Reorientation and Vitalisation of Teacher Education in a Knowledge Economy in Nigeria: Constraints and Implications for Educational Administration

In response to world-wide debates intensified on the re-orientation and vitalization of education with a view to preparing young people for today in order to meet foreseeable demands in the knowledge society necessitates a study on re-orientation and vitalization of teacher education in a knowledge economy with a view to providing solution to the problems of teacher education in a knowledge economy. Teachers are key actors in the education process and every meaningful reforms of education should always pay due attention to the teacher factor. Teacher education is a program that is related to the development of teacher proficiency and competence that would enable and empower the teacher to meet the requirements of the profession and face the challenges therein. In this era of knowledge society knowledge is increasingly becoming more recognized as the key driver of productivity and economic growth, given rise to what is now referred to as knowledge-based economy, the key variable that determines how fast nations outgrow others is the speed of accumulation of human capital. Consequently, countries with the most highly educated citizens are also the wealthiest in the world, and they are the ones dominating the global market in a knowledge-based society. Part of the constraints is that only quality education can trigger knowledge economy. This necessarily means that the prosperity of nations depends on their ability to generate and apply innovative ideas. The major implication is that Faculties of Education, especially needs to redefine their goals through effective knowledge management to produce intellectually competent graduate teachers. Part of the recommendations stated that greater attention should be paid to research and development of teacher education, while Information Technology (IT) compliance must be mandated in teacher preparation. Also Ministry of Education must ensure regular continuous development of teachers, this means that teachers must be regularly placed on seminars, conferences and workshops in order to develop their competencies in the area of knowledge creation, preservation, distribution and utilisation.