Paradigm Shift in Teacher Education: Role Played By Ncte

Abstract

The world has become a global village and in this age of globalization no county can live in isolation without seeking impact of global trends in national development. This age of globalization also has great impact on education. Teacher education is the brain of all educational disciplines as it delivers education to train the prospective teachers. With the advent of globalization, there is a global paradigm shift in teacher education. The main purpose of this study was to explore the role played by NCTE in bringing paradigm shift in teacher education. The quality of teacher education not only depends on professionally sound and relevant curriculum, but also on the way the curriculum is implemented in Teacher Education Institutions. This, in turn, depends on the proficiency of the faculty and its quality and the infrastructural and instructional facilities provided in the Institutions. The NCTE Act confers upon the Council to make every effort for improving the quality of teacher preparation in the country and also to ensure planned and coordinated development of teacher education. Constructivism is relatively a new paradigm which exerts major theoretical influence on the present Education system. Hence, there should be revitalization of whole Teacher Education programme, which must give real thrust on constructivism. Gradually, thereafter NCTE has adopted some strategies of constructivism in teacher education programmes to ensure quality in teacher education. The main paradigm changes in teacher education for which NCTE has really taken several initiatives are: increase in duration of teacher education programmes, standard based curriculum, balance in theory and practice, shift from teacher to student centered delivery system, quality assurance and shift in assessment procedures. This paper is an attempt to make a systematic analysis of the recent steps of NCTE in professional preparation of teachers and its effectiveness towards a paradigm shift in Teacher Education in our country.