Teacher Quality
Management Strategies in Peparing Professional Teachers for Facing Global
Challenges
Mohammad Fakry Gaffar
Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia, Bandung, Indonesia
Keywords: Teacher quality, quality teachers, Global challenges, Teacher Education Standards and management
Strategies.
Abstract: In the 21st century education, teachers continue to play strategic roles in educating younger generation.
Schools, where younger generation receive their educational opportunities continue to change in responding
to the challenges of the century. These challenges are global in nature and have been penetrating all aspects
of human life including education. Global challenges that education has been continuously facing include:
the impact of global economy upon job markets, impact of ICT advancement influencing the life styles and
the way the people think and act, the emergence of new cultures that become a dominant factor in the cultures
of younger generation which are not always suitable to the existing values the people have been adopting
from generation to generation. These challenges have brought about changes of needs of schools and leaners.
Schools are responsible for interpreting them into the content of education and the way the content is presented
to the learners all these challenges keep changing and education is forced to be capable of meeting these
changing challenges. Teacher responsibility relates to the capacity of schools in preparing the educational
opportunity relevant to the needs of the learners. Teacher roles relate to the process of teaching and learning
to make the learning be capable of equipping the learners to face whatever challenges brought about by
globalization process occurring in the society. Studies on various strategies adopted and experienced by
higher education institutions of many countries show that there were many alternative pathways in preparing
quality teachers capable of educating younger generation to face future challenges. In ASEAN countries
studies show that teacher education programs were conducted at the undergraduate level of the universities
employing various pathways. It is believed there is no single pathway appropriate for preparing quality
teachers. In countries such as USA, Australia and several countries in Europe, competent teachers are required
to perform quality standards specifically determined for the teachers. Attributes that make the quality teachers,
although of great varieties, are built into the behaviours of the teachers and are directed to the accomplishment
of evidence of teacher quality performance in the process of learning. The Teachers must demonstrate that
their performance have the impact upon the learning process and learning outcome. However, one
fundamental question is raised: How are all of these quality attributes developed and built into the behaviours
of prospective teachers through the process of teacher preparation program of the universities mandated for
the purpose. The universities employ various strategies and pathways and are supported by well qualified
faculty members and effective management in conducting the teaching learning processes for the prospective
teachers. Management strategies aimed at coordinating all efforts directed to prepare the quality teachers in
the most efficient and effective ways are needed. These management strategies are instrument to ensure that
the quality standards determined are implemented, the process of teaching learning occurring in the teacher
education institutions are effective, the professional field experiences undertaken at schools provide adequate
opportunities to prospective teachers to perfectly blend all knowledge and skills previously received through
the programs into the behaviours of prospective teachers Without the application of these strategies the
efficiency and effectiveness of the programs cannot be ensured. This means that management strategies are
imperative to be formulated and implemented to make teacher education programs a great success. The
management strategies ensure that the prospective teachers are well equipped to face global challenges being
faced by the schools and the teachers from time to time. It is believed that only well qualified teachers who
are capable of facing the changing global challenges.
Gaffar, M.
Teacher Quality - Management Strategies in Peparing Professional Teachers for Facing Global Challenges.
In Proceedings of the 1st International Conference on Educational Sciences (ICES 2017) - Volume 2, pages 425-431
ISBN: 978-989-758-314-8
Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved
425

1 INTRODUCTION
In the 21st Century, education though out the world
is impossible to escape from facing global challenges
simply because education in itself contains global
phenomenon. What is considered as necessity of
today is that a clear understanding on matters related
to the nature of global challenges impinging upon
education especially upon programs related to the
preparation of the quality teachers. The quality
teachers, meaning teachers mastering the teacher
quality attributes, relate to a number of elements :
first, all attributes of qualities which the quality
teachers must master; second, quality standards
against which the teacher performance must be
measured; third, the needs of the learners which
become the focus of the performance of the quality
teachers in carrying out the professional tasks; fourth,
curriculum by which the quality teachers must be
prepared; fifth, management strategies to ensure that
all elements necessary for the quality teachers are
blended perfectly as to be capable of prodding the
quality teachers; sixth, the environment in which all
the quality elements operate locally, nationally and
globally. Understanding the nature of this strategic
environments is of great necessity and becomes the
departure point to analyse all elements related to the
quality teachers and challenges they are facing.
