Pre-Service Teacher Education: Concept, Nature, Objectives, and Scope

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Pre-service teacher education refers to an educational program that prepares and trains freshers for the professional field of teaching. It helps in crucial learning and enables future teachers to develop a holistic learning environment for learners. It offers knowledge, attitude, and skills so that the teachers can conduct classes effectively.

“If a child can’t learn the way we teach, we should teach the way they learn.”

Ignacio Estrada

Concept of Pre-Service Education

India now follows a general ten-years school system which is divided into three stages; preschool education, elementary education, and secondary education. Pre-service teacher education prepares fresher teachers for the teaching profession. The program helps in crucial learning and it is best suited for individuals who want to further their professional careers in the education and academic field.

Nature of pre-service teacher education

Pre-service teacher education refers to the education of teachers before they enter into service as professional teachers. Pre-service teacher education facilitates learning among teachers or individuals who want to enter into the professional field of teaching. It is the specialized application of skills, knowledge, and attributes that are designed to offer unique services to meet the educational needs of society and of the individual too.

Objectives of Pre-Service Teacher Education

The main objectives of pre-service teacher education are as follows:

1. To promote teachers as agents of the modern world in the educational industry.
2. To make teachers sensitive toward the protection of human rights.
3. To enable teachers to develop managerial and organizational skills.
4. To enable teachers to become committed and competent full-time teachers.
5. To enable teachers to develop all the necessary skills required to be efficient teacher.
6. To develop critical awareness about the social realities among teachers.
7. To encourage teachers to develop rational thinking.

Scope of Pre-Service Teacher Education

The scope of pre-service teacher education is as follows:

1. All pre-service teacher education programs should meet the norms and standards developed by NCTE for quality checks.
2. Pre-service teacher education should not only take place through face-to-face institutional courses for a minimum duration of one academic year.
3. The point mentioned above leads to the abolition of the private system of teacher education across various Universities.
4. It is believed that B.Ed through correspondence is not suitable to prepare a teacher professionally and effectively.
5. Reorientation of the teacher training program has become necessary following the introduction of ML-based teaching-learning process in the school specifically at the elementary level for the formulation of teacher education.

Teacher education can be regarded as a continuous process and it is broad and comprehensive. According to the International Encyclopedia of teaching and teacher education (1987), the pre-service and in-service components of teacher education are complementary to each other.