INTEGRATED TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAMME (ITEP): THE PARADIGM SHIFT OF TEACHER EDUCATION IN INDIA

Abstract

Education can be considered as a cornerstone of a progressive nation. It empowers people with knowledge, values and skills that contribute meaningfully towards the growth of a country and teachers are it’s the guiding force. Teachers stand as one of the most essential component of education. Education has shifted from conventional way of teaching to technology-enhanced learning to make learning more accessible and interactive and for ensuring it, a dynamic teacher education programme is crucial. The National Education Policy (NEP) 2020 acknowledges teachers as prime element of quality education and places strong emphasis on teacher education programme. It recommended a four year Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) to ensure professionally skilled and well-qualified. The Integrated Teacher Education Programme (ITEP) is a four year under graduate programme that prepares teachers for both primary and secondary levels. In a single programme, it ingrates practical training, pedagogy and disciplinary knowledge and provides a holistic training to teacher trainees. The researcher triers to explore the potential opportunities and future prospects of ITEP in redefining teacher education in India and identifies major issues related to it and also provides some suggestive measures regarding it. The researcher has used exploratory approach to collect information from different articles and government documents sourced from various journals and books.