Education must equip present and future generations to tackle the
challenges facing the twenty-first century, such as the struggle against
poverty and illiteracy, the erosion of identity and values, exclusion,
discrimination, violation of human rights, the contamination of our
environment, the depletion of natural resources, unbridled consumerism, the
digital divide, as well as conflicts, tensions, insecurity and unprecedented
accelerated change at all levels and in all forms. Education
is not only a human right. It is also and above all the foundation of all the
aspects of development in the respect that it contributes to reducing poverty,
spurring the economy, promoting health, protecting the environment, acquiring
new technologies and scientific knowledge, promoting democratic culture and
good governance
In spite of many past and on-going reforms, education is still not
always keeping abreast of these challenges, which are intrinsically linked to
the United Nations Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and to the four pillars
of learning advocated by the UNESCO’s International Commission on Education for
the Twenty-first Century: learning to know, learning to do, learning to be and
learning to live together. (Elizabeth
Khawajkie and Pierre Luisoni,
UNESCO). Students are keen to
develop the maximum of their potential, their creativity and imagination in
order to become responsible citizens of society and of the world at large—a
world free of discrimination, hatred and violence. They want: teachers who are
stimulating; access to technology and information; and a relevant curriculum. Quality Education is one of the key goals of Education for All
and it is important for the twenty first century.
“Quality
education for all will be our biggest challenge and also our greatest
hope”.
(Koichiro Mastuura, Director General, UNESCO)
A number of concerns for quality education emerged and the
students’ messages can be presented under the following areas:
Quality education:
Ø is important for the twenty-first century;
Ø requires competent teachers;
Ø means stimulating and participatory learning;
Ø implies a relevant and meaningful curriculum;
Ø needs improved teaching and learning materials;
Ø requires support from within the institution;
Ø means social inclusion and gender equality;
Ø requires attractive, safe, inspiring and well equipped institutions;
Ø must have support from within the community
There
is thus an urgent need to focus on providing quality education for all in order
to enable tomorrow’s decision-makers to have a healthy, peaceful and bright
future. But to what extent are the needs and aspirations of the students
themselves, the main actors in the learning process, taken into account?
Faculty development, or staff development as it is often called, has
become an increasingly important component of quality education. Staff
development activities have been designed to improve teacher effectiveness at
all levels of the education. (E.g. undergraduate, postgraduate and professional
education) and diverse programs have been offered to health care professionals
in many settings. (Yvonne Steinert)
·
“Teachers should be accountable for their
performances. We need teacher accountability”.
·
“All students have the right to a quality
education”.
These are the slogans raised by the parents and students in different
parts of the world. The concern of parents and society at large should be
considered seriously. “There is little hope of advancing the
quality aspects of education unless the teacher revives commitment to his/her
profession and is also given a place of honour and recognition in society”. (Zobaida Jalal, Education Minister, Pakistan)
Need
and Significance
Who
is most benefitted from the Academic enrichment programmes of Faculty members
of Higher education institutions? This is a very serious question when we
consider the rights of students for quality education. All over the world there
are many enrichment programmes offered by different Govts. or Govt. agencies.
The basic idea to provide in service education/ Faculty development programmes at
the expense of governments by giving incentives or additional wages is to
ensure quality education to the youths and to equip them with latest
developments in the field of Higher Education. Every civilized society shows a
commitment towards its coming generations. It is on the basis of this principle
that the Govts. try to ensure all type of enrichment programmes for faculty
members in the field of Education. But when we consider its outcomes, it is
very doubtful that whether it serves the real purpose. Most of the Faculty
members forget the basic idea that their enrichment programmes are for the
students and consider as a right to get incentives/additional wages or for getting
timely promotions. These observations from the part of the researcher prompt
him to collect information on this issue and analyse its different
dimensions.
Statement of the Problem:
The
project topic is entitled “Faculty
Development, Teacher Accountability and the students’ rights for Quality Education”
Meaning of terms:
Faculty development
Faculty
development programs (FDPs) are especially important in
adapting faculty members to their changing roles in initiating and setting the
directions for curricular changes. These programs can be a powerful tool to
constitute a positive institutional climate and can range from basic
orientation programs for new faculty members to Refresher/Short term courses in
different disciplines to others. Overall, the aim of all these programs is to
support educators in adapting to changing missions of teaching and to enhance
the efficiency and performance of their teaching skills while improving work
satisfaction and teaching confidence by developing good teachers
Accountability
·
The dictionary meaning (e.g.,
Webster’s 7th New Collegiate Dictionary) of accountability and its near
relatives suggests that to be accountable means being subject to giving an
account, being answerable, and capable of being accounted for. The term
“account” entails giving a report on, furnishing a justifying analysis or
explanation, providing a statement of explanation of one’s conduct, offering a
statement or exposition of reasons, causes, grounds, or motives, or simply
providing a statement of facts or events.
