| Summary: | This study focussed on teacher training in the context of distance education. It investigated
the impact on practice of an English methodology course offered by Unisa’s Department of
English Studies at certificate level. The unit of analysis was a group of eight student
teachers registered for the module ACEEN26 Teaching English: General Principles offered
by Unisa’s Department of English Studies. This module aims to help students to understand
the approaches that underpin Outcomes-based Education (OBE) and how these translate
into practice in the English First Additional Language (FAL) classrooms.
To investigate the participants’ classroom practices, the study adopted an open and
inductive approach aimed at gauging their thinking with regard to teaching, learning,
assessment and how these understandings reflected OBE practices. The aim was to
determine how the eight students made sense of this phenomenon given their own
epistemologies within the unique contexts in which they worked.
Data collection consisted of a mix of lesson observations, in-depth audio-taped interviews
and analysis of documents. The interview was the main data-gathering technique. All these
instruments were supplemented by field notes based on informal observations which were
entered in a reflective journal.
The picture that emerged was of teachers who worked under demanding conditions as
they tried to implement complex and sometimes contradictory policies and were
constantly under the pressure of policy demands. Their practices were, to a large extent,
inconsistent with the OBE approach to teaching and learning. Although they gained some
theoretical surface knowledge from the course, the students’ practice remained traditional
because of two main reasons emanating from the findings: their inability to internalise the
theory to make it an integral part of their mental repertoire and the negative impact of
disabling contextual factors.The study constituted an evaluation of the course and therefore fed directly into the whole
concept of dialogue and student support which are necessary prerequisites for success in
distance education. As a teacher educator, this research was also a way of illuminating my
teaching practices through practical research that simultaneously informs the field of
teacher education.
Based on the training needs identified, a re-contextualised curriculum for the ACE English
programme was proposed. This proposed new programme reflects my stance that instead
of continuing to focus on pouring resources into dysfunctional schools, we should
concentrate on the lowest denominator in the system — the teacher. === Educational Studies === D. Litt. et Phil (English)
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