‘Learning walks’: Dialogic spaces for integrating theory and practice in a renewed BEd foundation phase curriculum

Abstract

In teacher education, the integration of theory and practice is perhaps best manifested in work-integrated learning (WiL), which entails the merging of academic and professional knowledge domains (CHE 2011). The redesign of current BEd programmes at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU) to align with the Faculty of Education’s new vision and mission started in 2011. Rigorous interrogation of previous and current paradigms and practices led to uncomfortable awareness of the lack of relevance of teacher preparation programmes in relation to conditions in the majority of schools in the country. Furthermore, the undesired schism between theory and practice was clearly exacerbated by the existing teaching practice model. The primary challenge was to design integrated, coherent new BEd programmes, to be responsive to the realities of the majority of South African schools, and to facilitate the connection between theory and practice in the teacher education programme. The study described in this article responded to this challenge through the application of a humanising curriculum framework that had been co-constructed within the Faculty. It led to the implementation of ‘learning walks’, the name given to the dialogic spaces which were created to develop and inform a new model of WiL.

Foundation phase pre-service teachers’ experiences of teaching life skills during teaching practice

“…Over the years, research has been conducted locally and internationally on different aspects of in-service FP teachers' experiences (Bruce 2011;Cekiso, Meyiwa & Mashige 2019;Kanjee & Mthembu 2015;Masnan, Sharif & Josin 2018;Meiring 2019;Sheldon 2015), on FP pre-service teachers' experiences during their teaching practice (Matzembacher, Gonzales & Do Nascimento 2019;Steyn & Adendorff 2020;Zinn et al 2014) and on the LS module in the FP at higher education Background: In South Africa socio-economic problems such as poor health conditions, juvenile delinquency, high rates of school dropout and teenage pregnancy are increasing. Therefore, it is vital to prepare foundation phase (FP) pre-service teachers to fortify children with basic life skills (LS) that will help them to cope with real-world challenges and demands.…”

Locating indigenous knowledge in a teacher education curriculum: A case of teaching isiXhosa to non-mother-tongue speakers

“…Teacher education curricula are no exception to this debate. Learning to become a teacher encompasses preparing teachers who understand learning and teaching contexts (Flores, 2017;Zinn, Geduld, Delport & Jordaan, 2014) and acquiring an in-depth knowledge of subject content and pedagogy (Shulman, 2004). The curriculum is a critical aspect of preparing teachers for the classroom because they implement it (Van Wyk, 2002).…”

Humanising pedagogy: An alternative approach to curriculum design that enhances rigour in a B.Ed. programme

“…The outer layer of the circle acknowledges that our work is informed by and seeks to contribute to a range of historical, philosophical, political and cultural dimensions of our lives within a society (Zinn et al, 2014). At the centre of this diagram, is a heart representing the socalled who question, who are we as teacher-educators?…”