whereare60millionteachers_reimers1996pp469-492

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WHERE A RE 60 MILLION TEACHERS?

THE MISSING VOICE IN EDUCATIONAL

REFORMS AROUND THE WORLD

E)eonora Villegas-Reirners and Fernando Refiners

~ntroduction

A wave of educationreforms is sweepingthe globe. At all levels, counties, munici-

palities,departments and states are expecting tnore and new things from schools.

International organizations such as UNESCO, UNICEF, the World Bank andregional hanks are calling for renewed efforts to sustain those reforms.

Globalization, the search fornewsourcesofcompetitiveness, and the goals of

democracy, peace, and tolerance haveheightenedthe expectations of thepublic

about schools- ~andeducationsystems.

In these calls for reform and in the options whichare broughtforth to change

schools, therei s surprisingly littleattention to the roleof teachers. Some ofthe pro-

posals forchange advocate teacher-proof innovations, whichcan sustain the

impetus for changein spiteof the teachers. In sotne other cases,teachers are absent

frotn the discourseabout change. In yet othercases, the role ofteachersis not cen-tral tothe proposals forchange. Forexample, in the latest WorldBankEducation

Lleonora Viilcgas-Reimers Veneziie1a~

AssociateProtessor at ~heelock College, a teacher-preparation Institution in the United

States, and hasconsul ted on issuesof teacher preparation for a number of international

organizations. In addition to preparing teachers in the United States, she has conductedin-

servicetrainingprogrammesfor groupsof teachersin Mexico, ParaguayandVenezuela, and

has visited primaryschools in Central andSouth America, Jamaica, Egypt andPakistan.

Fernando Reimers (~~zezuelJ)

Policy Fellow at the I--Iarvard Institute for International Development. He has conducted

school research in Egypt,E l Salvador.Honduras, Jordan, Pakistan, Paraguay, and haspro-

vided policy adviceon issues ofeducation reformto governments in those andother coun-

tries in Latin America. I-Ic is currently directing a projectto suppott a national education

reform i n Paraguay. E-mail: [email protected]

Prospeeis. vol. XXVI . no. 3. Septeml~er1996


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470 Eleonora Villegas-Reimers andFernandoReimers

Sector Review (World Bank, 1 995a), six key options are proposed to reform edu-

cation systems, none ofwhichaddresses teachers, theirselection, training, supervi-sionor participation inthe reforms. Whilethe report gives threeparagraphs to

teacher training and selectionas means to improving qualit~it does notgive this

option acentral role amongthe reforms proposed.

This absenceof consideration for teachers, their selection andtraining is

important because it forms the basis ofpolicies which reinforce educational

reformsthat fail topay attention to teachers. Teacher-preparation institutions

remain underfunded, with poorly trained staff, andlow salaries and career incen-

tives,thus attracting weakcandidates to the profession. B y omitting teachers from

the spotlight of the debate, educational reforms produce education systems with

everless-competent teachers, thus fulfilling the implicit prophecy that efforts to

improve educationmust do withoutthe teachers.

That serious discussionsofreform in education systems haveoverlookedtherole and the potential of60 million teachers is not just politically andadministra-

tivelynaive (after all, who is going toimplement the reforms), but it also shows

poor understanding of the factors which influence educational opportunity in

schools.

A possiblereason toexplain this oversight rests in the inadequate research

foundation ofmany educational policy discussions. Duringthe last twenty years,

researchon the determinantsofstudent achievement hastried tosort out the rela-

tive influences ofvarious schoolinputs and processes.Summaries ofthese produc-

tion functionstudieshaveattempted to establish which are the best predictors. A

recent reviewofstudies ofthe determinants ofachievement, for instance, finds that

while schoollibraries, instructional time,homeworkand textbooks are significant

predictors ofstudent [earning in at [east75% ofthe studies, teacherknowtedgeand teacher experienceare only significantpredictors in 60%and 50% of the cases

(Fuller& Clarke, 1994).A similar review ofstudies conducted in Latin America

concludes that yearsof schooling, subject matterknowledge andexperience ofthe

teachers are notrelated to student achievement in about50%of the cases,and that

in-servicetraining isneverrelated (Velez, Schiefelbein& Valenzuela, 1993).

To conclude that some teacher characteristics, such as their preparation,

knowledgeor experience can be ignored in efforts toreform education systems

becausein some studieseven in about halfofthe studiesthey do notappear to

be related to student achievementis an unwarranted generalization. More impor-

tant questions than in how manystudies teachers make a difference are:under

whatcircumstances do teacher-related policiesmatter? Andhow can teacherprac-

tices be changed to expand opportunitiesfor learning gains? Unless educationatsomefuture timeis re-structured in a way whichno longerneeds teachers, the per-

tinentquestion is not whetherteachers arean input that matters forreform hut

(givenhowmuchtheyobviously matter) howcan theirinfluence be optimized?

In part, those findings stem from the limitedrange ofvariability ofthose fac-

torstraining and experiencewithin a singleeducation system.2

One reason

teacher preparation shows little ornoeffect in many studiesi s because mostteach-

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Where ar e 60millionteachers? 471

ers are already trained and becausethereare no substantial variations in the qual-

ity ofthe training within a single country. Furthermore, most ofthesestudieshave

examined a fairly restrictedset oflearning outcomes, focusingon achievement in afew subjectsmeasuredwith tests emphasizing contentmastery. The resultsshould

thus b e interpreted asmeaning that the existing options for teacher training have

no impact, and notthat teachertraining can be dismissed as an option. Another

difficulty in assessing the relative contribution of teacherssubject matter knowl-

edge,general knowledge, specific skills (verbal or mathematical) orpedagogical

knowledge isthatthose factors are confounded in most analyses: theirindependent

contribution cannot be easily sorted out. Another possibleexplanation for the

mixed resultswhich have been found on the impact of teacherskills and training

on student learning isthat a numberof factors mediate these links, that is while

training may influence teacher behaviour, other factors mediate the influence of

teacherbehaviour on studentlearningas well as influenceteachersandstudents

behaviour.Anotherpossible reason teachers have been overlooked in someofthe recent

discourses on educational reform stems from the emphasis on learning as

opposed to teaching presentin many educational reforms. While we value the

importance of emphasizing opportunities for learning gains forthe students in

efforts toreform education systems,we thinktheynecessarily referto demands in

teacher behaviours andin how teachers construct their roles inall systems where

teachersare present.4

Why reforms whichattempt tochange conditionsin schools

canoverlookthe specificsofhow teachers will be helped tochange the way they

makemeaning out of these reforms, to changetheir attitudes and behaviours, and

to integrate all of these withprior knowledge and experience is hard toexplain,

except perhaps noticing that many of the reformadvocates have notbeen in close

contact with teachers and studentsfor a long time.We argue that current or future reform efforts around theworld will fail

unless they take notice of the 60 million teachers who, on a day today basis, con-

struct thepracticeofreformed or unreformededucation systems. Inthispaper we

will examine whothe teachersare andsome of the problems they face,and we will

propose a rangeof suggestions to stimulate the dialogue we deem necessary on

ways tomake reforms withthe teachers, andnot inspite ofthem. Thelimitations

ofwritinga paper ofthis type which attempts todeal with an issue ona global

scale are obvious. The empirical foundation for ourconclusionsstems from school

research conducted onlyin afewcountriesin three continents; only fragmentary

evidence ofthat research is documented here when appropriate. We also analyze

cross-national indicators for all countries, emphasizing developing countries.

