Survey of Status of Second National Language Teaching & Learning in National Colleges of Education

Abstract

Survey of Status of Second National Language Teaching & Learning in National Colleges of Education Remedial Education Programme for Quality Improvement in Teaching & Learning

Remedial Education Programme for Quality Improvement in Teaching and Learning is a national scale action research which addresses a critical issue in education from a developmental perspective. The findings of a number of research studies carried out over the period 1994-2005 have clearly shown the need for diagnostic testing and remedial intervention at primary level, specifically in Language and Mathematics. The support extended to teachers for diagnosis of learning difficulties and remediation of identified problems in learning is minimal.

Intervention for capacity building in Diagnostic Testing and Remedial Teaching of teacher educators at National Colleges of Education, and Teacher Colleges and Universities; Curriculum Developers at the NIE; Teachers and Teacher-trainees was the main aim of the programme. This was envisaged with the hope of a national level diagnostic and remedial intervention project to be in place in the long term, covering all Primary schools in the system. A core group of sixty five academics drawn from different categories of teacher education provider institutions in Sri Lanka launched this mini initiative. The training on diagnostic testing was provided by an international expert. Three Diagnostic Test instruments were prepared for First Language (Sinhala and Tamil), Mathematics, and Nonverbal Skills.

Twenty action research groups comprising teacher educators, school teachers and teacher trainees planned and implemented two mini cycles of remedial intervention for eight weeks selecting thirty students from a school based on the outcomes of the three Diagnostic tests.

The outcomes of the programme yielded many lessons on Diagnostic Testing and Remedial Teaching. The participants gained experience of constructing Diagnostic test items for specific difficulty levels related to selected curriculum content. Remedial teaching intervention was an eye opener to many of the participants to realise the importance and to understand the systematic approach to address the learning needs of the students. The outcomes of the study allows to make a strong case to recommend the incorporation of Diagnostic testing and Remedial Teaching approaches in both pre-service as well as in-service teacher development programmes.