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International Journal of Academic
Research in Education and Review
Vol. 2(2), pp. 32-48, February,
2014
ISSN: 2360-7866
DOI:
10.14662/IJARER2013.014
Full
Length Research Paper
The
In-In-Out Programme of Teacher Education in Ghana: The Perception of
Implementers
*1Amadu
Musah Abudu and 2Anthony Kudjo Donkor
1Department
of Health Science Education, Faculty of Education, University For
Development Studies, P. O. Box TL1350, Tamale, Ghana.
2Faculty
of Education, University for Development Studies, P. O. Box 1350,
Tamale, Ghana.
*1Corresponding
Author’s Email Address:
amabudu2012@gmail.com. Tel No: 0208293546
Accepted 26
February 2014
The purpose of
the study was to evaluate the implementation of the In-In-Out
programme of teacher education in Ghana. A sample size of 582 was
selected using stratified sampling. Data were collected through the
use of questionnaires, interviews and observation. The study was
descriptive survey, which was targeted at finding out implementers’
perception of the success of the programme. Research questions were
formulated to guide the study. The responses to the research
questions were analysed using percentages and mean of means. The
study revealed that the reasons that respondents gave for the
introduction of the In-In-out programme were consistent with GES/TED
(1998). The general level of importance placed on the objectives and
activities was high. Further, there is no great difference amongst
the implementers’ agreement to each objective and activity. The
implementation was found to be hindered by non-availability and/or
inadequacy of instructional materials and insufficiency of time
allotted to the professional training aspect of the Programme. It
was, therefore, recommended that intensive training of all
implementers and trial testing of the materials should be done
systematically before implementation of the programme. Also, link
tutors and mentors should be given incentives to motivate them to
carry out effective supervision.
Key words: In-In-Out programme, teacher education, mentee,
mentor, link tutor.
INTRODUCTION
Teacher education in Ghana has been going through a process of
change and development. This change and development is taking place
in response to the need to provide quality teachers for the
education of the youth at all levels of the country’s educational
system. This has become increasingly more demanding with respect to
a rapidly changing society that needs a new crop of students who are
molded to play new roles for the development of society. The skills
and knowledge needed for successful living have altered radically,
primarily as a result of the technological evolution and its impact
on most jobs and professions. Thus, the educational system has to be
restructured to ensure that the needs and aspirations of the society
are always met. Schools by and large, need not gear towards the
production of students for a nation that, in many ways, no longer
exist. Based on this, policy makers keep on changing and
implementing innovations in all facets of the educational system,
more especially in teacher education for the purpose of training
quality teachers.It is in recognition of this that the In-In-Out
Programme was introduced in order to satisfy the extant needs of
education in Ghana, more especially the demands of the Free
Compulsory Universal Basic Education (FCUBE).
The In-In-Out Programme is a three year programme organized in such
a way that mentees spend the first two years in the college and the
final year in school-based activities where the mentees will be
attached to a school to teach, but also continue to study based on
distance learning materials. The component parts of the In-In-Out
are: “In-In-“and “Out”. The In-In caters for the first two years of
the mentees’ training on campus where they are taught using the
conventional face-to-face methods. In the first year, mentees
undertake an academic upgrading course, while in the second year
they pursue a rigorous course in curriculum studies integrated with
methodology. In addition, and as a component of the methodology
course, mentees are given a series of demonstration lessons and
prescribed periods of campus-based practice teaching mainly; micro
and peer teaching.
The ‘Out’ segment of the In-In-Out Programme covers the whole of
third year when mentees are posted to basic schools where they
undertake school-focused training to develop practical teaching
skills. It is ayearlong attachment of mentees to schools. The school
attachment offers mentees opportunity to learn to teach by teaching.
Apart from practical teaching they are also exposed to practical
issues such as school management, disciplinary procedures, and
staffrelations, as well as appropriate professional behaviour
development both inside and outside the classroom.
The concern about teacher quality in many parts of Africa and the
role teacher education should play in its improvement has attracted
a lot more attention in recent times than ever before in the history
of education on the continent. This is partly due to the increasing
evidence that despite gains in basic schools’ enrolment, as a result
of developing countries implementing programmes to provide primary
education for all, gains in student achievement have been on the low
side (Lockheed and Verspoor, 1991). The Education reforms programme
introduced in Ghana since 1974 has resulted in “gross enrolment
ratios at primary school level that shot up by about 37%, but the
gains in student achievement expected from overall reforms has been
less impressive” (Akyeampong, 2002, p. 11). Husen and Tuijman (1994)
posit that “the costs of education in real terms per student and
year in any country have tended to increase considerably with time
whereas outcomes in terms of student achievement have not been
enhanced proportionately” (p. 14).
Fobih, Akyeampong and Koomson (1999) assert that a significant part
of the problem confronting pupils’ low academic performance has to
do with teacher quality, poor instructional quality and the lack of
professional commitment of teachers. This view of Fobih et al is
consistent with the assertion of Akyeampong and Lewin (2002) that
the content of teacher education programme in Ghana might be lacking
in producing teachers capable of improving the quality of basic
education.
Notwithstanding the need for quality teachers, research evidence in
Ghana suggests that newly trained teachers are ill prepared to
handle the new direction of the curriculum that was put in place as
part of the 1974 Educational Reforms in the Primary and Junior
Secondary Schools (MOE, 1996; Pecku, 1998). According to Koetsier
and Wubbels (1995) most beginning teachers experienced a “reality
shock” in their first year, when faced with the demands of a real
classroom teaching situation and the gap between their ideals and
the reality of everyday school life. Teacher education was,
therefore, accused of failing to prepare student teachers for the
reality of the teaching profession.
Studies have attributed the non-performance of teachers to three
possible sources. First, the academic attainment of the teachers
could be so low that they do not have mastery of the subject matter
that they teach. Second, the way the teachers are trained may be
such that as part of their training, the teachers may not be
sufficiently exposed to real classroom situation or may not even
acquire the minimal pedagogical skills required for imparting
subject matter to their pupils. Third, low morale among teachers as
a result of the poor conditions under which they work could lead to
non-performance. Consequently, educational practitioners have been
looking at ways of orientating the content of teacher education to
meet the demands of the classroom. This has led to the continuous
change of teacher education programme over time.
Statement of the problem
A study of trends in the pattern of teacher education in Ghana shows
a continual change. Over the years various programmes have been
implemented in teacher education in order to reflect the needs of
the changing society. This is because the type of education that a
country wants to a large extent determines the teacher education
programme that is implemented. It is expected that the introduction
of any innovation into an educational system should be accompanied
with concrete steps to ensure that the resources (human and
material) are consistent with the objectives and activities of the
innovation. As Pollock (1987) posits that no course should be
regarded as fixed over time, and that changes in student needs and
interests should be continually reviewing course plans to ensure
their continued relevance and currency.
