MANAGING THE PARADIGM SHIFT IN TEACHING PRACTICE BY PROVIDING AN IMPACT-DRIVEN SUPPORTED TEACHING IN SCHOOLS (STS) PROGRAMS FOR WHOLISTIC DEVELOPMENT
Entering into the teaching profession requires teacher’s interest and adequate preparation. The preparation involves the acquisition of skills and knowledge to be well-prepared and be able to cope with the responsibilities at the school to which they will be posted after they graduate. Student teachers need to master all pertinent theories as well as how to put them into practice. Teaching practice exercise is converging point where the relationships among the three major players: university supervisor, host teacher (mentor), and student teacher interface to determine the quality of experience the student teacher will take away. It becomes the foundation on which the student teacher once certified and posted builds his/her professional identity. It is therefore necessary the student teachers are assigned to competent, qualified, knowledgeable and concerned assessors and mentors during the on-campus and off-campus exercises respectively, to help them assume the full range of duties of a teacher. This will require a change in the teaching practice paradigm. This study is to ascertain the impact of professional teaching practice, industrial attachment and practicum programs on students’ formation and community development. To achieve this objective, the study examines the activities of Professional Educational Practice Unit (PEPU) of the University for Development Studies, which is under the Directorate of Community Relations and Outreach Programs (DCROP), to ascertain the impact of teaching practice activities on teacher education.
Key words: Paradigm shift; impact-driven; teaching practice; supported teaching in schools; wholistic development.
