10 research outputs found
A district beginner teacher induction initiative in South Africa: The pressure and support contestation
No full textThe main aim of this paper is to explore an approach to beginner teacher induction in a Johannesburg, South Africa education district’s induction programme. It focuses on how the idea of beginner teacher induction is conceptualised by examining the district induction programme’s teaching form and foci. Data were collected through interviews with four district officials coordinating and facilitating the district’s teacher induction programme. While it is apparent that beginner teacher induction is being prioritised due to the pressing need for South African teacher professional development initiatives to work more towards developing and strengthening a repertoire of sound instructional practices. Findings indicate that current teacher induction practices offered by the selected district are somewhat misaligned with this imperative. The teaching form and foci of the districts’ induction programme reveals serious contestation as pressure to perform is exerted rather than supporting teachers early in their careers. The activities therein are evidently more focused on familiarising beginner teachers with legal frameworks that govern and regulate their duties as members of the public service. Although the district induction programme has an overarching aim of developing beginner teachers’ pedagogical practices, upon implementation, the emphasis is on accountability and pressure at the expense of developmental support and capacity building.
Exploring induction and professional development opportunities for early career teachers in selected South African public schools
No full textA thesis submitted to the School of Education,Faculty of Humanities,University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg,in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of PhilosophyJohannesburg, September 2019This thesis intended to explore and develop an understanding of current practices and specific processes used to induct early career teachers in a few selected South African public schools. To develop this understanding, this study posed the question: What are the existing practices of induction and professional development available in selected South African public schools to provide early career teachers with learning opportunities to strengthen their repertoire of professional skills? This overarching question was explored through the following sub-questions: (i) What are the main on-the-job/professional challenges experienced by early career teachers? (ii) How are early career teachers inducted and professionally developed in their respective schools and district? (iii) How do existing practices of induction and professional development influence early career teachers’ practices and commitment to the profession? And, (iv) How, if at all, can early career teacher induction and professional development practices be improved and sustained? My research was an empirical phenomenological study that gathered data through focus group interviews, individual interviews, observations and document searches and analysis. The participants were 23 ECTs from five public high schools, which composed two township and three former Model C schools, three school-based mentors from one of the five schools and four district officials who were responsible for the induction of newly hired teachers in the district schools. I found, in response to sub-research question (i), that ECTs were facing serious challenges, especially with the technical aspects of their professional work such as disciplining learners, lesson planning, assessing learners, compiling statistics and managing time. They were also struggling with their respective schools’ social politics outside the classroom where senior teacher colleagues were resentful and very hostile towards them and this phenomenon was particularly profound in the township schools’ context. ECTs’ challenges were worsened by the fact that schools were hardly supporting the ECTs and left them to devise their own survival strategies which were not always in the best interest of the learners, the teaching profession or the country as a whole. In response to sub-question (ii), the data showed that most schools do not have formal structures in place to induct and professionally develop ECTs. Of the five schools that participated in the study, only one school (Peculiar High School) and the district office had formal ECT induction structures. In respect of these two, the data showed that the school largely conceived ECT induction as support by focusing on the acculturation of new teachers into the school community and providing guidance on various aspects related to the new teachers’ professional duties. The district, on the other hand, seemed to conceive teacher induction as administrative monitoring with increased performance standards for teachers as their emphasis was on ensuring that the new teachers comply with various policy frameworks that govern their work. In response to sub- question (iii), the data showed that, because of the absence of well-conceived and systematic induction programmes, ECTs were largely dissatisfied with their job situations. As a result, the study identified three categories of ECTs in relation to their practices and their levels of commitment to the profession: (i) the turnover intents (ECTs who were dissatisfied that they were resolute on leaving the profession); (ii) the ‘bad apples’ who were intrinsically inclined to merely survive in the profession without the drive to positively impact their learners or the profession, and lastly, (iii) the ‘agentic individuals’ who were self-directed to stay in the profession and use their agency in a developmental way. For sub-question (iv), the