Teachers’ Professional Development in South African High Schools: How Well Does It Suit Their Professional Needs?

Ajani, Oluwatoyin Ayodele

doi:10.31920/2634-3649/2020/10n3a4

Cited by 14 publications

(22 citation statements)

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“…According to Early and Norton (2014), these considerations add to the difficulties of teaching and learning; indeed, the majority of participants believe that learning to converse in English is challenging. In theory, most of the participants understood their roles, but implementing this approach had proved more complex (Ajani, 2020). That is why all the participants revealed that teaching their class in English proved fruitless as most learners kept on asking for the repeat of the lesson.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching in English across the Curriculum: A Lived Experiences of the Novice Teachers in A Selected Rural Fet Schools in South Africa

Mncube¹,

Mkhasibe²,

Ajani³

2021

IJHE

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Novice teachers’ use of English as the medium of instruction in curriculum delivery across all subjects in rural South African schools is the focus of this study. The duration of their entry into the profession as Post Graduate Certificate in Education holders is short and does not capacitate them enough, thus, making them weak and inexperienced, with a high degree of professionalism, especially at the commencement of their careers. This study investigates the lived experiences of selected novice rural teachers on the tasks of teaching in English across all subjects in the rural schools. Fifteen participants from 15 high schools were purposively selected from 15 different rural high schools from King Cetshwayo District, KwaZulu-Natal province in South Africa. The participants were engaged in a focus group discussion as well as classroom observations of these teachers for data collection. Data analysis for this qualitative study was thematically analysed to generate themes for the presentation and discussion of findings. Theories of the Skills Acquisition Theory (SAT) and the Second Language (L2) Comprehensible Input through Teacher Talk Theory (CITTT) were adopted as theoretical frameworks to underpin the phenomenon. Various novice teachers find it difficult to teach across all subjects, using English as the medium of instruction in many rural schools in South Africa. Findings indicated that the educational backgrounds of learners hinder teachers’ use of English to teach them meaningfully. As observed during various classroom observations, teachers also found it convenient to use indigenous languages to deliver lesson content or communicate to these learners in the classrooms during lessons. Findings also revealed that some teachers struggled to express themselves in English due to their educational backgrounds as well. The study, therefore, recommends that teachers during their pre-service education should be well-groomed in English and this should be promoted during their teaching practice in both rural and urban. Various teacher education institutions should be encouraged to deliver curriculum contents/modules to the pre-service teachers in English across all modules.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Teaching in English across the Curriculum: A Lived Experiences of the Novice Teachers in A Selected Rural Fet Schools in South Africa

Mncube¹,

Mkhasibe²,

Ajani³

2021

IJHE

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“…It was evident from supervisors' documents that some pre-service teachers' disposition of pedagogical content knowledge during the teaching practice did not encourage learners' development of critical thinking, problem-solving and performance skills because the teaching becomes teacher-centred instead of learner-centred. The promotion of effective learning in learners is significantly influenced by learner-centred teaching approaches [2], [3], [28], [30]. Moreover, they did not have adequate content knowledge.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

The Nexus between Teaching Practice and PGCE Student-Teachers: The Perceptions of Subject Mentors on Pre-Teachers' Readiness for Teaching Career

Mkhasibe¹,

Mncube²,

Ajani³

2021

ujer

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Teaching practice is critical to teacher education as it provides the pre-service teachers with practical experience of professional responsibilities and classroom practices, which are basic foundations for their choice of teaching as a profession or career. It is mandatory for pre-service teachers to experience teaching practice as a requirement in teacher education to acquire practical teaching competence in schools. Students in teaching practice are required to be mentored by their subject teachers in the schools. Thus this study investigates subject mentors' perceptions of Post Graduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) students' teaching practice lived experiences to determine their readiness for professional classroom practices. Competence and readiness to teach are inseparable because the latter demonstrates the skills which pre-service teachers display when delivering certain aspects of their teaching. Hence teaching is incomplete without teaching practice. Five subject mentors who were mentoring PGCE student teachers were purposively selected and engaged in semi-structured interviews for the data collection for this study. Content analysis was used to identify themes and analyse the data. The findings revealed, among others, that PGCE student teachers do not have adequate pedagogical content knowledge. Based on the findings, the study, therefore, recommends that the training for PGCE students has to be increased from one year to two years to acquire the appropriate knowledge and skills.

