Secondary Training In Christchurch

Press, Volume CVI, Issue 31153, 1 September 1966, Page 9

Secondary Training In Christchurch

(Specially written for “The Press” by

E. P BLAMPIED

Associate

The teacher preparation provided in the secondary department is based upon three main principles. First it is aimed to provide an intensive course. The division C programme, for example, is intended to be sufficiently demanding in itself to provide a satisfying year’s work, and, while the undertaking of university study is certainly not discouraged, this must remain quite secondary to the college work. It is no longer possible for Division C teachers to be absent from college lectures to attend at the university. If such attendance is necessary for the completion of a degree, then Division B, the concurrent training scheme requiring more than one full year of attendance, provides the answer. All subjects in all courses are assessed, and a certain minimum standard of 'achievement is required in order to qualify for recommendation for certification. The second principle is that of relating the training more and more closely to the classroom situation. In the absence of an associated school for the implementation of this policy, a system of adopted classes, described elsewhere on this page has been tried out. The great amount of travelling involved has set severe limits to this scheme and has presented its extension to other ■ schools which have generously ; offered to make facilities (available for similar cUss- ! centred experiments in (teacher-training. But other methods have (also been used including the

services of specialist teachers, who are regularly invited to address groups, and visits are made to schools which have established subject departments of a high order. A very popular full day’s refresher course for language teachers has been provided in each of the last two years. Courses in mathematics for primary and intermediate teachers are conducted each year. The material used and the results obtained in an experimental teaching programme being carried out this year in mathematics are currently being sent to about 50 secondary teachers throughout the country. New Syllabuses Teachers of specialist subjects have been invited to attend conferences to discuss methods of dealing with new syllabuses. The attendances at a recent teachers’ conference arranged under the auspices of the Department of Education exceeded 100 teachers drawn from all parts of Canterbury. The latest experiment Is a scheme to provide more direction to the normal four-weekly periods of teaching practice for the history student teachers by developing a much closer liaison between the college tutor and the school subject teacher. This involves (the organised preparation in (college of a series of lessons lon topics set by the class teacher which the student teacher will then take in the school. I A new development in

Principal, Christchurch Teachers’ College)

practice teaching this year is the requirement that each teacher in the general subject courses (Divisions C and B) should spend at least one fourweek period of observation and teaching practice in a school outside the Christchurch metropolitan area. Attitudes The third principle concerns our attitude to our students. The average age of our three hundred teachers in training is about 23 years. It is quite apparent that the majority of these people are mature adults well past the ordinarily accepted “student” stage. When they go into the schools for teaching practice, they are accepted as “teachers” in the staff rooms and classrooms. Even the younger commercial students, when sent into the schools on occasional relieving assignments, are welcomed as responsible teacheFlf they are mature adults in the schools, they must surely be the same in the college. The course structure has therefore been modified to provide a considerable amount of choice, a wide range of short courses has been introduced to cater for all interests, and the rigid time-table has given way to a more flexible type. But, more than this, we aim to develop closer, more personal relationships between ! staff teachers and instructed (teachers in an informal, rei laxed atmosphere more ! reminiscent of an in-service (training centre such as Lopdell House than of the tradi-

tional, formal, lecture-type institution. We envisage, in due time, the emergence of a relationship between lecturers and teachers-inAraining similar to that which exists between heads of departments and junior staff in every secondary school. Quality Of Preparation All this adds up to our one clear purpose which is to improve the quality of secondary teacher training and to release into the schools young teachers adequately prepared for their important and exacting responsibilities. We might even hope to influence, in a wider field, new developments in attitudes and relationships that may emerge in the future. This matter of the quality of the secondary teacher training is one on which those who have made public pronouncements from time to time have been strangely silent. Nor is it likely that it has received any more attention in all the numerous discussions that have been held “in committee.” The question that must be asked is just this. Is the preparation secondary teachers are receiving now better or worse than it was under a former system? If worse, then the sooner we return to an earlier system the better. If they are being more adequately prepared, what steps should be taken to encourage the further improvement in the quality of the training? And i surely the answers to these . questions can best be supplied iby the secondary school boards, principals and practising teachers.