ABSTRACT
The paper is about the impact of teachers training on students performance. It looks as to how the teachers training can be useful in enhancing students perforrmnace and how can it help in improving the quality of the students. As the importance of knowledge is becoming more and more important so is of the teachers. The reason is that teachers play a vital role in transferring the knowledge to students who are the people that will eventually lead a country.
Training of teachers is also necessary especially in today’s environment to cope with the changing demands of the profession. Trained teachers are in a better position to educate the students. Training can improve a teacher’s knowledge on subject matter, teaching method etc.
The research in this paper also incldes some studies of countries like Niger, Guinea where the imapct and relationship of teachers training with students performance was studies. It has also been kept in mind that apart from training there are other factors that also affect the performance of teachers and eventually of the students. Secondly it also depends on the kind of students that wheter they will be able to benefit from the trained teachers or not.
HEC is also conducting teachers training in collaboration with USAID. The purpose is the same to enhance the teachers competence.
So, the importance of teachers training cannot be underestimated. They are the people responsile to carry the knowledge formgenerations to generations.
Key Words: training, teacher, performance, students
INTRODUCTION
Nowadays everyone knows that “knowledge is an asset”. Knowledge is of two types; tacit and explicit. Tacit knowledge is the knowledge one has in his/her mind while explicit knowledge is the one that is expressed in words or in a form understandable by others. Tacit knowledge has to be converted into explicit knowledge in order to transfer it to others. As the importance of knowledge is becoming more and more important so is of the teachers. The reason is that teachers play a vital role in transferring the knowledge to students who are the people that will eventually lead a country. Students are directly affected by the teachers as they are the ones who introduce the students with the values and knowledge.
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Training of teachers is also necessary especially in today’s environment to cope with the changing demands of the profession. Trained teachers are in a better position to educate the students. Training can improve a teacher’s knowledge on subject matter, teaching method etc. Development of teachers cannot be underestimated. It is equally important as students’ development because the entire education process is dependent on the person called teacher. The quality of education system cannot be improved without improving the quality of teachers. Teachers are such an important part of the education system that the successful formulation and implementation of the policies of education sector is not possible without teachers. To have knowledge is one thing and to be able to transfer it to others is an entirely different.
The purpose of the paper is to find out the importance of teachers training and how teachers training van help in improving students’ performance. It is significant because the paper will help to understand how developing teachers in different aspects can lead to improved students learning. It will also help in understanding if only training is sufficient in improving the education process or other factors have also some impact on the entire process. The lack of knowledge and training about how students develop and learn is affecting students learning. So, there is a need to work on this area in order to find the extent to which teachers training can help in enhancing students learning.
Higher Education commission has established a project named National Academy of Higher Education which is working with the USAIDs’ pre-service teachers’ education programme. In initial phase 3564 university teachers have been trained under the programme. [1]
LITERATURE REVIEW
(Angrist and Lavy 2001), a study about in-service teachers training in Jerusalem revealed that there is a significant positive relationship between teachers training and students test scores. The
cost-benefit analysis of the study also shows that teachers training cab provide the less costly way of improving students’ grades than cutting down the class size or increasing the class hours.
(Bressoux 1996), the training of teachers who recently start their teaching career significantly enhances students’ learning in mathematics. Yet it seemed as if the students who cannot be called the bright or above average students of the class do not benefit from the teachers training. Also the classes composed of students who are low initial average achievers did not show improvement with a trained teacher. It can be said that somehow trained teachers are not able to improve performance of below average students.
(Pascal Bressoux et al December 2008), the way a teacher delivers knowledge/lecture is not changed by the training he/she receives. The improvement in students’ performance with a trained teacher is just because of a better grip on subject matter.
(Murphy & MacLaren, 2007), to reach at a consensus regarding what constitutes a good and effective teaching is a complex task.
(Fink’s 2008), quality of the students learning is directly in responsive to how the teacher effectively performs the four tasks in teaching: content expertise, instructional design skills, instructional delivery skills, instructional assessment skills, and course management skills
(Fink 2002), identified that the most important responsibility of a teacher is to generate as much significant learning as he is capable of.
Peters (1977), quality is vital and crucial feature of a thing, which differentiates it from others. The presence of this characteristic marks it out as a “thing of high quality”.
(Riasat Ali, Muhammad et al 2010), the center around whom the entire education system revolves is the person called teacher and he is the one who can bring effective changes in the learning process of the students, so all the efforts shall be directed towards producing teachers who are adequately skilled according to the new requirements of this profession and who are professionally developed on continuous basis.
(Ordonez and MacLean, 1997), teachers who are dedicated and are trained and professionally developed, have the ability to contribute a lot in the economic prosperity of a country. These teachers have the capability of bringing radical changes in the society and these are the people who can transfer the culture from generations to generations and contribute in its preservation.
(UNESCO Seminar Report 1998), importance of developing teachers professionally continuously cannot be underestimated.
(Government of Pakistan 1998), if the quality of teachers who are the pivotal part of any education system is not good or up to the standard then to expect that quality of system will be good is irrational. The poor quality of the system is aggravated because of poor recruitment practices, untrained teachers, and lack of focus on the professional development of the teachers in higher education.
(World Bank 2006), there is a number of reports and research upon the status of the professional development of the teachers in Pakistan. The crux of these reports is that the quality with which a teacher performs his/her duty is significantly affected by their educational qualification; employment on merit; an effective system to monitor their performance; motivation, improving teachers skills and the growth opportunities for the teachers in their entire career.
(Ali 1998), a study titled professional training and its impact on students’ academic achievements, show that professional training has positive effects at all education levels.