2 THE NATURE OF GLOBAL
CHALLENGES
Global challenges emerge as this result of complex
globalization processes occurring in all aspects of life
including education. Global challenges in pinging
upon education including the following:
a. Job structure,job content and job requirements
are continously changing according to the
changing demand in the job markets
b. Advancement of techonlogies penetrating all
aspects of life incluidng educaton which have
been creating revolution infleuncing the mind
set of the people, the way the people think,feel,
and do things
c. Foreign languages by which the people
ineteract one another on various aspects of life
occuring.
d. Innovation in various aspects of life bringing
about dynamic changing and creating
challenges such as in the world of business and
induastries which education must understand
and respond
e. Democracy bringing about chaos,
complexities, the rise of public media touching
the aspiration of the people
f. Transparency driven through the avalability of
open access brought about by wide varieities of
ICT applications in almost all aspects of life of
the poeple
g. The advancement of social media penetrating
activites of the public
h. Advancement of internet techneologies and
vertual fenomenon with unlimited wide
varieties of ICT applications driving more
advanced practices in business and industries
influencing almost alll spheres of life of the
public which education must respond
All above challenges are happening and will
continue to happen in the future and seriously
impinge upon the way the people think, feel and do
things from time to time. Education concerns with
the interests of the many and hence, are heavily
influenced by these global challenges. These
challenges become the dominant elements in the
change of needs of the people and the needs of the
learners considered essential for their future life.
Schools must have the capacity to interpret these
challenges into the curriculum. The interpretation of
the challenges into the curriculum content and
implementation become the needs of the schools that
must be considered in the preparation programs of the
quality teachers.
3 QUALITY STANDARDS
NEEDED TO RESPOND TO
GLOBAL CHALLENGES
The quality teachers are those who have acquired all
quality attributes prescribed and determined in the
quality standards of teacher education. These
standards become the guidelines for preparing the
teacher quality needed to equip quality teachers to
respond to global challenges. In Indonesia the quality
standards of education called National Education
Standards (SNP) are stated in PP No. 19/2003. On the
basis of these Standards Teacher Education Standards
are formulated and are stated in Permenkemristek
dikti No. 55/2017 (Kemristek Dikti, 2017). In other
countries, such as in the US teacher education
standards are determined by NCATE, while in
Australia the standards are prescribed and determined
by AITSL (AITSL, 2011). In many ASEAN countries
the standards are stated in various government
regulations depending on the national policies of each
ICES 2017 - 1st International Conference on Educational Sciences
426

respective government. The teacher education
standards are considered extremely important
because the teacher education preparation programs
are developed on the basis of these standards. Studies
of various countries show that the quality standards
generally contain the following elements:
1. Fields of studies the quality teachers have to
acquire
2. Pedagogical contents the quality teachers must
have and are built in the teachers’ activities in
carrying out their professional tasks
3. Values, ethics and morals that the quality
teachers must develop in their professional
behaviours.
4. Strategic context related to strategic
environments where education is operating and
interacts in allmost all aspects of learning
processes.
In Australia the Teacher education standards are
organized into two broad categories: program
standards and professional standards. The program
standards relate to the curriculum dan the teacher
education providers involved in the teacher
preparation programs, while the professional
standards relate to all quality attributes that the
quality teachers must master. in the US the standards
generally cover the field of expertise that the quality
teachers mast acquires, the pedagogical elements
needed in the process of learning and the professional
dispositions relate to values and ethics that the quality
teachers must acquire in performing their
professional tasks. In many ASEAN countries the
quality standards generally relate to subject matter
content, pedagogical elements and social and cultural
values that all teachers must acquire in carrying out
their professional duties. In Indonesia national
education standards have become the main reference
in developing techer education standards.
