Being and becoming a teacher of english : a study of teacher educators and their students in postcolonial Zanzibar

Abstract

The quality of teaching that occurs in schools is directly linked to the quality of initial teacher education (ITE). This is very important in the area of English Language Teaching (ELT) in postcolonial Zanzibar, similar to other parts of Africa. Although, English is the language of instruction (LoI), many years of poor results on national examinations raise questions about this approach. Despite well-evidenced failure, universities continue to enroll future teachers into problematic university programmes, which perpetuate rather than address the problems associated with the preparation of teachers of English. The purpose of this study is to identify the strengths and weaknesses of an English language teacher education (ELTE) programme at the university level. The study focuses on the grounded stories of teacher educators and their students. It explores the views of teacher educators of English about the ELTE programme. The main finding shows that participants pay more attention to learning English rather than to teaching English effectively. Analysis also revealed that participants perceive ELTE programme as an English language improvement programme rather than a programme that prepares successful teachers of English. Apart from the ‘lack of everything’ culture that all participants referred to as a major barrier, the programme ignores the basic principles and pedagogy of second language teacher education (SLTE). Consequently, taken-for-granted routines dominate. The analysis reveals that many are driven by the symbolic power of English and bear the stamp of positive attitudes toward English but negative mental images about the teaching career.