The critical state of initial teacher education (ITE) in Pakistan : need for urgent reforms

The current research study investigates the perceived adoption of didactical strategies and how this adoption is related to student teachers’ cognitions; i.e. student teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and self-efficacy beliefs. A sample of 250 student teachers enrolled in masters in education from two largest universities of Pakistan participated in the study. The respondents filled out survey instruments related to their perceived adoption of didactical strategies, pedagogical beliefs and self-efficacy beliefs. The main findings of the study includes (i) an overall weak adoption of the different types of didactical strategies by student teachers, and (ii) a significant positive relationship found in the perceived adoption of didactical strategies and student teachers’ cognitions. The results suggest a critical need for the continuous professional development of teacher educators in ITE institutes in Pakistan. Also, there are clear recommendations for the curriculum developers and educational policy makers to put forward benchmarking exercises on regular basis