A study of teacher education, training and development in Cyprus

Abstract

This is a historical and empirical study of the system of education and professional development of Greek Cypriot teachers. It is divided into three parts. Part One surveys the historical evolution of the system from 1830 to 1960, a period which was marked by the establishment of Normal Schools, their replacement with Teachers' Training Colleges, and the change of the professional status of primary school teachers from community to Government employees. Part Two analyses the process of consolidation and reform of the system during the last 25 years (1960-1985), and examines the work and the problems of the Paedagogical Academy and of the Paedagogical Institute, and the increasing professionalsation of the teachers. Part Three is an empirical survey and statistical analysis of the views of nearly 4,000 teachers, student teachers, aspirants, teacher educators, representatives of the teachers' unions, and officials of the Ministry of Education on major current issues that confront the system. The main recommendations, which are put forward, analysed and costed in the thesis, are the following: (a) Prospective secondary school teachers should be selected according to the quality of their academic qualifications, and irrespective of seniority as defined by their date of graduation from university, and be trained professionally at the Paedagogical Institute for one year before appointment, (b) The training course at the Paedagogical Academy should be extended from three to four years, and serving primary and pre-primary school teachers should complete successfully a supplementary course in their free time, before being placed on the same pay scales envisaged for their new and better qualified colleagues, (c) The Institute and the Academy should be staffed with tenured lecturers, who should also be charged with the task of advising new teachers in their schools during their probationary period, (d) The system of compulsory and voluntary in-service training courses at the Institute should be extended, consolidated and carefully validated, and in-service training credits should be recognised for promotion purposes in a quantifiable way, stated explicitly in the respective regulations.