teachers and education officer in Northern Areas of Pakistan, for School Head teachers and officers in Dar-es-Salaam, Tanzania and Mombassa, Kenya. A tailor-made educational leadership and management programme has also been developed which is being conducted in Kampala for education inspectors and officers for City Council Kampala.

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A Case Study of a Govt. School in Northern Areas: Whole School Improvement Programme Safida Ayub and Abdul Jahan Whole School Improvement (WSI) is an approach to enhance the quality of teaching, learning and student outcomes, which enables the external motivator – a Professional Development Teacher (PDT) in this instance to focus on a school as a learning organization and a community of practice. This approach helps the PDTs to be involved in all aspects of school life, which impinge on students learning. Various research studies have shown that the interrelationships among different aspects of school improvement have a critical role in enhancing or constraining students learning and outcomes (Hopkins, 1996. Stoll and Fink, 1995). The main aspects about school improvement which should be addressed concurrently are as follows: •

The quality of teaching and learning,

•

Curriculum and staff development,

•

Leadership and management,

•

Community involvement,

•

Students’ behavior and emotional development, and health education,

•

Accommodation and resources for supporting learning.

This report articulates the selection process of the school, initiatives taken, successes achieved and challenges faced in the process of whole school improvement and staff development since April 2001 in a Govt. Middle School (GMS) in Northern Areas. The PDTs’ intervention in the school was to facilitate the different stakeholders, specifically teachers in the process of teaching and learning, in the context of their own school. The approach adopted by the PDCN team endeavored to addresses the cultural, the technical and the political dimensions underlying school improvement/It is for these reasons that a pair of the Professional Development Teachers (PDTs) worked in the school for four days a week alongside teachers, head teachers and pupils within their contexts, to find appropriate strategies for improvement

School’s History According to the head teacher, the GMS started functioning in 1960 as a primary school in an old building consisting of three rooms. After a long time, in 1992, the existing construction of the school started. Soon after the completion of the construction the school was upgraded to the middle section in 1994. The new building consists of 8 classrooms, a staff room, a head's office and two storerooms. It has a separate washroom block as well. The students' strength in the school is 264 including a few girls in different classes. The present head teacher has worked in the school since 1992. When we got started with the WSIP process, we had seven teaching staff including the head and after a few weeks, four newly appointed teachers

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joined us in this journey. The teaching staff, particularly the head teacher, seem to be enthusiastic and are intrinsically motivated to learn about how to learn and how to teach effectively.

Selection of the School Meeting with Stakeholders In the year 2000, the head teacher of the Government Middle School (GMS) approached the PDTs working in one of the PDCN identified cluster in Ghizer and requested them to include his school in the next year's project. After discussion we decided to visit the school to formally finalize the selection based on whether the whole school, including physical structure, teachers' scale of motivation towards learning and cooperation from Parents Teachers Association (PTA) fits the of PDCN’s WSIP criteria. For this we as participant observers spent a whole teaching day in the school. Moreover, we met with the teaching staff and the PTA members together and briefed them about the purpose of WSIP. Having been satisfied with the school building, motivation of the teaching staff including the head and cooperation from PTA, we recommended the school for WSIP 2001 in the Ghizer cluster. The faculty members of PDCN agreed to select the school for WSIP 2001. We consider it to be very important to get a formal approval through proper channels. We approached the Deputy Director of Education of Ghizer District and obtained formal approval. Approvals were also obtained from the PTA and the school staff. (Note: PDCN has developed excellent working relations with the government and has received full co-operation for its work).

Lesson Observations In order to familiarize ourselves with the existing teaching and learning process in the school and to find out the professional needs of the teachers to be addressed in the WSI process later, we made a few lesson observations. In this process, we did not make any intervention in the lessons. We had a checklist to describe what happens in the classroom in a 35 minutes lesson. The analysis and synthesis of the observation checklists gave us a base line to facilitate the start up of intervening in the teaching and learning process in the school.

Process of Intervention Reorganization of Classrooms and other Resources With the consensus of the head and the teachers of the school we managed to reorganize the setting in a few classes. For instance, we put together pre primary and class 1 in the big hall of the school and motivated a teacher from the staff to be with them teaching for the whole day. Likewise, we all agreed to avoid putting small classes outside the classroom, which was routine practice in the school. On the other hand, there were a large number of library books in the school safely put away in boxes or cupboards. We organized a resource Room" and displayed the existing books with a simple classification. The kitchen set up in the washroom block was shifted to an empty room in the school. The unnecessary items stored in the staff room

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were shifted to the side stores in order to create an open space for the teachers. In addition to the physical reorganization we also focused on human interaction in the school. In this case, we wanted to bring about a small-scale behavioral change in the teachers’ outlook, which was being influenced by others within and outside of the school. In the newly developed strategy everyone is in agreement that smoking is strictly prohibited in the school premises. The teachers should not leave their classrooms to meet visitors. Likewise, teachers have agreed to behave politely with the children in the school, avoiding corporal punishment. The non-teaching staff is also encouraged to perform their duties such as ringing the bell etc instead of expecting the students to do their duties. We have briefed the noon teaching staff through the head teacher about their specific roles and responsibilities in the school and how they should perform lit.

Resource Collection/Development and Mobile Library To make learning meaningful for the children it is considered worthwhile to use local materials in the process of teaching. In the context of Northern Areas, such teaching materials are locally available. In GMS, we ourselves have collected teaching materials from the school premises and have also encouraged the teachers and the students to collect materials such as empty boxes, bottles etc from the village. In the free periods at school, we have motivated the teachers to develop teaching aids from the collected low cost materials. Consequently, we have, seen our resource room grow with the newly made teachers' or students' teaching materials. In addition to the resource development, we are also ensuring its proper utilization in the classrooms. The PDCN's Mobile Library box consists of one hundred books of children's literature. This is the start of the effort to create a reading culture in the school. Students of class 8 have taken initial steps in promoting this culture. Two students from this class have been assigned the additional duty of issuing and collecting books. We have also encouraged the students to develop zigzag books and have got an encouraging response from their side. The students’ made zigzag books have become a showcase of our resource room. Overall the learners in the school including the teachers seem very desirous of reading the books. The head teacher said that "the books from PDCN have also motivated us to read the books in the school which were in the, locked' cupboards for a long time". The Library and Information Officer from PDCN visited the school twice to support the teachers and students in classifying and using the library books. We very much appreciate his effort to make our resource room attractive and expect further support in the period ahead. Apparently, the innovations initiated in the school climate seem conducive to bringing about a substantive change with a specific focus on students' learning.

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Lesson Demonstration Participant Observations Through the WSI process we are trying to enhance teachers' pedagogical skills, working with them in the face of classroom realities and constraints. Generally, we sit in the classroom while a teacher teaches. We join the teaching through questions or sharing an activity to make the learning process meaningful for the students. This pattern of work, consequently, provides teachers an opportunity to reflect on their teaching with new ideas for further improvement. We, nevertheless, teach full time lessons when we feel a need or at the request from the teachers. Such lessons are planned mutually and are carefully delivered within the limited time and resources in the context of the school. The teachers in the school seem receptive and try to become more aware of the pedagogical skills from both the patterns. They maintain their reflective journals and critique on their learning and teaching movements on a daily basis, which indicates their readiness and interest to enhance their professional skills. We intend that through the continuation of the close working relationship with teachers, we encourage them to be reflective and inquiry minded practitioners and develop ourselves professionally through our own practical work in the school.

Weekly Workshops Theories and practice go hand in hand in the process of teaching and learning. In the WSIP we not only emphasize practice but also discuss the current teaming theories with the teachers through conducting weekly workshops. In the workshops we encourage the teachers to critique the learning theories and try to understand which ones relevant to us contextually. In the school, we have successfully conducted 12 workshops (10 on generic areas and two on language teaching). The impact of the learning from the workshops is closely observed in the classroom when teachers try to put a general conception in a specific situation, which helps us find out what theory works in our context and also pinpoints the misconceptions of the teachers. It seems crucial to address such misconceptions in groups or individually. On Fridays, the PDT’s come back from the field to attend the Friday Professional Development sessions at PDCN in order to share the field experiences. Bearing in mind the contextual realities and constraints we share the small-scale successes observed during the week and discuss closely with colleagues the challenges faced in the process of intervention. Of course, the effort to bring about change in a govt. school in the context of the Northern Areas does not always ensure achievement. Some of the developments in the school are frustrating and disappointing. But our critical reflections on such situations on Friday sessions reactivate us with a hope that we learn through challenges in life. On Saturday, we get prepared for the field on the basis of our revised action plans.

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Personal Professional Growth •

Working in a real school has been a fascinating experience for us. And particularly working in a Government School has been very challenging for us who come from an AKES school teaching background.

•

We have been able to put into practice our leaning from the AKU-IED and our earlier experiences and have realized that change takes a long time and requires much patience.

•

Working with colleagues in continuous professional development situation at the PDCN has been a very rewarding experience.

•

Coming to Lahore and sharing with you is also a very real professional development for us. Such opportunities are both challenging and rewarding.

•

Our exposure to the Government officers and opportunities given to us to negotiate are helping us to become more confident.

•

It seems to us that a deeper understanding of theory and its practice in a specific situation can provide a useful starting point to analyze the successes and challenges to school improvement.

•

Working with teachers in the context of a real classroom situation encourages us to explore and gain greater insight into what it means to us to be a PDT. Consequently, this practical working experience stimulates our thinking towards school improvement.

Challenges •

The teachers still seem used to spoon-feeding and expect the PDTs to enrich them with ready-made knowledge. They consider the PDTs as experts, which creates a misunderstanding when we on the basis of a constructivist view encourage them to endeavor to learn from their own practical knowledge.

•

We sometimes feel that the planned WSIP workshops appear to be difficult for the teachers to understand, as most of them possess very low level of content knowledge.

•

The instability in teacher numbers due to frequent transfers in the govt. sector has created a situation of uncertainty in the context of the WSI process in the school.

•

It does not seem to be proper to expect a belief change in teachers when they continue to work in their routine working environment.

•

A week’s gap between the workshops breaks the continuity and hampers the effort to build a theoretical understanding in the process of professional development and school improvement.

The Way Ahead •

It would be more effective to conduct a three-week center-based orientation and reconceptualization for the project teachers in the

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beginning in order to cultivate a conducive working relationship in the WSIP process in the school. •

The workshop sessions would be conducted more effectively for the teachers, if all the plans particularly plan for primary level are revised and updated.

•

The existing model of WSIP does not seem appropriate in the govt. sector and to some extent in the AKES, P as in both the sectors no one guarantees the stability of the teaching staff strength. If this were taken care of there is every reason for us to succeed.

