The faculty in which we are based offers two initial teacher training programmes: the Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE); and the four-year BEd qualification-allowing students to pursue a specialisation in either the foundation or intermediate phase. Compared to other faculties, the Faculty of Education occupies the somewhat precarious label of being one of the "most transformed" faculty in the university. In other words, given the historical privilege of the university, the Faculty of Education is considered to have shown the most evident strides towards transformation in terms of racial representation. A cursory glance at statistics of student enrolments over a five-year period, provides interesting insights-insights, which, as we shall discuss in this article, should be interpreted with great caution. The interest and purpose of this article is to use the student enrolment statistics at a historically advantaged university as one indicator of a representative sample of teachers, who are likely to enter South African schools. The interest, on the one hand, is to gain an idea of the corpus of enrolled student teachers-by taking account of race and gender. On the other hand, we intend to use this data to further our discussions on representation, and the implications for teacher education, and hence, teaching. In the background, are inevitable concerns centring on notions of representation in relation to conceptions of transformation.
In its hasty retreat from a racialized and racist South Africa, democratic South Africa was intent on embracing the newly formed 'rainbow nation'. It would be a nation free from all forms of oppression, and unshackled by anger and hatred, as made visible in the life of Nelson Mandela-the first president of a non-racial, democratic South Africa. It made sense to open schools to all races, inviting children, once divided along lines of race, ethnicity and cultures, to share a uniform, share a school and learn together. Admissions determined on the basis of race and ethnicity, were considered part of an apartheid past. Given the newly established landscape of desegregated schools, many teachers opted for posts at schools where they were previously not allowed to teach. This meant, for example, that coloured teachers began teaching at White schools, and Black teachers at Indian schools. Although not in the same numbers as learners, teachers began to migrate across racial lines in terms of teaching posts. This paper draws on research conducted with what the authors refer to as minority group teachers. These are teachers who do not form part of the majority group in the school in terms of race and ethnicity. In exploring the issues of race and ethnicity of minority group teachers at schools, this paper examines how the silence around conversations on race, ethnicity, religion, culture and language-what its authors call the identity of 'otherness'-leads to an invisibility that pretends there is no difference. In other words, if the identity of 'otherness' is not discussed, it does not exist. Secondly, this paper explores how this invisibility of 'otherness' experienced by teachers affects their teaching in diverse classroom settings. Thirdly, in exploring a conception of 'otherness', it is not the intention of this paper to advance an argument in defence of deracialized schooling. Instead, it looks for a language that can break the silence around race and racism-one
Curricular reform in South African schools, as initially encountered through outcomes-based education (OBE), and most recently in CAPS, has been criticised and interrogated, if not for its epistemology, then for its political desirability. While justifiable questions were and continue to be asked about the pedagogical adaptability of teachers to their new roles as facilitators of pre-determined outcomes, the same has not been said, or asked, about the preparedness of teachers to teach democratic citizenship education. It is necessary, therefore, to consider how prepared teachers are to teach and cultivate the principles of democratic citizenship education. Second, what considerations should be given to teacher identity in relation to democratic citizenship education? And third, how might South African teachers begin to take account of their identities and narratives, so that they might be placed to participate in teaching democratic citizenship education? In response, I argue that the contested nature of teacher identities makes possible particular contributions to democratic citizenship and democratic education, which are necessary for teaching democratic citizenship education.
Academic integrity is integral to credible scholarship. Yet, the escalation of publications and the desire to publish, even in this journal-South African Journal of Higher Educationoften bring into play the important practice of academic integrity. As the rush for publications increasingly becomes an obsession, rather than an intrinsically loved scholarly activity, the ugly side of academic fraud, cheating and plagiarism begins to accelerate, and this manifests in research outputs. This introductory article takes a critical look at three significant developments in realising research outputs in higher education: Turnitin for turnitout, academic cheating and Google cutting and pasting. We proffer what academics should be doing to avoid the malaise creeping into and manifesting in higher education.
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