Quality Issues and Trends in Teacher Education: Perspectives and Concerns

The diversity in educational contexts found in India should be viewed as a valuable feature and as a unique challenge. In an era of greater globalization and educational standardization, of policy borrowing and of international comparisons of achievement, there is a high demand and need to respect context and to appreciate how countries with different traditions and resources deal with the challenges of teacher education. For example, Indian cultural traditions have much to say about the virtues needed of teachers and the roles teachers played in developing its age old rich heritage. Reports say that Singapore seeks to draw upon its links to Asian traditions while it simultaneously appropriates ideas from Anglo-Saxon and continental traditions. This is not simply a matter of ensuring representation but a unique and distinct way of integrating traditions within which education and pedagogic systems are embedded that can provide valuable insights. Both researchers and policy makers want the same thing--high quality teachers. Both want evidence of what is likely to work best. While the practice is to rely on the best available evidence and scholarship, it is equally important to clearly set out some propositions to guide policy choices. The balance has been difficult to achieve; however, it is hoped that it could be achieved to a reasonable extent. In the context of curriculum revisions happened in the country as per NCTE [National Council of Teacher Education] norms, the present paper tries to find out whether the new direction tries to chisel out a workable quality assured teacher preparation scenario in the country.