Two Education Seminars at ISEC

Institute for Social and Economic Change's Seminar Series


Professor M.D.Usha Devi
Professor and Head, Centre for Human Resource Development (CHRD), ISEC

will be presenting a seminar on

'Pre-Service Teacher Education for Secondary Stage Education in the Emerging Diverse Education Context in Karnataka/India'

and

Dr.U.A.Shimray and Professor M.D.Usha Devi
Assistant Professor and Professor and Head, CHRD,ISEC, respectively

will be presenting a seminar on

'Trends and Patterns of Migration: Interface with Education- A Case of the North Eastern Region'

Venue: ISEC Seminar Hall
Time: 3.30 PM
Date: Thursday 6th of September, 2007

All are welcome

Tea/ Coffee will be served before the Seminar

Dr. V Anil KumarSeminar Coordinator
Asst. ProfessorCentre for Decentralisation and Development
Institute for Social and Economic Change,Nagarabhavi PO, Bangalore - 560 072
Phone: 080-23215468; 23215519; 23215592 Extn.417
Fax: 080-23217008
E-mail: seminarcoordinator@isec.ac.in
http://www.isec.ac.in/

Here are the abstracts

Pre-Service Teacher Education for Secondary Stage Education in the Emerging Diverse Education Context in Karnataka/India

By

M D Usha Devi


Abstract

The present study is an attempt to understand the nature of professional preparation of teachers for secondary level of education as revealed through B.Ed programmes in one of the states (Karnataka) in India.. The purpose of the study was to assess the relevance of the teacher preparation for the emerging demands of the society and economy and its capacity to meet the professional requirements of the teaching profession in the emerging context. The study is essentially conceptualised within the interactive framework of the education of the teacher, the changing expectations of the society with respect to professional role of a teacher, expansion of the knowledge domain, economic development and technological advancements in the society. The study employed a descriptive survey design with a normative framework for analyzing the current teacher education programme.

The data have largely been qualitative in nature and are gathered from multiple sources.. The major part of the evidences is gathered through content analyses of the B.Ed curriculum. Primary data have also been collected from a sample of 71 teacher educators across the state who responded to macro survey questionnaire. In addition, perceptions, views and experiences of teacher educators (17), student teachers (177) and beginning teachers (26 ) about the pre-service teacher education have also been collected through semi-structured interviews and questionnaires in a micro study conducted in six sample B.Ed colleges representing different management types and regional locations. Further, 43 classroom observations of teacher educator’s curricular transaction and content analysis of 20 lesson plans and 20 observation records prepared by student trainees in the sample B.Ed colleges have also been done to study the process and practice of induction and professional orientation of teachers. The present study is limited to the current B.Ed programme offered by the Bangalore university. Some of the major findings of the study are:

In terms of the intentions and objectives of teacher education for secondary stage of education, the B.Ed programme appears to reflect the broader national goals of education as well as some of the emerging concerns in the diverse education context. However, there appears to be an over emphasis towards loading student teachers with information about these aspects rather than developing critical mental faculties. Regretfully, none of the papers, either professional or pedagogic make a mention anywhere about exposing student teachers to the school life and school culture at least in intentions as this is an important objective of a professional programme like the B.Ed.

In terms of relevance, the current B.Ed programme is found to reflect different parameters of diverse education context in some paper or the other. However, the extent to which these dimensions are reflected vary across professional and pedagogic subjects. With respect to equipping the prospective teachers with necessary skills and competencies, the programme is found to fall short in several areas of professional practice, induction and orientation to teaching, the most important being the short duration of the B.Ed programme and the limited internship period therein. In terms of orienting student teachers to professional roles of teachers during the classroom curricular transaction by teacher educators, there were very few references to the teacher’s role for emerging demands in the diverse education context such as - teacher as a knowledge broker, as a learning facilitator, as a promoter of collaborative learning, as a promoter of new delivery skills, as a counselor, as an innovator, as a researcher and life long learner etc,. Even attempts to establish a connection between the curricular content transacted in the B.Ed classroom and the school practices were also found to be conspicuously missing.

Trends and Patterns of Migration: Interface with Education- A Case of the North Eastern Region

By
U A Shimray & M. D. Usha Devi , CHRD/ISEC

Abstract

For a long time, North Eastern Region (NER) has been a major corridor of human migration. The NER is characterised by extraordinary ethnic, cultural, religious and linguistic diversity. The NER scores over most other states of India in the area of human resources for its relatively high literacy rate. The region has recorded high literacy growth rate in the decade 1991-2001. However, there is also remarkable variation in the literacy rate among the states within the region. Mizoram state reveals highest percentage of literacy with 88.5 per cent, followed by Tripura [73.6], Manipur [68.8] and Nagaland [67.1]. The states like Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Assam are below national average. Interestingly, the tribal dominant states like Mizoram, Nagaland, Meghalaya and also Manipur reveal higher literacy rates as compared to other states in India. Notwithstanding, higher literacy attainments, the NER has poor educational infrastructure at post secondary and higher levels of education. This has been one of the reasons for out migration, particularly among school graduates who are interested in pursuing vocational training and higher education for better employment prospects. It is in this context, questions relating to patterns of migration in the NER and its interface with education have been moving into the forefront of the research agenda.

The study is set with the following objectives:
To examine the trends and patterns of migration from the NER in terms of time and space;
To trace the educational growth in the NER;
To identify the determining factors for migration;
To examine the connection between migration and education.

The present study is a descriptive analysis of secondary data drawn from the census documents, NSS and other relevant documents and reports. The analysis is confined to the census decades of 1981, 1991 and 2001.

Some of the major outcomes of the study are as follows:
The magnitude of migration is considerably low in NER. There is fluctuation in the rate of migration between the decades in NER as a whole. At disaggregate level, Nagaland state has recorded highest migration rates at 8 per cent followed by Mizoram [4.28 per cent] and Assam [2.66 per cent]. However, the trends of migration in Arunachal Pradesh, Meghalaya and Tripura are found to be declining. Selectivity among migrants also occurs by sex. The magnitude of females migration is much higher than the males in all the states of the region. In terms of reasons for migration, marriage, family and employment are found to be predominant. Education as a motive for migration is considerably low. However, it is significantly increased in the last three decades particularly among male population. This phenomenon is seen relatively to a higher extent in Manipur and Arunachal Pradesh.

With respect to educational growth in the NER, there is a sharp decline in the enrolments with increasing levels of education, particularly in the post-secondary and higher education. Interestingly, the highest literate state Mizoram has a lowest proportion of students enrolled at Higher Secondary and Graduate and above levels. The availability of educational institutions particularly for higher and technical education is rather low in all the states except Assam. Although, in the post 1990 period the states like Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland and Mizoram have witnessed increase in the number of institutions/universities for higher education, yet the patterns of infrastructure growth reveals inadequacy.