Finally we have revieweda numberof reports which are documented in the refer-

ences. Sinceouraim is to stimulate a dialogue in specificcontextsfrom a pedagogy

ofraising issues and askingquestions rather than from a perspective ofproviding

answers, the issuesthat are presented in this document canbe treated as a frame-

workof working hypotheses to be validated in specific contexts. Clearly some

issues willbe more relevantto some contextsthanothers.

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472 Eleonora Villegas-Reimers and FernandoReimers

Who are the teachers4

WHERE ARE THEY?

Mostofthe60 million individuals who teach around theworlddo soat th efirst orbasic(47%) and secondarylevels j35%). Atenthofthem teach atth epre-primary

level an danother tenthat th ethirdlevelof instruction.Six outofevery tenteacherslive ina developingcountry, halfofthemin East

Asia, and one in threein China.Abouton e inten teachersin theworldteachesinLatin Americaan dthe Caribbeanand anotherone in ten inSouth Asia. O ne intwenty teachersworks in Sub-SaharanAfrica.

As the population ofeligible childrengrows,additional teachers will beneededeveryyeaifonly to maintaincurrent enrolmentratiosaroundthe world.The increasewill haveto b e larger in order toexpand enrolment levelsifcurrentenrolment ratiosand technologiesofteachingare maintained.In 1985 it was esti-matedthatmorethan8 million additionalteacherswould beneeded indeveloping

countries by the year 2000 to reach thegoal of universal primary education(Loclcheed& Verspoo 1991).

GENDER

in countries around theworld, as shownin Table 1, an average offour in ten

teachersar e women at th eprimarylevel. Onein three are womenat th esecondary

level.T he participation ofwomenin theteachingprofessioni sslowlyincreasingovertime,and is greaterin the Americas and Oceania, and lowestin AfricaandAsia.

T A B L E 1 . Regional averagesofpercentage offemaleteachers

.

Region Firstlevel S e c o n d level

1980 1990 1980 1990

World 37% 39% 26% 28%

Africa 28% 31% 19% Z0 %NorthAm erica 47% 48% 32% 34%SouthAmerica 54% 55 % 38% 37%Asia 29% 34% 24% 27%

Europe 42% 44% 28% 31%Oceania 58% 63% 43 % 43%

N ote:These averages have been computed usingth e regionalgroupings ofUNESCO an dcountry data reported inUNESCO, 1993.The averages have aim been weiglued b y numberol teachers percounu,; thus the unit ofanaly~sisisthecountry.

PROFESSIONAL PREPARATION

Globallythere ar e greatvariations inthe percentage oftrainedteachersand inhowteachersa re prepared. In about half ofth e sixty-threecountries surveyed in allregionsoftheworld,almost all teachershadbeen trained.There are proportion-

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Wberea re 6 0millionteachers? 473

atelymorecountriesin Africa withless trained teachers.In Europe most countries

indicate that at least 80% ofthe teachers have receivedsome professionalprepara-

tion. Inspiteofthe 1966 ILO-UNESCO recommendation concerning thestatusofteachers which called for a completed secondary education and appropriateteacherpreparationf or those entering the profession, what it meansto be trained

varies greatlyaroundthe world. In somecountries,suchasPakistan, graduatesofnine-years ofbasic educationare trained to be primaryschool teachers ina nine-month course (PTC). In other countries,such asEgypt, teachers arerequiredtohave a secondary educition. in countries suchasChile and Lebanon, a primaryschoolteacher h ascompleted acollege education.In addition,the general knowl-edge acquiredbefore enteringteaching variesgreatlyacrosstheworld,dependingonhow many years ofgeneral education are requiredbefore a person canbetrained as ateacher. Large numbersofteachers aroundthe worldhave not com-

pleted either asecondary education or an appropriateteacher education course. I nsomecountries a largeproportionofteachers have notcompletedsecondary edu-cation (Burundi49%,Togo37%,Uganda60%,Afghanistan60%).

Aswill bediscussedin greater detail late;therei salso variationin th e pro-portionofthetrainingreceived which focuseson subjectmatter andthe propor-

tion which focuses onthe developmentofpedagogicalskills. Acommon problemofteacher-preparation programm es is their lackofintegrationwith supervisedandextensive practice onwhich new teaching knowledgecan be integrated.

TEACHING LOAD

World-wide,onavenge,teachersat th efirst levelhavealoadofabouttwenty-four

studentsand fifteen studentsfor the second level. Asshown inTable2,these loadshavedecreased only slightly since 1980. Theseworld averages,howevet~hidevari-

ations among regions,withinregions and withincountries.Atthe primary level,thenumberofstudentsp er teacher ishighest in Africa and lowest in Europe.Within Africa, students perteacherin primary school rangefrom highsofninetyin

the Central AfricanRepublic, sixty-seven in Burundi and sixty-fourin Malawi,tolows oftwenty-onein Mauritius and twenty-fivein GuineaBissau.Withina coun-try thereis a wide disparitybetweencrowdedprimaryschoolsin urbanperipheralareasand isolated rural areas, and from overcrowded first grades and the lesscrowdedhighest grades. We havechecked someofthe countrieswithpupil/teacherratiosaround the world averageoftwenty-fouragainst ourdirect experiencecon-ductingschool research thereand our memoriesofclassroomspackedto the roof.

Th e distribution ofclasssize in ou rsamplesofschoolsin countriessuch as Egypt,Jordan andParaguay had manymorestudents thanth e average. In some class-roomsmorethan forty students, andin somecases morethan fifty or sixtystu-

dents,per teacherwerecommon.Dataat th esecondary leveldem onstrates the lowest student/teacher ratiosas

would beexpectedin systems wherethislevelis still expanding. Theseestimates,

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474 Fleonora VilIegas-ReiinersandFernando Reiniers

however,shouldb e interpreted differently from those a t the primary level as typi-

cally thereis a switch from a single teacher per grade in thefirst level to multiple

teachersp er gradein thesecond level. It is not rare a tthe secondary level forteach-

ers to teach in multiple schools, Therefore, the average number of students perteacheris an imperfect indication ofteacher load a s a teacher spends substantially

less timewith each group of students than a teacher atthe first level.

TABLE2 .Regional averages ofpupi l / teache rratio

First level Second levelRegion

1980 1990 1 9 S f) 1990

World 25 24 16 15Africa 38 37 21 19NorthAmerica 24 22 17 16South America 24 22 13 13

Asia 23 21 15 2

12 11 9 825 26 19 17

EuropeOceania

Noes: These averages have been computedu s ng t hr regionalgroupitags ofUNESCO a nde.o untry ciata reported i n

DigE5CO, 1993. The averageshave n e a t been weighted by nuns her of teachersper c s s untry, thus the unit ofa na ir

ais is the coon try.

What are some of the problems teachers face?

