Most developed countries provide at least three years of initial training for their non-graduate teachers, and the Government considers that this extended period of basic training is needed in Hong Kong if the standard of teaching in schools is to be improved. It is therefore proposed to make the third year part of the regular course for new students entering the colleges with effect from September 1978. The length of the courses for untrained serving teachers would be extended also. Considerable emphasis would continue to be placed throughout the basic course on guided teaching practice and language skills.
9.5
Initial training is of great importance but is still limited in what it can achieve in that the prime responsibilities of the teacher are exercised through his face-to-face contact with children in the classroom. No amount of educational theory can adequately offset the shortcomings of a teacher who performs badly in the classroom: any substantial improvement generally comes not from a more vigorous pursuit of the principles of education (though this can play a significant role) but from the accumulated experience gained from working in a school under normal teaching conditions. However, once the new teacher has achieved a degree of professional maturity, his experience and understanding of his responsibilities need to be sharpened. His formative years in the classroom will have provided him with an awareness of his present limitations and his capacity for further development: he will have reached a point where a systematic sharing of his experience with other teachers who have reached a similar stage of professional development will open new avenues of thought which he can evaluate against his own experience in a way which he could not have done in his initial training course, however strong the element of teaching practice contained in it.
9.6
These
Courses of in-service training have for long been of help to the teacher in keeping abreast with new developments in the curriculum and with modern methods of teaching. are mainly short courses taken periodically during the teacher's career, and attendance is voluntary. It is proposed to extend these arrangements by introducing regular courses of refresher training during a teacher's career. An inducement might be provided for teachers who complete such courses successfully. Moreover, it is hoped that schools will attach importance to a teacher's performance in these and other in-service courses when considering his suitability for promotion.
9.7
In recent years the fall in the population of primary school age has led to a reduced demand for primary teachers and this has contributed to the need for a more restricted intake to
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