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Teacher Education for Community Based and Public Sector Schools: SAHE’s Experience Najiba Ali

*

Introduction Over the past decade efforts have been made to adopt policies that would ensure universal primary education. In the course of these efforts it became clear that giving children an opportunity to attend school was not going to be enough. Once students are inside classrooms, they would need quality instruction as well. It was therefore not a surprise when in the Jomtien Conference-1990 ‘learning acquisition and outcome’ was strongly emphasized. A common acknowledgement amongst the delegates was about the importance of knowing what the students should be able to do at the end of the learning experience. Everyone agreed that some way must be developed to tell the teacher and the student when learning reaches the required standard. An assessment, a test or an examination would help give teachers an idea of where they stand and the results of which would naturally be conveyed to the student. For this to work, it is essential for all the stakeholders to be aware of the characteristics of information being imparted so that the student activities could be derived from the required end product. It is for this precise reason that students need to do most of the work themselves most of the time and the energy of the teacher should go into estimating and reaching for the desired learning outcomes. The Dehli Conference saw more focus on teacher preparation as one of the means of defining a level of necessary learning achievements. The declaration stated that, ' The quality and relevance of basic education programs will be improved by intensifying efforts to improve the status, training and conditions of teachers, to improve learning contents and materials and to carry out other necessary reforms of our education systems.’ Teacher qualities are of paramount interest because qualification, experience and competence of the teachers play a critical role in shaping the process of teaching and learning. The interactions between the pupil and the teacher are the primary method of transmitting knowledge and skills. Any setback in this interaction may directly influence learning. In 1997 a UNESCO sponsored study carried out in thirteen countries provided information on the extent to which achievement depended on the educational practices inside the classrooms1. Another study revealed lower achievement levels among pupils whose teachers lacked high levels of professional training. 2 Both studies are clearly indicating that the way teachers are prepared for teaching is a strong determinant of what and how * 1 2

Society for the Advancement of Education (SAHE), Lahore. Latin American Laboratory for assessment of Educational Quality (LaboratorioLaboratorio) Center for Educational Research and Development, Lebanon, 1995

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students learn. During the last five years targets and priorities were set to improve the quality and relevance of education. There was a special emphasis on training, status and motivation of teachers. A need was also felt for creating and developing partnerships among levels of government, NGOs, local bodies and civil society for meeting EFA goals. The trends in education also shifted from a behaviorist approach in which students are often passive recipients of teacher-generated knowledge to a constructivist approach; from teaching in which drill and practice was the primary pedagogy, to approaches which actively engage students in the construction of knowledge. A Student-centered approach to teaching is now strongly advocated. This approach uses more time to cover less. It also requires that choices be made about what content is essential. New assessments are recommended that probe students' understanding of content and examine their ability to integrate knowledge and apply it to real life problems. A competent teacher needs to be aware of these shifts and adapt himself or herself to ensure learner achievement. To make this shift, teachers must enhance their knowledge of subject matter, theories of learning and instruction, and learn to use new teaching strategies. Knowing how to teach to various learning styles is also critical to learning. The training component in an educational program is critical to the achievement of quality. Teachers need to be trained initially at the start of a program, then ideally before each new class /level. It would also be required when any changes are being made. Moreover, training has to be seen as an on-going process and not as a one-time activity. The purpose at all times is for generally improving their level of information and skills. The main areas in which they require training are their role as teachers, child psychology, basic educational theories, different subjects and assessment tools. A backup or support system for the teachers to ensure appropriate pedagogical practices is equally essential. Teachers also need to be given the opportunity to examine alternative views and question the dominant ideologies and commonly held views. In addition to the teachers, training is also essential for those who will be managing the program, the field staff, the community members and parents.

Need for a Teacher Education Program at SAHE The need for developing a teacher education program was felt at an early stage of the inception of SAHE. The vision of improving the quality of education for disadvantaged Pakistani children was a major factor that contributed in the development of this program. Since the 1990’s SAHE’s focus has been the improvement of education at the school level. The Mohalla Primary school Project (MPSP) 1992, was the first tentative beginning in this direction. Most of the SAHE staff was linked to

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higher education and had a clear idea that something was seriously wrong with the system. The students they were getting in universities seemed to lack basic knowledge. This led SAHE to step into government schools and help teachers out in their daily classes. In the first two years, the focus was on working with selected government primary schools, mostly in urban areas. However, they subsequently realized that they were not achieving much from this exercise. As soon as they would step back the students would be in the hands of their regular teachers who would go back to their traditional methods. A concerted effort was required to tackle the issue as the core problem area of teaching and learning was found linked to the ‘teacher’. It was seen that by working with the teachers one would be able to ensure that once the intervention is removed the teacher is better equipped to teach the class with the appropriate methodology. SAHE, therefore, places the school and the school teacher at the center of any change in the education system. In 1994 the strategy was changed from working intensively with a few schools to taking the message of school improvement and better teaching methodologies to a larger number of schools in both urban and rural areas. Subsequently, the emphasis was on motivating teachers to organize monthly inter-school teachers meetings in mohallas (urban communities) to discuss activities of school children as well as to develop an outreach facility. Gradually, SAHE became increasingly involved in organizing training for teachers in different areas and discovered that the demand for training in teaching methodologies was tremendous. Most of the trainings were designed to bring about a change in the teaching and learning that went on in classrooms. The practice of rote memorization as the sole method of learning was finally losing its ‘charm ‘ and the teachers were willing to try different and innovative ideas to overcome this dilemma. The need for the trainings gained momentum and SAHE found itself being involved in training teachers from as far south as Tharparkar to the north in NWFP. There was also an overwhelming demand for teacher training from other NGOs as well. This was specifically highlighted during a Conference on ‘Approaches and Issues in Non-formal Primary Education’ that was organized in August 1997 by the SAHE NGO Forum1. The Forum itself helped SAHE in directing its efforts into teacher education more seriously. As a result SAHE started a series of trainings for NGOs and CBOs. Most aimed at addressing the issues related to teaching and learning in classrooms and teacher empowerment. It was believed that by enabling teachers to teach better SAHE would contribute more. The focus was on primary teachers as it was obvious that the foundations of all the concepts are laid at this stage. It was here that teachers lacked the desired content knowledge. Students usually leave primary schools with little more than basic literacy. They are neither 1

SAHE NGO Forum :SAHE was given the task of recognized as an organization with the ability to identifyingy and analysinge relevant issues and articulating take these to the authorities these on behalf of smaller NGO’s and CBO’s. A Conference was held on Approaches and issues in Non-formal Primary Education in August 1997. The idea was to provide a forum to organizations to bring forth issues and concerns related to NFE related work.

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motivated nor equipped for greater challenges in the secondary schools. Most of the drop- outs were from primary schools. As multi grade teaching methodologies emerged as a solution /panacea for poor countries, SAHE extended trainings in MTM to NGOs and teachers of non-formal schools as well as to teachers of government and private schools. In most schools even those with more than one teacher the common practice is for one teacher to simultaneously teach more than one class.

Teacher Education in the Non formal Schools With the establishment of non – formal schools / centers under the Prime ministers Literacy Commission (PMLC), the mid nineties saw the rapid spread of Non formal Education. In 1996 SAHE opened non formal schools in Bahawalnagar. With the greater shift towards quality education SAHE realized the need for training the untrained teachers appointed for teaching. The majority were middle (up to grade 8) and matriculate with almost no prior experience of teaching or any training. The experience of working with the PMLC was not satisfactory as government support was inadequate and unpredictable. The experience in Bahawalnagar led to SAHE developing its own community based school program. In March 1998 SAHE set up 20 (The number has now risen to 80) community based schools in District Pakpattan. Here too a desperate need was felt for teacher education as the reading, writing and mathematical skills of the teachers themselves were found to be quite poor.

The Teacher Education Program at SAHE SAHE’s Teacher Education Program covers three major kinds of programs (a) the one workshop modules, (b) the longer duration programs and (c) the community based school (CBS)program All of the above deal with in-service teachers of Private, Government and Non formal schools. Several programs are specifically designed for trainers and other NGO workers.

The one workshop Modules The one workshop module is a one-time workshop ranging between 3-10 days aimed at sharing with the participants, information and experience that trainers and adjunct experts have gained in their respective work areas. The workshops are either subject specific or deal with a particular pedagogical aspect. The purpose of these workshops is the constant dissemination of pedagogical trends that SAHE feels are important for all concerned to be aware of. The modules are developed on generally expressed demand as well as on specific needs of the group that registers for these workshops.

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The teachers bring important experience to the workshops and take back relevant ideas to reflect upon and adapt to their respective fields and adopt them if they find it useful. Some participants are reluctant and not very open to new innovations. This proves to be all the more challenging and sometimes tends to make everyone rethink their personal teaching philosophies. These workshops also provide teachers from various schools the opportunity to mingle and exchange ideas. Relative strangers go away from the workshops as friends who share similar views of teaching and learning. A lot of times teachers get involved in hot debates regarding teaching and learning methodologies while theories related to child /educational psychology are thoroughly thrashed out before being accepted. Irrespective of the nature of the SAHE workshop one finds the atmosphere to be always reverberating with energy. There have often been times when teachers question, challenge and sometimes completely reject whatever is being advocated. The teachers of private schools are usually more vocal and lead most of the discussions whenever we have had teachers from various kinds of schools in the same workshop. This may be due to the fact that teachers of private schools have a slight advantage of having attended more workshops and of being from sounder educational backgrounds than their government, semigovernment or non-formal school counterparts. The interaction among these teachers allows them to discover the various conditions their counterparts work in. The contacts begin a much needed sensitization process. A lot of teachers rethink their stances in arguments when they realize that some teachers are willing to experiment in their classrooms despite having to work under tougher conditions than them. When it comes to sharing difficulties during teaching the teachers from under-privileged areas tend to take center stage. Suddenly their problems become very real and stating them to others with the view of seeking solutions these teachers undergo a transformation and become quite confident. Some teachers remain in touch with the facilitators of these workshops. A teacher shared how she had taken her class to a trip to see the Lahore Fort after attending our History workshop. She was ecstatic with the overwhelming response her students gave when they used the map of the fort and a compass as was recommended in one of our workshops. She and her class had had such an enriching time that the schools administration seeing the enthusiasm of the students started planning similar educational trips with greater frequency. Another teacher shared how she now viewed cartoons in books and magazines with a different angle ever since she attended one of our workshops on ‘Concept Cartoons’. Cartoons now form an integral part of her teaching, especially when teaching Science Concepts.

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At times the workshops are specially designed for teacher trainers. These usually belong to various NGOs that run non formal schools or have adopted MCL schools. Most of them have a social work background and are not wellversed in teaching and learning methods. The only experience they have of schools is of their own schooling. They believe in teacher empowerment. However when it comes to classroom teaching and teacher development few have any idea as to how that may be done. A lot of times these trainers get so overwhelmed by the community problems and by the psychological issues related to the children their organization works to educate, that their energies and efforts are more focused on easing the harsh conditions than on the teaching and learning side. While we talk of student learning styles and classroom environments with teachers, we discuss issues related to teaching teachers to teach effectively with trainers. SAHE has found the task of providing on-going training to teachers and NGO personnel a gigantic one. It is thus concentrating on identifying potential trainers from among the large number of teachers it has already trained and developing on-going training programs for trainers. SAHE’s experience with training trainers has been more challenging than teacher training workshops. A workshop for trainers is more in danger of going off the track. The content being shared with groups of trainers usually gets diluted by each trainer’s personal as well as institutional philosophy. If one is lucky and the trainer has a sound educational background this may lead to an enriched version or (what is more commonly experienced) it falls victim to the trainer’s incompetence. By the time the information reaches a child it trickles down to a distorted image of the original idea. Thus teaching trainers has been far more challenging especially when we have no access to the eventual recipient (the child). The number of such participants from workshops is even more limited and very few actually share their successes and failures afterwards. It, therefore, becomes very difficult to determine whether the trainings are having the desired impact inside classrooms (which is our prime interest) or not. The participants and the trainers are becoming increasingly aware that once the workshop is over there is very little chance to learn about the impact of these specific workshops. The roles of the participants in their respective organizations are quite varied hence it is difficult to plan an effective follow up procedure. We realize that teacher development is a slow, gradual process and SAHE’s Modular Program manages to contribute to teacher education to some extent.