OEALING WiTH BUREAUCRATIC REFORMERS

An important challenge to teaching effectiveness is dealing with bureaucratic

reformers who want to implement teacher proof reformsor who ignore the rea l

conditions in which teachers have to work. It is surprising how consistently oneca n find variations of thisbas ic problem across decades and acrosscountries a s far

apart as Pakistan, Venezuela and Paraguay, forexample. InPakistan, in the early

1970s, the Ministry ofEducation spent several years designing a n innovation toimprove quality in primary schools. They came up with a teaching kit which

included about 1 0 0 items such as beakers, a national flag, an abacus, and othermaterials. Sixtythousand ofthosekits were produced and delivered. The kits were

based on a pedagogy that expected student participation in small groups,andlearning from directexperiencesrather than using the traditional pedagogy (based

on rotememorization I in which teachers weretrained in Pakistan. In a surveycon-

ducted in primary schools in Pakistan by one of us , we found that few (about one

in five) of the teachers used it. By using it, those teachers meant using it an aver-

age of seven times during the school year . According to the data in this survey,theteachingkits and their us e had no impact on student achievement in mathematics

and science. Why should we b e surprisedthat the kit hadsuch a limited impact

\vhen only 22% of the teachers had receiveda ny training on the teaching kit and

whenmost teachers and administrators did notunderstand why theyneeded thiskit? What should h e surprising is that the reformers who came up with the kit

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Wherea re 60 millionteachers? 475

couldhave been so nonchalantabout introducing a new teaching technology

ignoring the needs, perceptions and skills of teacherswho were supposedto us e it

(Warwick, Reimers &McGinn, 1992).Asimilarexample of educational change which ignored training needs of

teacherswas found in the 1980 educational reform in Venezuela. Inthis case a new

education lawwas p as s e d which extended bas ic education from six to nine years.

Accordingly, newcurriculawere designed which aimed a t developing higher level

cognitive processes. A decade later the reform was considered a failure and

Venezuelan 14year-oldshad s om e of the lowestscores in a n internationalstudy of

reading achievementcovering thirty countries (Elley, 1992), How did aneduca-

tional reformwhich aimed athelping students think better end up producingstu-

dentswhocouldnot read? Ina study conducted by one of u s, it was found that the

reform had essentially ignored teacher training. The reformers h adrelied on pass-

ing a new law, producingnew curriculaand textbooks, buthad left teacher train-

ing institutions unaltered as manya s sixyears after the initiation ofthe reform(Villegas-Reimers, 1 9 9 4 ).

In 1992, theGov ernment of Paraguaydecided to change the curriculum of

primary education. Again new programmes were designed which proposed a

greater focus on processesofcognitive development. New textbooks were pro-

duced reflecting those programmes. This time the textbookswere given to the

teachers along with training. Training sessions were organized as follows.

Hundreds ofteachersfrom the s a m e grade in nearbyschools werecalledto a nine-

day orientation. Duringthisorientation, the new curriculumwas introduced andthe programmes and textbooks were delivered. After this the teachers returned to

their schools. Becausethe training was organized for onegrade eachyeari.e. first

grade in 1993, second gradein 1994, etc.when the teachers returned to school

theyhad noone with whom to discuss thenew curriculum.In a series of evalua-tions conducted in 1995 when oneof us was resident advisor to the Ministry of

Education ofParaguay, we found that teachers rejected this form of training. They

said it barely providedthem withthe motivationto attempt to teach differently,

and leftthem to their own resourcesin a schoolwhereno onesharedtheir enthusi-

asm and withoutfurther opportunities to continuedevelopingskills. Ina sense this

trainingassumed that teachers hadno history, no prior knowledge, and that they

werenot partofa systemwhere rolesa re constructed in interactionwithpeers and

principals.

THE TEACHING PROFESSION

The teaching profession is accused of presentinga flatcareer ladder sustained bylow and unstablesalaries, inefficientbureaucracies andpushy local politicians.

The performance of teachers around the world is a product notjustof the

training they have received,but also ofthe incentives and policies of teacherselec-

tion,recruitment and promotion. Who is attractedto the teaching profession?

What a re the incentives which influence job performance? Howdoes one live and

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476 EkonoraVi l legas-ReimersandFernandoReimers

retire asa teacher?It is importantto notice that theanswers tothesequestions, at agiven pointin timein an education system, influencenotjusttheexistingteaching

poet, but thefutureteachingpool. Thatis ,thereis a lag between the moment thatpoliciesinfluencing hiring, salariesandpromotionare enacted until they workas

signals to prospective teacherswho eventuallyenter the profession. hi the shortru n there aremodest effectsonecould obtainby raising teachersalaries;one would

simply be payingthe currentteachingstaffmore.B ut the longrun consequences of

low a nd decliningteacher salariesare thatthe quality ofthe applicants to th e pro-fession will decline.

Salaries ofteachers around the world, relativeto average salaries or to percapitaGNP, vary greatly. Anew entrant to theteachingprofessionin the publicschools inthe cityofBostonm ay earnbetween$23,000 and $27,000per yeahjustaround the GNP per capita of$24,740. In Paraguay, anentering primary schoolteacher will receiveabout$2,500a year,or 60% morethanth eGNP p er capita

($1,500per capita). In low income countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, teachersalaries rangefrom two to seven times GNP per capita. In Latin America, salariesrange from I timeto 6 times GNP percapita.

Other factorswhich influenceteacher salaries and in turn teacher perfor-manceare the stability of thosesalariesovertime and the efficiency of disburse-ment of payments. In some countries, particularly in Latin America andSub-SaharanAfrica, teacher salaries declined in realtermsduringthe I 980s. Thismeantthatteachers ha d to find alternative sources ofincome tomakeends meet.Oftenthose havebeenhardto changeevenafter salariesincreased. In Sub-SaharanAfrica,primary school teacher salaries declined 13% onaverage in real terms andin Latin America 14% onaverage between1980and 1987(Longo, 1993). Effortstorecuperatethose losses in somecountriesin th e 1990shavenotrecuperatedth e

time which waslost withthe decline in income. In Paraguay,fo r instance,whereteachersalaries b y the e nd ofth e 1980s were a third oftheir realvalue atth ebegin-ningofthedecade, manyteachers obtainedmultiple appointments, In 1996,95%oftheprimaryschoolteachers held two teachingappointments,in spiteofsubstan-tial increasesin salaries in real terms since 1990which exceeded the levels oftheearly 1980s. This meansthatwhileteachers earn for teaching in a single schoolshift 60% morethanth eaverage G NP p ercapita, theya re only willing to devote

fourhoursaday five daysa weekto teaching in thatshift, which makesithard toincrease the durationofthe schoolyear (oneofthe shortestin th eworld)or to findtimefo r teacher trainingoutsideinstructional time.

Becauseteacher salaries aretypically tied to salary scalesfo r publicemploy-ees, andbecause there arerarelyprovisions forselective increases to teachersbased

on qualificationsor performance, governments ar e extremelyreluctanttoraisesalaries whichwouldimpactth etotalpublicwage bill.

Efficiency with teacher payments i s anotherveryimportantfactorasiterodesthe realvalue ofthe salaryof the teacherwho often has to fall in debtwithlocalvendors, at highinterestrates,thussubsidizingan inefficientsystem ofpaymentsinMinistries ofEducation.

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Whereare 60 million teachers? 477

Along with salaries, workingconditionsvarygreatly. The influence of local

politiciansin securingandmaintaining a teaching position is pervasivein manydeveloping countries. This means teachers have demandson theirtime which com-

pete with the demandsof teaching.

Inmost countriesprofessional development for teachers is only possible by

moving out of teaching. Many countries lack teacher statutes which provide

avenuesfor professional improvement. Oftenimprovement means seniority more

than training or professional growth.

Another factor influencingwho elects to enterand remain in theteachingpro-

fession is the low (anddeclining) status ofteachingin most countries in the world.