Consequently, teacher education standards do not
cover elements like the standards of other countries
have shown. The national education standards that
become the main reference covers 8 major elements,
they are competencies in the learning outcome that
students must acquire, content of learning, learning
processes, teachers and other education personnel,
educational facilities, management, finance, and
educational evaluation. The formulation of teacher
education standards is patterned according to the way
of thinking employed in determining the national
education standards. Hence, such elements as content
knowledge, pedagogical content, values, ethics and
morality don not appear. This kind of approach is
difficult to compare to other teacher education
standards of other countries.
4 PROGRAMS AND
APPROACHES IN PREPARING
QUALITY TEACHERS
In general, teacher preparation programs are designed
by teacher education institutions mandated for the
purpose. The teacher education institutions are
usually in the forms of university, schools of
education of a university, and college of advanced
education. In Indonesia there are three types of
teacher education institutions, first, Universities
mandated to prepare teachers and other education
specialists including Indonesia University of
Education, (UPI); second, college of advanced
education (STKIP); third, faculty of education
attached to a particular university. These teacher
education institutions are of public and private. In
Korea the teacher education institutions are of two
kinds, national university of education and faculty of
education. In several ASEAN countries teacher
education institutions are of faculty of education
attached to a particular university. In Malaysia the
institutions are of two kinds; Faculty of education and
university of education. In the US these teacher
education institutions are of three kinds; school of
education, college of education which both are parts
of universities; third, The Institute of education a
separate teacher education institution of tertiary level.
All these trends show that teacher preparation
programs are undertaken at the tertiary level. The
programs are of undergraduate degree of four years.
In Australia the programs are of four years of the
undergraduate level plus one or two years beyond.
Primary school teachers are prepared in Bachelor of
Education degree of four years, while secondary
teachers are prepared in bachelor of education degree
programs plus one year. Graduates of Bachelor
degrees of other academic disciplines wishing to enter
into teaching profession are required to take two years
beyond Bachler degrees which leads to master of
teaching to become fully qualified secondary school
teachers. In Australia there are at least two pathways
to proper quality teachers: First through integrated
programs that is Bachler of education plus one or two
years beyond, and second, through bachelor degree of
other academic disciplines plus two years beyond to
become qualified teachers. In the US most programs
are of four undergraduate degrees- consecutive and
integrated in nature. In many Asian countries the
programs are of four-year undergraduate degrees
integrated in nature. In Indonesia teacher preparation
programs are of four years integrated although the
regulations explicitly show of four years plus one-
Teacher Quality - Management Strategies in Peparing Professional Teachers for Facing Global Challenges
427

year professional teacher preparation programs which
are consecutive in nature. The regulation and the
realities are not matched and becomes controversial.
Academic community in teacher education
institutions are convinced that the teacher preparation
programs of one year beyond bachelor degrees of any
academic disciplines will not be capable of producing
qualified teachers especially in the 21-set century in
which quality teachers continually face global
challenges.
Regardless of various pathways undertaken by
teacher education institutions, the key issue is the
programs should be designed on the basis of teacher
education standards determined. It is the standards
which determine the appropriateness of the programs
to produce quality teachers. Those programs which
do not meet the required standards will not be
recognized and may be revoked or stopped and are
considered illegal.
5 STRATEGIES FOR ENSURING
THE QUALITY TEACHERS TO
HAVE THE CAPACITY TO
FACE GLOBAL CHALLENGES
The quality teachers could only be accomplished
through the application of teacher education
standards. The quality teachers are assumed to have
the capacities to face especially global challenges in
pinging upon education. It is for this reason strategies
employed for preparing the quality teachers are
needed. The strategies are aimed at accomplishing the
maximum degree of efficiency and effectiveness in
managing the proses of preparing the quality teachers.
These management strategies consist of detail
designing curriculum which meet the required teacher
education standards ; pathways to be undertaken for
preparing quality teachers; continuous monitoring
and evaluation in the implementation of the
curriculum; Undertaking the teaching processes in
preparing quality teachers; performance assessment
of the prospective teachers; establishing strong ties
with cooperating schools and continual teacher
professional development to meet the changing
challenges.
