This paper reflects on public-sector unions in South Africa with a view to highlighting teacher unionization’s contribution to South Africa’s education crisis. South Africa’s teaching profession is highly unionized. The largest teacher union, the South African Democratic Teachers Union (SADTU) is affiliated to the Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU). The latter is a partner in the ruling tripartite alliance that includes the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Communist Party (SACP). Worldwide most public-sector unions are known to prop up left-wing political organizations. SADTU is no exception. But this paper shows that SADTU organizes teachers at the expense of teaching and learning in a country whose education system has been described as “a crisis” and “a national disaster” whose schools are “dysfunctional”. The paper contemplates on the possibility of borrowing from business models to “redesign” or “reengineer” the country’s ailing education system into an efficient system
This paper intends to shed light on the issue of non-implementation of new curriculum reforms by exploring how district officials' understandings of teacher learning and change process can shape the outcomes of the curriculum implementation. This will be done by examining the officials' assumptions about teacher learning and change, their source and impact in the reform implementation process in a district in South Africa. The paper argues that district officials' assumptions influence the nature of the support they give teachers, for they become the lenses for viewing and engaging with teachers. These assumptions, the paper shows, also contribute to shaping the reform implementation or non-implementation process. In conclusion, it is recommended that officials enhance their communication channels and work rapport with teachers as these will facilitate their understanding of the various issues confronting teaching and impacting reform implementation.
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