Therefore, the task of bringing a programme in line with the
changing needs and demands of the society requires the use of
evaluation devices.Indeed, the future of the In-In-Out Programme in
Ghana depends on obtaining data in order to enable action to be
taken on its strengths and weaknesses. It is only through evaluation
that one can identify whether or not the programme is meeting what
it is set forth to do.This has been the motivating factor that has
led the researcher to find out what actually exists in the classroom
vis-à-vis the programme guidelines.
Major trends in Teacher Education in Ghana
In order to establish the rationale for the introduction of
In-In-Out Programme, it is essential to give a concise account of
the major trends of teacher education in the country since 1940.
McWilliam and Kwamena-Poh (1975) traced the development of teacher
education in Ghana. According to McWilliam and Kwamena-Poh, a
two-year training programme was launched upon the recommendations of
the 1937/41 Education Review Report. Successful candidates were
awarded a Teacher’s Certificate ‘B’. The main objectives were to cut
down on costs in teacher education and to meet the increasing demand
for teachers at the primary level of education. After two years
teaching on completion of the initial training, Certificate ‘B’
teachers were given further two years training to qualify for the
Certificate ‘A’ Post ‘B’. The immediate policy objective to have
qualified teachers for primary education was largely achieved in the
early 60’s and the certificate ‘B’ programme was phased out in 1962.
The accelerated development plan of education that was launched in
1951, sought to address the problem of demand for teachers (McWilliam
and Kwamena-Poh, 1975). It sought among other things, to expand
teacher training in order to provide teachers for the universal
education policy. Antwi (1992) on his part observes that prior to
the 1951 plan, there were nineteen pre-University Training Colleges
offering a variety of courses leading to Two-year Post Middle
Teacher’s Certificate A and then Two-year Post ‘B’ Teacher’s
Certificate A, Four-year Post Middle Teacher’s Certificate A and
then Two-year Post-Secondary Teacher’s Certificate ‘A’. The
implementation of the Accelerated Development Plan of education in
1951 also brought in its wake a large number of schools that
required teachers. As such, pupil teachers were recruited to fill
the vacuum. Those who were recruited were given six weeks intensive
training to prepare them to teach. In 1953 Ten Pupil Teachers
Centres were established in the country to train the pupil teachers
that were recruited.
According to Antwi (1992), another event that occurred in the
history of teacher education was the introduction of specialist
courses in the training colleges. He further states that the
Education Report of 1960-62 shows that in 1960 a number of
specialist courses were established mainly for housecraft, education
for the deaf, rural science, agriculture science and general
science. During the 1964/65 academic year, specialist courses for
teachers were introduced in nine training colleges. These specialist
courses were, however, phased out in 1976 to make way for the
three-year post-secondary quasi-specialist programme. The aim of
this programme was to prepare qualified teachers for the Junior
Secondary School. The specialist training colleges were brought
together to Winneba to form the nucleus of the specialist courses.
This led to the opening of seven Diploma Awarding Institutions in
the country.
The quasi-specialist course was also phased out in 1979. The reason
being that the products of this programme could not all be absorbed
by the then existing junior Secondary Schools. Also, the surplus
teachers could not function successfully as general teachers in the
classroom in the Primary and the then Middle Schools. The Three-year
post-secondary course was later introduced alongside the specialist
course. The three-year post-secondary programme saw light when the
specialist course was phased out in 1976. Another significant event
in the development of teacher education was the introduction of
modular programme. The three-year post-secondary programme has
itself undergone major structural changes. At the initial stage, it
emphasizes subject specialization (two-subject specialization in the
final year). This programme was officially phased out in 1998/99
academic year. Then came primary teacher education programme, which
was offered in ten training colleges in the country. It was also
phased out in 2001/02 academic year. The current programme called
general teacher education programme available in all the forty-one
training colleges in the country was launched at the beginning of
the 1998 /99 academic year. This programme is referred to as
In-In-Out Programme.
Aims and Objectives of Teacher Education
Lockheed and Verspoor (1991) posits that “the goal of teacher
education is not to indoctrinate teachers to behave in rigid,
prescribed ways, but to encourage teachers to think about how they
teach and why they are teaching that way” (p. 98). This is so
because, the process of becoming and being a teacher is increasingly
being acknowledged as a multifaceted endeavour, which involved the
person intellectually, socially, morally, emotionally and
aesthetically. Teachers must be prepared in such a way that they are
not only good classroom operators but also community leaders. They
must be trained not only in the techniques of teaching young people
but also in adult education and group dynamics (Bishop, 1986).
Teachers need to have a deep conception of the nature of society and
of their own role in influencing the shaping of social goals.
According to Hollins (2011), learning to teach is a complex and
multidimensional process that depends on the ability to synthesize,
integrate, and apply knowledge from multiple sources in constructing
an understanding of how to facilitate learning in complex dynamic
contexts with a multiplicity of aspects that require attention and
action. He further states that the challenge for teacher educators
is to provide opportunities for teachers to acquire deep knowledge
and understanding in a wide range of areas and to learn the
professional discourse and practices and the conditions of
engagement and enactment in ways that facilitate learning.The
overriding aim of teacher education is to facilitate and develop in
would-be teachers the self-awareness and interpersonal skills that
would enable them to function better in the world of school. The
structured activities for education and training are the fundamental
ingredients for developing in mentees the kind of professional
perspective that enables them locate their teaching in the wide
context of the school and community. Accordingly, Hargreaves and
Fullan (1992) contend that one way of providing teachers with
opportunities to teach is to equip them with the knowledge and
skills that will enable them provide improved opportunities for all
their pupils to learn.
The fact is that a teaching force that is more skilled and flexible
in its teaching strategies and more knowledgeable about its subject
matter is a teaching force more able to improve the achievement of
its pupils. Apart from incorporating experiences that lead to sound
knowledge of subject matter there is also the need to consider
helping the would-be teacher to understand him/herself.