The longer duration programs This is an extensive program where a number of workshops are spread over one year. The program also includes training of Master Trainers, with follow ups and reflective sessions in between. The contents of the workshops are based on an intensive needs analysis conducted before program

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development. The priority in this program is capacity building of the personnel of the concerned organization as we believe training trainers, not just teachers, is important for NGO schools. This model is also being followed for the non-formal community based schools The program is usually designed for training teachers of non formal schools run by other organizations. In 1997 SAHE conducted a phased training of the teachers of Baanhn beli, a Sindh based NGO. The training was done in five phases which included training of teachers and trainers. The program included a follow up that was done to assess the success and implementation of the trainings. The questionnaires, observations, schools visits and meetings with teachers revealed that the teachers did gain a lot of ideas about the methodologies taught and were using them to teach their school children to a great extent. This was a relatively more difficult program as the resource people had to travel deep into the desert region of Tharparkar and suggest methodologies that could be easily tried in the harsh desert condition where the schools were situated. The situation was made more difficult by the fact that the language of the teachers was Sindhi, a language in which the SAHE resource people had no proficiency. The matter was handled by the local education promoters as they acted as translators for the SAHE team. Subsequently, with their help SAHE developed learning material for children in Sindhi and Urdu including educational flash cards that were particularly appreciated. The advantage of longer duration programs is also that it becomes easier for the impact to be gauged by the time the program comes to an end.

Community Based Schools Teacher Education Program A key program of SAHE is the training of the teachers of the Community Based Schools in district Pakpattan. There are presently, 80 schools with one female teacher for 30 children in each school. The same teacher takes the children up to grade five in five years. Teachers receive regular trainings after every three months leading to four trainings in an academic year per teacher. The trainings take place four times in one academic year. Each one of these is five days long and covers content, methodology and community interactions. The teachers are also taught in the areas of gender equality and how teaching can be designed to correspond to the needs and interests of children, especially girls, living in the rural areas. Within the goals and frameworks defined teachers are free to decide how their classes should be run. According to the SAHE Teacher Training plan each teacher will have had 20 trainings at the end of the five year cycle. Each training lasts 5-6 days of which the first 2 days are spent in concept clarity of the content of various

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subjects and reflections of the issues /problems encountered during the previous three months’ teaching. The next 2-3 days are spent inside classrooms. Each trainer is allotted a certain number (2 or 3)of teachers and these then are involved in classroom based training which includes teaching practice by the teachers, observed by their group of teachers, and demolessons by the trainers. Reflective sessions are then held between the group of teachers and their trainer. The content covered during these trainings is usually based on the teachers need and on what is believed to be of use to the teacher in her classroom teaching. Thus it is commonly focused on concept clarity in various subject areas, development of teaching aids, general pedagogical theories, lesson planning, teaching methodologies, classroom management, educational psychology and assessment. The trainings are usually participatory in nature with the teachers involved in Group Work, Presentations, Discussions, Demo lessons by trainers in real classrooms, Teaching Practice, Observations and Reflective sessions on the lessons observed. The formal follow-up is limited to 2 visits by the Lahore based trainers. However the teachers are occasionally monitored by the Arifwala based trainers and promoters. The process includes observation of actual classroom teaching. Feedback is provided instantly and the teachers’ comments and views regarding the way the lesson went also noted down. Classroom space organization is also important therefore the layout and classroom environment is also noted. The teacher is provided guidance where required during the entire process.

Issues and concerns related to the CBS Teacher Education Program It has been observed that during the formulation of the program several things were not considered. The idea of providing the teachers with 4 trainings per class was initially considered to be necessary. This, however, seems to be causing problems now that SAHE has 4 classes running simultaneously which means trainers from Lahore spend a lot of time traveling back and forth. A need is felt for further developing the local trainers in Arifwala and Pakpattan, where the schools are located. This was always the eventual goal but now the task is seen as being more urgent. Each teacher receives four trainings in an academic year. The result is a training pattern that becomes monotonous and therefore less effective. The trainings in the CBS are becoming more and more content-based due to the poor subject knowledge of teachers. The teachers often insist on being told what to do in class rather than how. They show a tendency of becoming dependent on the trainers. When, for some reason, a training does not take place the teachers are at a loss and usually revert back to the traditional teaching methods. Teachers prefer expert supervision and are unaware that this process is paralyzing them by removing their responsibility from the full process of teaching.

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Most of the problems that teachers face are related to the classroom. The student-centered, constructivist approach is challenging for even the most seasoned teachers. The teachers of SAHE Community Based Schools are generally novices who would need assistance at all stages of implementation. When it comes to human resources, the quality of trainers stands out as a major limitation. Finding capable individuals for training teachers is a major problem for SAHE and this factor is restricting the effectiveness of the program. The program needs people with in-depth knowledge of pedagogical skills in the various subjects areas taught at the primary level. It is relatively difficult to find among the local residents of Arifwala and Pakpattan those with the requisite qualifications and experience needed for a trainer. Liaison with external experts has been a contributory factor in human resource development. The students are all expected to appear in the government primary school exam at the end of five years of SAHE Community Based Schools. This examination is purely designed from the government school teachers perspective. The kind of questions put in these papers all promote rote memorization. The teachers of our schools are worried that the students would not be able to score well in these papers and as a result will not be able to become a part of the mainstream government schools. Teachers, therefore, have reservations in adopting student-centered approaches in their classrooms as they are aware that their students will eventually be evaluated on their ability to memorize facts.

Restructuring of the CBS Teacher Education Program SAHE has recently restructured its teacher education program for the CBS teachers. The restructured program recommends a greater number of local facilitators in Arifwala and Pakpattan to maintain a certain degree of quality in the learning. through effective classroom support.

a. The trainings have been reduced to two per year (instead of the original four ) Past experience has shown that the extensive number of trainings has not been able to help teachers out as much as was expected. The exercise was repetitive and teachers' enthusiasm seemed to be diminishing. Another very important aspect of the training is the people involved in the training will now be the local facilitators alone. This will give them a sense of ownership of the recommendations given to teachers. Human resource development, therefore, is now the highest priority.

b. The reduced number of trainings is being compensated for by regular monthly sessions/meetings with the local facilitators. Teachers will be expected to plan, discuss issues or concepts of a particular topic that is to be taught in the coming month. The emphasis has been on classroom support which is crucial for any teacher training program. We have seen that the extensive hours allotted previously for training did not achieve

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the desired results. To ensure a certain degree of improvement in classroom performance by the teachers and students we have to spend more time inside classrooms helping sort out day-to-day problems. The best way to support teachers in implementing the expected activities in class is to visit their classrooms and provide technical assistance. These visits enable one to see where each teacher is succeeding or encountering difficulties so that one can target assistance and support.

c. Mentors/ Support Teachers will be developed formally to provide novice teachers with much-needed backing in schools.

A special focus on the development of a teacher support group is necessary. The identified teachers will have easy access to a certain number of teachers. Their role will be primarily to provide guidance to the system in general as well as to assist new entrants in the teaching methods recommended. The purpose is to continue providing teachers with a continuous connection with the program objectives.

A special emphasis on the development of the following has been made to help teachers relate their training with their classroom situations:

Bottom Line Expectations The teachers and facilitators will be provided with certain minimum expectations. Tthis will ensure a degree of uniformity in the way classes are being conducted.

Effective Feedback system Indicators In order to make the teacher support more effective the facilitators will be trained in the art of supervision.

Benchmarks A detailed list of the basic achievement level expected by the students in Reading, Writing and Life Skills will be provided to teachers to enable them to assess the progress of their students.

Profiling system Teacher profiles will be more formal and an elaborate system is being developed to facilitate the training and assessment of teacher performance in classrooms.

Assessment System at CBS The school assessment system needs to be made more effective as a monitoring and remedial tool. It should serve as an effective qualityassurance mechanism. The recommended changes should assess

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basic skills independent of curriculum through informal assessment and achievement against benchmarks defined through the formal assessment. In Science and Social Studies the emphasis on recall items would be reduced and more weight will be given to process skills; as also life-skills such as problem-solving, teamwork and reading and writing languages. All students will be assessed regularly by teachers in their respective classes. However in order to help the teachers achieve the benchmarks it is important for SAHE to conduct at least two formal assessments during the year.

Lessons learnt from the classroom •

Motivation to learn and improve content knowledge The biggest challenge to the teacher education program lies in the inability of the educators to transfer in teachers the urge to study and improve their understanding of various concepts that they have to teach. Arfa has been a teacher with SAHE for the past four years and yet needs to be trained repeatedly. Her teaching methods have greatly improved and is one of our better teachers, however, her content knowledge is still not of the desired level. She still expects to be given specific handouts and worksheets that could help her in teaching any subject. As a result one needs to constantly provide some teachers the raw material with which to work. The cause of this lack of interest may be due to the teachers’ lifestyle. They probably have other responsibilities that do not allow them to spend extra time on their own learning. Several teachers are appearing for exams but for many the problem remains, as obtaining a degree does not guarantee additional knowledge especially in the villages. Many incentives have now been introduced to encourage teachers. Some of the better teachers are invited on an educational trip to Lahore. Certificates and awards are given to teachers whose class performs exceptionally well and so on.

•

The introduction of the block system Most of the new entrants into SAHE schools are children who had never been in the kind of school environment before. It requires a great effort from teachers to help them become familiar with the classroom routines and expectations. However since SAHE schools begin from class one, omitting the Kachi class, the children have to be introduced to the skills and routines at the same time. The learning skills needed by them in the days and years to come were being affected. So the class one teachers were asked to avoid restricting children in fixed slots of Maths, Urdu, science etc. Instead they were asked to allow flexibility to the children in the day by assigning four blocks that could easily be between fifteen minutes to an hour long, depending on the mood of the children, their energy and of course the nature of the activity being undertaken. The introduction of the block system proved to be an eye opener for SAHE. This system was new for the teachers and they were quite reluctant to try it as they failed to see the logic

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behind the change. They felt the blocks were difficult to handle. Some teachers were not able to plan for the day. This helped SAHE see the teachers’ inability to visualize learning as a continuous series of steps that are introduced, reinforced and then taken forward. •

Training in coordination skills The skills required for preparing children for the tough reading, writing and computing begin early in the year. The teachers are introduced to methods and techniques of enhancing children’s coordination skills. The methods are simple and are usually in the form of games and through the use of self–manipulation material. The teachers find the process quite irrelevant. Their reluctance to work on the coordination skills of children has resulted in the children having extremely weak handwriting and reading skills. The problems that are now arising among some of the class five students have managed to convince most teachers but one still gets to hear very interesting reflections: One teacher commented, ‘Miss ji this is all very nice but when will they learn? The ‘games’ would be good time fillers but they will not have learnt any ‘sabaq’!’

Government Teacher Training Program As SAHE’s Teacher Education Program began inside the government schools SAHE’s work with the government schoolteachers continues in various forms. Random trainings are arranged occasionally for government schoolteachers. Special efforts are taken to include government schoolteachers in most of SAHE’s researches. They also remain an integral part of any material testing conducted by the Teacher Education Program team.

