Part-time post graduate certificate in education teacher-students : What do they bring to and expect from a formal South African teaching programme?

• Published in: The Australian journal of teacher education Vol. 41; no. 9; pp. 81 - 99
• Main Authors: Mukeredzi, Tabitha, Sibanda, Doras
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Edith Cowan University 01.09.2016
• Subjects: Academic Achievement; Content knowledge; Correlation; Curriculum; Developing countries; Foreign Countries; Graduate Students; Graduate study; Inservice teacher education; Knowledge base for teaching; Knowledge level; Part Time Students; Pedagogical Content Knowledge; Primary secondary education; Professional development; Professional Identity; Program Descriptions; Qualitative Research; Questionnaires; Student Attitudes; Student Needs; Student teacher attitudes; Teacher attitudes; Teacher education; Teacher Education Programs; Teacher effectiveness; Teacher Qualifications; Teaching Methods; University of KwaZulu-Natal; South Africa
• DOI: 10.14221/ajte.2016v41n9.5
• ISSN: 0313-5373; 1835-517X

The purpose of this study was to understand the nature and extent of subject content and curriculum knowledge that part-time Post Graduate Certificate in Education students in one South African university, brought to the classroom, and the kind and level of knowledge that they expected and sought from the program. The study employed a qualitative design and data were collected through a questionnaire administered to 146 part-time students on this program. These students were teaching in different contexts: urban, rural and, township high schools. The findings indicated that teachers within the 0-3 years' professional life phase expected to gain knowledge of the curriculum. The student teachers did not believe that they possessed adequate content knowledge, despite their previous undergraduate training and thus expected to learn the subject content knowledge from the program. Many of the students however had adequate understanding of teaching practice although they still expected to learn more, including learning about aspects of professional teacher attributes. The core educational modules in the program exposed students to knowledge of curriculum and assessment requirements. However, these findings suggest a need to establish individual needs of students to ensure that their classroom practice needs are addressed by the time they graduate. Given the link between teacher content knowledge and student achievement, and the need to improve the content knowledge of PGCE part-time teacher-students, the study recommends inclusion of content knowledge in the curriculum. [Author abstract]