Pre-service teacher training

Definition
Also known as initial teacher education or initial teacher training are the ‘recognised and organised, private and public educational programmes designed to train future teachers to formally enter the profession at a specified level of education. Graduates receive a government recognised teaching qualification. Pre-service training does not cover teachers who do not meet officially recognised training standards and are enrolled in a teacher training course to earn accreditation concurrent to their work as a teacher’ (UIS-UNESCO, n.d.).

Pre-service teacher training varies widely from country to country, yet components which appear in most initial training programmes include subject content; pedagogic content knowledge; education studies; and teaching practice (Lewin, 2004).

To be effective, pre-service teacher training should address the practical challenges teachers face in the classroom (instead of being purely theoretical). Evidence suggests that teacher training ‘must aim at developing class leadership competencies and pupil-centred practices, such as group work for example, feedback or the flipped classroom. Social competency also proves decisive (Attakorn et al., 2014; Hattie, 2008; Cornelius-White, 2007; Evertson, 2006; Marzano, Marzano, and Pickering 2003; Walberg, 1990)’ (IIEP-UNESCO, n.d.). Pre-service teacher training effectiveness will also depend on factors such as duration of the training and programme content (Bernard et al., 2004 cited by IIEP-UNESCO, n.d.).

References
IIEP-UNESCO. n.d. 4. What are the relationships between the pre-service training of teachers and pupils’ results? Paris: IIEP-UNESCO. Accessed 26 August 2021: http://www.iiep.unesco.org/en/4-what-are-relationships-between-pre-service-training-teachers-and-pupils-results

Lewin, K.M. 2004. The Pre-service training of teachers: does it meet its objectives and how can it be improved? Background paper prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2005: The Quality Imperative. Paris: UNESCO. Retrieved from: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000146658

UIS-UNESCO (UNESCO Institute for Statistics). n.d. ‘Pre-service teacher training’. In: Glossary. Accessed 26 August 2021: http://uis.unesco.org/en/glossary-term/pre-service-teacher-training

To explore further
Lewin, K.M. 2004. The Pre-service training of teachers: does it meet its objectives and how can it be improved? Background paper prepared for the Education for All Global Monitoring Report 2005: The Quality Imperative. Paris: UNESCO. Retrieved from: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000146658

Villegas-Reimers, E. 2003. Teacher professional development: an international review of the literature. Paris: IIEP-UNESCO. Retrieved from: https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000133010