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“…The professional development of teachers refers to all activities or programmes that can be organised for teachers, to improve their classroom performances and ultimately improve learners' academic performance in the education system (Ajani, 2019(Ajani, , 2020(Ajani, , 2021. According to Govender and Ajani (2021), teachers can be engaged in various aspects of professional development programmes.…”

Section: Teacher Professional Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…According to Jimenez et al (2023), the use of ICT significantly facilitates classroom pedagogy, which is necessary for the teaching and learning process and capable of enhancing learners' academic achievement, especially when teachers integrate ICT into curriculum delivery. According to various scholars, learners' learning, and academic achievement should be the focus of the education system, with teachers' professional development situated within their subject-matter understanding, teaching skills, and pedagogical knowledge to be attained (Ajani, 2020;Maipita, Dongoran, Syah, & Sagala, 2023). Seemingly, Sanusi, Oyelere, and Omidiora (2022) stress that the professional development of teachers within 4IR should embrace the capacity building of teachers to adopt, use, and maximise ICT for effective teaching and learning processes.…”

Section: Teacher Professional Developmentmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Hence, Ajani and Govender (2019) posit that teachers' entry knowledge and skills into the teaching profession cannot sustain them, therefore, teachers require in-service training on the use of ICT in education. Ajani (2019Ajani ( , 2020Ajani ( , 2021 explains that the professional development of teachers is also known as in-service training. While Govender, Ajani, Ndaba, and Ngema (2023) posit that it is also referred to as continuing teacher professional development, Hrastinski and Ekman Rising (2020) opine that the aim of the professional development of teachers in the education system is to capacitate teachers for better classroom performance, as well as improved learners' performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Impact of ICT-Driven Teacher Professional Development for the Enhancement of Classroom Practices in South Africa: A Systematic Review of Literature

Ajani,

Govender

2023

JESR

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Education is critical to the development of any country. The quality of education depends on the quality of teachers in the education system. Studies affirm that the initial teacher education that teachers enter the teaching profession with, is not enough to sustain the education system. Hence, there is a need for continuing life-long learning for teachers to keep abreast of their profession. Seemingly, teachers play a significant role in the integration of ICT into teaching and learning. Therefore, adequate and regular professional development of teachers is paramount to the use of learning technologies in classrooms. This study employed a systematic review of the literature to explore the impact of teachers' exposure to ICT through professional development activities on teaching and learning success. The TPACK framework was adopted as an underpinning lens to understand the phenomenon. The study affirms that the professional development of teachers should be situated within ICT pedagogical and content-related content to capacitate teachers' ICT knowledge and skills. Hence, teachers' ICT knowledge enhances classroom instructional delivery, using various learning technologies in teaching and learning. The study recommends adequate and regular capacity building for teachers with ICT training, while teachers should be supported with ICT gadgets and resources. Follow-up should be designed to ensure teachers’ adoption and use of ICT for teaching and learning in South African schools, to familiarise their learners with various learning technologies, and to enhance their academic performances. Received: 17 April 2023 / Accepted: 29 July 2023 / Published: 5 September 2023

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Teachers’ Professional Development in South African High Schools: How Well Does It Suit Their Professional Needs?

Cited by 14 publications

References 0 publications

Teaching in English across the Curriculum: A Lived Experiences of the Novice Teachers in A Selected Rural Fet Schools in South Africa

Teaching in English across the Curriculum: A Lived Experiences of the Novice Teachers in A Selected Rural Fet Schools in South Africa

The Nexus between Teaching Practice and PGCE Student-Teachers: The Perceptions of Subject Mentors on Pre-Teachers' Readiness for Teaching Career

Impact of ICT-Driven Teacher Professional Development for the Enhancement of Classroom Practices in South Africa: A Systematic Review of Literature

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