A Back-Door Entrance into Teaching Teachers

Pulane Lefoka

doi:10.30560/hssr.v4n1p39

Abstract

This paper is based on PhD research that was carried out at the National University of Lesotho’s Faculty of Education. The focus of the study was on the sources and application of professional knowledge among teacher educators. The content of the paper was drawn from the chapter on enactment of professional knowledge. All the research participants entered the teacher educators’ world through the backdoor; that is, some were invited by their teacher educators to work as teaching assistants while others applied to an advertised position. None of them had teaching in higher education credentials, hence back-door claim. Their major source of professional knowledge is experiential. Their professional lives have been shaped by their context. However, practice-based knowledge presents numerous challenges including lack of knowledge of the pedagogy of teaching student teachers and bias towards using transmissive methods of teaching.

Highlights

This paper shares the findings of a study which was carried out at the National University of Lesotho’s (NUL) Faculty of Education
The National University of Lesotho, the context for the study shared in this paper, does not seem to ponder on the criteria for employing teacher educators and what they are expected to do once they are engaged in the practice of teaching prospective teachers
As alluded to in the introduction of this paper, the study asked the question: where do teacher educators draw their professional knowledge from? This question was relevant in the context in which teacher educators did not have training on educating student-teachers

Summary

Introduction

This paper shares the findings of a study which was carried out at the National University of Lesotho’s (NUL) Faculty of Education. In undertaking the study there was an observation that teacher education institutions experience of having to hire teacher educators is necessitated by programmes run in higher education institutions the faculty responsible for educating prospective teachers. People who are employed to teach prospective teachers often assume the responsibility of teaching without an appropriate qualification. They rarely receive mentoring on the discourse of teaching student teachers and they have to acquire the skills for teaching in higher education on the job. The National University of Lesotho, the context for the study shared in this paper, does not seem to ponder on the criteria for employing teacher educators and what they are expected to do once they are engaged in the practice of teaching prospective teachers

Methods

Results

Discussion

Conclusion