Soft Skills in Teacher Education During Pandemic

Edkowid and Leydesdorff (1995) in their model ‘Triple Helix Model’ suggest that there should be a harmonious interaction between University, Industry, and Government to foster economic and social growth. It requires certain skills to be learned by the individuals to fulfill the demands of society. NEP 2020 (point no. 11.1) also suggests that some skills needed to be inculcated in individuals in professional development like communication, discussion, and debate. It is also related to teacher education courses as they prepare teachers for school and it is considered as a miniature of the society. In the contemporary scenario, soft skills are also required for teachers to teach in online mode during Covid-19. Teacher education programs are also conducted in online mode to prepare the teachers for the schools. Therefore, this research study aims to understand the views of pre-service teachers regarding the soft skills developed in teacher education courses. The purposive sampling was opted. The structured interview was conducted with the pre-service teachers who are currently enrolled in a teacher education program in a central university. It was found that the pre-service teachers are learning in an online mode during pandemic. There was a lack of proper exposure as peer interaction, micro-teaching, and interaction with teachers in face-to-face mode, and library facilities were not provided in an adequate manner due to lockdown. It was concluded that there is a need to inculcate some pedagogical strategies to prepare them in a better way to further develop the teaching-learning process in school.