[Kerala
University English Teacher Educator’s Forum ( KUETEF)]
Changes to the curriculum are occurring at all levels…English is
… not the only subject affected … it may assume a high degree of importance
with governments and indeed parents perceiving, rightly or wrongly, that a
mastery of the English language is an indispensable tool for technological
development, international communication and access to a career.
-Chris Kennedy
On 13
February 2013, I attended the
first meeting of subject experts for finalizing
the format of the New BEd. Curriculum for 2013. English Teacher Educators present during the
meeting included the Vice President of
KUETEF, Fr. Joseph John and member of
Board of Studies, Mr. Varghese from Mount Tabor Training College. Teacher
Educators representing different subjects were also present. The following
Handout- Suggestions for BEd. English Curricular Reform was distributed to the members present. The
meeting was chaired by Dr.
G.R.Santhoshkumar, Chairman, Board of Studies in Education (Pass), University
of Kerala.
Impressions & Suggestions submitted for consideration
during the Combined Meeting of the
Advisory Committee, the Core Committee and the Board of Studies in Education
(UG) for discussion of framework of
the proposed revision of the BEd. Curriculum held at the Department of Education, University of
Kerala, Thycaud, Thiruvananthapuram on 13 February 2013
-Dr.
C. Praveen, BEd. faculty, Govt. College of Teacher Education,
Thiruvananthapuram,
Member Core Committee (English) & Secretary, Kerala University English Teacher Educator’s Forum (KUETEF)
*
Any proposed revision of the BEd. English Curriculum ought to focus on the following six areas:
1. Develop in trainees a proper
understanding, knowledge and awareness of the English
language.
2. Familiarize trainees with the background to learning and teaching
English.
3. Sensitize trainees with the Resources and
Materials available for teaching and
learning English.
4. Develop an awareness of ways of teaching/
managing the classroom.
5. Develop an awareness of ways of
evaluating, monitoring and assessing student learning.
6. Sensitize trainees with the ways of
developing professionally.
*It
is requested that in the proposed revision,
the areas listed A to D may
please be addressed:
A.
Different Stages
1. Entry stage:
* What is the background of the student
who joins the BEd course in English?
(After BA English Literature, or
BA Communicative English or MA in English)
* What is the
level of competence in English of
the new entrant ?
* If the
student who registers for the BEd. English course lacks the essential competency, what can be
done to help the trainee during the
one-year course to achieve the
essential competency?
2. The training
period- During the course:
* How many
Methods should be mastered by the trainee? Kindly note that during
Practice Teaching,
only Constructivist practices which has assumed a
Methodology status is now being followed!
* How can the trainee improve ones own proficiency in English during the Course?
3. Exit
Stage:
* Though the
trainee is expected to be
qualified to teach at the Secondary level, in reality most students
who find a job in other States or
Countries may be asked to teach at any of the following levels/ Courses:
-Primary, Secondary, Higher Secondary
levels following Kerala Syllabus, CBSE syllabus, ICSE
syllabus, International Baccalaureate, ‘O Level’ or ‘A Level’.
-Under Graduate , Post Graduate level.
-Spoken English Course, Communicative English
Course, IELTS, TOEFL, Business English, EAP or ESP
-They may even find a job as an Online teacher, teacher of the
Correspondence/ Distance mode of teaching.
-Some even become editor of articles, or
become free lance journalists.
The question
is, whether the trainee at the end of
the BEd. Course acquires the necessary
skill/s for any or most of these !
B.
Teacher as Materials Producer
As per current trends, no teacher is expected to be dependent on
Course Books prescribed for helping
the learner acquire competency. Hence the
trainee who completes the BEd English Course
should be thorough with :
1. Different types of English Course Books- State syllabus, CBSE, ICSE,
O-Level, A-Level
2. Commercially available resources including Print, Audio, Video and Digital
resources
3. Online resources
4. Authentic materials including Print,
Audio, Visual & Audio-visual and be familiar with ways of adapting
them for language acquisition.
The question is,
how this can be meaningfully introduced
as Course Work.
C. Ability to use technological resources- When to use what and how.
D. Familiarity with different assessment
techniques -
Including the ability to rate and
identify
Superior, Good &
Average ability of pupils in LSRW and Communication skills.
Some topics
not included in the present syllabus
-Linguistics
-Portfolios
-Mastery of pronunciation
-How to conduct Bridge Courses
-How
to teach English for employability
-Task-based
Language Learning
-
Sheltered Instructional strategy
-How
to offer Inclusive Education in the English classroom
-Findings of recent research on Neuro Linguistic
Programming
-Familiarizing
with Course Books/English Syllabuses written following different Methods
(SOS,
Direct, Bilingual, Communicative Approach etc.)
