Teacher Development for Improved Student Learning. Can the University Turn the Tide? (abstract only)  

Oleh:

Kutame, Philip ; Maluleke, Mary

Jenis: Article from Proceeding
Dalam koleksi: The International Symposium on Social Sciences (TISSS) and Hong Kong International Conference on Education, Psychology and Society (HKICEPS) at Hongkong, December 2013, page 782-783.
Topik: sustainable; learning and teaching; rural schools; restructuring; teacher development.
Fulltext: Hong Kong-Conference 125.pdf (215.17KB)

Isi artikel

The South African experience of in-service teacher development for professional growth has not been a positive one. From personal experiences and literature, school inspectors visited schools without notice and made judgements on teacher performance which were never communicated to them. Such supposed developmental visits were faultfinding, resulted in teachers being victimised, and were never aimed at improving teaching and learning. Learners never benefited from these departmental officials’ school visits as the results were teachers being victimised and even transfered to schools far from their place of residence. Teachers did not have access to the reports and thus did not know how and why the judgements that were made about their performance in their learning area and school management were arrived at. Teachers did not have an idea of the extent to which these visits were linked to their teaching skills in relation to the improvement of teaching and learning. They were never given any developmental support which would have been linked to the improvement of learners’ learning skills. The education system (in South Africa) has been undergoing extensive restructuring since the advent of democracy (Maree, Aldous, Hattingh, Swanepoel & van der Linde, 2006). With this restructuring, there was a need for a system which leads to professional development for quality teaching and learning relevant for teachers in their quest for knowledge. As part of restructuring, the Integrated Quality Management System (IQMS) was introduced and assessment procedures were developed. However, the system was undermined by teachers and was not effective as envisaged. The system was deemed to be too bureaucratic, thus undermining teacher’s contributions and independent choice for development. Teachers were always suspicious of what the departmental intentions were. The system, which was also used as a way of determining salary levels of teachers, diverted the attention of the teachers from their professional development as they considered increase in salary levels the focus of IQMS. This seriously compromised the focus of the system: determining teaching skills, strengths and areas of in-service teacher development, and opportunities for continuous professional growth which should benefit students’ learning. Support programmes in which Grade 12 learners are given extra lessons in identified subjects have been introduced in one of the circuits in the newly established district. Fewer teachers are involved in this programme. The teachers are never given professional development and may therefore not grow in the manner in which they work with learners. This suggests that fewer teachers benefit from the programme. Situational analyses of the adverse conditions in the schools indicate that teachers’ methodology of teaching in the subjects needs to be improved. This negatively affects their performance level, resulting in poor innovations regarding issues related to improving learner academic performance and school effectiveness. The purpose of this study was to investigate whether the university, through collaborative engagement with the schools, can develop a model of sustaining the quality of teaching and learning in rural schools. A qualitative empirical survey using face to face and focus group interviews was conducted with teachers selected through purposive sampling procedures from six schools in rural areas of the Vhembe District in South Africa. The study established that some teachers have been teaching for a long time without improving their qualifications or skills in teaching the subject. Some exhibit negative attitudes toward subjects they teach. Other respondents express the need to acquire new strategies and approaches towards the teaching and learning in an attempt to improve the learners’ results significantly. What model can the university therefore develop that would develop teachers’ skills which can improve and sustain the quality of teaching and learning? Can the university succeed in developing the demotivated teachers with limited skills to improve and sustain the quality of teaching and learning in the rural schools?

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