data indicated that ECT induction programmes are definitely needed in South Africa. The data, however, pointed to two important considerations to carefully contemplate on: What should the induction focus on? And, how should the induction be organised (i.e. who is best positioned to facilitate the induction and where should it be done)? The study concluded that, at this point in time in South Africa, there is pressure to improve teacher and teaching quality hence the induction ought to focus on developing ECTs’ professional skills needed for them to effectively perform their core teaching responsibilities. Although school-based induction that is done in the context of practice seemed more viable, the study ended up settling for an approach that acknowledges the important role played by both the school and the district in the proposed School-District-based ECT induction model. My work contributes to the literatures on how ECT induction is conceptualised at the school and district levels in the South African context by reporting on how ECT induction was understood, enacted and the nature of social relationships that underpin it in these different sites. These findings could be of interest to policy makers who can use these insights to begin to think about how prefigured contextual conditions across the different school and district contexts in South Africa will influence the manner in which nationwide ECT induction practices will most likely play out. The findings could also benefit schools and districts in as far as determining how best they can work together following the four steps of the School-District-based ECT induction model proposed in this study. As a result of my study, further research might well be conducted on the induction of ECTs in the South African public schooling context in order to understand the prefigured contextual conditions that are at play in the primary schooling context. This study has been a building block that has certainly opened up a new research agenda on early career teacher professional development through induction.NG (2020
Perceptions and experiences of the role and process of coaching in the Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy : a case of four teachers, their coaches and supervisors.
No full textThis study explores the coaching component of the GPLMS over the past 3 years, how it has
been implemented as well as the lessons learnt with the view to understanding the coaching
conditions required to assist teachers in changing their instructional practices. The GPLMS
intervention consists primarily of instructional coaching which has to mediate lesson plans to
teachers. This research specifically looks at the teacher-coach relations, the nature of
coaching support and monitoring and its impact on teachers. Research data were collected
through interviews of teachers in one FP school and one Intersen school in the Johannesburg
South district as well as from two coaches and their supervisors. A Peer Learning Group
(PLG) meeting in one school and a School-Based Workshop (SBW) in the other school were
observed. GPLMS documents which include lesson plans and teacher observation sheets
were analysed.
The data analysis reveals that instructional coaching combined with high quality lesson
plans are promising interventions with potential to improve teachers’ instructional practices.
Much progress, however, depends on the coaches’ interpretation of their role as well as their
attributes and qualities as far as the level of their subject knowledge and pedagogical content
knowledge and the respect and trust between themselves and their teachers are concerned
Academic Literacy Support During the COVID19 Pandemic Peer TutorsResilience at the Wits School of Education Writing Centre
No full textDisrupting monolingual practices The role of multilingualism as a pedagogy of possibility in writing centres
No full textDisrupting monolingual practices: The role of multilingualism as a pedagogy of possibility in Writing Centres
No full textMonolingual practices that dominate university spaces can contribute to othering, resulting in the marginalisation and exclusion of students who are less competent in the dominant discourse. These limitations must be addressed to create a more inclusive learning space that accommodates all students regardless of their social, economic, educational, and linguistic backgrounds. This paper explores how peer tutors in writing centre leverage their South African indigenous language repertoire to help students access disciplinary content knowledge and improve their academic writing practices. This paper discusses the findings from two focus group discussions with peer tutors at the Wits School of Education Writing Centre (WSoE WC). We explore how peer tutors\u27 integration of multilingualism during writing consultations can inform a new writing centre pedagogy. We also leveraged the principles of wayfinding to navigate and orient peer tutors within a complex university space, which challenges the university\u27s stated educational transformation with a concrete proposition. Data analysis shows how peer tutors and students collaboratively explore and map out academic writing using familiar languages to navigate the rigid structure of academic writing in a manner that respects and incorporates students\u27 linguistic backgrounds. Through wayfinding, peer tutors disrupt monolingual practices and by doing so, increase student participation and chances of success in higher education. Writing centres, as wayfinding spaces, are instrumental in championing the adoption of multilingual pedagogies, thus disrupting dominant monolingual practices in higher education
From \u27business as usual\u27 to \u27business unusual\u27: Online academic literacy development for education students during the Covid-19 pandemic.
