4.1 The Intended curriculum

Scrutiny of teacher education curriculum documents from the various programmes mounted over the last decade shows that there have not been fundamental changes in content and orientation, though length and structure have been modified. MIITEP, more than its predecessors, was designed with the intention of training teachers in new methods of teaching and learning. This was a result of FPE and the aims of the revised primary school curriculum which advocated more active and participatory learning methods. Two strands of thinking can be traced within the course which for convenience have been labelled 'traditional' and 'progressive'. Traditional approaches are teacher-centred, based on behaviourist assumptions, and have a relatively closed view of knowledge that sees the teacher as a technician. The progressive perspective contains some elements of interactive and constructivist thinking, is more learner-centred, less authoritarian and expects more of a teacher in terms of adapting the curriculum to the pupils.