PARADIGMS OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN PRESENT CONTEXT (QUALITY ENHANCEMENT IN TEACHER EDUCATION)

There was a time when the teacher's role was to pass down to the younger generation - the knowledge, experiences and mythology of a slowly evolving society. The pace of change in contemporary society has made this role redundant. The modern teacher must be, among other things, a change-agent. It does not matter whether one is addressing the situation in a developing or an industrialized nation, the problem remains the same. What are the new dimensions of his / her role, and how is the teacher to be trained to fulfill that role. In examining the changing role of the teacher we need to see the changes as being a response to, and an attempt to confront, the pressures of a society undergoing constant transition. Thus the demand for qualified and quality teachers has been continuously on the increase the world over. It is thus necessary that quality concern is explicit in every aspect of teacher education programs.