5.1 Determine Strong Policies to
Support Teacher Education
Programs
Strong and appropriate institutional policies are
needed to place the teacher education programs of
high priorities to respond to the mandate given by the
government. The focus of the policies is upon : first,
the allocation of the finance to support the programs
covering all aspects of the teaching learning
processes; second, availability of capable faculty
members and staff involved in implementing the
programs; third, the availability of all resources
needed by the programs to achieve the quality goals
expected; fourth, cooperation with cooperating
schools where the professional field experiences take
place; research undertaken to support the academic
development of the programs to keep the programs
continuously be updated to face all challenges
especially the global challenges. Correct and strong
policies determined will be capable of producing the
quality programs and the quality teachers of the
future.
5.2 Designing Curriculum for Quality
Teachers
The design must incorporate all quality properties
determined in the teacher education curriculum
standards including the philosophy, the goals and
objectives to be accomplished, curriculum structure,
content of courses, professional field experiences,
and the teaching learning processes. The curriculum
design must have the capacity to respond to the needs
of the learners and the changing demand for
education.
5.3 Pathways in Preparing the Quality
Teachers
Studies of various teacher preparation programs of
many countries show that there is no single pathway
undertaken by teacher education providers. It is
believed that more flexible pathways are more
desirable than only one pathway. In Australia for
primary school teachers the program is of four years
of integrated bachelor of education degree, while for
secondary school teachers the program is of four
years of integrated Bachelor of education degree plus
one year beyond. Graduates coming from various
undergraduate programs should take two-year
programs to prepare them to become qualified
secondary school teachers. In the US the teacher
ICES 2017 - 1st International Conference on Educational Sciences
428

preparation programs are of four-year undergraduate
degree taken both concurrently and consecutively
which comply with determined techer education
standards. In May Asian countries most teacher
education preparation programs are of four-year
undergraduate degree taken interactively. All of these
findings show that teacher preparation programs are
of at least of four-year undergraduate degree level to
produce qualified teachers.
5.4 Continual Monitoring and
Evaluation of the Curriculum
Implementation
Continual monitoring and evaluation is needed to
ensure that the detailed design of teacher educaion
curriculum under ken by teacher education providers
consistently meet and comply with the curriculum
standards determined. The activities may be carried
out internally by techer education unit specifically
designed for the purpose or externally by professional
association charged responsible for the purpose
including accreditation agencies. The programs
which do not meet the standards may be revoked,
stopped or eliminated totally.
5.5 Effective Teaching Learning
Processes
The teaching learning processes undertaken by
teacher education providers are key to the success of
the teacher preparation programs for quality teachers.
The key elements covered include all elements
involved in the process of teaching and learning such
as the teaching staff, the teaching processes of every
sessions, the course content, technologies used in the
teaching processes and all educational facilities
needed. All of these elements are managed in such a
way as to produce effective teaching learning
processes. The degree of effectiveness of the teaching
could be measured through the accomplishment of
objectives and the standards applied.
5.6 Performance Assessment of
Prospective Teachers
Performance assessment should be considered as a
part of the total teaching learning processes.
Performance assessment is a process of evaluation on
all aspects required to be mastered by prospective
teachers to be become prospective qualified teachers.
The performance assessment covers all dimensions
especially professional field experiences because it is
in the program the blending processes to become
qualified professional teachers occur. The assessment
requires a comprehensive instrument designed for the
purpose. Only through this instrument professional
assessment could comprehensively be undertaken to
ensure that all quality properties stated in the teacher
education standards are met and acquired by the
prospective teachers.
5.7 Establish Strong Relations with
Schools
It is imperative for teacher education providers to
have strong partnership with schools because schools
are places where the prospective teachers are
employed. Schools are primary users of the graduates.
Schools exhibit the needs the teacher education
providers required in preparing the qualified teachers.
Needs of the learners are assumed to have
appropriately been considered in providing teaching
learning processes as to prepare children for facing
their future life. Hence, it is imperative for teachers to
have all capacities to enter to the teaching profession
which should be capable of responding the schools
needs and the needs of the learners. All these
phenomena could only be put into reality if the ties
and partnership between the schools and teacher
education providers occur from time to time.