(Gladys Lopez-Acevedo LCSPP), there is no doubt the more experienced a teacher is the more are the chances that the rate at which the students achievement is growing will be enhanced, making it evident that the expertise of teachers is enhanced by practical experience and training. The training has a significant contribution in improving the teachers’ effectiveness.
(Rivkin, Hanushek and Kain 2005), identifies the quality of education can be judged by the quality of the teachers and their teaching.
(PASEC 2005a), in Niger for many years there was shortage of funds to train and develop the teachers so the heavy responsibility falls now on the shoulders of new contract teachers to cover the huge gaps created in those years.
(Faoura 2004, pp. 105ff.), Country like Guinea has adopted to curtail professional training program of teachers doing so they have focused to develop and adjust the curricula content taught being relevant to teaching. Hence a mandatory training period of 15-18 months, including 6-9 months of practical teaching experience under the supervision of a senior colleague was built into the new recruitment procedure.
(PASEC 2005b), In Mali, if the teachers have not attended any form of pedagogical training, it is mandatory for them to attend a three-month course training to help and prepare them to perform their work.
(Hanushek et al. 2005 for African countries), Recent studies have concluded that teacher training and duration of education are not in coherence to the training provided and minimum level of education set for teachers on contrary the students learning can be varied as result of the education program being followed.
(Morton 1992 and Semiotics Consultants 1994), training teachers helps both teachers and students in enhancing their knowledge about the subject matter.
(Walter, Wilkinson and Yarrow 1996), the following three things are dependent on each other that is quality of teaching, quality of teachers and quality of their professional development.
(Russell 2008), state, in coming times a teacher has to have the willingness to explore new technologies and trends in order to bring creativity in the learning process and to increase its scale.
(Moyle 2007), the reason or belief behind training and developing teachers is that it improves the teachers capabilities, e.g. makes it possible for them to incorporate new and emerging technologies related to education into their teaching, which in turn will help students in enhancing their learning..
(Gaible, Burns 2005), Teacher professional development is the tool by which policy makers convey broad visions, disseminate critical information, and provide guidance to teachers. It is the opportunity for the teachers to develop themselves in a certain area (e.g., technology, reading instruction, subject mastery, etc.)
(Hallinan and Khmelkov 2001), the focus shifted from improving and changing schools to improving and developing teachers in the mid 1980s as a result of new emerging trends.
(Jegede and Taplin 2000), in today’s scenario professional development and teaching job cannot be viewed as two separate phenomena, and shall be incorporated into teaching profession not just on yearly basis but on daily and weekly basis as well.
(Vrasidas and Zembylas 2004), only those teachers can be successful in classroom nowadays who have developed them selves in the required content knowledge and skills. This eventually helps them to be prepared to develop a curriculum and instructional design that is more suitable and effective.
(Gaible, Burns 2005), in order to make sure that the professional development of the teachers is effective , the first step shall be to identify their needs and the understanding of the work environment in which they are working.
(Wanzare and Ward 2000), staff development is an opportune way for teachers to hone their teaching skills through contributing in relevant programs and building their selves through in-service training.
(Wanzara and Ward 2000), the organizations related to the development of in-service teachers training programs shall take into account the concerns of teachers regarding their professional growth.
(Roll-Pettersson 2001), if the needs of teachers are not considered while developing a training program for them it is likely to receive a resistance from the teachers. If the needs of teachers are not taken into account it can also lead to development of poor quality educational materials.
DISCUSSION
In the light of the analysis of previous studies, it is evident that the importance of in-service teacher training cannot be ignored or considered as a factor irrelevant or less important in improving student’s performance and the learning process. But one important point that is to be considered here is that the training of the teachers shall not focus only on a single aspect related to the teaching that is subject matter, teaching method etc but it shall cover all the aspects. The rationale behind this point is that if the learning capability of students as well as their performance is to be improved and enhanced then all the factors of a teacher personality shall be developed. For example say if a teacher is trained and it has improved its grip on the subject matter/content of the subject but did not change its teaching methodology. Then there is a chance that there will be no significant impact on students learning as there is a possibility that the problem lied in teaching methodology and not in the quality of subject matter. Similarly only to have grip on the subject matter cannot guarantee success in classroom as having knowledge is one thing and ability to transfer/communicate it an entirely different thing. There are many people who have a great deal of excellent tacit knowledge but they are unable to transform it into the explicit knowledge. So they cannot be helpful to students in improving their knowledge, performance and learning abilities.
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Another fact found is that there is also a possibility that trained teacher might not be able to enhance the learning process/capability of the low performing students. So this aspect can be emphasized more as to what are the reasons that such students are unable to benefit even from a trained teacher. This area can be explored more in order to ensure that all sort of students are able to improve their performance and learning when they have the opportunity to have trained and professionally developed teachers.
One crucial point that cannot be ignored here is that only training is not a surety that the teacher will be able to bring changes in the performance of the students as there are some other factors that also affect as how a teacher fulfills its responsibility. These factors include pay, working conditions, class size, work load etc. So these factors might interfere with the transference of knowledge even after professional development and skill acquisition. So impact of teachers training on students’ performance cannot be studied in isolation. Other factors shall also have to be considered.
CONCLUSION
It can be concluded that training of teachers is the key to impart knowledge, values and culture from generations to generations. The quality of the youth or students depends upon the quality of teachers. Train the teachers, develop them and equip them with skills to cope with the changing environment and changing requirements of the profession and they will eventually produce their replicas in form of brilliant students. It is also important to keep in mind that only trained teachers cannot be held responsible for the quality of entire education system, students also have to be motivated and interested in benefitting from their teachers. Some other factors will also have to be considered. In short training and development of teachers is the first and most important step in enhancing students’ performance.
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