-Familiarizing
with Course Books written specifically to improve thinking skills
(Critical, Creative and Problem Solving)
-Ways
of developing Multiple Intelligence
in the English classroom
-Ways
of introducing Inter-disciplinary study
in the English classroom
-Difference
in teaching General English/ Special English syllabus
-Acquisition of skills related to teaching through Micro Teaching
-Formation
of Informal groups of novice teachers through networking
-Ways
of using Web technologies such as Blogs, Podcasts, Social networks, Google
Docs, eBooks,
virtual field trips etc.
Some problems teacher educators and trainees experience
during the course:
* The difficulty of familiarizing trainees within a short
duration, essential knowledge about teaching and
learning prior to the first spell of Practice Teaching.
* No proper instruction is given as to how
and when a Diagnostic Test is to be conducted. And, if
Remedial Teaching is to
follow the likelihood of the same
clashing with the limited periods allotted per
day for each trainee in
the school during Practice Teaching.
* Save
the Direct Instruction Model, Advance Organizer Model, Concept
Attainment Model and
Synectics Model, the other Models prescribed for study are difficult to employ in the
English classroom.
* Many trainees tend to mix Behaviourist and
Constructivist practices during Practice Teaching.
Supervising teachers in
different schools object to this. Even the three column Lesson Plans
submitted by trainees is unacceptable to the Supervising teachers.
* The questions asked in the Annual Examination often appear to be
lifted from Guides.
* On several occasions Key and Marking Scheme
is not submitted by Question
Paper Setters.
* Sometimes
QP setters even show an unfamiliarity with the new English Curriculum followed in Kerala.
* The availability of Solved Question Papers
in the market and the guarantee of passing the BEd.
Degree Examination with flying colours
by simply by-hearting the answers in
Guides.
* Examiners of the Practical Board are
not properly oriented as to how exactly they should assess
a trainee in thirty to forty-five
minutes.
* The wide variation in competence of trainees
in different colleges who
are being awarded a
distinction by the Internal Examiner.
* The unusually large number of Practicums
each trainee has to write.
* The sheer inability to produce a
really Innovative work as Practicum.
* The tendency to cut and paste
materials downloaded from the Internet in the assignments
submitted by trainees.
* The dependence on local
agents even for preparation of PowerPoint learning materials as Course
Work.
Some Proposals for consideration:
* The topics listed as missing may be included in the Revised Curriculum 2013.
* Instead of trainees writing a critique of three Video Lessons, they could
be put in groups and be
directed to plan and engage lessons for video recording
following different Methods of teaching English-
(Direct Method, SOS Approach,
Total Physical Response etc.). This can be submitted as Group
Practical Work
for assessment.
* Instead of submitting four Practicums, a single
Action Research and a Project
work aimed at
creative material production may be given.
* Each trainee should compulsorily conduct a
Case Study (collecting data related to family
background, academic performance
etc. of a pupil) duly attested by the Head of the school the trainee
attends
for Practice Teaching.
* Practice in teaching a different stream (CBSE,ICSE) for one or two periods in
a different school
may be introduced.
* Each class should divide the entire BEd. syllabus among themselves.
Then each trainee should prepare
on a single A4 size sheet the following for the
topic assigned to him/her:
1. A three sentence summary of the topic.
2. A quotation related to the topic from a
standard Reference Book.
3.A list of the questions related to the
topic from the previous years’ University Question Papers.
4. The trainees should during a seminar to be conducted each
day, explain the topics to peers in
a
Seminar mode.
5. Each trainee collects
the copies of the A4 sheets prepared by
the class and submits it as a
Seminar Record which is assessed.
* The newly recruited Teacher Educators
should be properly oriented to the following:
- The
changing goals of ELT
- The best way to teach English by matching learner needs using currently
available material
- Ways of helping learners master knowledge
of English Grammar
- The how and what of Second Language acquisition and FLL
- Familiarize with the ways of using the Language Lab, Computer
Lab, Multimedia Lab and Web resources
for English language teaching and learning
- Individualization of instruction and ways of
handling heterogeneous groups in
the
Distance mode and in Blended
Learning.
- Ways of developing the skills of LSRW and Communication
- Strategies and techniques for assessment of
student learning.
* Exit Remarks:
Only an ELT specialist can properly guide/
train a MEd. student to master the six areas mentioned in
the beginning. The
current practice in many Post Graduate Departments of
directing the students to study
on their own their Optional Paper: English Language Education has resulted in producing
incompetent Teacher Educators in English!
You can design and create, and build the most wonderful place in
the world. But it takes people to make the dream a reality
-
Walt Disney
Note: Many other aspects related to the impressions/
suggestions mentioned above is available
for
reference in the Blog of the Kerala University English Teacher Educators
Forum (KUETEF)
Please view http://kuetef.blogspot.com/
Prof. Sivadasan, former Dean, Dept.
of Education, University of Kerala and a
member
of the Advisory Committee, Revison of Curriculum 2013, and the person who spearheaded
the previous
revision of the BEd. Curriculum, on
receiving a copy of the Handout was
quick
to appreciate the effort undertaken.
Dear
Readers, please feel free to post your
comments, criticism
and suggestions…
Dr. C. Praveen
Secretary,
KUETEF
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