Conflicts in schools over race, fees or language frequently make headlines in South Africa. Such conflicts reflect the multifaceted issue of learner diversity, encompassing racial, class, gender, religious, linguistic, physical and other differences. The need to handle such differences in equitable ways poses new challenges for teachers and teacher education. How are teacher education institutions preparing students for teaching in schools that are different from the ones they experienced as learners? What kinds of skills are they providing to enable teachers to deal with diversity and difference amongst learners.
In the drive to achieve universal primary education as one of the Millennium Development Goals, there is an increasing recognition of the urgency of focusing on teacher education to both meet the demand for more than one million qualified teachers required to achieve this goal within sub-Saharan Africa, as well as to combat the sometimes poor quality educational experience reported in the school. Currently, approximately only one third of teachers are qualified to teach. This dearth in qualified teachers also means that secondary and tertiary education need to be improved upon to provide an educated cohort of graduates. This in turn will ensure that the quality of teacher trained and retained within the profession is of a sufficiently high standard to ensure sustainable progress. This volume focuses on the various aspects of teacher education which need to be addressed in order for the wider Millennium Goals to be achieved, but more importantly, so that each African child living within sub-Saharan Africa will have the right to a quality education: ensuring they too experience their right and entitlement as children to reach their full potential - often taken for granted in Western countries – giving African children the necessary tools to build a better future for themselves. Of particular interest to the education researcher and policy maker, this volume’s contributors look at the various issues and challenges around the teacher profession, particularly in relation to resources and practices within sub-Saharan Africa. The contributors examine the issue of building research capacity for educational research within teacher education Colleges and explore the concept of education for sustainable development with the view to improving the development of quality teacher education within the global South. In this volume, research reports are presented highlighting the various challenges within the structure and provision of teacher education within certain national contexts, including assessment and curricula issues, which need to be addressed. This volume goes from the global to the local and examines teacher educator teaching, learning and reflective practice issues within different contexts, as well as exploring alternative pre-service experiences for western teachers who wish to work within the sub-Saharan context as well as some teacher educator exchange programmes between the South and North. Case countries explored include Lesotho, South Africa, Mozambique, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania and Madagascar, to mention but a few. Of particular value to the education researcher and policy maker, this book provides a timely resource focusing on an area of neglect, highlighting the central role of the teacher and teacher education towards sustainable development within the sub-Saharan African context.
This book presents the most comprehensive and most thorough study of the developments in South African higher education and research after the first democratic elections of 1994 – that is of post-Apartheid South African higher education. This volume will provide its readers with a detailed insight into the new (i.e. post-1994) South African higher education system. The large number of experienced authors and editors involved in the book guarantees that the reader will be introduced in the new SA higher education system from a large number of perspectives that are presented in a consistent and coherent way. This book will be of interest to scholars, students, administrators, policymakers and politicians interested in South Africa, higher education and research, and policy analysis. "Publications on higher education are not new. But this volume, which is the first of its kind as a collective effort of tracing and examining the twists and turns taken by processes of change in the South African higher education system in a context of profound societal and global transformation, adds a fresh dimension to the debate. In its examination of the extent to which the changes were in line with policy intentions, particularly with regard to equity, democratisation, responsiveness and efficiency, and how a new institutional landscape started emerging, it makes a momentous contribution to the current debate about higher education restructuring." Njabulo Ndebele, Vice-chancellor, University of Cape Town and Chair of the South African Association of University Vice-chancellors "This book addresses a rich variety of issues on South African higher education. It puts these in the relevant context of the process of globalization and it shows that the South African experiences offer us a lot to learn. Highly recommended for those who are intrigued by the innovations taking place in South African higher education as well as for those who intend to grasp the effects of globalization." Frans van Vught, Rector Magnificus and founding Director of the Center for Higher Education Policy Studies, University of Twente, The Netherlands "Reflection is a crucial ingredient to learning. In this book on higher education we have reflections on a unique period in the history of a country that managed its transition to democracy in a way that was unique, but from which we can all learn. Higher education in South Africa played a vital role in that transition and was part of the many tensions, choices and influences. They have been thoughtfully captured." Brenda Gourley, Vice-chancellor, The Open University, UK and board member, Centre for Higher Education Transformation. "No contemporary higher education system has changed as dramatically as that in South Africa. This book, rich in data, examines the changes that took place and offers insights into how change frequently cannot be predicted. The analysis captures the excitement, high expectations, remarkable successes, and failures in the transformation of the apartheid system of higher education. This excellent study provides rich fare for comparative analysis." Fred M. Hayward, American Council on Education Pilot Project, Executive Vice President, Council for Higher Education Accreditation, US.