Government teacher training-District Pakpattan In the year 2002 SAHE began a regular training Program for the Government school teachers of District Pakpattan. Through this Program SAHE hopes to train around 200 Primary school teachers of the district. The program has so far covered areas such as General Pedagogy, English Language and Mathematics. The next training would be for Social Studies and Science content teaching. The training was widely appreciated and the teachers have shown a keen interest in attending more such workshops. The initial idea harbored by all of was that only something basic could be done with these teachers, as our prior experience showed that government teachers were usually uninterested. However, after a little need analysis SAHE realized that underestimating the capabilities of government schoolteachers across the board would not be a good idea. The teachers that were selected had either a Masters degree or had experience of teaching of up to 15 years. They proved to be very interested and were very keen to discuss their ideas. Most had a lot of problems related to classroom management. Their reflections about the trainings were quite encouraging. They all felt more such trainings should be held regularly for them. They

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volunteered that they were initially quite reluctant to attend ‘yet another workshop’. For most this was supposed to be another training where they would mark their attendance and slip away in the middle of the session. Their reluctance however changed to enthusiasm on the very first day. They attributed the success of the trainings to a number of factors which they found missing in trainings that they had routinely attended. One of the major reasons given was the respect they said they had received from the facilitators. Their profession was taken seriously and an effort was being made to understand them and their problems. A teacher also pointed out that effective time management on the part of facilitators helped them realize the importance of doing the same inside their respective classrooms. Most of the positive comments were about the methodology used in the training program. They were quite unhappy to learn that it was a five hour long workshop but were surprised when the time would pass by swiftly. They discovered that the method used during the sessions was the actual implementation of the theories that were discussed. They found this quite useful as they saw exactly how they could try the same methods in their own classes. Another key factor was the keen interest that was taken in the teachers welfare. The teachers were pleased at being made a part of a training where knowledge was shared and not thrust upon them. They were glad that they could ask questions without hesitation. The teachers were so keen for such trainings that most were also willing to omit their demand for Travel Allowance if called upon to do so.

Testing of English Language Material at DSD A one-day session was held at the Directorate of Staff Development to share the English Language material with the Government elementary school teachers. The English Language material was developed for the Punjab Textbook Board books from Grade 1-3. Most of the teachers responded positively when the material was shared with them. The teachers were keen to use the material and gave useful suggestions. They were eager to share the material in the classrooms and give us feedback in the next meeting. SAHE’s own experience with the trainings has been quite unexpectedly enriching. The facilitators came back with an entirely different view of government teachers. They felt that blaming teachers for all the ills in the education system was wrong. The experience showed how a little encouragement and incentive provided to the teacher could bring about a significant change in the teaching and learning in schools. Teachers need regular support and our trainings and efforts to involve them in researches provided them with one such support.

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Development of Learning Material SAHE Teacher Education Program is involved in the development of supplementary material for various subjects at the primary level. The aim is to make material that may be used by schoolteachers teaching the prescribed national curriculum. The Supplementary Material development is related to the day–to–day activities. These materials highlight the various processes through which the desired student learning objectives in Science, Mathematics, Social Studies, Urdu and Islamiat contents could be achieved. The material has been prepared based on the prescribed textbook being used by the Community Based Schools. (Punjab Textbook Board) The material for the above mentioned subjects is available for classes one to five. The prescribed books are quite sketchy and a lot of supplementary material is needed to be developed by the teachers to ensure the contents make some sense to children. The material is designed for:

1. Various teaching opportunities The material made could be used as an activity for the introduction of any topic. It may also be made as a transitional activity as the teacher is developing the understanding of the students to greater complexity in the content being covered. Some material is designed for the teachers to use as reinforcement of content already taught. A lot of activities are made as sponge activities that could be used for further enhancement of the student understanding of the subject content. This was designed to help teachers bring creativity in their teaching. A lot of the material is being regularly used.

2. Different ability level The material comprises of Worksheets and Activity sheets suitable for the different ability groups present in the CBS. A particular activity is accompanied by suggestions for when to use it and how to use it and with which group of children would it be more suitable. Almost all the material covers work for the gifted learners as well as for the slow learners. Individualized teaching methods are recommended through this material as well. All this was necessary as our experience of providing teachers with material revealed that they are usually unaware of methods of dealing with children who are slower in learning. All the teacher’s innovation and creativity somehow vanishes as soon as she comes across a child who is not responding in an ideal manner. Some materials were also developed through PRA as in the case of Baanhn Beli.The material after being published was distributed to all the teachers for use in the classroom.

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Future Directions •

Reform and revitalization of the teacher education programme with emphasis on the students ' existential experiences.

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Working with locally based trainers.

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Improving training quality

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Developing a better monitoring system of learning achievements

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Focus on a better mentoring system to ensure the classroom support required by teachers once they have received training.

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Paying more attention to situational factors when planning training programmes

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Distance between schoolteachers and trainers to be reduced. With the introduction of creative curricula a new system of grades need to come into effect i. e., grades should relate pupils knowledge and achievements to the goals set out in the syllabi.

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Pupils who experience difficulties in their schoolwork are entitled to support in school. Sometimes special measures are necessary. Attempts are being made to design a system that can work effectively.

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Regular teacher support and guidance in teaching of children with varying learning abilities.

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Improving the assessment programme. Like the new creative curricula itself, the assessment programme is to be introduced to the teachers during their training so as not to ‘catch them’ unawares. Helping teachers realize the importance of affective learning outcomes.

Greater attention should is to be paid to improving classroom practices, as specific classroom practices and teacher skills improve student achievement. There has to be strong commitment to the continuing professional development of the staff. Improving classroom practices is crucial and has to be the priority. Although SAHE's teacher preparation programs are effective and are producing teachers who perform comparatively well in the classroom, there are some problems that refuse to go away. One of the major obstacles is the resilience of some teachers to change. Reversion to the traditional method of teaching is frequently witnessed and the persistence of rote memorization as a method of learning leads to a paradox in our programme goal. This probably means that the teachers have not internalized the pedagogical trends. Since the programme has yet to produce the desired results, the quest for improvement in our programme continues.

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Primary Education Program – Improvement of the Learning Environment (PEP-ILE), NWFP Quality Improvement in Primary Schools of NWFP The efforts, which have gone in to establish the present PEP-ILE date back to 1985 when the project was started to cater to both Pakistani and Afghan schoolchildren through production of teaching/learning material, teacher training, and non-formal education initiatives. Thereafter, in 1990 through the support of German funds the programs for both Pakistani and Afghan schoolchildren were further improved and clearly bifurcated into two separate projects. In 1992 a specific program was launched for Charsadda district only, and in 1996/97 the PEP-ILE was launched. Since 2001 PEP-ILE is collaborating with the Government of NWFP/PITE for in-service teacher training. The objectives of PEP-ILE include: •

Better learning achievements of the children

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Increased enrollment

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More regularity in schools

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Increased self esteem of head teachers and teachers

• Involving more and more parents in schools to enhance their interests in education •

Better management of schools in districts In order to achieve the objectives, PEP-ILE has identified three important pillars, which hold things together, and these are:

1.

Material Development – textbooks, workbooks, teacher guides

2. Teacher Training – one teacher of every school in NWFP for 16-18 days each year 3. School Management in Districts – regular school visits, monthly review meetings The content of PEP-ILE programs for in-service teachers includes: • General pedagogy + teaching skills (lesson planning, questioning techniques, group work etc.) • Language (phonics, active writing, reading, vocal expression, practice teaching) • Mathematics (concepts relevant for each class, continuous exercises on how these concepts can be effectively taught to children) • Science (concepts relevant for each class, continuous exercises on how these concepts can be effectively taught to children) •

English (practical teaching exercises)

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• Parent-teacher relations (activities to involve parents and communities in the school affairs, cleanliness, first aid, maintenance of school books etc.) For example, PEP-ILE has developed first-aid material for parents, teachers and children, which provides simple guidance in situations like dehydration. PEP-ILE has laid a heavy emphasis on the importance of “Katchi” or nursery class, which is where the learning begins for children. Textbooks are specially being developed for this all-important class. From 1997 – 2001 PEP-ILE has reached out to more than 80,000 teachers (multiple counting) ranging from kachi/pakki to grade four. The training programs offered by PEP-ILE have helped bring about the following changes in the schools of NWFP over the last four years: The children have improved on their communication skills with teachers and with each other, share their experiences with confidence, enjoy the lesson and participate actively, show interest in learning and move around in the classroom, work alone, in pairs, and groups, help distribute materials amongst each other, and are able to handle material themselves. The teachers are prepared for the lesson, manage learning activities and organize teaching properly, make use of educational materials, guide and help pupils, give individual attention, show friendly disposition and encourage children. PEP-ILE follows a cascade model for training teachers whereby the expert works with the master trainers, who work with trainers, who in turn work with teachers. One of the limitations of this model is that a lot of the quality/content is lost during the transfer process from the experts to the teachers. However, this approach has proved very useful in case of district-based programs of the Government of NWFP, where reaching out to all the teachers directly is impossible, if only the experts were to do it.

Shahida Khattak

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The Professional Development Center Northern Areas (PDCN), Gilgit PDCN Gilgit was founded in 1999 in collaboration with the Aga Khan Education Services (AKES) and with the technical support of the Institute for Education Development (IED) of the Aga Khan University in Karachi. Some basic details about IED would be useful before we get into a discussion about the PDCN. IED was founded in 1993 mainly with the support of the Aga Khan Foundation, but also supported by the European Commission and the UNDP. Since its inception the IED has been offering various programs for teachers, which include a two-year M.Ed in Education to in-service teachers. Under this intensive program trainees who are called Professional Development Teachers (PDT) are exposed to general pedagogy, content knowledge, educational management, school leadership etc. The emphasis is that as the PDTs return to their schools after completing the program they should be able to provide ongoing professional support to their school to improve the quality of teaching and learning in schools. IED also offers a Visiting Teachers Program and an Advanced Visiting Teachers Program focusing on teaching methodology in different content areas. In addition it also offers the Advanced Diploma in School Management (ADISM), Certificate in Educational Management (CEM), the Subject Specialists Teachers (SST) Program and various shorter duration workshops for teachers, head teachers, school administrators and policy makers. IED intends to establish Professional Development Centers in areas other than Karachi, particularly in disadvantaged areas like the Northern Areas of Pakistan, and as such took this monumental task of establishing the center in Gilgit in 1999. The PDCN in Gilgit is staffed by nine faculty members, all of whom have graduated from IED with the M.Ed, and all belong to the Northern Areas. These faculty members are supported by the Head of PDCN and a senior faculty, both of whom belong to AKU-IED, but spend a great deal of time living in Gilgit and providing support to PDCN staff. The mission of PDCN is to develop and adopt activities and strategies that will lead to improvement in the quality of education in Northern Areas. The PDCN works in collaboration with the government and local organizations to build local capacity, conduct research to test ideas and influence policy, and develop assessment and evaluation procedures in order to improve practice and help identify what works and why/how. PDCN offers many programs, which include: •

Whole School Improvement Program (WSIP)

•

Certificate Program in Educational Management (CEM)

•

Visiting Teachers Program for Social Studies Teachers (VTP)

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• Professional Development Courses for Principals of Government Colleges and Assistant Deputy Inspectors of Schools (ADIs) • Mentoring Programs for Master Trainers, Cluster Heads, and Field Education Officers •

Short Awareness Courses

•

Educational Forum

•

Women’s Support Group

•

Research The main focus of PDCN programs is on:

•

Quality of Teaching and Learning

•

Leadership, Management, and Administration

•

Curriculum

•

Community Participation

•

School Building, Accommodation, and Resources

•

Social and Moral Development, and Health Education So far through these programs in the last two years PDCN has reached out to 271 individuals for WSIP, 28 individuals for the Social Studies VTP, 53 individuals for the CEM, and almost 250 individuals through other programs, all belonging to the northern areas. Some of the issues highlighted by PDCN, which hinder the progress of education and schools include, but may not be limited to:

• School’s infrastructure is not in place and facilities are poor or non-existent •

Deeply entrenched routines

•

Culture of dependency in schools

•

Imbalance between administrative work and academic work

•

Teachers’ level of content knowledge and pedagogy

•

Mobility of head teacher and teachers

•

Low motivation of teachers

•

Time constraints in terms of school timetable

•

Professional jealousy

•

Lack of planning and preparation

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Safida Ayub and Abdul Jahan

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The Primary Teachers Mentoring Program (PTMP), Baluchistan In Baluchistan there is a serious issue of lack of human resources and even the availability of a matriculate teacher is a major problem, which is why individuals who have completed only grade eight “middle” are hired to teach in primary schools. Further, the issue of mobility is a serious problem in Balochistan and teachers in some cases have to walk miles to get to the school. To add to these problems, the support provided by the Education Department of the Government of Baluchistan is inadequate to meet the needs of teachers and schools, and as such do not address either access or quality. The existing government support is marred by: 1. The one-shot training approach which results in only a very limited level of skills being transferred to actual classroom practice on the part of teachers. 2. Training curricula and material are developed in relative isolation from the actual needs of the teachers 3. Very few capable trainers are available who can offer any quality service to teachers 4. Because of the large number of training programs and teachers, the trainers have had no chance to reflect on their practices, rather they are more involved in the logistics of large size trainings which are reduced to a very mechanical delivery style 5. The allowances offered to teachers coming for trainings are perceived insufficient by them, and they tend to focus more on their feelings of deprivation than on the training itself 6. The relatively high cost of trainings suggests that the modality employed cannot be institutionalized and made sustainable over the long run 7. The program that emerged in light of the above considerations is the Primary Teacher Mentoring Program (PTMP), currently operating in six districts, but with plans to eventually expand to all 26 districts of Baluchistan. The PMTP is designed with several professional development concerns being considered and has the following major purposes: 8. To assist teachers in understanding and effectively using the new textbooks and teacher guides being provided by the Baluchistan Instructional Materials Development and Training Cell in the BPEP. 9. To help upgrade teachers’ content knowledge in the four major subject areas (Mathematics, Science, Social Studies, Urdu), which is perceived to be a more immediate need than training in pedagogy and methodology per se.

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10. To develop teachers’ reflective practice and problem-solving skills, not only relating to teaching practice, but also with regard to administrative issues and school-community relations. 11. To facilitate a process of collegiality in order to reduce teacher isolation and thereby enhance the prospect of nurturing substantive change in teachers’ beliefs and practices. Ten clusters of 30-40 teachers each are formed in each district. The ten clusters are in or near the district headquarter to simplify the clustering process and to make implementation and monitoring more manageable. Teachers are placed in clusters in such a way that none has to travel more than 16 kilometers to the meeting site. The reasons for this are to limit the distances teachers must travel, and to obviate the need to pay travel and accommodation allowances. DEOs are then asked to nominate the most capable primary teacher from each cluster to serve as mentor/trainer for the teachers in that cluster. Nominees are screened, and then mentors are trained for eight weeks at the Institute for Educational Development (IED), Aga Khan University in Karachi. The training covers such topics as mentoring, problem solving, reflective practice, and appropriate methodologies for teaching the four major subjects. Each of these trainings at IED includes 30 mentors from three different districts (10 from each district). Following the initial training of the mentors, the program is ready to be launched in that group of three districts. Every month two-day workshops for teachers are held at the central site of each cluster, overseen by the mentor. These workshops have three main components: First, formal training on a given topic identified by the teachers in the previous month’s workshop; second, dealing with content knowledge deficiencies identified by teachers that were not being solved in the previous month’s workshop; and third, scanning ahead in their textbooks and teacher guides to identify and solve problems they anticipate encountering in the following month. If the problems can be solved at that time, well and good; if they cannot be solved, the problems and issues are conveyed by the mentor to the DEO, who conveys them to the TTS staff and the teaching and learning resource team (TLRT) in Quetta. Then the next month, two days before that month’s two-day workshop for teachers, one member of the TLRT (member from the Bureau of Curriculum and Extension) travels to district headquarter to train the mentors to deliver that month’s material. There is therefore, an ongoing feedback loop from month to month that involves players at three levels; mentors and teachers in clusters, the TLRT in Quetta, and TLRT and mentors in district headquarter. As the mentors gain confidence and expertise, it is anticipated that they themselves will be able to solve problems and handle issues of teachers. One innovative approach during these trainings is that teachers are provided with stamped envelopes, which are used to mail any problems to the PTMP. The teachers can send these problems anonymously to

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their cluster office, which then deals with that problem by holding program(s) for all the teachers in that cluster. Initially almost 80% of all the teachers were posting problems of different professional/logistical nature, but with time the number has come down to almost 30% and now most teachers are able to handle problems themselves. Positive developments and achievements on the part of teachers include: 1.

Increased Confidence Level

2.

Greater Initiative

3.

Skill Development

4.

Strong Communication Skills

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Farooq Akbar

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Provincial Institute of Teacher Education. (PITE), Sindh Provincial Institute of Teacher Education Sindh was established in Nawabshah in 1995 with the following objectives: • Enhance the quality of teacher education. •

Develop research based innovative programs.

•

Capacity building through human resource development.

• Initiating research in teacher education and other important areas. •

Develop alternative delivery modes of programs.

• Provide access to teachers for their professional growth and development. • Assist in formulation of teacher education policies with regards to curriculum, training and textbooks. •

Develop institutional linkages in and outside Pakistan.

More specific terms of reference of PITE are as under: 1. Assist the Education Department in designing effective province-based strategies for implementing teacher training policies and programs and in experimenting with curriculum, training methods, materials development, and training of trainers and administrators of Teacher Training Institutions. 2. Offer pre-service teacher education courses through multimode delivery systems i.e., formal teacher training, non-formal education, and distance education. 3. Plan and organize in-service teacher training programs for elementary and secondary school- teachers in collaboration with Government Colleges for Elementary Teachers (GCET). 4. Conduct research studies and surveys for making the teacher education practices effective and efficient. 5. Provide support to GCETs and rural Training Outposts (TO) using different strategies including mobile training and educational technology. 6. Develop multi-media correspondence materials).

(audio,

video,

and

print-based

7. Develop packages of teaching aids, student guidebooks, manuals, distance education modules, evaluation devices for trainers and students, and other relevant reading materials to be used in the PITE and other networking institutions.

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8. Serve as a resource center and coordinating mechanism for all teacher-training institutions at the provincial level. 9. Coordinate with the Ministry of Education’s Curriculum wing and National Education Training Agencies. PITE has developed a Diploma Program in Management Training in collaboration with IED and the Sindh Education Foundation and is seeking further linkages with the private sector for developing material for teachers. IED has also assisted in providing staff development services to four PITE faculty members. PITE offers shorter duration in-service programs to teachers, but due to an unfair system in place, same teachers are sent repeatedly for most trainings. PITE also stresses on the need for teacher empowerment in that they should have the liberty to engage children in various extra/cocurricular activities, something for which they are scolded. Similarly, teachers should be provided the confidence for using science kits, which they do not use since there is no provision for replacing the used or broken material. Ever since inception, PITE has offered B.Ed (14+1 model) to more than 700 males and females. A Diploma in Education has also been offered to almost 200 males and females since 1999/2000.

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Manzoor H. Bhutto

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Teacher Education, Punjab 1. It is a misconception that school-based teaching practice always helps the teacher to improve. In our context the teacher is exposed to the culture of the class and the school and often falls in line. 2. Structural reforms have not succeeded because we have failed to reconceptualize education. 3. One way out of the mess is to identify teacher-education institutions in the country that have potential and help them reform. 4. The teaching cadre is comprises persons who see the profession as the last resort, the service conditions are poor and the budget is meager. 5. We are essentially following a decades-old US curriculum that since then has been comprehensively revised. 6. In the present circumstances, exclusively data-based remedies are no solution because data is comprehensively fudged at all levels including for Ph.D theses. 7. Certain groups enjoy hegemony over the sector and they dictate the theory and practice of education in Pakistan. 8. A teacher who excels in the mother discipline is usually better at it than an M.A or Ph.d in education without a similar mastery over the subject. 9. The philosophy of education curriculum talks of issues of a hundred years ago

Asif Iqbal

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Private Schools Teacher Training Programs: Learning from the experience of two school systems Fatima Zia Dar

*

Introduction Teacher training is an active medium, which makes teachers see teaching in a more professional framework. Clendenin et. al (1995) are of the view that: “Teaching, for instance, becomes something other than a teacherstudent relationship for the transmission of knowledge, and the creation of meaning for students; more than something that can be independently assessed, studied, and improved through skilled training. ” (Pg. 25) Teacher training thus confirms the belief that teaching is a skill, which can be improved, enhanced and updated with practice. In Pakistan teacher training was initially supported by the public sector but now has strong bearings in the private sector. Some of the big school systems of Pakistan have their own teacher training centers. These school systems make their teachers undergo on- -the-job training to make sure that they become aware of the contemporary trends in teacher education. The following two models of teacher training followed in the private sector provide some insight into the more structured programs offered by some of the leading schools in the private sector. Mostly, however, private schools do not focus on teacher training. Some offer short-term training programs.

Lahore Grammar School Lahore Grammar School was established in 1979 in Lahore. Now it has about 21 branches in Karachi, Islamabad, Multan and Faisalabad. Lahore Grammar School system houses about 8500 students all over Pakistan. The school has recently initiated a language teacher education program. This program has been initiated with the aim to make the teachers of English get thorough familiarity with the recent trends in the field of language teacher education. It has been observed that sometimes very qualified teachers fail to deliver the goods in classrooms for the simple reason of being unaware of the pedagogical needs required to teach the subject. This program, therefore, focuses on language pedagogy and deals with language learning techniques and their application in the classrooms. A major portion of the program makes the teachers bridge the gap between *

Lahore Grammar School/SAHE

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theory and practice. Theoretical aspects of language are usually discussed and then applied to see their classroom use. Another aim of this program is to have experience-sharing sessions with teachers. The resource person usually groups the teachers of the same grade level and thus provides a common forum to raise, share and resolve issues. The idea is to create a collegial ambience where teachers feel free to discuss ideas. The teachers usually enter into meaningful and reflective dialogues by sharing issues of common concern. This gives way to new understandings. The programs usually runs in the following manner:



Classroom observation by the trainer

Before the trainer conducts the workshop, she observes a particular grade level to assess the needs and requirements of the students. The classroom observation works as a good backdrop for planning the workshop for the teachers of that grade level.



Meeting with the teachers

The trainer holds regular meetings with the teachers to get feedback about the ability level of students and the particular areas they need training in. Workshops are thus set by keeping in mind the requirements of a particular grade level and the pedagogical needs of the teachers.