·
Accountability
is a concept in ethics and governance with several meanings. It is often used
synonymously with such concepts as responsibility, answerability,
blameworthiness, liability, and other terms associated with the expectation of
account-giving.
Students’ rights
Students’ rights are
those rights which protect students, here meaning those persons attending
schools, universities and other educational institutions. The level of rights
accorded to students, whether legally or by convention, varies considerably
around the world.
Quality
Education
·
Quality itself has been defined as
fundamentally relational: Quality is the ongoing process of building and
sustaining relationships by assessing, anticipating, and fulfilling stated and
implied needs.
·
“A quality education has the power to
transform societies in a single generation, provide children with the
protection they need from the hazards of poverty, labor exploitation and
disease, and given them the knowledge, skills, and confidence to reach their
full potential.” (Audrey Hepburn)
Objectives of the study:
·
To analyse the relationship of Faculty
Development, Teacher accountability and the rights of students’ for quality
education.
·
To analyse the ways to ensure teacher
accountability in Higher Education sector.
Methodology:
The main objective of the study was to
collect information about the purpose of Faculty development programmes and its
corresponding impact on student achievement. Review of literature on the topic
was done mainly make use of the internet resources. The materials collected
were arranged properly and analysed with a critical view point.
Analysis and interpretations
An analysis of related literature was made
with a critical view point to find out the relationship of Faculty Development
programmes and its impact on students’ needs and also to give some suggestions
to ensure Teacher accountability. The details of the analysis are given below:
·
Carefully
coordinated faculty development programmes are a critical component of teaching
and learning improvement.
The FDPs aim to help faculty construct a personal linkage
between their professional needs in teaching and research as well as with the
needs and aspirations of students and society for quality education. Such
development programmes should emphasize teaching, learning, curriculum,
discovery, and the needs of faculty and students. Efforts to create a quality teaching
force include new approaches to accountability, designed and implemented
through teacher leadership and the participation of large numbers of teachers.
·
Accountability
in education, especially in the current context of multiple reforms and
restructuring, is a rather muddled concept. One needs only listen to snippets
of the current educational reform dialogue to realize that “accountability” has
many meanings for political leaders, education officials, teachers, parents,
community and business leaders, and the general public. Accountability is multi-faceted: it
involves responsibility, authority, evaluation and control
·
Accountability
involves responsibility, but there are many basic differences in these two
words:
|
Responsibility
|
Accountability
|
|
•
Implies holding a
specific office, duty, or trust
•
The focus is on
what can and should do; an individual’s personal integrity with respect to a
specific task
•
“I-Centered”
•
One has a clear
duty to perform an action and take care to carry it out
•
While being
responsible always has other persons in mind, the focus of meaning is upon
the individual’s effort, duty, and obligation
•
We call someone
responsible when we judge the person’s motives, intentions, and carefulness
with respect to the task
•
Responsibility:
"I’ll do it.
•
A sense of
obligation, commitment, etc.
|
•
Implies imminence
of retribution for unfulfilled trust or violated obligations
•
The focus is more
upon what others expect from the person who is accountable
•
“Other-Centered”
•
Includes judgment
and the extent of judgment for the success or failure to do, complete, or
protect that for which a person is held accountable
•
Accountability
always assumes a prior responsibility for we always lay out what we expect
before we can lay out what the consequences will be for failure to meet the
expectations
•
Refers to how the
individual will be judged and thus either rewarded or punished
•
Accountability:
"I’ll pay a price if I don’t do it right”.
•
Accepting personal
liability for one’s actions, accepting one’s actions and the consequences
|
•
Strengthen teachers’ professional and
self-accountability by linking registration to the re-demonstration of
competence. Parents saw this as the most effective form of accountability for
teachers. They would be required to demonstrate competence over time, to hold
themselves to account for fulfilling competence requirements and their practice
would be comparable with professionals both locally and nationally. Professional
accountability was seen as the bedrock of all other forms of accountability and
parents felt that it complemented all other forms of accountability.
Benefits
from accountability arrangements in teaching:
For Students:
•
Being treated as individuals
•
Having their development need supported
•
Being treated more fairly
•
Getting the education they deserve
For Teachers:
•
Having
their performance monitored
•
Increasing
motivation
•
Enhancing
quality of Teaching
For others:
•
Ensuring
‘value for money’ for tax payers
•
Measuring a school’s performance
•
Ensuring
a peaceful community
·
UNICEF (Docu.2000) takes a broader
perspective on quality education and declared: “Children have a right to an education, a quality education”. Quality education includes:
•
Learners who are healthy, well-nourished
and ready to participate and learn and supported in learning by their families
and communities.
•
Environments that are healthy, safe,
protective and gender-sensitive, and provide adequate resources and facilities.
•
Content that is reflected in relevant
curricula and materials for the acquisition of basic skills, skills for life,
and knowledge in such areas as gender, health, nutrition, and peace.