The low rewards, in terms ofjobbenefits and prestigeassociated with teaching, are

compounded b y the high demandsplacedon the job, particularly for thoseteachers

workingwith children who receive less supportfromhomeandthecommunity.

Most teachers work in schools with fewmaterials to teach, little supportfrom families, principals and supervisors, and in buildings in poor physical condi-

tion. Many workin schools whichareso small and isolated from each other that

teaching becomes a very solitary activity. In a series of school interviews with rural

teachers in Honduras, one ofthe authors ofthis paperremembers several teachers

working in singleroom schools sayingthings such as it drives me crazy towork

only with these kids; sometimes I getto see the parents, buttheonly other educated

person I can talk to around here is the supervisorwhocomes aboutoncea year.

For most teachers thereis little timeto prepareclasses, reflectabout what

they do, receive in-service training, read andpursue other activities which are

essential to learn from experienceand improvepractice.

The limitedtime teachershavefor teaching i s further reduced notjustby the

multiple jobsteachers sometimeshaveto take tomake ends meetbut also by theinnumerable administrativedemandsmade of teachers. Ministries of Education

and supervisorsexpect teachersto complete a high number ofadministrative tasks

that take away time for class preparation, actual teaching, andmentoring of new

teachers or student-teachers. In somecountries (Venezuela, for example),about

halfofthetime spent in professional teaching practicesat the initial preparation

level of new teachers is spent learning how to fill out required forms for the

Ministry ofEducation. This is done becausethe expectation is that in a regular

reaching job the reacherwill spend a significant amount ofrime completing that

kind ofadministrative task.

Inadditionto the low incentives and high demandsteachers face, first assign-

ments are rarelyopportunitiesfor professional developmentinstead they area

poor and discouraging initiationto the job. The first teaching assignment is gener-ally toan extremely demanding position, with littlesupport or mentoring. InLatin

America, for example, mostteachers who lackadequate political connections are

assignedto teach first grade inrural schools or inovercrowded urban-marginal

schools. Thus thesestudent populations, in asensethe most demanding ofteach-

ers, are constantlyin the hands of the teachers with theleastexperiencewho tryto

change to easier conditions as soon as possible.

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478 Eleonora Viliegas-Reisnersand FernandoReiners

These problems affectth eselectionofcandidates, the length oftime teachersremain in theprofession, andthe littletimein-service teachers have todevote to

activities ofin-service preparation. Inaddition,theyaffecttheconditions underwhich co-operating teacherswork as mentors and teacher-educators.

Howhave salaries,entranceand promotioncriteria,and working conditionsinfluenced candidates toenterthe teachingp rofession?In many countriesteachingis anoption oflast resortfor students who have beenunableto gain entrancetoother professions in u niversities.In turn,the lowquality ofentrantsto teachertraininginstitutionsdiminishes thepressureto improvethem.

In manycasesthe shortageofteacherscausestraininginstitutions to acceptthosewhoare willing,eveniftheiracademicbackground is deficient.A study inChile (Gysling, 1991) shows thatthe grade point averageof80 % ofth estudentsadmittedto theInstituto Pedaggico de Chilebetween 1976and 1990 was the

lowestwhen compared with that ofstudents entering other fields.InPeru,th eUniversityhadto design a separate (and easier) admissions test for students whowere applyingto theteaching field as these candidates couldn ot completetheminimum requiredperformanceinthe general admissionstest.

To sumup, by payingteachers poorly,offeringthem nocareerladder,an dsubjectingnew entrantsandold timers aliketo thepressures a nddemands oflocalpoliticians, many countries haveended up withteachers whoare not thebest andbrightestofevery generation. A dditionally,theworking conditions ofteachingplacehigh demandson teachersfor which they are poorly prepared and hencedecreases their senseofefficacy and self-esteem.This, ofcourse, affects teachers

levelsofmotivation,their desireto continuewithin-serviceeducation, with theirmentoring role,and theftwillingnessto cope withdifficultsituations intheirteach-

ing career, ultimately abandoning the field.

THE CHALLENGES OP LEARNING TO BE A TEACHER

What happens tothosepoorlyeducated candidateswho enterinto theteachingprofession? There ar e sevenserious shortcomings to initialteacher education: inmany cases teacher education will perpetuate social inequalities reflected in

schools; teacherswill be trainedin coursesheavyon theoryandweakonpractice;inextremely short programmes;in institutions isoLatedfrom the education systemstheyintend to serve; in professionalisolation; with deficient programmes;an dbyweak teachers.

Segregatedtraining

Segregatedtrainingpersists formale and female teachers,forthose teaching rich

and poor, for thoseteachingchildrenfrom different races, cultures orreligions.

In educationsystemswith severe equitydisparities,thosearealso reflectedand reproducedinthe teacher-preparation institutions.F or example,in Pakistanand othercountrieswhich offer segregatedteachertrainingtomale and femaleteachers, the lowerquality oftraining received by female teachers inm athematics

Prosp ects, vol. XXVI, no. 3,September1996


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Where ar e 60 million teachers? 479

perpetuates the inequitiesin educational opportunities forboys andgirlsin pri-

mary schools.

In education systems where the lines separatingpublicand private schools cut

across social class lines, often private schools organizetheirown teacher training

systemswhich endow them with a better supply of applicants, therefore reinforc-

ing a split teacher labourmarketfor schools attended b y affluentchildren and for

schools attended b y economicallydisadvantagedchildren. Thesamesplitis found

in education systems which show inequalities cutting across racial, ethnic or reli-

gious cleavages.

Theory versus practice

Most preparationis theory-based and includes littleorno practicum.Teacher-

preparationprogrammes in many developingcountries emphasize learning theo-

ries and facts, and offer almost no opportunity for students to practice their

teaching skills priorto graduation.

The few opportunities for teaching practice that are offered are usually

includedat the end of the yearsof preparation. Thisappears to be based on the

beliefthat the practicum is a complement to the teaching preparation process

ratherthan afundamental part of the process. Also, it appearsas if the practicum

isconceived only as a wayto illustrate theory, rather than as anessential part of

the professionalpreparation of teachers and the acquisition ofspecific teaching

skills.

Another problem is that the co-operating (or mentor) teachers and the

practicum site tendto use traditional teaching methodsalmostall the time. As a

result, many student-teachers reportnot taking initiatives in bringing innovations

into the classroomor trying newteaching methods for fear of receiving a lower

gradeiftheycontradict theco-operating teachers practices.

Many co-operating teachersare not good rolemodels for student-teachers

eithet For example,in Paraguay teachers who teach in the practicum site are not

selected by their qualities, but by the convenience of the school location.

Frequently these co-operating teachers leavethe classrooms while thestudent-

teachers teach their classes. These teacher-educatorsare not integrated to the activ-

ities of the teacher-preparation institutions; they do not receive any kind of

orientation or trainingto become co-operating teachers; nor do they participate in

the planning activitiesof the teacher-preparation institutions.

Students have very fewchances to see teachers practising effectiveteaching

skills with childrenso newteachers rely on what they saw when they were chil-

dren, or on how theirteachers at theteacher-preparation institution taught.