Acknowledging that teacher development is also a process of personal
development marks an important step toward the improvement of the
teaching. Tozer, Violas and Senese (1995) stated the goals of
teacher education as: to make the education of teachers
intellectually more solid; to recognize differences in teacher’s
knowledge, skills and commitment, in their education, certification
and work;to create standards of entry to the profession-examinations
and educational requirement that are professionally relevant and
intellectually defensible; to connect out institutions to schools
(for teacher preparation and development); and to make schools
better places for teacher to work and to learn. Thus, teacher
education entails having opportunities to develop the personal
qualities, commitment and self-understanding essential to becoming a
sensitive and flexible teacher. Wise(1996) is of the view that a
complete and flexible teacher is a combination of virtues, which
include the ability to sustain the interest of pupils from varied
intellectual background and intelligence quotients, scholarly
knowledge of varied school subjects and the ability to establish
cordial working relations with colleagues. Tamakloe (1997) sharing a
similar view pointed out that teacher education should develop a
kind of personality that has the attributes of competence and
maturity of a dynamic leader. He posits that “education is the
making of men; not training men to make things” (p. 62). It is for
this reason that he collapsed the numerous objectives of teacher
education into three main objectives. These are:the area of
cognitive development and acquisition of teaching skills; the
development of the ability to examine and identify education and
teaching problems and to solve them satisfactorily; and the
production of mature teachers capable of contributing to the
creation of significant and creative personal and inter group
relations. Teacher education, therefore, seeks to develop the
individual in the matters of head, heart and hand. This will, by and
large, make the would-be teacher more responsible in the classroom
and the society at large.
Professional Preparation of the Teacher
In the words of Arends (1991):
It is no longer sufficient for a teacher to be warm and loving
toward children, or is it sufficient for them to employ teaching
practices based solely on intuition, personal preference, or
conventional wisdom-teachers are held accountable for using teaching
practices that have been shown to be effective, just as members of
other professions are held to acceptable standards of practice (p.
1).
What can be filtered from this view is that the preparation of
teachers should take into account an array of issues such as: sound
knowledge of subject matter based on teaching and learning to guide
the art of teaching; a repertoire of best teaching practices
(methods, strategies, procedures) and ability to use these to help
learners understand the world of learning and their capabilities; to
view learning to teach as a life-long process and have dispositions
and skills for working toward improving teaching; always seeking for
the best alternative in effecting desirable behaviours in learners
and at the same time helping learners to be creative and independent
and; a leader and social being capable of adapting to any
environment in the mounting frustrations. According to Renes (1970)
what is taught at the pre-service institution greatly influences the
future career of mentees. To him, the manner of teaching at the
training colleges influences mentees’ professional efficiency as
they teach at the basic level schools. Consequently, Lockheed and
Verspoor (1991) emphasize that effective pre-service training need
to build on a sound knowledge of the curriculum, pedagogical skills
and practice teaching under the supervision of an experienced and
capable teacher. Wragg (1993) holds a different view and asserts
that:
If teaching children is one of the most important responsibilities a
society can ask some of its members to undertake, then the challenge
to nurture and enhance the professional skills of each new
generation of teachers for the vastly complex world of the
twenty-first century, and sharpen the proficiency of teachers
already in post must be an equally valuable assignment (p. 196).
The view of Wragg goes to augment the need to constantly expose
teachers already in the system to new ideas and values of the
society so that they may not lag behind societal development. Cooper
(1990) sharing similar view posits that proficiency in teaching will
not be achieved as a result of formal training alone (pre-service
training), it is a lifelong process involving both formal training
and an unending programme of on-the-job training. Veenman (1984)
hints that the “transition from teacher training to the first
teaching job could be a dramatic and traumatic one” (p.143). He,
therefore, suggests that problems faced by beginning teachers in
their first years should be referenced to when designing pre-service
and in service programme. Generally, most trainees feel stressed
when facing with the realities of teaching and find it difficult to
handle the situation in classroom teaching (Nguyen, 2013).To address
this, Uusimaki (2013) suggest that the mentor should provide good
model teaching practice, stimulate reflection, be encouraging,
provide counselling and provide constructive daily feedback to the
mentee.
The views presented show that teacher preparation and development
should be a continuum from pre-service through induction to
continuing professional development (in-service). These three phases
should be given maximum attention for the proper development of a
teacher capable of facing classroom challenges. The induction
preparation should consist of seminars and workshops that should aim
at providing the newly trained teacher with information concerning
personal adjustment, practices and values of school and society, and
the benefits and challenges of the teaching profession. These kinds
of information will enable the newly trained teacher to acquaint
him/herself properly with the school and community, an indicator to
effective teaching. The in-service programme constitutes exposing
practicing teachers to new values and roles of society and school,
in particular. It is also a process of introducing suchteachers to
new techniques of teaching or new ways of doing things in the
classroom as well as new concepts and theories. The pre-service
should provide would-be teachers sound knowledge of subject matter,
ways of dealing with classroom situation, parents or communities in
which they will be teaching and methods of teaching. This aspect of
preparation rests on three components: general education;
specialized subject, field education and professional education.
That is, mentees should be taken through all the topics of their
subject of specialization and the topics they will be teaching. This
will enable them have sound knowledge over and above those they will
be teaching.
Stone (1985) admits that practice teaching is only one of a variety
of terms applied to that part of a mentee’s professional training
that involves the mentee trying to teach pupils. He mentions other
terms used more or less synonymously as, teaching practices,
students teaching, school experience, field experience, and
practicum. In response to the benefits that can be derived from
teaching practice, Kasanda (1995) thinks that the inclusion of
teaching practices in the preparation of would-be teachers allows
them to face their real world of work before they actually join the
profession of their choice. According to him, it is an era that the
would-be teacher faces the school he/she will be teaching, become
acquainted with the school problems and deficiencies, and,
hopefully, utilize those to prepare well-adjusted and effective
teachers for the school system. In similar proportion, Burr, Harding
and Jacob (1950) believe that it is during the teaching practice
period that the mentee assumes the role of an actual classroom
teacher to work with pupils. It enables the mentee to put into
practice the techniques learnt during methodology classes. Burr et
al (1950) state that it helps mentees to gain insights into the
actual problems of classroom teaching and to acquire the abilities
and skills inherent in actual teaching situations thereby bringing
mentees into intimate contact with pupils. Teaching practice is a
means of equipping would-be teachers with special competencies that
distinguish them from untrained teachers. According to Dwight and
Ryan (1969) other professions have built into their training
programme opportunity for “safe practice”. By safe practice they
mean giving practice training to their apprentices with minimum
amount of risk. According to them, the law student has his/her “moot
court”, while the medical student has his/her “Cadaver” (corpse for
practice). They, therefore, intimate that microteaching is given as
a safe device to prepare mentees for teaching. This is a technique
whereby a mentee teaches a small size of a class for a brief period
of about five minutes and teaches a small aspect of a lesson. Watson
and Osibodu (1987) support the safe device and postulate that
learning to teach by teaching friends is another safe device for
equipping mentees with the skills and techniques of teaching. They
refer to this type of teaching as peer teaching. They define peer
teaching as a method, whereby one of the mentees assumes the
position of a ‘teacher’ with the others acting as ‘pupils’.
