The system overhaul

I often wonder, why I still remember some of my nursery rhymes but not the teachers who taught them. Perhaps, the rhymes are so deeply entrenched in my system that forgetting them is out of question. Also, I must confess the delivery of those rhymes in my early formative years was innately creative to keep me engrossed. Remembering a particular teacher has a lot to do

with remembering things associated with him or her.

One barely remembers 100 per cent of what one was taught in school. And of all that one remembers, pedagogy and teaching methods have a significant role in effective recall.

Recently, a report about teacher education in Scotland laid emphasis on grooming teachers for future. The findings from international research on teaching and educational leadership highlighted a number of key features of good teachers. It demands teachers to be reflective, creative, committed to profession and development of each child, passionate about learning, enthusiastic about their subject and keen on participating in their own personal learning and development.

A survey on teacher recruitment and retention in the United States, published by Scholastic Inc., throws light on people’s perception on retaining new teachers. Around 80 per cent respondents mentioned the need to start with higher salaries. Eight per cent expressed the need for informal peer support and formal mentoring programmes. Quoting a teacher, the report said, “Although salaries are important, more money alone will not assure us of adequate number of prepared teachers. Support from administrators and fellow teachers is also important.”

The Emerging Directions in Global Education (EDGE) in its 2009 report, ‘Faculty Recruitment and Retention - The Issues and Challenges’ revealed that recruiting and retaining talent is a major challenge for every institution in India at present. The survey suggests a competitive compensation package and other employee benefits to check the attrition. According to the survey findings, introducing innovative HR tools in line with the corporate sectors is likely to bring down the attrition rate to some extent. Click here to read more IIPM Articles...