Short teacher-preparationprogrammes

In most countries, teacher-preparation programmes are muchshorter than pro-

grammesin otherprofessional fields. This hasbeen identifiedas one ofthe reasons

studentschooseteaching as a field of study. However, short programmesdo not

offermuch opportunity for students tolearnal l the skills and knowledgenecessary

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480 Eleonora Villegas-ReimersandFernandoReimers

tobecome effective teachers. This, ofcourse, representsa dilemma: onthe onehand, the demand forgreaternumbersofteachersjustifiesattractingmorean dbet-

ter candidatesand facilitates their successfulcomp letion ofa programme. On theother hand,having short programmes asa way ofattracting more candidatesmaymean that there isno tenoughtimefor the students to study everythingthey needto learnto becomeexcellentteachers,

Educa tion al isolation

Teachertraining institutionsa re often isolated from the educationsystems where

theirgraduateswillhaveto teach. Inmanycountries, theplans a ndprogrammes ofteacher preparationdonot match whatteachers ar eexpected to teach inelemen-taryand secondary education. Thus,teachersa re notbeingpreparedtoexecutetheplans and programm es designed by the MinistriesofEducation.

Most teacher-educatorshavelittle ornocontactwithprimary and secondary

schools.This limited experience ofteacher-educators affects the effectiveness oftheirteachings,as many times their lecturesand educational experiencesare com-pletely unrelated to the realities their studentswill faceinschoolsafter graduation.It is not uncommon for many teacher-preparationinstitutions torecruit teachersfromamongtheir own graduates withno practicalexperience. Thusa viciouscir-cle ofdeclining quality developswhereteachers a re trained by peoplewhoweretrainedbut never practisedto beteachers,whoin turn weretrainedby peoplewho were trained,etc.

A common problem facingteacher-preparation system s around the world isthattheydo not providethosewho are to workamongdisadvantagedpopulationswitheffective skills. Thiscan happenfo r severalreasons: one is thatthetrainingoffered by mostreacher-preparation institutions seemsto b e basedon the assump-

Snthatteachers willbe teachinghom ogeneous populations.Consequently, teach-ers are notbeing preparedto respondto the needs and characteristics oflargegroups ofchildrenin their countries,

In Latin America,f or example,teachertraining systems poorly address the

specialneedsofstudents in rural areas. Rural teachers are usuallyth e worstpre-pared,yet the most frequentlyrequiredto work in difficult conditions,There is ahigherconcentrationof teacherswithno certificationin rural areas (Schiefelbein

& Tedesco, 1995).

Related tothe isolationofmany teacher training institutions and the largereducation systemswherethey exist,many fail to train teachers to address impor-tantissuesin thosecountries. InPakistan,for instance,a countrywith apluralityoflanguagesand whereschools in many comm unitiesincludechildrenfromdiffer-

ent linguistic backgrounds, there is not trainingforteachers in m ethodologiesofbilingualeducation or in languages. Th esame is trueofParaguay,acountry wheremost of the p opulations speaks Guarani, and where GuaranIis an official lan-guage,teachertraininginstitutionsdo notprovide anytraining in bilingual educa-

tion.7

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Wherea re 60 million teachers? 48 1

Professional isolation

Teacher-preparation institutions are isolated from eachotherandfromother insti-

tutions preparing professionalsinother fields. There is a lackofintegration ofpurposes, efforts andresources among institutions that prepare teachers, and

between these andthe public andprivate institutionsin chargeofeducation in each

country (Castro, 1991,p. 67,authors translation).

This isolation is a disadvantage, as the same efforts are reproduced in many

of the institutions taking time away todevelop new strategies and knowledge.

According to Castro (1991), the different institutions that prepare teachers in

Latin America (dependenton the federal government, theprovincial government,

universitieswhich are autonomous fromthe government, or privateinstitutions)

have different conceptions, understanding, plans and programmes of teacher

preparation, regardlessofthe fact that mostof them followthe exact sameguide-

lines given by the Ministries ofEducation.And because therei s no regular commu-

nication among them,theydo not collaboratein theirefforts.

Neglectedcurricula

The curriculum ofteacher-preparation institutions is deficient becauseteacher

training hasbeenlargely neglected inmanyeducation reforms. Thecurriculum

offeredin many teacher-preparation institutions isoutdated and irrelevant.Some

oftheproblems are:

Plans andprogrammes either purposefullyexclude or do not include current

teachingofwork methods and subjects such as: non-formal education, non-

conventional teaching strategies, open classrooms,educational technology,

community development,etc.

Plans andprogrammes do not include any kind of preparationon howto deal

with problems such asdrop-outs, graderepetition, and poor attendance. Iti s rare for teacher training programmes tob e constantly evaluatedto assess

theircontinuous fitwiththe changing realitiesin schoolsand classrooms.

Plans andprogrammesrarely instil in new teachers the interest in and ability

to do educational research,or to learn moreabout innovations and pedagog-

ical renewal. Theydo notinclude the study of methods needed to knowhow

to adaptthe new curriculumto the different socio-cultural conditionsin the

country.

Plans and programmes reflect no interest or little emphasis in preparing

teachersto workin disadvantagedcommunities.

Specific subject matters aretaught in an unrelatedfashion to theirpedagogy.

Weak preparationofteacher-educators

Partofthe reason teacher preparation is weak is dueto the limited educationof

teacher-educators. Forexample,in Jamaica(Evans, 1989) teacher-educators in the

Faculty of Education and in the Teachers Colleges are required to have a

Bachelors degree. While a fewhave Masters degrees, it is notrequired. Evans

(1989) also reports thisis true in the Belize Teachers Colleges. In Paraguay, most

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482 Eleonora Villegas-Reimersand FernandoReimers

teacher-educatorsonly have a teachingdegree (a tertiary-level degree), and there

are few whohave finisheda university programme (Ovelar deDuane etal., 1995).Despite the increase in the number ofyears required for teachers to go

throughin their initial p reparation, teacher-educators continueto b e thesame peo-ple with the samekind ofpreparation (Silva,1995). Therehas been little in-servicetrainingfor teacher-educators. Theyhave been a forgottenpartof theeducationsystem inmostcountriesin terms oftheir preparation, and y et theya re keyplayersin the implementationofa ny innovationsin teacherpreparation.

KEEPING UP TO DATE

Deficient asit may be, initial teacher education will b e the mostseriousprepara-tion that most teacherswill receiveas the problemsrelatedto in-serviceprepara-tionf ar exceedthose ofpre-serviceeducation.S i x common problems are: the lackofan integrated system oftraining which meets the needsofpractising teachers;the poor qualityoftrainers;poor quality ofcourses; the location oftraining; theheavilytheoreticalorientation ofmost training; and thelack ofprinted materialstosupport self-education or co-educationamongteachers.

Respon dingto the teachersneeds

Courses offeredas part of in-service preparation do notrespond to theneeds ofteachers. Most countries lackanintegratedsystem ofin-service teachertraining.Instead courses are organized on an ad-hoc basis, according to thelatest fad.Courses a re rarelyorganized which take intoaccount in-service teachers needs.

When thoseneeds ar e taken into account, rarely ar e teachers asked directlyinstead teacher supervisors d ecide whatis needed.

Becauseofthe piecemealand disintegratedway in which in-service training

coursesare organized,teachersreceivea collection oftrainingexperiences whichareequally fragmented.

Poor preparatio nofin-service educators

Fo r most countries, thequality of theteachers in charge ofin-servicecourses andprogrammesis as low as thatofeducators whoteach pre-servicecourses. I n fact,many in-servicecourses andprogrammesar etaught by the same educators.

Poor qualityofmost in-servicecourses

This is probably why in moststudiesin-servicetraining showsno significant influ-enceon teacher practice orstudentlearning achievement.

