Teachers Training: Its Past And Present In The US
Teachers training is the professional preparation of teachers, basically through formal course work and practice teaching. Even though teaching as a profession is a pretty novel concept, in industrialized nations, most of the teachers have studied in some university or college. However, the amount of preparatory training that each teacher has had differs widely worldwide. Teachers training has had a brilliant history in United States. By the 1820's and 30's, teacher training became common in the academic sphere. The first private normal school of the nation, a two year post high school training institute for school teachers was started by Samuel R. Hall in 1823. With the help of Henry Barnard and Horace Mann, the number of teachers training institutes in the United States rapidly increased during the later half of 19th century. Since their purpose was teachers training, stress was placed on the psychology of child development. However, by the next century, many of the normal schools had expanded into four year degree courses. By the 1920's and 30's, these teachers colleges which were usually supported by the public, were training considerable numbers of the public-school teachers. Secondary school teachers training persisted to be the task of liberal-arts colleges until after World War II. This was when an increasing number of students and growing need of technical skills in the nation's workforce pushed towards a demand for secondary education that could not be met by traditional colleges. Hence since 1945, most teachers colleges have extended their educational goal and become liberal-arts colleges which offer a wide range of general education. In the United States, the first graduate program was started in the New York University in 1887.In the next year, the foundation of the teacher's training school which is now known as Teachers College, Columbia University took place. Coming back to the current situation we see that with the advancement in educational opportunity¸ certification requirements for teaching have also progressed worldwide. While United States allows each state to set its own standards, England sets national standards for teachers to follow. The certification trend has been towards requiring more comprehensive training, with practice teaching and widespread graduate work for specialized positions. A number of graduate degrees have come up such as Master of Arts in teaching and the Doctor of Education. In the past, professional requirements for teaching in the United States have emphasized on method and psychology. However now, greater stress is put on subject-matter specialization. European countries have also stressed on scholarship lately. Advancement in teachers training led to a rise in demand for professional recognition and advantages. This in turn led to the formation of several international organizations as well as teachers union at local as well national level. The accomplishment of teachers training for elementary and secondary education has forced some college administrations to think about requiring such training for college teaching as well. |
