Abstract
The study reported in this article responds to the need for empirical studies that provide evidence of positive change in education at the micro-level of the classroom – an important component of the complex education environment in South Africa. This article describes teachers’ and principals’ reports of micro-level changes that occurred during a professional development programme for foundation phase teachers at a South African university. An overview of the principles underpinning the programme design and implementation is given, followed by a description of the qualitative research design and grounded theory methodology used to research changes in the practices of teachers participating in the programme. The study provides evidence of changes in the classroom and professional practice of the teachers, aligned with changes in academic practice and children’s learning in the classroom. We argue that the programme’s strong orientation to practice, its focus on teachers’ understanding of children, and the model of teacher professional development that is located in reflexive practice together may have facilitated positive changes in the teachers’ practices.
Highlights
While great strides have been made in South Africa in terms of access to education, the major inefficiency of the system, which is the low quality of teaching and learning, still needs to be addressed
It is widely accepted that teachers play a critical role in achieving quality education, and that South African teachers’ content knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge need strengthening if the quality of learning is to be improved
The Department of Basic Education (DBE) has implemented a number of policies to address some of the root causes of underperformance, including a new curriculum (RSA DBE 2011b) and Annual National Assessments (ANAs)
Summary
While great strides have been made in South Africa in terms of access to education, the major inefficiency of the system, which is the low quality of teaching and learning, still needs to be addressed. The Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) has implemented a new qualification framework for teachers, the goal of which is to strengthen teachers’ knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. In parallel with these national responses, universities are providing teacher professional development programmes aimed at improving the quality of practice in schools. The teachers in this study were enrolled in a three-year, part-time professional development programme, the Bachelor of Education for Foundation Phase Teaching (BEd(Foundation Phase)), offered by the Centre for Social Development (CSD) in the Education Faculty at Rhodes University, Grahamstown. This paper tells the story of these changes, based on the reports of teachers and principals in the schools, and discusses some of the resulting effects on the children, the teachers and their schools
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