What messages about teacher professionalism are transmitted through South African pre-service teacher education programmes?

Lee Rusznyak

doi:10.15700/saje.v38n3a1503

Abstract

What messages about teacher professionalism are transmitted through South African pre-service teacher education programmes?

Highlights

As in many other developing countries, South African teachers need to navigate the complexities associated with teaching in a rapidly changing, inequitable and largely under-performing education system (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2014)
The findings show how messages about teacher professionalism are variously transmitted through Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes as being about individual attributes, as being part of a community with a shared moral purpose, and as having shared knowledge, and being able to account for the pedagogical decisions one makes
Drawing on the literature review, the results of this study will be discussed in three broad clusters, namely: the dispositional and behavioural; the social; and the intellectual

Summary

Introduction

As in many other developing countries, South African teachers need to navigate the complexities associated with teaching in a rapidly changing, inequitable and largely under-performing education system (United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization [UNESCO], 2014). In legislation governing the provision of teacher education, teaching is conceptualised as a knowledge-based professional practice where “principles and theory are emphasised as a basis for entry into a professional teaching career” (Department of Higher Education and Training [DHET], 2015:20). Despite assertions in policy that teachers are to be prepared as prospective professionals, little is known about how Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes conceptualise teacher professionalism and seek to fulfil this mandate. To address this gap, this paper analyses the conceptions and enactment of teacher professionalism transmitted by ITE programmes at five institutions that participated in the Initial Teacher Education Research Project (ITERP), led by JET Educational Services. I conclude by suggesting how teacher professionalism can be strengthened in ITE and the grounds of its legitimation made more explicit to pre-service teachers

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Conclusion