Pakistan faces a challenge in the education sector as do all other developing countries. Although, as a nation, potential human resources are available in abundance, Pakistan has not been able to prepare its workforce to fully face today’s knowledge economy.
Notre Dame Institute of Education (NDIE), an institution to train teachers, envisaged the importance of technology in the education system of the country. Progressive maneuvers were adopted, and with the introduction of the Intel® Teach Program, NDIE made knowledge and the effective use of technology in education top priorities for its student-teachers. Trainee teachers got the opportunity to develop digital literacy, problem solving critical thinking and collaboration skills themselves and also got hands on experience on how to develop these skills in their future students. The experience made a positive difference in the teaching styles. The skills acquired through this program will continue to benefit both teachers and future teachers in the years to come.
Challenges:
Pakistan has a dearth of qualified, well-trained teachers.
The education system in Pakistan does not encourage creativity amongst teachers or students, and the curriculum at education colleges is out-dated.
The inadequate presence of technological infrastructure, along with an absence of standards and certification, results in teaching becoming a profession of last resort.
Trainee teachers are currently not being taught effective strategies to integrate technology in their classrooms so that students can acquire 21st century skills.
Approach:
Incorporate technology into the existing curriculum. Focus on student teachers who have had little or no experience with computers.
Provide teachers and student teachers with an opportunity for professional development that develops skills which are relevant in a highly competitive environment.
Support trainee teachers to learn about key 21st century skills through the implementation of the Intel® Teach Program, and then utilize them in their future careers as teachers.
Benefits:
The Intel® Teach Program is helping student teachers gain hands on experience with technology, during their own student life. Future teachers acquire skills that enable them to contribute productively to the education system when they go on the job.
Teachers associated with the Intel® Teach Program become empowered with skills to involve students, breed creativity and develop a more interactive and productive learning environment.
The Intel® Teach Program: A Case Study
Teachers are the key ingredient in any education system where positive change must take place if the system is to remain viable. Even in a modern classroom with a good textbook, an unskilled and unprepared teacher cannot create the desired impact. For this reason, training and professional development is crucial to identify, develop, utilize, and recognize the abilities of teachers. A good teacher cannot excel without having certain skills and these are usually taught to pre-service teachers in education courses at the college and university level.
However, knowledge of such courses is of little use unless what is learnt through them can be applied in the classroom. Moreover, an outdated curriculum ensures that teachers and students are not prepared to face the challenges of the knowledge economy.
In Pakistan, teacher education means completion of a certificate or degree program. Most education institutions, including teacher education institutions in Pakistan, generally use passive teaching and learning methodologies. Teachers are not prepared to engage students in fruitful classroom discussions - in fact, they are taught that they are the ‘sage on stage’ and not a facilitator for effective learning. Student teachers are usually lectured in rigidly structured classrooms where the basic workplace challenges of the future are not or very rarely addressed, and that is the style of teaching that they learn.
Sister Margaret, Director of the Notre Dame Institution of Education (NDIE) is a visionary who understands the need for constant curriculum enhancements to stay current with the needs of the day. She and her institute have taken the initiative to enrich the existing board-dictated curriculum and equip student teachers with strategies to make the classroom a more interactive and creative learning environment.
NDIE has worked with the Intel® Teach Program to address a real educational challenge and bring about a positive change. Aspiring teachers have access to knowledge and skills that would not have been provided through the conventional curriculum. Teachers now look forward to further development and application of their skills, competencies, and content knowledge in relevant professional and administrative domains.
During the Intel Teach training program, student teachers are asked to think about how they would use animations and clarify concepts with the help of technology and multimedia. These are thought to be useful methods for a review session before moving on to another concept. Trainees are also encouraged to actively involve interactive teaching strategies for example with the help of the Internet.
At NDIE, everyone believes that these exercises are highly beneficial to the participants, rather than simple text book reading. NDIE and the Intel Teach team together conducted faculty trainings in 2006 and 2007 at the college, after which a rigorous round of curriculum integration has occurred. The existing curriculum in the country does not address the practical needs of students, classrooms and schools of today, all of which can be addressed with the effective inclusion of latest teaching methodologies, as taught in the Intel Teach Program.