Role-playing like this, gives the mentee valuable insights into some
of the emotions experienced by practicing teachers. In support,
Uusimaki (2013) indicate that good mentoring involves caring for the
mentee and to be able to communicate clearly what the mentee needs
to work on whilst on the practicum. He further states that a good
mentor meets the needs of the mentees that he/she is mentoring, and
to enable them develop their skills ... a good mentor does not only
go through the theory, they need to be able to demonstrate what they
say in practice.
Research Design
The study sought to evaluate the effectiveness of the In-In-Out
Programme of Teacher Education in Ghana. This involves, among other
things, exploring the conditions that necessitate the designing and
implementation of the programme, the characteristics of implementers
(link tutors, mentees and mentors), probing the adequacy of
resources, determining the strategies used, gauging the attitudes of
implementers, and describing the effectiveness of the programme on
mentees. The study was structured basically within the framework of
the descriptive research design. According to Ary, Jacobs and
Razavieh (2006), descriptive research studies are designed to obtain
information, which concerns the current status of phenomenon. The
use of descriptive research will enable the researcher bring to
light the status of the implementation of the In-In-Out Programme in
the colleges. This type of design is preferred because the extent to
which the In-In-Out Programme is implemented in the classroom by the
implementers’ deals with attitudes. The descriptive design will,
therefore, provide the picture of the implementation process and
also expose the attitudes of implementers towards the programme.
Furthermore, it can be used with greater confidence with regard to
particular questions of special interest or value to the researcher.
Also in-depth follow-up questions can be asked and items that are
unclear can be explained using descriptive design (Cohen, Manion and
Morrison (2007)).
Notwithstanding the advantages associated with descriptive survey,
Creswell (2003) contends that errors and inadequacies of survey
research in education appear at many points from the way problems
are initially chosen and defined through selection of population and
sample to items construction and analysis of resulting data.
Accordingly, Gall, Gall and Borg (2007) postulate that descriptive
statistical analysis limits generalization to the particular group
of individuals observed and that no conclusions are extended beyond
this group. Descriptive research surveys therefore focus on
ascertaining the status of a defined population in relation to
certain variables. Cohen, et al. (2007) are of the view that there
is the difficulty of ensuring that the questions to be answered by
respondents when using the descriptive survey results can vary
greatly depending on the exact wording of questions or statements.
Another disadvantage of the descriptive survey is that it may
produce untrustworthy result because they may delve into private and
emotional matters that respondents may not be completely truthful
about. In spite of these disadvantages, the descriptive survey
design is considered the most appropriate for carrying out the study
on the evaluation of the In-In-Out Programme of teacher education.
This is because the effect of the programme on mentees depends on
how a group (respondents) perceived it.
Population
The population of the study was all third year mentees of 2001/2002
academic year, link tutors and principals of teacher education in
the country; first batch of teachers of the In-In-Out Programme; and
selected mentors from the schools of attachment. The essence of this
structure is to collect detailed and objective information as far as
possible from different groups of people responsible for the
implementation of the In-In-Out programme. The principals provide a
conducive environment and play a supervisory role in the successful
implementation of the programme. The selection of tutors is based on
the fact that they are the implementers (i.e., they put the
programme into real use in the classroom) of the programme. The
choice of third year mentees and first batch of teachers is also
based on the fact that they have experienced all the stages of the
programme. Finally, mentors are necessary for the study since they
guide the mentees throughout the one-year period of attachment. The
total population was, therefore, about 6,600 respondents. The
accessible population, however, was mentees, tutors and principals
in the seven colleges that were drawn from the 41 colleges in the
country. The first batch of teachers of the programme and mentors
from the districts where these colleges do attachment were also part
of the accessible population.
Sample and Sampling Techniques
Four categories, comprising 7 principals, 120 tutors, 350 mentees
and 70 first batch of teachers of the programme and 100 mentors
constituted the sample for the study. Thus, the total sample size
was 647 participants. The sampling techniques employed for the study
were the proportional stratified and simple sampling. According to
Gay (1992) proportional stratified sampling is more convenient when
sub-groups in the population are represented in the sample in the
same proportion that they exist in the population” (p.129). He
further stated that “any location, within which we find an intact
group of similar characteristics (population members), is a stratum”
(p.132). Since the colleges are spread all over the country and each
location has its peculiarity, it will be proper to use stratified
sampling. Also, the procedure ensures proportional representation of
each part of the country for the study.
All the forty
one (41) colleges in the country were put into four zones, based on
their location. These zones formed the strata from which the
colleges were selected.In an attempt to obtain a representative
sample of the colleges from the four zones for the study, the names
of the Teacher Colleges in the country were collected from the
Institute of Education, University of Cape Coast,Cape Coast. These
zones formed the sub strata from which the appropriate proportional
representations were identified. The names of the various colleges
were given code numbers for sample selection. From the list, another
sampling frame was constructed. The proportionate number of colleges
from each zone required for the study was determined. This was about
17.1% i.e. the total number of colleges to be sampled (7), divided
by the total number of colleges in each zone was multiplied by 0.171
to obtain the number of colleges to be sampled from the zone. For
example Northern zone has seven Teacher Training Colleges. This was
multiplied by the 0.171 to obtain 1.19 which was approximated to one
college. Similarly Eastern zone has sixteen colleges. This
multiplies by 0.171 to give 2.7 which was rounded to 3 and so on.
The simple random sampling was then used to select the sample
colleges from each zone. Each college was given a code and this was
written on a piece of paper. These pieces of paper were folded and
mixed together. The piece of paper wee then picked one after the
other without seeing through the pool. This was done with
replacement in order to maintain the same probability for each
sample college. This process continued until the needed number or
sub-sample colleges of 17.07% was obtained for all the four zones.
The number of colleges selected from each zone is shown in Table 1.
To ensure the representativeness of the sample for the study, the
class lists of mentees and the list of tutors in the six colleges
were collected. A stratified proportional sampling technique was
employed in selecting mentees and tutors from the lists obtained for
the study. This was to ensure gender representation. By this
procedure, male and female sample size was selected in proportion of
the total enrolment of third year mentees and tutors respectively.
Finally, simple random sampling was used to select individual
respondents from each sample group for the study. In this method,
pieces of paper were cut using the same measurement and the serial
number of each mentee was written on each piece of paper. Each piece
of paper was rolled and mixed together. The pieces of paper were
then kept in a container and tossed so that they were thoroughly
mixed. The rolled papers were picked one by one without the selector
seeing through the pool. This was done with replacement in order to
maintain the same probability for each respondent to be picked.
