THE UNIVERSITY OF BAMENDA HIGHER TEACHER TRAINING COLLEGE (HTTC) BAMBILI FIRST AND SECOND CYCLE COURSE DESCRIPTION 2016-2021 Page 1 of 337 INTRODUCTION Education theorists and cultural critics point to the ‘numberless’ narratives of teaching and teacher orientation that exist around the world to be “discovered”. This position is perhaps borne out of an existential but muted reality that every cultural community the world over has educated its offspring into its canonical ways but the proselytized modes of teaching and teacher education are those of the West. In spite of the myriad cultural ways of educating the young, the education theorists tend to agree that if we want to improve education for current and future generations, teaching and teacher education matter. In some narratives, standards are what matter – more than anything else. A familiar ‘standards narrative’ portrays teachers and teacher educators as both the fundamental problem in school education and the solution to the problem. Regrettably, there is no consensus about how they matter. In the light of the foregoing, it behoves every teacher education institution to specify the vision, mission and values that drive its teacher education programmes. In so doing, local knowledge of teaching and learning should not be ignored. It is perhaps in due recognition of the value of the local context in teacher preparation that an “Annex of the Advanced Teachers’ Training College of the Federal University of Cameroon” was set up in Bambili by Ordinance no 38 of 13 September 1967 to prepare teachers “for schools of West Cameroon and, as the case warrants, for certain specialties, schools of East Cameroon”. That “Annex” was transformed into a Higher Teacher Training College (HTTC) of The University of Bamenda by decree no 2010/071 of 14 December 2010. Today, teaching and teacher education are happening in a highly competitive, knowledge-driven world that demands a highly educated and responsible citizenry that is conscious not only of personal, local and national needs but also of the tough demands of fitting the citizen and the nation into a knowledge-based, globalized economy. Accordingly, teaching and teacher education in Cameroon, as elsewhere, are increasingly being challenged by issues of fine-tuning quality, increasing opportunities, adding value to employability and equipping learners to the efficacious exploitation of national, both natural and human, resources in sustainable ways. It equally calls for cultivating personal and national strategies to enhancing the entrepreneurial spirit that would open up massive cohorts of young citizens and youth not solely to their personal challenges but more so to the competitiveness of local, national and global market spaces. In so doing, priority should be given to the understanding and mastering of the accountability of responsible citizenship for national security and transformative productivity. In the dynamic world of education, the teaching and learning transaction is increasingly becoming more nuanced and interlaced with the workplace and cyberspaces. As such, learners, teachers and employers must interact, visualizing and figuring out how today’s learners would gain entry and succeed in the world of work that is increasingly driven by online resources. In addition, children the world over, learn from an early age that to play nicely together bestows good feelings and builds fellowship. Although there are times when “buckling down and working alone” may be helpful, in most cases, the collaborative process bolters everyone’s effort and outlook. In collaborative schools across the world, students and teachers are learning from each other in all sorts of ways, thanks to the possibilities in the social media and other forms ICTs. Accordingly, a teacher education institution worth its name should update its curriculum with current trends in teacher education, lifelong learning and the requirements of all spheres of digitalized economies. The Higher Teacher Training College (HTTC) Bambili is an education partner in Cameroon’s efforts to improve the quality of teaching, learning and professionalization of education. The central role of teacher Page 2 of 337 education in the process of national transformation and sustainable emergence cannot be overstressed, as every citizen, particularly employers and employees are groomed by teachers. HTTC must produce teachers who are intellectually critical, inventive and transformative. More importantly, they must be ethically and morally upright in handling personal and national issues. Cameroon is currently undergoing a transformation in the education sector. This calls for keen attention to both public and private sectors of education. The reality of Cameroon education is that the private sector is largely and holds greater potential for national transformation than the public sector that has hitherto been privileged in teacher education. Educational changes will require the successful translation of long- range strategic plans into closely coordinated actions by both the public and private spheres of the national economy. Thus, the future success of the transformations shall depend on both private and public education. National efforts to improve teacher education must recognize a fact of the technologically driven contemporary world: true transformations of resources and products are made possible through accent on STEM education (i.e., education on the Sciences, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics). However, this emphasis should not trivialize or undermine languages and the human sciences. To attain and remain competitive in the changing global market conditions anchored on STEM, we must raise our position in the global value chain by generating high value graduates. This will enable us to not only attract higher value intensive investments, but also to export our own products and innovative services to other markets. Its sustainability is critical since wealth will be created in countries that can develop human capital that is able to generate new knowledge and commercialize it. In order to meet the demands of these new global challenges, we must ensure that quality remains an integral focus of our teacher education. Sharing information and connecting with others — whether we know them personally or not — has proven to be a powerful tool in education. Students are collaborating with each other through social media to learn more about specific subjects, to test out ideas and theories, to learn facts, and to gauge each other’s’ opinions and orientations. In spite of their shortcomings and the differing policy positions of educators and institutions on their value, students are finding each other on their own specific social networking sites, on their blogs, on schools’ sites, and of course on Facebook and Twitter. Educators need to figure out how to profitably grab students’ attention where they naturally live outside the classroom — the online social media that allow students to connect with each other or their peers in other schools and countries whenever they want. VISION OF HTTC The vision of HTTC is premised on the motto of The University of Bamenda, which is Knowledge, Probity, and Entrepreneurship. Accordingly, HTTC is committed to equity and excellence, recognizing the virtues and potentials in a diverse student population to teach, innovate and inspire. More specifically, HTTC positions itself as an education partner in Cameroon’s efforts to gain emergent economic status in 2035. Teacher education is the sector that can build the requisite intellectual capital, infused with inventive entrepreneurial skills and sterling moral probity to achieve this exalting national goal. HTTC is poised to developing into and being sustained as a leading Centre of Excellence in Teacher Education. Its accent is on producing first-rate STEM pedagogues, language teachers, social science educators and educational service personnel. Page 3 of 337 MISSION STATEMENT The HTTC Bambili advances the general mission assigned to The University of Bamenda by ensuring high quality teacher education in general and in particular innovative scholarship on pedagogic processes and educational research.The specific mission of the HTTC is to prepare proficient teachers in various teaching subjects and educational services for schools of the public and private sectors. It seeks to develop the potentials of learners in a holistic, integrated and ethical manner. It equally provokes the critical faculties for innovation, continuing learning and productive problem-solving. VALUES HTTC seeks to produce confident graduates who are knowledgeable and competent in their fields, as well as able to put into practice the knowledge gained. In addition, these graduates must innovate, possess high cognitive, technological and entrepreneurial skills, be bilingual, able to communicate efficiently, able to inculcate good values and to contribute to the well-being of the society and the global community. They must be dynamic, ensuring relevant curriculum and pedagogy. Internationalization of higher education is also ensured through benchmarks with leading world institutions. Our graduates are expected to be leaders in the field of teaching and development of conducive learning environments that foster student- centered learning. Specific Values: Collaboration: HTTC strives to build mutually beneficial partnerships in teaching, learning and research. Sharing: HTTC engages in and facilitates knowledge exchanges in a spirit