The Support System for Skill Development of a Distance Teacher Education Programme: A Case Study

Abstract

The National Skill Development Mission underscores the
need for developing a skilled workforce for various occupations.
Teacher education, however, does not fall within the purview of the
“Skilling India” mission. This assertion is based on the literature that
upholds teaching as a profession, requiring prolonged and specialised
education for developing competencies that are far more comprehensive
and complex than occupational skills. However, some of these
competencies comprise skills, like that of using Information and
Communication Technology, counselling, classroom communication, and
so on, and the support system required for developing them through
the open and distance learning mode needs as much consideration as
that of occupational skills. This paper, therefore, focuses on the major
skills that the Certificate Programme for Professional Development of
Primary Teachers (offered by the Indira Gandhi National Open University
to in-service teachers), aims to develop and examines the support
system, the programme uses for developing these skills. It describes
first the context of the study. Thereafter in the perspective of the
pedagogic requirements of skill development, it evaluates the adequacy
of the instructional design, theoretical inputs, and the practical
component, for providing the support required for skill development.