Thus, when one is picked, it was recorded and put back into the
container. In the event of the same number being drawn twice, the
second drawing was ignored and the number was returned to the pool.
The activity continued until the needed number of respondents was
obtained. The whole activity was repeated in order to obtain the
required number of tutors for the study.
The list of first batch of teachers of the programme was obtained
from the selected District Education Offices. The same simple random
sampling, using the lottery method, was employed in selecting
schools in which first batch of teachers were posted. That is, each
school was given a serial number. These serial numbers were written
on pieces of paper and folded. The folded papers were then picked
one by one without the selector seeing through the pool. Each time a
school was drawn, the number of first batch of teachers in that
school was taken until the required number of first batch of
teachers was obtained.
The mentors were selected on the basis of convenience. All mentors
who were available at the time the researcher visited the school
were selected until the required number was obtained. The detailed
sample size is illustrated in Tables 2 and 3.
Research
Instruments
An eclectic approach using different tools was employed to obtain
the necessary data and to address the research questions. This
included the use of questionnaires, semi-structured interviews and
observation. Together, they provided rich sources of detailed
information and ensured validation of the findings through
triangulation. Documents that furnished secondary data were the
syllabuses and the policy document guiding the implementation of the
programme. These documents
were analysed with respect to what happens in real classroom
situations. This provided the basis for judging the worth of the
actual implementation relative to the intended implementation of the
programme.
Data Collection Procedure
The instruments were personally administered by the researcher to
respondents in their various colleges, and places of practice in the
case of the mentees. With the permission of the college authorities,
the researcher met the selected tutors at their respective colleges,
gave out the questionnaire and explained to them each item of the
questionnaire, respondents were then allowed to respond to the items
on the questionnaire.In each college, the respondents were informed
that the completed questionnaires would be collected back in a
week’s time. This was to give them enough time to respond to all the
items on the questionnaire since they were many. The first visit to
each college was used for the administration of the instrument,
while the second and subsequent visits were used to interview the
Principals and to collect the completed instruments from the
respondents. Out of the 640 questionnaires administered, 575
representing 89.8% were retrieved.
With the students, the researcher located their place of practice
and asked for permission from the District Directors of Education to
administer the questionnaire. The researcher administered the
questionnaire in the same manner as was done for the tutors, but the
completed questionnaires were collected the following day. The
researcher personally observed mentees teaching a few classes and
recorded what took place in the classroom. These pieces of evidence
were compared with what the policy document entails.Finally, the
researcher had a face-to-face talk with the principals of the seven
colleges about how the programme was being implemented in their
respective colleges. The prepared interview guide was used. The
researcher recorded all that the principals said. The researcher
spent a week in each college. The administration of the instrument
took a period of 70 days to complete.
Data Analysis
The researcher requested for the syllabuses and the policy document
on the programme. These documents served as a reference point from
which the researcher was able to determine whether or not the
activities on the ground (i.e. the use of the programme) were making
any impact on the mentees.The responses were edited, coded and
scored. The scores for each respondent were summed across the items
to obtain their final raw score. Simple percentages and frequency
tables were used to analyze the items. In a few cases, the mean of
means was used to analyze certain variables. The analysis was done
based on each research question.
DISCUSSION
Tozeret al (1995) contend that one dimension of professional
preparation in other fields is the clinical internship in which
students practice their craft for the period of one or more years
under the guidance of practicing professionals. In the teaching
profession, practical preparation requires a mentee to undergo a
structured internship before being admitted to practice. Internship
provides training and gives guidance and support to beginning
practitioners. This is what In-In-Out Programme seeks to do. The
policy document guiding the implementation of the In-In-Out
Programme refers to teacher trainees as mentees; classroom teachers
as mentors; and tutors at the training colleges as link tutors.
Koetsier and Wubbels (1995) contend that beginning teachers
experience a ‘reality shock’ in their first year, when faced with
the demands of teaching and the gap between their ideals and the
reality of everyday school life. According to them teacher education
has failed to prepare student teachers for the reality of the
teaching profession. To cope with this shock, Koetsier and Wubbels
contend that there is the need for mentees to undergo some kind of
training under mentorship. In support of this, Veenman (1984) posits
that the transition from teacher training to the teaching job can be
a dramatic and traumatic one. All these views, therefore, justify
the introduction of the In-In-Out Programme in Ghana.
Responses of research questions made by respondents under the study
include:
How adequate are resources (in terms of teaching staff, teaching
learning materials, laboratories and transport) in the colleges for
the colleges for the successful implementation of the programme? The
responses of tutors and mentees were used to analyse this research
question. In recognition of the importance that resource materials
play, the present study attempted to find out whether required
teaching-learning resource materials were available and adequate in
the colleges at the time of implementation of the In-In-Out
programme. The responses are summarized in Table 4.
Table 4 shows that most facilities were not available in the
colleges and all the colleges claimed that they did not have
teachers’ handbook. However, 82.2% of the respondents claimed that
their colleges had adequate syllabuses and 92.2% of them said that
the physical infrastructure of their colleges was adequate.
Respondents were requested to indicate how adequate the period
allocated to the component part of the In-In-Out Programme was.
Table 5 gives the responses of respondents.
From Table 5, it is clear that a large proportion of the respondents
(85.8%) said that the time allotted for first year observation was
adequate and 84.1% of them claimed that the time allotted for
teaching of content was adequate. However, time allotted for the
practical training aspects of the programme, visits by link tutors
and tutorials by link tutors was inadequate.
How effective
are tutors using the strategies stipulated in the policy document
guiding the implementation of the programme?
The implementation of the In-In-Out Programme requires link tutors
and mentors to give support to mentees during school-based
attachment to enable them acquire basic skills in teaching. The
other strategy used in transacting the programme was the use of
appropriate methods of teaching. This research question was analyzed
using the responses of tutors, mentors and mentees. Table
6summarises the effectiveness of the support that link tutors offer
to mentees.
As shown in Table 6, the most effective supports given to mentees
were to discuss mentees lesson plans with them and help reorganize
mentees lesson delivery. The least supports given to mentees were to
discuss distance learning material with mentees and help mentees
organize their circle discussion with mean values of 1.06 and 1.25
respectively. Respondents were required to state the support that
mentors gave to mentees. Each respondent stated one or more supports
that mentors gave to mentees. The responses are captured in Table 7.
