Many beginner teachers experience the transition from student teacher to beginner teacher as challenging and a huge reality shock. These adapting demands are often daunting and they therefore need assistance to navigate the transition.... more
Many beginner teachers experience the transition from student teacher to beginner teacher as challenging and a huge reality shock. These adapting demands are often daunting and they therefore need assistance to navigate the transition. The researchers argue that mentorship programmes can assist in addressing these transition challenges. The study makes the point that literature on teacher mentorship in South Africa has largely been from the perspective of administrators, designers and providers of mentorship programmes, rather than from the perspective of the beginner teachers themselves. The aim of the study was therefore to ascertain the perception of beginner teachers in public primary schools in the Ugu district of KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, on mentorship programmes. The study was framed within the constructionist theoretical framework and made use of the qualitative approach, using structured interviews as a data collection instrument. The study revealed that beginner teache...
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The purpose of this paper is to report on a research study which explored the perceptions of black learners with regard to their teacher-learner and learner-learner relationships in multicultural spaces of Historically White Schools in... more
The purpose of this paper is to report on a research study which explored the perceptions of black learners with regard to their teacher-learner and learner-learner relationships in multicultural spaces of Historically White Schools in the five educational districts of the Northern Cape province in South Africa. A quantitative research approach, embedded in a descriptive data method of data analysis was employed, where a self-designed 4-point Likert scale questionnaire was given to 1037 black high school learners attending Historically White Schools in the Northern Cape. Learners used for the study included learners in grades 10 to 12. Selected items related to black learners’ perceptions of their relationships with their teachers and fellow learners in Historically White Schools. Data were analysed using descriptive analyses. In general, the study revealed that black learners experienced relatively pleasing relationships with their teachers and fellow learners alike. The study is n...
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DECLARATION I, ANTHONY SYDNEY MPISI, declare that the dissertation hereby submitted by me
Teaching is complicated, and is compounded by changes in the education landscape as far as diversity is concerned. This has forced education planners to reconsider the manner in which initial teacher education programs are structured, to... more
Teaching is complicated, and is compounded by changes in the education landscape as far as diversity is concerned. This has forced education planners to reconsider the manner in which initial teacher education programs are structured, to meet the needs of the diverse classroom population. This study reports on the experiences of South African university teacher educators, from diverse backgrounds, who facilitated a first-year education module, “The Individual in Context”, which relates to the way identity is constructed and, as a result, ‘otherness’ is perceived. If pre-service teachers are to adjust to the new, diverse university context, they constantly have to navigate and negotiate the university space, while re-evaluating and reconstructing their own perceptions of ‘otherness’. The article argues that, in order for the teacher educators to effectively facilitate the module, they, too, had to subject themselves to a soul-searching process of reflection, re-evaluation and reconst...