Special Fields, School Based Practicum, And Internship In Teacher Education

Back to: Teacher Education: Pre-Service & In-Service

“Teacher is the most important element in any educational program,”

The establishment of quality education is determined by the determination of a teacher. The teachers are required to acquire adequate knowledge, skills, interest, and the right attitude towards the teaching profession. Their work has been more complex regarding new theories of psychology, philosophy, sociology, modern media, and materials. Therefore, teacher education is a program that enables the teachers to be well equipped for their profession.

An internship is generally a structured work experience related to the field that you have pursued. An internship helps you to learn by implementing things practically with your mentors. It’s a place where you can achieve your learning goals and have a better understanding of your subject field. It helps you explore your career field while gaining confidence in your abilities along with sharpening your communication and teamwork skills. With this approach, there are various challenges in teacher education that can be met with the implementation of Internship programs in Teacher education.

Special Education

In special education, the special children are taught with the help of their teachers who are prepared in a way to teach effectively to fulfil the learning needs of the special children.
Special educators in pre-teacher education programs are to be trained to perform their duty as a parent as well as parent confidants.
The teacher will identify the kind of learning lackings which can further be referred to in the treatment of the special children.
The teachers are to be practiced to keep a record of overall development, strengths, weaknesses as well as the kind of environment the children enjoy.
The teacher can set the appropriate and realistic goals for the students with the educational needs of the learners.

School-Based Practicum

Concept

After completing the foundation course, some of the teaching practice lessons are practiced in the college only.

School-based practicum has the concept to analyze and implement the knowledge and observation attained by foundation courses into teaching practice with the help of school-based practicum. It is used to become an effective teacher.

Nature

It is systematic in nature because the pre-teacher practicum is organized and managed in an order and structured way.

It has a scientific nature because it takes a special technique to make the interns proficient in teaching education.

Objectives

School-based Practicum in a teacher’s education program has special importance as it shapes interns into effective teachers of tomorrow.
It provides not only experience but a platform to practice effective teaching skills by practice over a period of time.
Education is a noble profession, it plays a major role in shaping our world. Therefore, proper training needs to be provided for the teachers to equip them for an efficient way of teaching.
It is believed that doctors, lawyers, engineers, etc cannot achieve the required level of proficiency in their field without practical training. Similarly, even teachers require such a platform to sharpen their teaching skills.
It can work on the Affective and Psychomotor development of the learners.
In this, the usage of the foundation courses is implemented for teaching practice.
In this, 20 Lesson plans are made per course. 5 Micro Lesson Plans, Simulation Lesson Plan, Mega lessons.

Scope

With the help of teacher-based practicum, the students can get a degree of bachelor’s in education.

Internship in Teacher Education

The teacher education internship is composed of three stages:

Pre-internship

It includes activities like selecting schools for internships, choosing group mates, managing time along with units, and planning future activities.

Internship

it is mostly field experience for trainees like practice teaching and management of school activities.

Post-internship

Activities such as final evaluation and reporting are practiced in this stage.

W.H. Kilpatrick states, “Teacher education encompasses teaching skills, sound pedagogical theory, and professional skills.” 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. Teacher education refers to empowering learning platforms for the teachers for an efficient way of teaching.