From Table 7, it could be observed that a relative frequency
percentage of 36.3% of the respondents regarded class management as
the most common support given to mentees. The next common support
given to mentees was guiding lesson planning and delivery, and the
supply of teaching learning materials. That the most frequently used
method was discussion. Peer teaching was the second method
frequently used by tutors to teach. This finding is consistent with
the policy document that stipulates that peer teaching should be
factored into teaching of content integrated with methods.
Table 8 summaries respondents’ views on the number of times that
link tutors visit schools of attachment.
In Table 8, it can be observed that more than half (53.7%) of the
respondents stated that link tutors visit schools of attachment
termly and 21.2% of them claimed that link tutors visit schools
monthly. Only 8.2% of the respondents asserted that link tutors
visit school weekly. However, 16.9% of the respondents stated that
link tutors visit schools of attachment every other week or
irregularly. When asked to list the challenges encountered so far in
the implementation of the In-In-Out Programme, respondents raised
pertinent issues. These responses are presented in Table 9.
The responses in Table 9 show that nearly all the respondents
mentioned the same challenges encountered during the implementation
of the problem. This is evident from relative frequency percentage
between 4.3 and 17.1 for all the challenges identified.
Respondents were requested to suggest ways by which the
implementation of the In-In-Out Programme could be improved. All the
respondents offered suggestions, which are presented in Table 10.
Responses as shown in Table 10 reveal that a majority of the
respondents indicated the dire need to have regular in-service
training for mentors. One principal of a college said:
Mentors must be trained to gain insight into the structure and
content of the programme. There should be regular training to
continuously update mentors’ knowledge aboutthe programme and even
provide opportunity for new teachers(mentors) who take up places of
old mentors who have left (Personal Communication, March, 2013).
A link tutor wrote:
“Mentors may be complacent, they need to be reminded.” It can be
inferred from these responses that regular in-service training not
only improves efficiency but also makes mentors to accept ownership
of the programme.
Concerning regular supervision and monitoring of mentees’ work, a
relative frequency percentage of 18.6 of the respondents view it as
essential to professional development of mentees. One mentee wrote:
“we need our teachers to see us working in order to boost our
moral”. Clearly, the presence of link tutors provides the
opportunity for fruitful interaction among mentee, mentor and the
link tutor. Thus, mentees would be in better position to reorganize
their lesson preparation and delivery. One of the means of improving
the quality of education management under the new educational reform
programme is to strengthen supervisory capacity at all levels so
that absenteeism among teachers and learners would reduce and
effective use of instructional time ensured (GES, 1998). This
objective appears not to have been achieved as evidenced by
suggestion of the respondents. An effective monitoring system,
therefore, needs to be put in place at the schools of attachment.
The provision of vehicles for supervision as suggested by
respondents is the first step in ensuring proper supervision; hence
it is in the right direction.
Touching upon the urgent need for motivating all implementers the
respondents made a number of suggestions. The highlights are that
the training allowances given to mentees should be increased. The
essence is to enable them live a decent life at their places of
attachment and to enable them buy teaching learning materials to
supplement those of the schools. Both tutors and mentors should be
given incentives for the extra work they do. A tutor said “we incur
some cost during the supervision”. Another said, “We must be
rewarded for the extra work that we do which include risk allowance
in the cause of making journeys to schools of attachment”.
A relative frequency percentage of 16.0 of the respondents also
suggested that teacher training college and school of attachment
should be provided with teaching learning resources. The provision
of textbooks and other audio-visual resources will guide both tutors
and mentees to make teaching and learning real to pupils.The first
research question sought to find out the level of importance
implementers attach to each of the objectives and activities of the
programme. The result indicated that the programme was implemented
among others to exposed mentees to the challenges of the teaching
profession. The results were consistent with the observation of
Tozeretal (1995) who state that one of the goals of teacher
education is to connect training experiences to classroom teaching.
The general level of importance placed
on all the objectives was high as evidenced by the mean of means of
3.42. The mean standard deviations of 0.63 indicate that there was
no great difference amongst the respondents’ agreement to each
objective and activity. This would seem to suggest that respondents
would support the implementation of the programme. Interview with
the principals also revealed that they had sound knowledge of the
objectives of the programme and they placed premium on all its
objectives. One principal states ‘The old programme produced
teachers who were aliens to the environment they will be teaching
in, content not related to what they would be teaching and lack
appropriate methods that could be used for a particular topic in a
subject. But the new programme is capable of introducing mentees to
the environment they would be teaching in and helping them to select
appropriate methods of the teaching profession’.
The views of respondents about the objectives of the In-In-Out
Programme were consistent with GES/TED (1998), which claims that the
In-In-Out Programme seeks to overcome the inadequacies in the old
programme. Based on the objectives stated in the policy document, it
is evident from the data that a large proportion of implementers had
sound knowledge of and placed much importance on each of the
objectives of the programme as set out by GES/TED (1998).
The second research question sought to find out the attitude of
implementers towards the objectives and activities of the programme.
The results showed that the attitudes of respondents towards the
programme were very positive. When asked to state implementers’
attitude towards the programme, two principals gave similar
responses, which are captured as follows: The implementers have
positive attitudes towards the programme. They cooperated in all
aspects of the implementation of the programme. Initially, they were
skeptical about the success of the programme but they are now
supportive despite lack of incentives. The responses quoted revealed
that the principals were of the view that link tutors in the course
of implementing the programme developed positive attitude towards
it.
Research on attitude of teachers and learners towards programme
implementation has established similar results in other instances.
In Netherlands, Koetsier and Wubbels (1995) conducted a study on the
attitude of implementers towards the implementation of a similar
programme (dubbed) Independent Final Teaching Period) to that of
In-In-Out Programme. The study revealed that all the implementers
had positive attitude towards the implementation of the programme.
Preparation of Implementers towards the Implementation of the
Programme
The responses suggest that very little was done in the area of
involving tutors in the designing of the In-In-Out Programme.A
majority (72%) of the mentors were prepared towards the
implementation of the programme through workshops and seminars.
About 22.7% of the mentors were prepared through in-service
training, and the rest had information on the programme through
circulars/letters sent to their schools. The essence of the
workshops or in-service was to introduce mentors to the process of
implementing the In-In-Out Programme. Aspects of the workshops and
seminars include knowledge of the objectives and activities of the
programme and how they should conduct their supervisory role as
mentors. This showed that most of the mentors had adequate knowledge
of the implementation of the programme through the workshops and
seminars that were run for them.