Planning and conducting the workshop

After observing classes and meeting the teachers the trainer plans the workshop in the light of the observations and recommendations by the teachers. One important aspect of the planning is to make the teachers apply theory to practice. To achieve this goal teachers are made to apply the theoretical concepts to textbooks to see their application. Moreover, teachers are encouraged to apply the same concepts in classrooms and bring back their experiences of the same in sessions.



Round – up sessions to see the implementation

The trainer after conducting a number of sessions for the teachers sets a timeframe for teachers to come back and share their views on the classroom application of techniques. This becomes more of an experience-sharing session where teachers bring classroom stories to share with the group and highlight tasks that worked out very well in classrooms or did not work out. The session makes sure that the teachers enter into a meaningful dialogue where they mutually work to solve the major problems and also make recommendations for the administration to consider.

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Structure of the workshop

The workshops are offered once a month for a particular grade level. Every workshop focuses on a particular area of language and the application of theoretical principles and concepts are seen through textbook use.

City School City School was established in 1978 in Karachi but now has about 102 branches in the major cities of Pakistan.

Postgraduate Certificate Course City School offers a Postgraduate Certificate Course (PGCC) in teaching for its teachers. This is a compulsory course, which all teachers entering the City School system have to undergo.

Rationale The aim of the said course is to raise general awareness among teachers about the contemporary trends in teacher education. This is a basic course in general pedagogical principles and suits the needs of fresh entrants into the teaching profession. The course is based on the premise that teachers are generally untrained when they enter the profession. They require general awareness about lesson planning, classroom management, teaching techniques or assessment. So, the said course touches these issues and provides a fair understanding of the classroom culture.

Structure of the PGCC The PGCC is affiliated with the Strathclyde University, Glasgow. The PGCC is a 4-week program and covers the following modules: •

Process and planning

•

School improvement

•

Curriculum and assessment

•

Learning and teaching

Each module runs for a week. In the beginning the program was offered by foreign consultants only but from the year 2001 locally trained consultants have started conducting the program. These trainers are senior teachers/administrators of the same school trained by the foreign consultants.

INSET Days Apart from the PGCC the school has inset days twice in a year. This program is need- based and touches upon emerging classroom or subject-based

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issues. Local or in-house consultants run this program.

Implementation of the Training In order to keep track of the teachers’ progress a monthly report about every teacher is sent to the regional office. The report informs the office about the skill with which the teacher teaches, his/her content knowledge and his/her classroom management skills. Thus a performance record of every teacher gives an understanding of his/her professional progress.

Short Term In-Service Teacher Training There are not enough schools in Pakistan who have in-built teacher training programs. Most of the schools have to contact external resource persons or consultants to run teacher-training programs for them.

Structure For these short-term training programs a school contacts external resource persons or any teacher training organization. The resource persons conduct a needs assessment of the school in which they ascertain the school requirements and needs. This needs assessment might include observation of classes, survey of the school facilities, meeting with the teachers and administrators and meeting with the students. These resource persons then develop a program for the school, which is based on the needs highlighted by the teachers, administrators and noticed through observations. Training is conducted on the basis of this program.

Implementation of the Program In such programs implementation of the training is heavily dependent on the follow-up or reflective sessions with the resource persons. Such meetings remain an optional activity in these programs, as it is not often that resource persons are asked to hold reflective sessions with the teachers. Often resource persons do not go back to see the use or implementation of the techniques discussed in the workshops. The weak link between the teacher and the resource person in such programs often leads to poor results. Teachers have no one to go to if they seek some professional advice. There is no one to check the implementation of the training.

Emerging Issues Teacher training programs can play a supportive role for teachers in providing them the much sought after professional guidance. Such programs have indeed made a difference to the quality of teaching. The success of such programs, however, also depends upon the way in which the institution relates with its teachers. Sometimes the programs run into problems because of the following reasons:

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The Clash Between Institutional Demands And Teaching Philosophies It is never easy for teachers to utilize and incorporate the newly learnt techniques in classrooms as the techniques sometimes directly contradict institutional demands. The institutions usually lay more stress on finishing the syllabus and meeting curricular deadlines. On the other hand, for teachers it is always more important to clear concepts, make lessons more interesting and watch the needs and interests of students while planning lessons. For a teacher, for example, a particular concept may require more time than what is allotted in the syllabus. Such occasions usually nurture dissatisfaction among teachers as they have to compromise on quality in order to bear the pressure of syllabus demands and institutional coercion. Kohl (1984) calls this approach “avoiding teaching”. He goes on to say that: “ Another way of avoiding teaching is by relying exclusively on a textbook, workbooks, and other commercially packaged materials. Teaching is reduced to administering a set curriculum without giving any thought to the substance of what students are learning or to their particular needs. ” (pg. 90) In most cases the administrators enforcing such syllabus demands are not practising teachers and thus do not realize the importance of quality education. This makes the job further difficult for the teachers. Lortie (1975) is of the view that: “ Teachers, moreover, are subordinates employed in organizations where those who govern do not belong to the occupation; the workplace of the teacher-the school-is not organized to promote inquiry or to build the intellectual capital of the occupation. ” (pg. 56)

Teachers Are Loath To Change Lortie (1975) goes on to argue that teaching is a “relatively unstated career” (p. 99). He believes that: “There is less opportunity for the movement upward which is the essence of career. ” (p. 84) Teachers usually work with this philosophy and therefore are loath to change. The best of training workshops leave behind little impact because the teachers do not see a bright future for themselves, neither in terms of professional development nor with regard to monetary growth. Therefore, they do not make attempts to change, as change would not guarantee vertical career growth.

Short Term Training Programs Do Not Give Desired Results

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An important factor that fails to bring an impact is the short-term training phenomenon. Since the required guidance that comes from an external source is of short duration, it leaves behind little in terms of practical application. In these cases the resource persons have little knowledge about the school culture and its needs. This often leads to the conducting of a stereotypical training program without reaching at the core issues. Also, the resource persons, in most cases, do not come back to see the application of the training. Thus the teaching ‘recipes’ given are never monitored. Teachers mostly meet a no win - no lose fate, as the resource persons often do not come back to see them professionally growing. •

In-House Subject Specialists Are Rare A major contributing factor in failed teacher training models is the nonavailability of in-house teacher trainers. The presence of full-time trainers brings continuity to the training programs as the trainers are always available to provide support and guidance to the teachers.

•

Institutions Have Insufficient Resources Sometimes the schools do not have the required resources to invest in teacher training programs. Such schools run on low budgets and thus cannot take the money out to get their teachers trained. The result is that teachers continue teaching without any academic or professional support.

•

Institutions Are Unwilling To Invest On The Professional Development Of Teachers In some cases institutions are loath to invest money on the professional growth of teachers considering the high turnover rate in teaching. Lortie (1975) calls teaching an “interim engagement”. It is normally considered that better prospects in life would immediately lead teachers to leave teaching. Some institutions being firm believers in this philosophy do not make efforts to spend money on teachers’ professional growth. For them such an exercise is a wasteful expenditure.

•

Assessment System Discourages The Use Of Innovative Approaches A major hurdle in the use of innovative teaching techniques is the existing assessment procedures in Pakistan. The assessment system stands opposed to the new teaching philosophies. The present assessment criteria favor rote memorization and traditional teacher centered classrooms which clash directly with the student centered approaches and activity based techniques advocated by the training programs. This clash often affects the use of new techniques, as teachers have to prepare students according to the existing assessment system.

Conclusion Teacher training programs in the private sector function to provide

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pedagogical support to teachers. They aim to ensure continuous teacher growth. However, as indicated above, many of the programs are inadequate. The solutions to these problems can be safely sought provided the institutions and teachers work together towards developing an atmosphere of trust and collegiality. In any case, the private sector will have to pay more attention to the issue of teacher training in order to raise the quality of teaching to the requisite levels.

References 1. Clandinin, Jean, Michael Connelly. (1995). Teachers’ professional knowledge landscapes. Teachers College Press. 2. Kohl, Herbert. (1988). Growing minds: on becoming a teacher. Harper Torchbooks. 3. Lortie, Dan. (1975). Schoolteacher-A sociological study. University of Chicago Press.

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A learning paradox: Seeking good teachers and ignoring higher education Abbas Rashid

*

According to a UNESCO document, universities are said to have three main functions in modern societies: 1. To train high-level cadres 2. To train the administrators and teachers needed for the internal functioning of schools systems 3. To transmit knowledge and advance its frontiers. This essay is primarily concerned with the second function of institutions of higher learning suggested above. Unfortunately, after a decade of prioritizing basic education we find no dramatic improvement in enrolment rates. There has been a marginal shift upwards in the enrolment rates of girls in the rural areas but this is more or less off set by the drop in the enrollment rates for boys. It may well be that the sharp increase in the incidence of poverty over the last decade has had something to do with the lack of progress. Other factors may also be significant. But clearly the inability of the education system to deliver has been an important factor as well. It does not do so, not least because it ensures lack of motivation on the part of the teachers and does not really prepare them for the task of teaching. The issue of motivation, an extremely important one, is outside the purview of this essay which seeks to focus on the question of preparedness. This itself has two aspects: a. / content knowledge and b. /methodological knowledge. If the latter is important, the former is crucial. There are any number of pre-service and in-service teacher training programs that seek to enhance teacher capabilities on both counts. However, most of these focus on methodology and even in that context their efficacy is questionable. But the issue of content, by and large, remains un-addressed. Given the state of our colleges and universities to which most of our teachers have had access, the unfortunate fact is that through no fault of their own many are left with a huge education deficit that would require intensive and ambitious teacher education programs to make up. The net result is that we have a large pool of tens of thousands, if not hundreds of thousands, of teachers with what is to all effects and purposes is an education deficit that simply cannot be made up of ill-conceived and even more poorly executed teacher-training programs. But, why is there such an enormous deficit in the first place? It is not just most of the professional teacher education institutions giving pre-service training that have little to offer. It is the poor quality of general education delivered by our institutions of higher learning that is at the heart of the *

Society for the Advancement of Education, (SAHE) Lahore.