Duetothe limitedpreparation ofeducators inchargeofthese courses, the lit-tleattention thatmost countrieshavedevotedto in-servicepreparationofteachers,

and the quality ofthe institutionsin chargeoforganizing and/orsupervising thesecourses,thequalityofthe courses (content, teachingmethods, pedagogical activ-ities,etc.)i spoor.

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Whereare60million teachers? 483

Difficultaccess toin-servicecourses

Many in-service coursesare implemented inplacesdifficult toreachbyteachers.Becauseofbudgetary constraints,in-servicecourses ar e implemented in placesvery

far from wheretheteachers who most need themlive. Because mostcoursestakeplaceincities,teachers in rural areasaredisproportionately excluded.

Theoret ical c o u r s e s

Coursesar e theory-orientedan d leaveout practical concerns.Likecoursesat the

pre-servicelevel, thein-servicecourses offered inmanycountries focustoo muchontheories and rarelyaddress practical issues.Teachers interviewedin severalstudies mention the necessity tohave morepractical courses as o ne ofth eneeds ofin-service preparation(Castro, 1991;Subirats & Nogales, 1989).

In-service coursesmodela classical approachto teaching,withan expertlecturingat the trainees, as ifthey had noexperience orprior knowledge.Trainingis rarelyintegratedwith opportunitiesfor reflective practice.

Lackofprofession aljournals

There a re veryfew professionalreadingmaterialsavailableto teachers. In additionto the problems listed aboveaboutformalcourses for in-service teachers,thereare

also problemsteachers encounterwhenthey try to keep themselves up -to-date.

Oneofthe majorchallengesi s thatwith the low salaries ofteachers and th ehighcost oflivingand the demands oftheir jobs, teachershave few professional publi-cationsavailable to themand very littletimeto read them.

Options and questions to help teachersassist students learn

In this paperwe have used a frameworkwithfour k ey elements which influencethe extentto which teachers ca n support educational reform efforts: (1) dealingwith bu reaucratic reformers;(2) enteringth eprofession; (3) receivingtrainingas ateacher;and (4) keepingu p withtheprofession. W econclude byproposing options

within this frameworkto think about the roteofteachers ineducation change.

THINKING OP TEACHERS AS PARTNERS

Our modelsofeducation systems act as self-fulfilling prophecies.Ifpolicymakers,administrators or patents think that teachers are unimportant to educationreforms, they will act in wayswhich will reinforce this viewpoint. Limited efforts

will bemade to train teachers, the incentivesto enter and remainin the professionwillnot attract qualified candidates, andteacherssenseofself-efficacy willdecline.Eventually teachers will b eofsuch poor quality as to fulfilthe worstexpectationsaboutthem. A societycan only have aneducationsystemas goodas it can imagineit.To the thatextent that formaleducationcontinues to rely onmethodologies

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484 EleonoraV illegas-ReinsersandFernandoReimers

which organize studentsto share timeand spacewithteachers,it isimportanttothink ofwaysto engageth e teachersaspartners in the reform efforts. Education

systemscan beonly as goodas the teachers they can attract, train,retain inthe sys-tem and motivate togive the bestofthemselves to th e studentswith whomtheywork.

The machine-modelofan educationsystem,where thequalityofeducation isexpectedto improve as a resultofplacingstandard inputs inschools, blinds usfrom tapping the potential which lies in every teacher. It is better tothinkofaneducation system asaliving organization, where individuals(teachers, parentsan dstudents) cangrow as thesystemreacheshigher stages and isready to face newproblems. Even though atsome lower stagesof development ofan education sys-

tem itmay b e helpfulto concentrate onplacingphysical inputs inplace (buildingschools,hiring andtrainingteachers, providing textbooks,etc.) those inputsrepre-sentthe foundation, and not the ceiling,onwhichto buildquality education. On

this foundationthe interactionsbetween students,teachersand com munitiescanflourish and develop toface newandgrowingchallenges. This viewofschoolsandofeducationsystems asliving organizations demandsthat we think about inter-ventionsto promoteorganizational learning,rather than mechanical implementa-tion or adaptation ofrulesor reforms decreed from some centralbu reaucracy. Th ekey questionin thisperspective then becomeshowc an one help reformslearn from

theteachers, andhow canreformshelp teachers learn.The current emphasis ofschool reform onlearning is well-founded ifit includes not juststudentlearningbut teacherlearning as well.

We think thatdialogueis a necessary condition for organizational learning ofthe typewe proposehere.8 Educational reformsneedto engage teachers ina dia-logue aboutthe reforms, both at the stages ofdesignand implementation.While

teachersarerarely consulted inthe designofeducationalinnovations,reformscangain much from seekingteachersfeedbackto re-orientdesignandimplementation

ofthe reforms. In Paraguay, forexample,theimplementationof anew basic edu-cation curriculum was reformulatedafter we conducted a seriesofrapid assess-ments whichshowedteachers were dissatisfiedwith the top-downapproach used

because itdid nothelp themdevelop newskills. Thischange alone resultedin a

major realignment ofteacherstowardsthe reform whichwas previouslyseen asanobtrusive intervention fromthe centrefromwhich they hadbeenexcluded.

Making partnersofteacherswill requirenot just training teachers,but alsoeducating administratorsandpoliticianson newmanagement approaches,relyingmoreon consensusbuildingandnegotiating agreement, rather thanonattemptingto rule teachers bydecree.

DIALOGUE ABOUT ATTRACTING NEW RECRUITS

A dialoguewith teachersandotherstakeholders ofeducationalreformm ay lead todiscovering how to attract thebest and brightest students intoteaching. Thisrequiresaddressingthe questions posed earlierabout theincentivesthatattract



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Wherea re 60 million teachers? 485

people to an d retain themin teaching. Among the issuesto beexploredin that dia-

logue,andto be informedby systematic analysis and research, are:the entry level

salaries of teachers relativeto those of other professions with similar levels of

training; the career paths available to teachers (how does one move up in the pro-

fession?); the status ofthe profession (how can prestige and recognitionfor the job

of teachers he increased when necessary?); and the working conditions (what

sourcesofpressure influence theautonomy ofteachersas professionals? What ar e

the demands placed onteachers and how canteachers be helped tomeetthem?).

Some ofthe options tob e consideredinclude makingteachersalary schedules

independent of the schedulesofpublic servants, as well as introducing differenti-

ated criteria to make selective(as opposed to across the board) salary increasesfor

teachers. Another possible option includes raising standards for admission to

teacher-training institutions and eliminating rules that guarantee graduates a job

upon graduation.

DIALOGUING WITH TEACHERS AND OTHERS ABOUT

HOW TO EDUCATE TEACHERS

Thisdialogue requires addressing seven central questionsaboutteacher prepara-

tion.

1. In the curriculum ofteacher-preparation institutions, should emphasisbe placed

ortknowledge-base(liberals artseducation,)oron teaching skills(professional

education)?

Whether to focus on liberal arts coursesor on pedagogical courses is something

that needs to be explored by teachers, students, policy-makers,etc., based on the

current practices in the countryandon the knowledge-base students bring into the

teacher-preparation programmes. It seems appropriate that a balance between

thesetwocomponents shouldb e kept.

2 , Should teachersbe prepared topass on information given to them in theirpreparation, or should theyhe actively creating anddeveloping information?

Whatkind ofa curriculum shouldthey teach?