The findings revealed that mentees were given very adequate
preparation in content areas than they were given in professional
training. It can be inferred from this finding that the preparation
of mentees was inconsistent with the assertion of Lockheed and
Verpoor (1991). They emphasised that the preparation of teachers
should not only be built on sound knowledge of subject matter but
also acquisition of sound pedagogical skills and constant practice
of these skills. This is an indication that the college authorities
did not adhere to the prescribed guideline for the preparation of
implementers towards the implementation of the programme. In fact,
less time was given to the professional training aspect of the
programme. This was evident from the responses implementers gave in
relations to the items on mentees’ preparation towards the programme.
The college authorities’ inability to provide enough professional
training sessions for mentees has far reaching consequences on their
professional development. It, therefore, implied that mentees were
ill prepared for real class room situation. The above findings
support the observation of Veenman (1984), that there was good
reason to believe that the transition from teacher training to the
first teaching job could be a dramatic and traumatic one.
Mentees were required to indicate the better way their colleges
could have prepared them for teaching. The responses revealed that
76.7% of the respondents wanted more professional training than the
teaching of content; 84.5% of them thought that they should have
been taken through all the topics in the basic school’s syllabuses;
and 64.7% wanted more time to be allotted to the teaching of content
integrated with methods. Below are some responses worth quoting:
Tutors should give enough demonstration lessons for us to observe
how to present a lesson to pupils.
This will help us see how to introduce a lesson, how to use varied
teaching methods and how to conclude (305)*.
The college should motivate the tutors so that they will always be
ready to give out their best (137)*
Tutors should teach mentees the appropriate methods of handling the
various topics in basic level syllabuses and give example (083)*
The college should intensify the teaching of methods and content,
they should also organize fieledtrips for mentees to see things for
themselves (118)
Seminars should be organized during the Out period Content with
methods should be properly taught (266)
The time allocated for peer teaching should be increased.
And methodology aspect of the training course should be encouraged
(127)*.
By continuing the observation for effective peer teaching more LTMs
should be made available in our colleges (253)*.
These responses centered on practical training and provision of
teaching learning resources. According to the mentees, the practical
training was not enough and that enough time should have been
reserved for practical training since the content area was something
they had already done. Also, they indicated the need to be helped to
develop skills on the selection and usage of teaching learning
resources. Their responses corroborate those of the policy document.
According to GES/TED (1998):
There should be a move away from the teaching of content to the
preparation of teachers for teaching responsibility through
purposeful observation of teaching and school work, and through
graduated forms of teaching skills development and work experience.
Emphasis should be placed on professional training rather than
giving out information (p.23)*.
* Serial number of questionnaire.
Availability of Resources in the Colleges
Discussion with some of the respondents and data from the
researcher’s observation in the seven colleges revealed that the
recommended textbooks for use in transacting the programme were not
available in the colleges. According to the tutors, they depend
solely on personal experiences and pamphlets written by their
colleagues for teaching. One of the tutors said that: “The pamphlets
contained a great deal of incorrect information, trivial facts and
poor style. But we are compelled to use them”. With such textbooks
being used in the colleges, one can hardly say that the programme
was being steered on the right course.
Another finding from Table 4 was that the teaching and learning
materials were woefully inadequate. This shortfall goes to confirm
the inadequate preparation of tutors towards the use of audio-visual
resources. Also, data from the researcher’s observation indicates
that mentees did not often cite examples from teaching learning
materials like posters, newspapers and pictures in their teaching;
neither did they refer pupils to such materials. All the colleges
had science laboratories but it was revealed that facilities in eh
laboratories were inadequate. As such, science related subjects were
taught in classrooms with a display of few specimens on a table.
Certainly, the inadequacy of the supply of curriculum materials and
the complete lack of them in some cases should have serious
repercussions on the effectiveness of the In-In-Out Programme. For,
no worker, no matter the nature of the job, can be expected to work
effectively without the requisite tools of his trade.
Also, the study revealed that time allotted to the various aspect of
the programme was not proportional to the level of importance
attached to each component. This is because much time was allotted
to first year observation than that of content integrated with
methods. With
respect to the other components of the programme, respondents
thought otherwise. More than 60% of the respondents claimed that the
times allotted for second year peer teaching, visits by link tutors
and tutorials by link tutors, and teaching of content integrated
with methods were woefully inadequate. That 70% of the mentees
suggested that more time should be allocated to method courses and
62.5% of the mentees wanted more time to be allocated to
micro-teaching and peer teaching. The general impression, therefore,
is that the respondents felt that the time allotted for the various
components of the programme was not adequate.
Use of strategies to implement the programme
All the principals interviewed mentioned the supports given to
mentees by link tutors as post teaching counseling; guide in lesson
preparation; and discussion with the mentors on how mentees are
faring. The responses of the principals reflect the findings of
table 6. Though guiding mentees on lesson preparation and delivery
were the major supports emphasized in the policy document, the low
support given to mentees in other areas remains a source of worry.
This is because the distance learning materials are textbooks that
mentees were not familiar with. By allowing mentees to study these
materials alone might put undue pressure on them thereby reducing
class contact hours they would have had with pupils.
In summary, some supports given to mentees were very effective and
others very little or totally absent. As such, mentees did not
receive the required support from tutors. However, based on the mean
of means of 2.48, one can infer that the support given to mentees by
link tutors was effective.
RESULTS
There was generally a favourable attitude of all categories of
respondents to the implementation of the In-In-Out programme, at
least, in its conceptual form. The respondents preferred the
In-In-Out Programme to the old programme. They took this stance
because they felt that the In-In-Out Programme expose mentees to the
reality of the profession and is capable of bridging the gap between
initial teacher training and classroom work better than the old
programme. The respondents therefore felt the In-in-Out Programme
was very acceptable and, consequently, would not support any move to
discontinue the programme. The involvement of tutors in the
development of the programme was very minimal. Only 8.6% of the
tutors were involved in the development of curricular materials for
the implementation of the In-In-Out Programme. All the mentors were
briefed on the implementation of the In-In-Out Programme and the
role they were to play either through in-service training or
workshop/seminar. The essence of this briefing was to enable them
learn how they should conduct their supervisory role as mentors. The
implication is that all the mentors had adequate knowledge of their
role in the implementation process. The training of mentees was
basically in content areas. A mean value of 1.79 shows that the
preparation of mentees through practical training was inadequate.
The tutors had enough preparation for the implementation of the
programme. However, preparation in the use of audiovisual material
was very inadequate.
