Teacher Education and Teacher Shortages: The Conflict between Quality and Growth in Teacher Education in Developing Settings.

Overview & Synopsis

Teacher educators everywhere are examining programs and delivery modes as a result of a decade of studies and commissions on the reform of teacher education. However, for teacher education policy makers in settings like Mauritius there are two special issues to be considered in the examination of the teacher education process. The first relates to the critical decisions that have to be made regarding allocation of scarce resources to education and the fight that teacher education has for a share of these resources. The second relates to shortage of trained teachers and the concomitant struggle to address both quality and quantity in the teacher education program. In this paper, the author examines the concept of teacher growth and how models of teacher growth can help facilitate a rapprochement between quality and quantity in teacher education programs during times of teacher shortages in places like Mauritius. The questions posed in the Ministry of Education Country Paper provides a framework for suggestions regarding teacher education in Mauritius. (Author)