No full textThe Covid-19 pandemic brought about restrictions on physical interactions, which in many ways changed how we live and work. Due to these restrictions, writing centres at universities and other educational institutions around the world had to transition from traditional ways of supporting students to online or remote methods. To save the academic year, Wits University’s teaching and learning and other student support programmes, including the Wits School of Education Writing Centre (WSoE WC), were compelled to adopt Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning (ERTL). Transitioning to ERTL meant1 reimagining student support in an online mode. This paper explores how the WSoE WC transitioned from face-to-face student consultations to offering online academic literacy support and development. The paper highlights the adaptation process in the transition, particularly how the WSoE WC dealt with the varying complexities accompanying ERTL. The main question guiding this exploration is: How did the WSoE WC negotiate the move to online academic literacy support and development during the Covid-19 pandemic? Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the director of the WSoE WC, who steered the adoption of the online mode and the peer tutors who worked directly with students online. The findings show that transitioning to the online mode during ERTL was difficult and complex. However, collective and individual agency enabled continued student academic literacy2 support despite disruption and change. This paper contributes to the ongoing conversation around the role of writing centres at universities in South Africa and beyond, particularly during disruptions.
Negotiating new ways of developing writing in disciplinary spaces: The changing role of writing consultants at the Wits School of Education Writing Centre
No full textWriting centres in South African universities have historically been poorly recognised structures in higher education, and have largely been considered as “asides†to the core functions of the university. This lack of acknowledgement has seen writing centres occupying demeaning physical spaces within universities which has had a negative impact on the full potential of writing centre work. This narrative study focuses on the experiences of three postgraduate writing consultants, and reports on the ways that the Writing Centre at the Wits School of Education (WSoE) has exerted agency in order to move from a marginalised position in a school of education to reach students and become more responsive to their needs. While being proactive has yielded many teaching and learning gains at the WSoE, the Writing Centre has also had to contend with various personal and operational tensions such as deficit perceptions from both staff and students, and unrealistic expectations of students that their writing problems will be solved instantly. These challenges, however, have created opportunities for growth of the Writing Centre as it has developed new pathways for consultants in the shift from generic writing consultations to content-specific writing development. The changed model has had implications for the training and pedagogies of writing centre consultants as well as for their identity as students and mentors. This article provides insights into how writing centres can use their agency to occupy more meaningful spaces and places within universities, and enhance academic literacy support whilst simultaneously providing writing consultants with opportunities to grow their scholarship
The 4IR and teacher education in South Africa:
No full textThe 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
Reimagining Writing Centres Practices: A South African Perspective
No full textIn light of the changing face and internationalisation of our student body and their concomitant needs, this book attempts to foreground both the strides made in the field, as well as the important questions and debates confronting writing centre practitioners in the South African higher education arena. The latter demands that we review and reimagine the support we currently provide. Reimaging, however, forces us to wrestle with the challenges that are inherent in work of this nature and to be vocal about the difficult questions that must be asked and answered if we want to provide socially just solutions to our students’ writing challenges. The onset of COVID-19 also imposed on our daily practices and required a hasty re-evaluation of our service provision.
The aim of this volume is to further conversations and research on the notion of the internationalisation of writing centres and the necessity to focus on the key issues of multilingualism, discipline-based writing, social justice, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as well as specialised consultant/tutor training. Writing centres at South African universities have established themselves as fundamental to the support and development of our students. Thus, the time is ripe for us as writing centre practitioners in the South African context to continue writing our own writing centre narrative, grapple with context-specific issues and questions, and provide context-specific answers and solutions that speak to the lived realities of our students. We hope to achieve this through this book