More than 70% of the respondents felt teaching-learning material;
science laboratory facilities and teachers’ handbooks were woefully
inadequate. The allocation of time for the components of the
programme was not the best. Much time was allocated for first year
observation and the teaching of content. However, the allocation of
time for peer teaching, visits and tutorials by link tutors, and the
teaching of content integrated with methods were inadequate. The
findings therefore showed that much attention was not given to the
professional training aspect of the programme. The required support
that tutors and mentors were to give to mentees was inadequate. More
than 65% of the respondents felt that the support given by mentors
to mentees in terms of lesson planning and delivery was not
effective. Class management was the area in which 78.9% of the
respondents claimed the support given to mentees was effective.
However, tutors gave enough support in lesson planning and delivery
but did little in discussing distance learning materials with
mentees. The most frequently used instructional method by the tutors
was teacher-class discussion. The rarely used method was simulation
and the method that was never used was the use of resource
persons.The other methods: lecture, field trip, role play, discovery
and peer teaching were occasionally used. The rare use of these
methods would seem to reflect the unsatisfactory professional
preparation of mentees. The most common visit made by tutors to
schools of attachment was termly visiting. This is in contradiction
to the policy document guiding the implementation of the In-In-Out
programme, which stipulates that link tutors should visit schools of
attachment every other week. Incompetent mentors, poor supervision,
inadequate resource materials, lack of incentives for tutors and
mentors and inadequacy of allocated time were some of the challenges
identified by respondents as affecting the successful implementation
of the In-In-Out Programme.
The programme had some positive impact on mentees. More than 73% of
the respondents mentioned some of the impact as exposure to the
reality of teaching acquisition of classroom management skills and
being more professionally trained. The involvement of the mentees in
community activities was very low. With the exception of
relationship with parents and community members all other activities
showed a mean value of less than 1.0. However, mentees were deeply
involved in the activities of the school. Indeed, a mean of means
values of 3.37 and 3.77 of mentors and mentees respectively
indicated that mentees were actively involved in school activities.
A mean of means value of 2.36 rated by tutors indicated that the
performance of mentees at school of attachment was good. All
respondents generally accepted the programme. The respondents
claimed that the programme was more effective in producing competent
teachers, but added that the problems identified should be resolved.
The overwhelming evidence from the study supported much of the
researchers previously cited and at the same time went contrary to
some other studies. However, it can be concluded that, differences
existed between the implementation of the programme in the classroom
situation and the standards that have been set in the policy
document guiding the implementation of the programme. These
differences occurred mostly in the preparation of mentees and the
support that link tutors and mentors were to give to mentees.
Furthermore, the recommended resource materials were lacking in most
colleges. The study, however, established that all the implementers
attach a very high level of importance to the objectives and
activities of the programme.
CONCLUSION AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The overwhelming evidence from the study supported much of the
researchers previously cited and at the same time went contrary to
some other studies. However, it can be concluded that, differences
existed between the implementation of the programme in the classroom
situation and the standards that have been set in the policy
document guiding the implementation of the programme. These
differences occurred mostly in the preparation of mentees and the
support that link tutors and mentors were to give to
mentees.Furthermore, the recommended resource materials were lacking
in most colleges. The study, however, established that all the
implementers attach a very high level of importance to the
objectives and activities of the programme.
On the basis of the findings, the following recommendations are
proposed for the consideration of policy makers in teacher
education. Information on the programme should be made available to
not only the implementers but also all the stakeholders in education
including the larger members of the society. This is because the
ultimate goals of any innovation in education are geared towards the
satisfaction of societal needs. If information about the programme
is made available to the general public, the benefits are that the
public will adopt a positive attitude towards the programme and even
contribute financially to its implementation. Besides, having
detailed information on the programme would satisfy the tutor’s
quest for understanding the nature of the programme and appreciating
its usefulness. Considering the pivotal role tutors play in the
implementation of a new programme, it is strongly recommended that
some incentives be provided for tutors and mentors to stimulate
their interest towards the programme development and its
implementation. Since the successful implementation of any programme,
to a large extent, depends heavily on the goodwill and cooperation
them with incentives, principals, mentees and mentors, in addition
to providing them with incentives, they should be involved or views
must be elicited from them in the process of programme development
so as to ensure their commitment to its successful implementation.
Provision should therefore be made for tutors to be involved in the
designing of subsequent programmes as well as curricular materials.
This will enable tutors be partners in the implementation process
(not consumers). As such, they will do all they can to support it.
The importance of availability of appropriate resource materials in
the success of a new programme was stressed. It is important that
adequate provision be made for the supply of these inputs to the
colleges and all basic schools in the country prior to
implementation of the programme. In particular, teacher resource
centres in all the colleges should be equipped with those resources
materials to enable tutors use them to teach. More importantly,
tutors should be trained on how to develop and improvise some of the
resource materials needed, and also be trained on how to use them.
The government, communities and non-government of these resource
materials. Furthermore, training workshops should be organized from
time to time for all tutors to develop the skills in writing of
textbooks. This will reduce the burden on government of having to
use stressed scarce resources in importing or contracting foreign
expertise to write textbooks for use in the country. Lecturers in
the universities of the country could serve as resource persons. To
arrest the problem of incompetent mentors, there should be periodic
and regular in-service education for all teachers at the basic level
and not only those selected to serve as mentors. The essence of this
in-service training is to ensure that teachers at this level have
update knowledge of the changes that are taking place in teacher
education and for that matter the teaching profession. Also, regular
in-service training will facilitate the replacement of teachers who
are trained as mentors leave the schools of attachment to another or
leave teaching entirely.
One of the priority actions, which need to be taken to sustain and
develop the In-In-Out Programme, is the establishment of reliable
structures for effective monitoring and evaluation. In line with
this, all colleges should be provided with additional vehicle meant
solely for conveying tutors to schools of attachment to supervise
the work of mentees. This will ease the transportation problems of
tutors. In addition, allowances should be paid to tutors according
to the number of visits made and the quality of supervision done.
The chain of supervision of mentees must therefore be: mentors
supervising mentees; tutors supervising both mentors and mentees;
and officials from headquarters supervising the activities of
colleges and those of schools of attachment. This is to ensure that
absenteeism on the part of mentors and mentees are reduced if not
eliminated. Also, monthly seminars should be organized for the
induction team (link tutors, mentors, and mentees). This will enable
the team to discuss the challenges involved in mentorship and the
way forward. The present time allocation for peer teaching and the
teaching of content integrated with methods (otherwise known as
professional training) seems inadequate taking into account the
broad nature of the syllabuses of both teacher education and basic
education. It is, therefore, suggested that the training colleges
must learn to emulate the examples of the universities where lecture
hours are created even far into the night to accommodate new
courses. The training colleges may not even have to go that far into
the night, for after all, they end their classes around two O’clock
in the afternoons.
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Submission Date: 23,
December 2013
Accepted Date: 26,
February 2014
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