Turkish teachers weigh up new training 'academy'

As Turkey celebrates national teachers’ day on Tuesday, uncertainty over a mooted ‘Teachers Academy’ has set tongues wagging among the country’s almost 900,000 educators.

Under the current system, prospective teachers are trained at a university education faculty for four years and do an apprenticeship in the final year. They later sit a final exam to be appointed to state schools.

During their first year of employment, they are defined as 'trainee’ teachers by law, but not in practical terms.

However, under the new proposed scheme, first unveiled in the election manifesto published by Turkey’s ruling Justice and Development (AK) Party, a four-month paid apprenticeship may become compulsory.

Following this school-based placement, teachers will then go to an additional three-month ‘Teachers Academy’ from June to August, "which will help them to make progress and develop their abilities," Prime Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said in October.

However, reactions from teachers have been mixed.

"I cannot really understand the reason for such an academy," says Alime Atasagun, 26, who has been teaching literature in a state high school in Istanbul for three years.

She is opposed to any extra training programs for teachers:

"A graduate of an education faculty has already proven that he or she is qualified to teach following four years’ compulsory education and examinations at university," she says.

Recalling the first year of her career, she says: "For me, it was not a time of being guided by an experienced colleague. I was alone in the classroom teaching and trying how to teach [students] better," says Atasagun.

"It is the nature of teaching. You find a way of your own, which fits your students best," she adds.

With the new proposals, however, each newly appointed young teacher will be accompanied by an experienced member of staff, who has been serving for at least five years, Education Minister Nabi Avci announced previously. 

For four months, they will attend various classes three days a week, will spend a day learning administrative tasks from school principals and will attend provincial directorates of national education, Avci has said.

This overlap between training and starting work, has not met with universal approval. Atasagun says: "I do not think it is sensible to urge the graduates to do another apprenticeship at the school where they will be working as real teachers.

She thinks it will "give students a sense that the 'new teacher' is not qualified yet, and cannot teach properly".

However, others are more supportive of the new proposals. Ekrem, 52, is a head teacher in a state high school. He believes the additional training is valid: "The practice will be so beneficial," he says.

"It is such a good idea that the trainee teacher will be guided by an experienced one and be paid at the same time," he adds.

However, he is not sure about what kind of an academy the four-month training period will be followed by.

Some teachers’ unions are also uncertain about the rumored changes. Latif Selvi, vice president of Egitim Bir Sen, one of Turkey's leading education unions, says:

"It is not clear in which way the project will be different from the already-existing in-service training.

"Here is the main concern: Teachers are worried that it may turn into a method of elimination.

“All of them have already graduated from a university having passed their examinations and attained their qualification [...] The academy should be to develop teachers, not to eliminate them."

The Teachers' Academy would be directly related to the 30,000 candidates waiting to be appointed to state schools in Feb. 2016.

One of these candidates is Rukiye Yaz, 27, who has been waiting to be appointed for two years.

"I find it quite useful that you would be guided by an experienced teacher," she says, adding: "You would not find yourself suddenly in the system."

"It is a good way for new teachers to avoid getting confused over the routine school stuff such as carrying out an examination, giving a grade and so on."

"I just feel sorry because I will be losing my three-month holiday," she adds, laughing.

Selim, 31, who worked at a primary school teacher for three years, says trainees will learn the profession "when they really start doing it".

He thinks that the four-month training period, or practical experience gained during the last year of university, "will never be enough".

"The one-year apprenticeship for final-year students is definitely not enough," says 40-year-old Yusuf, an academic working in a state university. He stresses that there should be much more hands-on experience:

"I do not expect that training supplied for three or four months would compensate for one's failures during four years at the university.

“For a better teaching profession, the curriculum at education faculties should be seriously handled and those who lack the ability to teach should be eliminated before they graduate."

Discussions on education generally focus on teachers’ performance, says Latif Selvi, from the education union. 

"We think all such projects, including this one, which aim to improve the quality of teachers are good."

However, Selvi says unions, officials and trainers should work “hand-in-hand” to get the best results from any changes to the training system:

"It is the most significant thing to do right now: the sides should come together. Otherwise, it will be no different than previous practices."

The Teachers' Academy project, which is aimed at beginners now, could later be compulsory even for experienced teachers, Selvi adds.