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problem. And it is not just the teachers who have a problem of content knowledge. But the fact that they go on to teach others while being disadvantaged themselves has perhaps even more serious and far-reaching implications for the rest of society. So, why is it that our institutions of higher learning leave so much to be desired? There are, of course, many reasons. But, not least of these is the false choice posed between basic or elementary education and higher education. Among others, this line of thinking has been assiduously advanced over the last decade or more by the World Bank and sundry donors. The Bank has lucidly argued for instance that the rates-ofreturns on basic education are greater than those on higher education. It has also been argued that what counts for more in terms of society’s ability to progress and develop is the breadth of education rather than its depth in a given population. In other words it is better to have many more people with the rudiments of education than to have a few people achieving a high standard of education. To a point both assertions are true. But they are also misleading, inasmuch as they suggest that there is a choice here. The fact of the matter is that both are essential. The conceptual clarity, innovation and creativity that must inform the education system as a whole has to come from its universities, research institutes and institutions of excellence. It is in this realm that the conceptualization and configuration even of a system of basic education takes shape. Those who must determine the best methods of teaching children from diverse backgrounds, the pace at which they can learn, the manner in which they can best be evaluated, the ways in which their imagination can be fired and their talents actualized must themselves be able to acquire the kind of education necessary for these critical tasks. Not least, to state the obvious, teachers need to know the subjects that they have studied right up to the graduate or the post-graduate level. That in our case, perhaps, the majority does not is a serious indictment of our system of higher education. It is also a reminder of the virtual impossibility of doing very much about the quality of elementary education being imparted, unless we bring about a radical change at the higher end as well. Universities and research institutes have to serve as a `reference point’ for the rest of the education system. It is argued that higher education in Pakistan is being subsidized to a far greater extent than basic education. That may well be so. However this is not necessarily an argument for not increasing expenditure on higher education. For indeed higher education needs a greater degree of subsidy. It requires more of highly trained faculty, laboratories, research facilities and other expensive inputs. But to argue only in terms of increasing expenditure for higher education is to miss the point in the context of the situation prevailing in Pakistan. The expenditure, so far, has been grossly inadequate, not least in terms of salaries for highly qualified personnel. But the misuse of funds, the substitution of self-serving ideology for merit, non-professional and incompetent management and the induction of institutions of higher learning into a system of patronage have served even more to undermine higher education. Universities have remained important largely in terms of the state’s focus on keeping student activism from spilling out of control. For successive governments the key issue has been whether or not to ban students’ unions or how to use one or the other political faction among the

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students to serve its own ends. Bringing merit and quality back to higher education has not been a priority on the agenda or at least not one that has been seriously pursued. Once again, there is an effort underway to get higher education in Pakistan back on the rails. In the first instance the government seems to be aiming for the reform of universities. This may seem a somewhat elitist or undemocratic approach. But the advantage is that the government may be in the process of tackling something that is doable, if it goes about it the right way. Further, the lines on which education as a whole needs to be reformed in part at least need to be drawn up by a reformed and strengthened core of institutions of higher learning. In the year 2000 UNESCO and the World Bank jointly released a report on higher education called `Peril and Promise: Higher Education in the Developing Countries.’ This report puts many of the key issues in higher education in developing countries such as Pakistan in perspective. It also indicates a move away from the long held position arguing that the rates of return on basic education were greater than that on higher education and, in effect, pushing the former at the expense of the latter to the detriment of both. The report makes the point that `The world economy is changing as knowledge supplants physical capital as the source of present (and future) wealth.’ It adds that only high quality education systems can produce high quality human capital needed for development and progress in today’s world.’ There can be little doubt as to the truth of these observations. But, also beyond doubt is the fact that the system of higher education is in a crisis: `Faculty are often under-qualified and lack motivation, and are poorly rewarded. Students are poorly taught and curricula under-developed.’ Given the environment in Pakistan in which privatization appears as a lifeline for getting out of the quicksand of state incompetence the report makes the important point that `Markets require profit and can crowd out important educational duties and opportunities.’ This should be self-evident. That we have not taken humanities seriously is in part responsible for the crisis of society manifested not least in extremism of the ethnic and sectarian varieties that we are confronted with today. The World Bank may have changed its tune on some of these key issues after long years, partly as a result of prodding by UNESCO, but the centrality of higher education needs to be reiterated and put in context for policy planners and other stakeholders in Pakistan to reorient their approach to education. Of course, if the World Bank has its own agenda that seeks to bring in blanket privatization under the guise of higher education reform as widely apprehended, that is something for us to watch out for. Not because there is something wrong intrinsically with the private sector. But, because the public sector too has a critical role to play. And reforming public sector institutions should not always mean having to privatize them. Also, societies with scare resources must pool these at various levels for optimal use. In this context the report importantly suggests the creating of `learning commons’ where facilities such as computers, libraries and labouratries are open to all students. Such commons should at least serve

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those located in a particular area. Clearly, in Pakistan, some form of a clusterbased approach needs to be followed. This is necessary not only in terms of making the above-mentioned resources available to larger numbers but also in maximizing the use of a key and increasingly scarce resource: good faculty at any level. In the foreseeable future with the best will and determination only a few institutions can be turned into well-staffed centers of excellence. It is important to put in place mechanisms that allow for a ripple effect to benefit the cluster or the larger community. In terms of expanding higher education some developing countries have done better than others, according to the report. China, India, Philippines, Indonesia and Russia now have systems of higher education that serve about 2 million students. Another seven developing countries—Argentina, Brazil, Egypt, Iran, Mexico, Thailand and Ukraine—cater to between 1 and 2 million students. In the process some institutions have turned into `megauniversities.’ As, for example, the National university of Mexico and the University of Buenos Aires in Argentina, each with a body of more than 200,000 students. Expansion, therefore, in some instances has meant compromising quality. However, the competing claims of quality and spread will always have to be carefully reconciled and each country will have to find innovative ways of expanding this pool of highly educated and skilled individuals and developing its human resource base to its fullest potential. The private sector certainly has a role in this expansion. But it has to be defined. As the report concedes, on its own, the private sector driven by considerations of profit can exclude crucial areas of academia, social strata as well as (remote and economically depressed) geographical locations. It may be noted that in Japan and some West European countries such as Belgium and the Netherlands there is a high proportion of enrollments in educational institutions but higher education continues to be almost entirely financed by the state which subsidizes both public and private higher education institutions. For Pakistan this may be something to look at more closely, keeping budgetary constraints in view and perhaps developing a policy of subsidizing only those institutions in either sector that demonstrate quality and potential. Private sector education in Pakistan has come into its own over the last decade. At the level of higher education quality institutions can be encouraged through subsidies to expand both in terms of academic subjects offered as well as in terms of inducting a broader spectrum of social strata through scholarship schemes. Similarly, all government institutions of higher education would not be automatically cleared for subsidy. This must be linked to performance. To argue that badly performing public sector institutions are providing education to the poor and therefore should carry on, regardless makes little sense. In many cases, they are offering no education to anyone. The poor in fact may be charged little by way of fees but they are being given nothing in return. It is, even for them, a bad bargain. Universities, after being given the requisite autonomy as well as the needed resources should be assessed for performance by an independent and credible body in accordance with clearly spelled out and universally applicable performance criteria, year by year and department by department.

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But, starting with the appointment of the chancellor and the Vice-chancellor the system should not be set up for failure from the word `go.’ A report by the Boston Group (comprising mainly of Pakistanis abroad with an interest in higher education) in the year 2001, `Higher Education in Pakistan: Towards a Reform Agenda’ relies in considerable measure on `Peril and Promise’ and makes a useful contribution by focusing on the situation in Pakistan, though some of its recommendations may be contested. In terms of the key area of institutional reform, it makes two crucial points: that higher education must be understood as a system and a critical set of reforms must all be implemented simultaneously. Second, the strategic center of the reform process must be the university, not government ministries, the UGC or other policy-making institutions. Both these essential po ints have been consistently missed by successive governments that have from time to time undertaken half-baked reform efforts of little or no consequence. Equally important, the reform process will have to be centered in the universities rather than in ministries or government offices where academic leadership so crucial to the success of the effort is supplanted by bureaucratic management and mechanical implementation that inevitably consigns it to failure. This, of course, raises the issue of the distortion brought about in the universities as in other institutions of the country through years of employing these institutions as part of the elaborate system of patronage where merit has been the exception rather than the rule. How are universities to be capacitated to play the role that they must for ensuring the success of any reform effort? In terms of broad guidelines for reform the report makes, among others, the following recommendations: De-link the administration of public universities from the government and, within the universities, separate policy from management; the Vice chancellor to manage University affairs and to be appointed by and answerable to the Syndicate; appointment of senior administrative staff including Deans and Department Chairs to be made by the VC; faculty hiring to be based on departmental selection committees; tenure system for faculty appointments; faculty appointments be based on performance in research and teaching and should be the responsibility of senior faculty; the criteria for faculty promotions and salaries should include performance in research, money generated for the university through research projects and the faculty’s `market value.’ The report also advocates the establishment of a Higher Education Support Commission (HESC) as an independent statutory body. Its goal would be `mobilizing financial, technical and human resources’ for enhancing the quality of educational institutions. It would perform functions currently under the jurisdiction of the UGC but also additional ones such as coming up with a transparent mechanism for the selection and appointment of the VCs. Its own membership therefore would have to be impeccable and come from the whole range of stakeholders including government, educationists, the private sector, researchers, NGOs journalists, etc.

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Some key issues are being tackled here. There is no doubt that public institutions of higher learning have to be de-linked from the government. Bureaucratic control and political patronage in public institutions have undermined merit and proved disastrous. Such de-linking need not and should not be a route to privatization. In fact, if the public sector is to be strengthened this may be the only option. Otherwise, an eventual collapse of public sector institutions will surely open the way for their privatization. Clearly a different regime of governance is required. The report favours complete autonomy for the university with the VC effectively providing leadership and ensuring quality. The overseeing body is the syndicate which should be the body responsible for policy-making rather than management. The VC should not chair the syndicate. For he is responsible for implementing policy framed by the syndicate. The report highlights some major problems in the administrative structure of the university, as presently constituted. The Chancellor appoints the Vicechancellor after a minimal consultative process. Merit is seldom a consideration. Additionally, the chancellor is supposed to hold the VC accountable but seldom has the time or the inclination or the expertise to do so unless the students pose a law and order problem. Also, in theory the VC is answerable to the syndicate but in practice effectively chairs the body. Another key problem has to do with the role of the Registrar. The Registrar is `directly involved and is often the principal decision-maker in the hiring of the faculty.’ However, the Registrar has no academic experience for this role and is not held accountable for the faculty’s performance. Similarly, the report points out, Deans and Department Chairs are appointed by the Chancellor but if it is the VC who is to be held accountable for the performance of the university then these appointments too should be his responsibility. The Boston Group report is very clear on the role, responsibilities and composition of the syndicate: The governing body of a public university should be the Board of Trustees or Syndicate. It should hold the university management, particularly the Vice Chancellor, responsible for performance in implementing the policies and achieving the goals of the university but it should play only a minimal role in the academic affairs of the university. The Syndicate should elect its Chairman as well as the VC of the University. The VC and the Chairman should never be the same individual. The VC should be a respected member of the academic community and be accountable to the Syndicate `in the same way that a Chief Executive Officer (CEO) is accountable to the Board of Directors of a corporation.’ Recruitment of faculty should be the job of senior faculty and the respective heads of departments who should constitute search committees for the purpose. The job of the administration in this context should only be to facilitate. The head of the department should be held accountable for the performance of the faculty in his department. The report suggest that if these and many of the related reform proposed are resisted by the ministry of education, where many would appear to prefer things as they are, then the government should seriously consider closing it down and `spin off its functions into autonomous and self-governing arrangements.’