Driven by centralised state processes, externally mandated and regulated, the restructuring of teacher education curriculum and institutions in South Africa has radically changed the teacher education landscape. How universities mediate, contest and resist the resulting pressures has differed, according to their historical legacy, their specific trajectories of restructuring, and their leadership dynamics. This monograph traces the micro-level responses of teacher educators at five universities experiencing the impact of the restructuring processes with varying degrees of intensity, and selected as representative of the system as a whole. The analysis reveals distinct patterns of recurriculation, ranging from bureaucratic compliance to creating academic coherence between contrasting legacies. What becomes clear is the need for teacher education academics to grasp the challenges and opportunities to assert their power over shaping curriculum processes that will produce competent, confident teachers. Opportunities and Challenges for Teacher Education Curriculum in South Africa forms part of the Teacher Education in South Africa series. The series documents a wide-ranging set of research projects on teacher education conducted by the Education, Science and Skills Development research programme within the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC), as part of a consortium of research partners. A comprehensive investigation of the dynamics shaping the professional development of educators, the series provides important reading for educationists, academics and policy-makers.
This study examines material issues affecting the quality of teaching and learning in South African public schools, both within and external to the classroom environment. The findings reveal significant disparities in conditions, both within and between provinces. Compounded by the effects of ill-health related to HIV/AIDS, these disparities are likely to hamper any efforts to improve the quality of teaching and learning in South African public schools.
This book draws together research on professional learning communities in schools and teacher education in diverse contexts in South Africa. Each chapter captures the rich and complex nature of professional learning communities, the challenges in developing and maintaining them, and the extent to which they promote successful learning for teachers and changes in teaching practices. The book shows that professional learning communities can promote continuous learning in response to local school and classroom realities and work against 'quick-fix', fragmented workshops for teachers, where learning tends to dissipate. This book should be of interest to teachers, school-leaders, teacher-educators, policymakers and researchers.
The 4IR has become an overarching framework within which education systems, including teacher education, are operating. Contingent upon the ideology of neo-liberalism, the 4IR seeks to transform societies in ways which respond to the relentless developments in technology, the Internet and digital capacities which, by design and intent, are purposed at increasing both productivity and the associated quality while at the same time reducing human intervention in the same processes. In teacher education, how we teach and train student teachers will be substantially influenced by the imperatives of the 4IR. There are multiple unresolved questions as the 4IR takes centre stage. For example, what will it mean for teaching and learning in schools that have severe technological and digital deficits; for teachers and students who have minimal technological literacies; for delivering high-quality teaching and learning; for transforming both the content and pedagogies of teacher education and, above all, for delivering socially just educational experiences for all our learners, regardless of class, race, and privilege. The discourse of the 4IR is contemporary and requires multiple perspectives to explore what it means in different contexts and settings, the understandings it engenders in people, what it implies across a wide range of educational decision-making levels, and that its fundamental assumptions cohere with national and societal assumptions about equality, equity and social justice. Multiple methodological approaches were utilised in the interrogation of the idea of the 4IR in teacher education in South Africa, including theoretical, empirical, and small-scale case studies, amongst others. The data these approaches provide are equally valued based on the purposes for which they have been derived.
Based on rapid advances in what is known about how people learn and how to teach effectively, this important book examines the core concepts and central pedagogies that should be at the heart of any teacher education program. Stemming from the results of a commission sponsored by the National Academy of Education, Preparing Teachers for a Changing World recommends the creation of an informed teacher education curriculum with the common elements that represent state-of-the-art standards for the profession. Written for teacher educators in both traditional and alternative programs, university and school system leaders, teachers, staff development professionals, researchers, and educational policymakers, the book addresses the key foundational knowledge for teaching and discusses how to implement that knowledge within the classroom. Preparing Teachers for a Changing World recommends that, in addition to strong subject matter knowledge, all new teachers have a basic understanding of how people learn and develop, as well as how children acquire and use language, which is the currency of education. In addition, the book suggests that teaching professionals must be able to apply that knowledge in developing curriculum that attends to students' needs, the demands of the content, and the social purposes of education: in teaching specific subject matter to diverse students, in managing the classroom, assessing student performance, and using technology in the classroom.
"Emerging from the pioneering work of the African Association for History Education (AHE-Afrika), Teaching African History in Schools offers an original Africa-centred contribution to international history education research. Edited by AHE-Afrika's founders and directors, the volume thus addresses a notable gap in this field by showcasing otherwise marginalised scholarship from and about Africa. Teaching African History in Schools constitutes a unique collection of nine empirical studies, interrogating curriculum and textbook contents, and teachers' and learners' voices and experiences as they relate to teaching and learning African history across the continent and beyond. Case studies include South Africa, Kenya, Rwanda, Zimbabwe, Malawi, Cameroon and Tanzania, as well as the UK and Canada. Contributors are: Denise Bentrovato, Carol Bertram, Jean-Leonard Buhigiro, Annie Fatsereni Chiponda, Raymond Nkwenti Fru, Marshall Tamuka Maposa, Abdul Mohamud, Sabrina Moisan, Reville Nussey, Nancy Rushohora, Johan Wassermann, and Robin Whitburn"--
