Good education is everything today. As the education industries are flourishing, teacher training has become a need of the present situation. Access to technology and tools continues most of today's education system in India. Because of this, the information about any field or topic is on the fingertip of students, parents, and society. But everyone needs a guide, a guru, and a teacher. Education is an ongoing activity, but it needs to be updated, evolved, and trained as the times and technology change. This is where professional teacher training comes into play. Training and professional development of teachers needs to be planned in such a way that it will upskill them to meet the needs of students, schools and the society ultimately.
Teacher training courses and workshops:
Education is a lifelong process, and teaching and learning are inextricably linked, so it is important for teachers and their schools also to invest in teachers' professional development. Teacher training workshops are important for both students and their teachers: If a teacher is upskilled then she can drive their students to prepare for the nation with the right skills who can work efficiently. Regular attending workshops on different topics enhance the knowledge, skill, and confidence in the teachers due to which teachers can engage students meaningfully.
Training in teacher workshops gives them the opportunity to get out of their normal schedule-where they become students rather than teachers. It keeps educators motivated, knowing that they have the professional support they need to be a better teacher. Continuous professional development has proven to be an important part of the teaching and learning process. Teacher workshop training focuses on updating them with the latest research in education.
It's imperative that teachers know how children learn and with the constant changes in the education system, training for teacher workshops is needed to help them learn or create new teaching strategies to encourage learning and ensure the interest of their students in the classrooms. Professional development equips the teaching environment to refine their skills and deliver a result oriented teaching experience to the students. Great teachers help create great students. In fact, research shows students who have well informed teachers tend to perform far better than their peers. Hence, it is important to pay attention to how we can train and support both new and experienced educators. Good training for teacher workshops leads to positive learning environments. A positive environment guarantees good performance for both teachers and students. This in turn leads to happy children who want to go to school.
Learning, unlearning and relearning are the only ways to become a good and successful teacher. Therefore, training in teacher workshops is a must. Teachers find it difficult to try practical teaching methods in a real classroom environment and also students may not be able to properly understand the concept and perform as desired if proper training/workshops for the teacher's is not organized as per their needs. Different new approaches may result in a better learning experience than what teachers are currently using. Such different approaches can be received by a teacher through regular professional development workshops or courses. These workshops help teachers in making themselves comfortable with new concepts, building confidence in them and gradually in achieving the learning objectives of the class and providing effective learning to their students too.
Regular professional development:
Professional teacher development can be defined as an activity that strengthens and empowers the knowledge, skills, and expertise of a teacher. Teacher training is itself an entire process that includes learning, upskilling, professional growth and training as a teacher. It provides teachers with the right training to meet the growing needs of students and parents both inside and outside the classroom.
As a teacher, you need to be aware of the progress of the industry and get used to them. These changes are not limited to the board, syllabus, or industry, but also create space for teachers to evolve and show their true potential. Teacher education programs not only provide a great deal of knowledge, but also build confidence in managing classrooms and exploring new teaching methods.
Training teachers is not just about teaching and training yourself as an expert. The results of teacher training are not limited to grades and classrooms. It reflects the growth and development of each student. Today, major schools in India encourage the development of professional teachers and enroll in teacher training programs for teachers within their organizations.
Self-Paced Courses:
Since everything is becoming offline, the work of teachers has increased which is not easy for them. Thus a teacher takes a series of training courses to deal with the emotional well-being of their children, manage their management and interact with their parents at all times. It's harder than ever for teachers to spend six hours a day physically completing a professional development course and physically attending a training session on a busy schedule. This is where the self-study course comes in handy. Thus another way for teachers to get upskilled and professionally developed is the self-paced courses.
In simple words a self-paced program is designed to allow participants to study at their own time and schedule. Self-paced programs have become more popular these days as learning has moved from traditional models to internet-based learning. Self-study learning has several advantages that can improve teacher performance.
Online professional development:
Linh Le Countryman, a member of the Teachers' Advisory Board (TAC) at the Malcolm Price Institute and co-chair of the National Academy Planning Committee at Iowa, said:, Online professional development, when it is done well, has the opportunity to change teachers’ practice and is the most important factor influencing student performance," Rose agreed to this and said, "Experience is the encapsulation of practice; From a wide range of people’s data it is clear that that improvement in teacher practice is the most important thing that can improve children's lives." Benefits of Online professional development are listed below:
- Flexibility and versatility: anytime anywhere as per participants’ choice
- Possibility to build communities between teachers and groups: meeting different people of similar communities on the online platform
- With new reporting methods and development of accountability towards their profession: building up confidence to work more efficiently towards their profession
- Improve teacher retention by allowing teachers to be more directly involved in their learning and professional development
- Why is Teacher Development the need of the Hour by Sukriti Sen , July 9, 2020 from https://www.globalcareercounsellor.com/blog/why-is-teacher-development-the-need-of-the-hour-2/
- What are self-paced programs? How are these programs beneficial for teachers? By Roopali Mohite from https://www.abea.in/blog-what-are-self-paced-programs-how-are-these-programs-beneficial-for-teachers
- National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine. (2007). Enhancing Professional Development for Teachers: Potential Uses of Information Technology: Report of a Workshop. Washington, DC: The National Academies Press; Pg. 10; From https://doi.org/10.17226/11995.https://nap.nationalacademies.org/read/11995/chapter/3
- Reasons why teacher training is the need of the hour. Avail of online teacher training workshops. From https://www.abea.in/blog-reasons-why-teacher-training-is-the-need-of-the-hour-avail-of-online-teacher-training-workshop
Also read,
How can teacher training programs help educators to conduct highly interactive classes?
https://www.abea.in/blog-how-can-teacher-training-programs-help-educators-to-conduct-highly-interactive-classes
5 Reasons why teacher training is essential for a smart school future in India
https://www.abea.in/blog-5-reasons-why-teacher-training-is-essential-for-a-smart-school-future-in-india