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The report also advocates that universities should let their examination departments become autonomous institutions with independent Boards of Governors (BoGs) having representation from all end-user groups (government, private sector, media) loosely affiliated to the university. This is presumably meant to encourage higher standards, relevance of subject matter taught and more objective assessment. To encourage the universities that do well the report recommends that a set of performance-based funds should be available to UGC or a similar body for use as incentive for achievement Also a transparent and regular system of ranking of institutions of higher education should be developed by the HESC. It also emphasizes that faculty salaries must be raised to acquire the best talent and the best people attracted from within Pakistan because it is unrealistic to hope for a large–scale return of Pakistani academics abroad to teach in Pakistani universities. However, it needs to be pointed out here that there is a need to create space and an enabling mechanism for specialists in various fields to return to Pakistan for short durations in order to interact and collaborate with local faculty that has shown itself to be outstanding. In terms of ensuring unbiased assessment of performance or merit at any level `Peril and promise’ suggests that visiting committees comprising recognized national or international experts could be an important instrument for monitoring institutional performance. Independent reviews by such committees provide objective assessment of the achievement of the faculty or academic program in relation to an appropriate regional, national or international standard. It may be useful for the public sector to subsidize these visitations for private sector institutions as well so as to encourage high standards all round. The Task Force on Improvement of Education in Pakistan has taken many of the ideas that the UNESCO/ World Bank report on higher education as well as the Boston group report has propounded for improving the quality of higher education. Along with the Study Group on Science and Technology it submitted its recommendations to the president in January 2002. The Steering Committee on Higher education was then given the responsibility of developing a practical implementation plan. A Higher Education Commission is now responsible for implementation, led by its first chairman Dr. Atta-urRehman with the rank of a federal minister. Along the way some crucial changes were made such as an appointed rather than elected BoG. The recommendations keep the focus on the universities. However, some of the recommendations are problematic. University autonomy is clearly a goal that a broad spectrum of those concerned agree on. But, how is this autonomy to be ensured? The Task Force recommends that the university be governed by a Board of Governors. But, how does the Board come into being? Answer: by appointment. Who appoints the Board? Answer: the Governor as the Chancellor of the University. For one thing there is no particularly good reason why the governor of the province should be the chancellor. Someone known for his academic and

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creative accomplishments should hold that position. In any case, the position should be a largely ceremonial one. Further, what is the composition of the Board? Initially, out of the 15 members, 5 were from society at large, 2 from government and one alumni. The remaining members from the academic community can also include college principals. In the end only two professors are to be necessarily from the university itself. In the debate on the proposed reforms this low representation of university faculty has been strongly objected to on the grounds that it leaves the university `community’ inadequately represented on the Board. This is a valid point and the representation needs to be increased. The number, in fact, has been increased after the agitation that greeted the announcement about the Model University Ordinance but it remains inadequate. There is, of course, the other crucial issue of whether, in the case of many of the universities, the elected fora as presently constituted are in a position to encourage or spearhead reform. There have also been widespread protests against the Model Universities Ordinance and the proposed reforms not least because the exercise is not seen as credible and regarded as a halfway measure towards privatization. These issues will have to be addressed before genuine progress towards reform can be made. Some steps to allay fears among the faculty have already been taken. Existing faculty, for instance, can stay on, retaining the original terms of their contracts while incoming faculty will be more strictly chosen according to merit and will be hired under contract to be confirmed in their position only when they have clearly shown themselves equal to the task. In part, the protest may also be seen as resistance to necessary change and a denial, in effect, of what is a virtual collapse of the education system. The protest against reforms also gained momentum because a number of issues converged. The agitation leading up to the promulgation of the Federal Universities Ordinance, 2002 in December received a wide backing from those unhappy with autonomy to colleges and appointment of Board of Governors, in Punjab for instance, under the amended Punjab Government Educational and Training Institutions Ordinance 1960. Doctors in hospitals already functioning under BoGs joined in and the movement was further supplemented by those resisting denationalization of schools and colleges. Not least, support came from students who feared privatization and a sharp rise in fees. The student wing of at least one political party was particularly prominent in organizing the activity. On the other hand, the reform effort remains seriously flawed, particularly in the manner of its implementation. The Punjab governor, for instance, was quoted in the press as saying that there was no need, as part of this effort, to change the present Vice Chancellors from the army as they were doing a good job while the head of the Higher Education Commission declared that the deputy chairman in the universities would be an academician and would be selected on the recommendations of a search committee. Clearly, then, someone not even remotely connected with academics would have the primary responsibility for governance and leadership of a university. Similarly, many of the BoGs constituted for colleges given autonomy under the 1960 Ordinance do not provide cause for confidence.

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The Task Force’s report also takes up the proposal of a `broad-based general education system’ contained in the earlier reports. There is a strong argument to be made in favour of a broad-based general education particularly for a society such as ours. As a result of the lack of such education our younger generation is hampered from acquiring a balanced perspective, a sense of our own identity, the internalization of the values of tolerance and plurality and the skills of critical thinking and analysis. In terms of implementation, however, we are likely to see a promotion of Information Technology and Science at the expense of Humanities. To recapitulate, basic education is an absolute priority but this does not mean that higher education can be ignored or put on the back burner. In terms of both basic education as well as higher education a balance has to be achieved between coverage and quality. In terms of resource allocation the choice should be inter-sectoral rather than intra-sectoral i.e., not one end of education at the expense of the other but rather education as a whole instead of let us say a huge defense budget or an inordinately expensive Motorway. Second, the public sector has an important role to play as does the private sector. The latter should indeed be encouraged to develop but not at the expense of the former. Further, the public sector must be strengthened through the greatest possible autonomy from bureaucratic control. This is not and nor should it be allowed to become a synonym for privatization. Even with heavy subsidies fees will have to be raised but extensive resources must be committed to financing poor students who demonstrate merit. Existing faculty must be allowed to work and demonstrate their merit in the new system. Or generously compensated if they choose to opt out. The heads of departments must, in any case, be individuals having outstanding academic credentials and be paid salaries commensurate with achievement. In the first phases key institutions should be selected for accelerated strengthening and improvement. Equally, the trend of encouraging dozens of resource-poor universities should be reversed. What is needed is an `Education Emergency’ with education treated in a holistic manner and the various related issues addressed with the seriousness and credibility that is required.

Sources: `Higher Education in Pakistan: Towards a reform agenda’, The Boston Group, (2001) The Task Force on Improvement of Higher education, (2002) `Higher Education in developing Countries: Peril and Promise,’ World BankUNESCO (2000) Francoise Caillods, ed., `The Prospects for Educational Planning,’ UNESCO: IIEP (1989)

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Annexure List of Participants: Seminar on ‘Perspectives on Teacher Education’, 2001 No. Name 1 Abdul Jahan .

Organization PDCN, Gilgit (IED, Aga Khan University)

2 Abdul Shakoor .

SAHE, Sialkot

3 Afia Aslam .

Development in Literacy (DIL), Islamabad

4 Ahmad Raza .

SAHE, Lahore

5 Aisha Shafqat .

Beaconhouse School System, Lahore

6 Akhlaq Ahmad .

Pakistan Private School Owners Associati, Lahore

7 Abbas Rashid .

SAHE, Lahore

8 Amir Saroop .

St. Peter’s School, Lahore

9 Anthony Jalal .

St. Patrick’s College of Elementary Education, Karachi

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1 Asim Maqsood 0 .

St. Peter’s School, Lahore

1 Aslam Masih Gill 1 .

St. Peter’s School, Lahore

1 Asma Wasi 2 .

SAHE, Lahore

1 Baela Jamil 3 .

Idara Taleem-o-Aaghahi, Lahore

1 Beena Manzar 4 .

Idara Taleem-o-Aaghahi, Lahore

1 Fareeha Zafar 5 .

SAHE, Lahore

1 Farhana Qayum Sher 6 .

Sanjan Nagar Public Education Trust, Lahore

1 Farooq Akbar 7 .

Education Department, Balochistan

1 Farooq Kunwar 8 .

The Educators – A Project of Beaconhouse School System

1 Farrukh Pracha 9 .

Khaldunia High School, Islamabad

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2 Fatima Dar 0 .

SAHE, Lahore

2 Fawad Shams 1 .

SAHE, Lahore

2 Fouzia Dur Muhammad 2 .

SCSPEB (Society), Quetta

2 Fouzia Ramzan 3 .

Idara Taleem-o-Aaghahi, Lahore

2 Habib Khan 4 .

Education Department, NWFP

2 Hasnain Abbas Mirza 5 .

Pakistan Private Schools Owners Association, Lahore

2 Humaira Malik 6 .

Beaconhouse School System, Lahore

2 Jamil Najam 7 .

CPP Education Department, Government of Punjab

2 Khalid Khalil 8 .

SAHE, Sialkot

2 Kishwar Hameed 9 .

Beaconhouse School System, Lahore

3 Lila Ram 0 .

Teachers’ Resource Centre, Karachi

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3 Mahira Rana 1 .

AIE, Lahore

3 Manzoor Hussain Bhutto 2 .

Education Department, Sind

3 Mashallah 3 .

SAHE, Lahore

3 Masood Sadiq 4 .

SAHE, Lahore

3 Mehnaz Akber Aziz 5 .

The Asia Foundation, Islamabad

3 Mirza Hamid Baig 6 .

Govt. Islamia College, Lahore

3 Mirza Kashif Ali 7 .

Quami Taleemi Ittehad Pakistan, Lahore

3 Mubashir Shah 8 .

National Educational Front, Lahore

3 Muhammad Aslam 9 .

The Educators – A Project of Beaconhouse School System

4 Muhammad Mustafa 0 .

SAHE, Arifwala

4 Nadeem Shabbir 1 .

SAHE, Lahore

4 Najiba Ali 2 .

SAHE, Lahore

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4 Rab Nawaz 3 .

SAHE, Lahore

4 Riaz Hussain 4 .

SAHE, Arifwala

4 Sadiq Chaudhry 5 .

SAHE

4 Safida Ayub 6 .

PDCN, Gilgit (IED, Aga Khan University)

4 Saleem Baig 7 .

SAHE, Lahore

4 Samina Rahman 8 .

Lahore Grammar School

4 Sarah Rafiq 9 .

Caritas, Lahore

5 Shabana Bhatti 0 .

SAHE, Lahore

5 Shahid Ghani 1 .

Idara Taleem-o-Aaghahi, Lahore

5 Shahida Khattak 2 .

PEP-ILE, NWFP

5 Shahida Tanvir 3 .

SAHE, Lahore

5 Shaista Nasim Khan 4 .

Teachers’ Resource Centre, Karachi

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5 Sobia Anwar 5 .

SAHE, Arifwala

5 Tahira Ramzan 6 .

Aitchison College, Lahore

5 Tanvir Syed 7 .

AIE, Lahore

5 Tayyaba Hassan 8 .

SAHE, Arifwala

5 Uzma Fareed 9 .

SAHE, Lahore

6 Zafar Abbas 0 .

SAHE, Lahore

6 Zafar-ul-Mohsin Pirzada 1 .

E.D.O. (Education), Pakpattan

6 Zulqadar Rashid 2 .

Aitchison College, Lahore

The Society for the Advancement of Education (SAHE) was set up in 1982 by a group of concerned citizens and academics to respond to the deteriorating standards of education. SAHE is one of the first NGOs to focus on the cause of accessible quality education for the disadvantaged in Pakistan. Education is the key for realizing Pakistan’s abundant human resource potential. For nearly two decades SAHE has sought to develop and propagate innovative methods that facilitate access to education for the greatest number while ensuring minimum standards. It has been part of the effort many people are making throughout Pakistan to involve the citizen and the community in the struggle for better education. In the course of its work SAHE also undertakes research and consultative services for government and international agencies. SAHE’s Education Watch Report 2002 ‘Learning to Teach’ focuses attention on the relationship between teacher education programs and the quality of education. The first paper examines the status of existing programs offered by government, NGOs and private sector institutions; the second article provides insight into the AKUIED’s successful programs; the third piece is a case study of the whole school improvement approach to teacher education; and the fourth presents the successes and challenges in training community based teachers and government teachers by SAHE. Brief excerpts are included on provincial education experiences. These are followed by a study of the teacher training programs of two private school systems. The final piece highlights the link between general education and the quality of teaching.

Society for the Advancement of Education 65-C, Garden Block, New Gardern Town, Lahore Tel: (042)-5868115-116 Fax: (042)-5839816