Traditionally, teachers would learnthe contentsthey were going toteach.With the

development ofnewtechnologyanda switchin the emphasis fromgiving informa-

tionto students tohelping them learn how tolearn, the role of the teacher needs

to b e modified as well. Thequestion, however, is whether it is possible (and effi-

cient) to prepare teachersto

he creativeand

develop newinformation whenthey

enterthe profession with such poor andweakbackgrounds, orwhether reacher-

preparation programmesShouldstrengthen the knowledgebase ofnew teachersso

that they canbe effectivepromotersoflearning in theclassroom.

This debate is not new. Recenttrends emphasize the preparation of teachers

who are creative researchers in theirown classrooms, so that they canmodel for

theirstudents the processesof seeking information, ofquestioning, learning on

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486 Eleonora Villegas-Reimersand FernandoReimers

theirown,checkingdata,etc.T he questionis whether it is realisticand efficienttotryan d develop those skillsin teacherswho donot have aminimum knowledge-base. Anotherwayto posethisquestion is whether it is possible for a teachertomove from acontent pedagogyto an emphasisin processeswithouta solid contentbase.

As withth e previousissue,this is a situationthatneedsto be carefullyevalu-ated by eachcountry in orderto decidehow realistic it is for itseducation systemto app roach theideal ofpreparing creative teacherswho develop knowledge aspanoftheir profession. The most realistic approach m ay be to set the long-term

goai ofpreparing teachers who are creativeand learn how to learnan d how tofacilitate otherslearning, a nd realize that inordertoreachthatgoalmany smaller

steps needto b e taken in th einunediate future,taking intoconsideration the char-acteristics of teachercandidates.

A relatedquestionis whetherteachersshouldb e prepared to useacurriculumgivento them(by Ministries ofEducation, for example),or should they be pre-pared to design anddevelop curriculum?T heanswerto this question needs to takeinto accountthe particular characteristicsand backgroundofteacher-candidatesand ofthe p opulations ofchildren to be served. It wouldbe amistaketoprepareteachersto develop curriculum when their background i s not strong,and whenthoseskillsandknowledgewouldno t be usedgiventhat theMinistryofEducationpreparesthenational curriculum- A nd yet iti s also a mistake only toprepareteachersto followa standard recipe.Teachersshouldknowhow toparticipate incurriculum design and be prepared to adapt/transform/modify objectives andactivities to accommodatetheneeds oftheir heterogeneous students. Thus, abal-anceappears tob e necessary. Howeve; theproportion oftimespentto prepareteachers forone activityor theothershould b e decided byeachcountry given its

particular characteristicsand conditions.

3.Shouldteachersbepr eparedas generalists oras specialists?

In mostcountries teachers at theprimary levelare preparedasgeneralists,andthose at th esecondarylevel ar e preparedas specialists. This respondsto th etradi-

tionofhaving one teacherfo r theelementarygrades, and multipleteachers atthesecondary level (one for eachsubjectmatter). Howeve;many have recently ques-tioned whether thoseteacherswho are preparedas specialists are too specialized intheirareasofstudyandknow too little about pedagogy~

An alternative to this conflict is to rephrase the question, moving fromwhether to preparea generalist or a specialist tohow can all teachersb e preparedtoteach all children? In thatcase,thequestioni s not aboutaconflictordilemma,but one that requires policy-makers and educatorsto designa different kindofteacher-preparation programmewhereall teachers haveth eskills, the knowledge,

an dtheattitudes needed toteachalltypesofchildren effectively.

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Wherea re 60 million teachers? 487

4. Shouldthere be a common group ofsubjects (similarcurriculum)forall teacher-

preparation institutions in a givencountry, orshouldeach institution design its

own curriculum?

In manycountrieswith a centralized curriculum therei s a tendency to have a com-

mongroupofsubjects (and, in a few cases, the whole programme) in all teacher-

preparation institutions ofthe country. This is based on thefactthat all teachers

are goingto teach the same curriculumto theirclassesandon the assumption that

theclassesare similar. However, thereare someeducators who consider that the

autonomy ofeach institution should be preserved andrespected, and therefore

each institutionshouldb e freeto design its own teacher-preparation programme.

Theway that some countrieshave solved this conflict (although this is not

necessarily the bestsolution for all countries) i s tohave a specific proportionof the

curriculum ofteacher-preparation institutions be the samefor every programme,

and another proportion designedb y and for the particular institution. In thatway,

both needs (autonomy ofinstitutions, and having teachers preparedto teach thesame curriculum) are acknowledged and met.

S . Shouldteacherpreparation be a shortprogramme (atleast2 years)ora long

programme( 4 ormoreyears)? Atwhichlevel shouldtraining takeplace?

There i s aglobal trend ofexpanding the durationofteacher preparation. This has

been done for several reasons: a beliefthat more years ofpreparation will make a

better teacher;a beliefthat having more years ofpreparation willgive morestatus

tothe profession, and therefore it will be easierto raisesalaries and bring more

prestige to teachers; the need to transformteacher-preparation programmes froma

tertiary-type ofeducation to a university education, etc. However, the results of

lengthening the programme havenot a ll been positive. Oneserious problem that

many countries haveencountered is that fewer students are choosing teachingas aprofession as the advantage of becoming professionals and getting a jobin ashort

time (and sometimes withlittleeffort) no longer exists. Nowthat theprogramme is

as longas that ofmanyother professions (most ofwhich are better paid and have

more status), many candidates opt for the other programmes.

Certainly thisconflict needs tobe solved by examining the particular circum-

stancesofeach country. On the one hand,countries cannot affordto havefewer

and fewerteachers eachyear. On the other hand,countries cannot afford to con-

tinue preparing weak high schoolstudents as teachersin programmesthat offer lit-

tle timeto acquire knowledge, develop skills, and promote the values necessary for

the teaching profession. Each country must examine which of the two conse-

quences is preferable given its particular situation. Also, each country must begin

tofindalternative solutions:increasing teachers salariesbased on numberofyearsstudied i s an option that may motivate students to select the professionevenif it

means having to study two extra years to become aprofessional. Giving other

types ofincentives is another alternative. It isnecessary, however,to improvethe

academic quality of the programmes, and forthat it is necessary to have pro-

grammesthat arelonger than twoyears.

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488 Eleonora Villegas-Reimers andFernando Reimers

Alongwiththetrend ofexpandingthe durationofteacherpreparation,thereis a trend ofaspiring to trainingat th euniversitylevel,and for teacher-preparationprogrammes and degrees to become equivalentto university programmesa nd

degrees. Yet, giventhat this transition h asnotproduced the expected results intermsofacademic performanceofstudents,that university programmes tendtoemphasizeth eliberal arts componentofthe preparation (and leave the pedagogicalpreparation as anappendix at th eend), an d thatlongerprogrammes mean more

expensestoprepareteachers,onecould question whether itwould be besteither tokeep teacher preparationatth etertiary level (forthosecountrieswhere ithas not

been transformedintoa university degree yet), or bring it back to a tertiary degree.As with the other situations,thisis something eachcountry needsto examinecare-fullybased on itsowncircumstancesand characteristics,

6.Shouldemphasis be giventoresiden tial pr ogram mes ,to distanceprogrammesortoscho ol-basedprog rammes?

