Evaluation of Teachers’ Education Programs in Iran (Case Study)

Abstract

Teachers are called nation-builders. In every country, in every period, and in every society the role of teachers is of
great importance. It is left to the teachers to inculcate right values and developing young nation. The image of an ideal teacher
has undoubtedly changed through the ages. In the past, a teacher was considered as source of all knowledge, but today this
view does not exist anymore. In fact, the teachers need to be conceived as a “change agent” and not as a mere transmitter of
knowledge and culture. In this context, in order to bring necessary changes, we should pay attention to the newer needs of
teachers, in the different areas of profession. In fact, the professional development of teachers is regarded as an individual and
collective process that should be accomplished in their workplace. Furthermore, it is looked upon as a contribution to the
development of the teacher’s professional skills, by means of a variety of both formal and informal experiences. The concept of
professional development has changed over the last decade. Indeed, professional development has recently come to be viewed
as a long term process, covering different types of opportunities and experiences that are systematically planned to stimulate the
development and evolution of the teacher. Bearing all above in mind, in recent years, in developing countries like Iran, one of the
most significant concerns in the field of teachers’ education was efficiency of teachers' education programs.Therefore, this study
attempted to gather information relevant to the state of pre-service and in-service programs for teachers in Iran. It specifically
tried to find out aims of in service programs ,their organization ,nature of curriculum ,the methods of teaching, techniques of
evaluation, the educational agencies involved in this program and its strengths and weaknesses. The study analyzed relevant
literature and used a questionnaire for data collection. The findings revealed that there were specified and defined objectives;
the organization was satisfactory, teaching methods were lecture and conference, and the method of evaluation was written
method.