•
Processes through which trained teachers
use Learner-centred teaching approaches in well-managed classrooms and schools
and skilful assessment to facilitate learning and reduce disparities.
•
Outcomes that encompass knowledge,
skills and attitudes, and are linked to national goals for education and
positive participation in society.
This
definition allows for an understanding of education as a complex system
embedded in a political, cultural and economic context.
Conclusion and Suggestions:
·
As
technology, pedagogy and practice change so rapidly, faculty professional
development may need to be ongoing. To
leverage the creativity of faculty and staff—to turn their intellectual and
social imaginations to the task—institutions need to provide systematic
encouragement and assistance through comprehensive faculty development programs. In order for higher education to ensure that productive
teaching and learning exchanges occur across generations of learners, these
different mindsets may need to be reconciled.
·
Systematic
assistance from the peers needed for faculty development and to strengthen
accountability of teachers. Such assistance includes sorting out ways in which
new techniques or procedures relate to possible changes in course goals,
outcomes and the incorporation of interdisciplinary agendas.
·
Accountability
is a shared responsibility between students, teachers, parents, administrators,
policymakers, and researchers. Also, the majority of educators feel that they
should be held accountable for highly qualified teaching. What highly qualified
teaching consists of varies among researchers, but one characteristic that is
consistent is that teachers should not be solely responsible for student
achievement.
·
Accountability in public education must
be developed through a process of negotiation among all participants and stakeholders. Accountability between students and
teachers, teachers and parents, and students and parents, cannot exist without
mutually acknowledged relationships and responsibilities among the parties
involved.
·
The
accountability of teachers may be strengthened through peer assistance and
review systems because they are jointly supervised by boards of teachers and
administrators, gauge teacher competence with more useful measures, and
emphasize assistance and personal growth rather than punishment. Reward may be ensured for exemplary teachers
by giving them leadership roles that provide extra compensation and
opportunities to improve the teaching profession.
·
Quality
education is one of the rights of students and one who receives incentives/
additional wages for Faculty Development Programmes may be accountable to
enhance the quality of educational programmes of the stake holders and to the
tax payers in general. There is a tendency among several Faculty members at
Higher Education sector to present/ publish research papers in
seminars/journals and to do research at various levels at the expense of the
society and consider everything as their personal right, forgetting the
institution/students they belong.
·
It
is very difficult to ensure accountability and quality in education from the
part of teachers towards the students and society through administrative
processes. We can rate the individual achievements of a teacher but his
contributions to qualitative education and student success may not be
evaluated. If there will be any teacher evaluation programme from the
administrative side, the chance for misusing the same will be very high. So
every faculty development programme should develop a sense of commitment among
teachers. Therefore need based
(considereing students’ needs) orientation/ refresher/short term courses should
be provided to the Faculty members.
·
An
impact study may be conducted to find out the effectiveness of faculty
development programmes and the quality of education.
References:
- Anne H. Moore, John F. Moore, and Shelli B. Fowler (2004) Faculty Development for the Net Generation, Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University
- Barnett Berry, Laura Turchi & Dylan Johnson (2003). The Impact of High-Stakes Accountability on Teachers’ Professional Development: Evidence from the South. North Carolina
·
Bullough, R. V. Jr., Clark, D. C., & Patterson,
R. S.
(2003). Getting
in step:
Accountability,
accreditation, and the standardization of teacher education in the United States. Journal
of Education for Teaching, 29(1), 35-51.)
- Daniel F. McCaffrey & Lockwood, J.R (2010). The future accountability of teachers (http://www.gtce.org.uk/133031/133036/139594/accountability_of_teachers)
- Dennick, R (2003) .Long-term retention of teaching skills after attending the Teaching Improvement project: a longittudinal, self-evaluation study. Med Teacher 25: 314–318
- Elizabeth Khawajkie (2005). Young People speak on Quality Education. UNESCO, Paris
- Jeanette Colby, Miske Witt and Associates (2000). Educational Accountability: Issues and Alternatives. A publication of UNICEF
- Hanna Alaniska, Esteve Arboix Codina & Janet Bohrer (2006). Student involvement in the processes of quality assurance agencies. European Association for Quality Assurance in Higher Education , Helsinki
- Kelli Ballard and Alan Bates (2008). Making a Connection between Student Achievement, Teacher Accountability and Quality Classroom Instruction. The Qualitative Report Volume 13 Number 4. Nova Southeastern University.
·
Kleinhenz,
E., & Ingvarson, L.
(2004). Teacher
accountability in Australia: Current policies and practices and their relation
to the improvement of teaching and learning. Research Papers
in Education, 19(1), 31-49
- Linn, R. L. (2003). Accountability: Responsibility and reasonable expectations. Paper presented at Presidential Address of the American Educational Research Association. Chicago.
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