Distanceeducation is a responsetoseveral needs: it is a wayto attract moreteach-erswho livein ruralareas; itis a way to preparemoreteachers withouthavingtobuild morebuildings,hire more teacher-educators, etc. Howeve; manyhave ques-tioned the qualityofthesetypesofprogrammesand their effectivenessgiventhepooracademicpreparation ofcandidates for theteaching profession andthe littleaccountability ofmany oftheseprogrammes.Before making a decision, eachcoun-try should evaluatethedistance teacher-preparation programmesthat currentlyexist,and comparetheireffectiveness andcosts withresidentialprogrammes.They

also shouldcommitthemselves to havingdistance-education programmesofhighquality.

7. Shouldteacher-preparation programmesfocuso n preparation tothink or to do?

Most teacher-preparation programmes emphasizethe doing rather than thethinking based on theidea that this i s whatpractitionersneed. Yet, asdescribedbefore, thisfocuson the doinghas not meantmore practiceduringthe prepara-tion, only a focuson whatteachers shoulddowhen they get to the actual class-

room aftergraduation. Howeve;there is a recenttrendthat callsfor a need toemphasizethe thinking in teacher-preparation programmes asteachers arenowcalled to be facilitators oflearningratherthancomm unicators ofknowledge, andthe only way to facilitatelearningistobecreative inpresenting learningsituationsfor children to develop theirknowledgeand skills.Aswithpreviousconflicts, itappears that a balance between preparing to think and to do is an effectiveresponse given the characteristics ofteacher-candidatesin th eregion.

DIALOGUING WITH TEACHERS AND OTHERS ABOUT HOW TO HELP

TEACHERS KEEP-UP WITH THE PROFESSION

In-servicetrainingshould be seen as a necessary component supportingthe careerdevelopmentofa teacheit Consequently in-service trainingshould b e: developed as

Prospects. vol. XXVI,no.3. September1996


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Whereare 60 m ilU o n t e a c h e r s ? 489

partof an integrated systemofquality, based in schools, responsiveto the needs of

teachers and emphasize practice.

Preparation should be built on the assumption that teachers are notblankslates and that they cannot change their knowledge, skills and behaviours

overnight. Change is more feasible ifit allows opportunities to understand the

change,why it is needed, andto integratethe new concepts and skillswith prior

knowledgeand experience, todiscuss it with others, to practice the new ways and

toreflect on the results of that practice.

In-servicetraining can build on the practice ofdialogue to help education sys-

temslearn. This type of learning canfollow a pedagogy ofhelpingteachers ask the

right questions, ratherthan attempting toprovide themwith a ll the answers. This

canb e extendedto every school and groups ofschools,so that teachers canreflect

andshare ideas as they facethe new challengesposed by the reform goals.This

approachto training requirestrainers who are, in turn,soundin content and pro-

cess skills. Numerous materialsprinted or in othermediawhich can supportschool-based discussions or individual study are also essentialfrom this point of

view.

This type of training willsupport organizational development in schools,

helping schoolslearn from experience, andto diagnose andformulate theirown

plans for improvement. It is atthat higherstage ofdevelopment of an education

system that the potential ofhaving facilitatedthe growthof teachers and commu-

nities willbecome more obvious. Whenlocal groups of teachers, parents andstu-

dentscan get together todiscerntheir ownstrengths and weaknesses, to develop

shared vision andvalues, to prioritize and develop strategies for change and to

determinethe structures, actions and skills necessary tomeet their vision, educa-

tional reformswill havetruly reached the schoolstheyso keenlywant to change.

Conclusion

There are probably goodreasonswhy current debateson educational reforms pay

less attention to teachers than past debates about educational change. From a

naive approach which hoped for quickfixes tothe problems ofeducationsystems

ba se d on improving teacher selection and training, thecurrent silence reflects anera ofdisillusionment with the realization that the relationship between recruit-

ment, trainingand teacher practices and student learninggains isfar more com-

plexthan initially imagined. The mixed resultsofthe summariesofresearchon this

relationship point out how much we still do not know about the complexity of

these links.

But to respond to ourignorance anddisillusionmentby abandoning teachersin our effortsto improve education systems i s equally naivea s the expectations of

the era of enchantment with teacher training justmentioned. There may not be a

simple link betweeneducating teachers andhelping students learn for, among

otherreasons, it is notclear that teacher-preparation programmesknow what

works best foreverystudent that teachers might encounter. However, reflective

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490 Eleonora Villegas-ReimersandFernando Reimers

teacherswill makeadifference by creatingenabling environmentsto help students

learn. Teachers can become more effective ifthey understand thatchange isneeded,andiftheya re adequately supportedas they tryto change.The alternative to bringing teachers to the centre of the educationreform

debatei sto thinkthat reflectiveteachers can b e betterobtained by chanceratherthanas aresult ofsystematic efforts.

Only by recognizingthat teachersar e alsolearners and thattheirm otivationan d energiesa re essential components in a ny effortto changetheconditionsunder

whichstudents learnwill the potentialof60 millionpeople be putintotheserviceofthe noble aspirations ofth e waveofeducationreformssweeping the&obeatthebeginning ofthe twenty-firstcentur~r

Notes

1. In 1990 there were 51 millionteachersat all levelsin the world.Wehave proiected t he

figurefor 1996 using the 198090 growth rate ofnumber of teachersat different lev-els (UNESCO,1993).

2. Fo ra m ore detailed discussionofthe limitsofnational surveys ofstudentachievementsee Reimers,1992.a nd Warwick &Reimers, 1995.

3. To be more precise,the conclusion should be thatin some studiesteacher characteris-

tics,practicesan d learning, as measured,withintherangeofvariation measuredin thesamples studied, ha sno impact on differencesin student achievementamong students

(whichnotalways reflectleaninggains),asmeasured, in t he subiectswhichhavebeen measured, emphasizing primarily contentmastery. Noticeshouldalsobe taken,evenwhenthose factors are measuredan d controlledfor in theanalyses, ofthe contri-butions ofthe levels ofotherschool inputs (suchasclasssize, school resources,nutri-

tion of children, prior academic experience in school and at home, etc.) in thecountries studied. I t is possible that teacherscannot domuch tocompensate for over-crowdeda nd impoverished classrooms, undernourished children an d soon. Our

knowledge aboutthese interactions, andaboutthresholdeffects that set offtheseinteractions,i sveryscarce.

4, Evenifnewtechniques are introduced tom aximize learningopportunities,such asstudentguides,greater student interaction,computer technology or othermeanstoenhance studentindividual or group work, they toodemand changes in teacher

behaviors a nd roles, to facilitate theappropriateu seofthose techniques.S. Unless otherwisenoted,this section is based ondata provided in UNESCO,1993 an d

in UNESCO, 1992.6. Data forGN P p er capita fromWorld Bank, I 9951; datafor teacher salaries from

Lockheed & Verspoor,1991.

7. In Paraguay only 7% ofth e population speaks Spanish, 37% speaks GuaranI and50% speaks both Spanishand Gu aranI. A recent effort to implement aprogrammeofbilingualeducationwhere Guarani speakers are taughtin thatlanguage hasfound a

severe barrier in the lackofteachers whoare qualified toteachinthat language a ndwho understandmethodsofbilingualeducation.

8. Fo r a more in-depth elaborationofdialogue a nd participation asmeans to help learn-ing in MinistriesofEducation,s eeReimers, McGinn & Wild, 1995.

Prospects,y e1. XXVI, itt,.3 , September1996


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Where are 60million teachers? 491

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