Teachers have been advised to be adept in theory and practice because studies have revealed that most educators in local universities are theoretical.
According to the University of Embu’s School of Education and Social Science Dean Dr Ciriaka Gitonga, most teacher trainees wrongly pride themselves in years of experience in teaching theory.
He said teacher trainers and their students need to demonstrate how to prepare for teaching right from college level through their upward career progression.
In an analysis “The Persistent Theory-Practice Divide in Teacher Education”, Dr Ciarika notes that most teachers and their trainers know about teaching but need to learn how to teach.
While stressing the need for better interaction during teaching practice, Dr Ciarika notes that the trainers are expected to assess a subject they have never studied without advanced pedagogy training and determine that a teacher trainee has done well.
She said it is mind-boggling how a linguist could be expected to assess a teacher trainee teaching a Chemistry lesson and decide whether or not they were well trained.
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Numerous issues, she said, continue to emerge with questions arising on who actually are the experts in education and whether the country needs to invest in subject matter or pedagogy experts.
Dr Ciarika argues that the persistent challenge of the theory-practice divide in teacher training profoundly impacts pre-service teachers and the teaching workforce and results in teachers who cannot even communicate in English or even write and read well.
“We have teachers who “who cannot speak good English,” “cannot express themselves,” “who cannot write well,” and a myriad of other inadequacies the teaching force has been accused of,” he said.
A solid foundation for integration of theory and practice, Dr Ciriaka said, needs to be created because as things stand presently, poor preparation for practice remains an issue that teacher educators need to urgently address.
Additionally, teacher educators, according to Dr. Ciriaka, need to boldly determine if they can support teacher trainees in integrating theory into practice in a school setting.
Expert teachers, she noted, could appear to a university professor to care less about the theory because they focus on training in the practice of teaching.
By Robert Nyagah
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