“Adopting an up-to-date IT curriculum was essential for the Notre Dame Institution of Education. The Intel Teach Program has benefited us in more than one way. We are in the process of empowering our teachers and students with 21st century ICT skills, which will not just help them, but will also help all the students that they train over the next few years” Says Sister Margaret, Director, Notre Dame Institution of Education.
“Affiliation with the new ICT curriculum has made us realize that digital learning provides opportunities for student teachers to explore and critique the existing knowledge base for educational leadership. We can now critically analyze educational resources and current research, which relates to the study of learning, teaching, schooling and ongoing teacher education.’ says Razi Ahmed, Assistant Lecturer Computer Sciences, who has been trained under the Intel Teach Program.
“Project-based studies within the Intel program offered us opportunities to explore and develop a praxis between theory and practice, to include areas of curriculum development, educational leadership, and teacher education in-service. There are also opportunities for ongoing dialogue, challenge and questioning of experiences in a range of contexts, as well as action research and/or directed study leading to significant reflection, analysis and reporting’ Razi added.
With the implementation of the Intel Teach Program, NDIE faculty and students have learnt to discover, to create, to be everything that a teacher can be; in the minds of the students the program has created the possibility of independent thought, so that these future teachers can create their own effective teaching practices.
Teachers are prepared to demonstrate an ability to teach in various settings, to reflect about their work and to work with other colleagues towards the improvement of teaching.
Mr. Anthony D’Silva, Assistant Lecturer for Science NDIE says his coaching skills have improved with the Intel Teach Program. “Use of technology has made my lessons more interactive with the students. For example, to explain the digestive system of a human being I make use of technology. I have used animation for the diagram and present to the teacher trainees, who grasp this scientific knowledge more quickly. With this type of exercise, student teachers not only become more proficient, concise and focused, but their anxiety levels are considerably reduced. Not only this, students are also urged to participate in interactive discussions and present information with the help and use of different multimedia. The atmosphere in the classroom becomes more relaxed and student teachers develop more confidence in their abilities.”
“The Intel Teach Program has impacted our teaching methods. We have now learnt to communicate the lessons in more than one way. For example with the Internet, we have been able to explain very detailed processes successfully in a very short span of time,” said Martin Thomas, member academic faculty, NDIE.
The process of change is extremely challenging, but NDIE, its faculty and students have taken on this challenge in the hope of becoming an example for the other colleges in the province, and the country, to follow. The excitement that technology creates in the classroom has now been experienced by NDIE, and the team there hopes that others will follow suit, and understand the opportunities that technology creates for students and children. For now, the team is happy to be pioneers of the positive change that is so desperately needed in Pakistan.
Education outlook in Pakistan
In a country where the literacy rate is rather low, quality education is inaccessible in most areas of the country. According to the World Bank Report published in the year 2007, it is estimated that only 22 percent of girls have completed their primary level schooling as compared to 47 percent of boys. Moreover, with the rising costs of private schooling, quality education has become a luxury for the disadvantaged masses struggling for their day to day survival. Keeping in view these harsh ground realities, Intel Pakistan’s Teach Program aims to develop and refine the technical skills of a large majority of teachers and students in government and private institutions of the country. Specifically focused upon enhancing learning by training teachers on how to integrate technology in the classroom by using it as a tool to develop children’s 21st century skills, the Intel® Teach Program has evolved into a laudable venture that has achieved many milestones. Launched in the year 2002, the program has won much acclaim in Pakistan as well as the international markets, for successfully imparting training to more than 140,000 teachers representing both private and government institutions of the country. A laudable venture, Intel spells hope for thousands of students and teachers in Pakistan and leaves one reassured by the thought that at least a conscientious and practical start has been made towards providing the lesser-privileged students with the tools to take their lives in a new direction.
For more information, visit: www.intel.com/education/pk
For more information on the Intel Teach Program, visit: www.intel.com/education/teach
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