Learning through fieldwork: undergraduate research and teacher education in South Africa

The client analysis conducted in this study explores the professional development needs of11 language teachers, five in South Africa and six in Canada. The study employs a questionnaire and interviews to discover how each teacher's background and context affects his or her perceived professional development needs. Interviews show that teacher educators cannot necessarily predict teachers' professional development needs based on their backgrounds and contexts alone. A variety of inputs from recipients over an extended time is desirable and would yield more accurate predictability of an individual's professional development needs. This would result in teacher education programs that more accurately meet a teacher's real needs.

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Knowledge selection in initial teacher education programmes and its implications for curricular coherence

Journal of Education ◽

10.17159/i60a01 ◽

2015 ◽

Author(s):

Lee Rusznyak

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Teacher Education ◽

Prospective Teachers ◽

Initial Teacher Education ◽

Limited Time ◽

Selection Decisions ◽

Selection Principles ◽

Internal Coherence ◽

Rational Knowledge

There are a multitude of concepts and techniques that could be important for teachers tolearn during their initial teacher education (ITE), but indiscriminately including all of themwould result in an overcrowded and fragmented curriculum. Given the limited time for ITE,rational knowledge selection choices must be made if coherent programmes are to beoffered to prospective teachers. This paper explores the approaches taken to addressing thecritical challenges facing education in South Africa and the principles from knowledgeselection that arise from these approaches. Different conceptions about how best to addressthese challenges offer directed priorities to guide knowledge selection decisions for ITEcurricula. Examples of knowledge selection principles that variously promote conceptual orcontextual coherence are presented and analysed, and tradeoffs associated with each one areconsidered. Although some recontextualising principles are mutually incompatiable, othershave the potential to coexist. In a four-year qualification, where sequencing choices can bemade, there exists the possibility of introducing different principles at different timeswithout unduly compromising internal coherence. A challenge for those who design ITEcurricula is to design conceptually coherent and/or contextually responsive curricula fullyaware of the affordances and limitations offered by different recontextualising principles.

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Globalization and Teacher Education

Teacher Training and Professional Development ◽

10.4018/978-1-5225-5631-2.ch066 ◽

2018 ◽

pp. 1443-1462

Author(s):

Esther Ntuli ◽

Arnold Nyarambi ◽

Joachim Jack Agamba ◽

Victor Ntuli

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Teacher Education ◽

Teacher Preparation ◽

Literature Review ◽

21St Century ◽

Teacher Preparation Programs ◽

African Countries ◽

Preparation Programs ◽

Fully Integrated ◽

Content Preparation

This chapter examines the challenges to 21st century content preparation and pedagogy from the perspective of teaching professionals from different African countries: Cameroon, Ghana, South Africa, Lesotho and Zimbabwe. Specifically, the chapter explores the views and experiences of the participants during and after teacher preparation programs. Findings reveal common challenges, specific 21st century skills that are overlooked, and those not yet fully integrated in teacher preparation programs. The chapter offers suggestions for improvement based on the views of participants, research-based literature review, and best practices in teacher preparation programs.

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