5.8 Globally Minded Approach to
Teacher Preparation Programs
Global challenges continuously influence all aspects
of schools including the needs of the learners. Global
challenges are inseparable from all needs the learners
have. Schools of the 21-set century put the global
challenges as major needs to be considered in the
process of teaching learning at schools. Hence, the
teacher preparation programs undertaken by teacher
education providers cannot escape from these
realities in the sense that the teacher preparation
programs should consider the global minded
approach seriously in the design of the curriculum, in
the implementation processes and in the teaching
learning processes for preparing the qualified
teachers. The quality teachers must become teachers
of the future. The implication of these concept is upon
the quality of faculty and staff and upon the
management system employed by teacher education
providers. To ensure all these matters an accreditation
system is established to evaluate comprehensively the
Teacher Quality - Management Strategies in Peparing Professional Teachers for Facing Global Challenges
429

programs, the teacher education providers including
the quality of faculty and staff, the management
operation of the programs, and the performance of
prospective teachers in the field.
5.9 Establish Quality Assurance
System
The purposes of the establishment of quality
assurance system is to ensure that teacher preparation
programs have all the capacities required to produce
qualified teachers and meet all standards determined.
The teacher education institutions mandated to
undertake the teacher education preparation programs
fully commit and comply with the required standards
regardless of various pathways offered. The quality
assurance system is also responsible to assess the
extent to which the programs designed meet all global
challenges being faced by education, including
teacher education institutions themselves and the
teachers they produce.
6 QUALITY ASSURANCE
SYSTEM: ACCREDITATION
Quality assurance is a complex management process
to ensure that the quality standards are appropriately
met in the sense that the application of the quality
standards and the accomplishment of goals
determined could be proven empirically and the
impact achieved could be measured. The assessment
of the application of the standards and the
accomplishment of the goals determined could only
be undertaken through a comprehensive assessment
by applying accreditation processes carried out by an
accreditation agency established for the purpose. This
agency is mandated legally to carry out the
assessment to ensure that the standards are fully met.
The accreditation agency is responsible to perform
three basic functions: the program accreditation, the
institutional accreditation and the teacher
accreditation.
The institutional accreditation is focused upon
the accreditation all institutional aspects which covers
the assessment of institutional management,
academic matters, resources utilized to support the
academic processes, student development, faculty
and staff, researches undertaken, publications,
international cooperation and many other aspects of
the institutions based on the total standards
determined.
The program accreditation is focused upon the
overall assessment of teacher education programs
undertaken by teacher education providers in
preparing the quality teachers. The assessment is
based upon the teacher education standards
determined.
The accreditation of teachers is referred to the
comprehensive assessment of teacher performance in
the fields to ascertain the evidence and impact of the
performance that the teachers have made upon the
teaching learning processes and learning outcome
based on standards determined. The assessment uses
instruments especially developed to assess the
implementation of all elements stated in the teacher
education standards. The instrument is used by
assessors who are specifically prepared as the
assessor of the quality assurance agency. Through
this process of the assessment the quality teachers are
evaluated on the extent to which that the teachers are
well equipped with all capacities required to face the
global challenges of the 21st century. The results of
the teacher accreditation become the empirical
evidence that the teachers have acquired and mastered
all quality properties indicated in the teacher
education standards.
7 CONCLUDING REMARKS
In the 21st century quality teachers continue to play
strategic roles in educating younger generation of the
future. Global challenges as the results of
globalization process impinging upon education
which must be responded by education including
schools and teacher education providers. The quality
teachers are those who have acquired and mastered
fully all quality attributes determined by the teacher
education standards. The quality reaches are prepared
through the implementation of teacher education
preparation programs undertaken by teacher
education instititions legally mandated to undertake
the programs. The teacher preparation programs
cover content knowledge, pedagogical content,
professional dispositions, socio cultural values
blended perfectly in the be several of prospective
teachers. Only the quality teachers are well equipped
to face global challenges.
Management strategies are needed to ensure that
all standards are fully met, the teacher education
preparation programs are successfully undertaken by
teacher education providers and the quality teachers
needed to face global challenges are produced in the
most efficient and effective ways.
ICES 2017 - 1st International Conference on Educational Sciences
430

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