Towards the Preparation of Quality Foundation Phase Teachers in the University: The Attitude and Improvisation Skills of First Year Students

Authors: Lulama Aletta Kahla

DOI: https://doi.org/10.37082/IJIRMPS.ICTIMESH-24.3

Short DOI: https://doi.org/gt3x3r

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Abstract: There has been a major outcry about the quality of teachers produced in teacher education programs in South Africa recently. The society, through the employers of the teachers, have been complaining about the quality of newly graduated teachers, most especially from the university, in terms of their subject matter knowledge (SMK) and pedagogical content knowledge (PCK). Foundation Phase teachers are not exempted from this inferior quality. Knowing fully well that education at the Foundation Phase forms the bedrock for other levels of education and that the teachers’ knowledge and skills are key determinants of the quality of this education, there is need for systematic studying of the preparation of teachers to improve the quality. One of the ways such studies could be done is to examine the entry behavior of the admitted students for the program, the content and pedagogy adopted to prepare them, and knowledge and skills demonstrated at the point of graduation. This study is the first step in this direction, in that it was designed to examine the entry behavior of newly admitted pre-service teachers in terms of their attitude towards teaching at Foundation Phase and skills already acquired about improvisation of resources. The findings show that the newly admitted pre-service teachers have a positive attitude towards teaching at Foundation Phase, production and use of instructional resources and expectations from the university in the training of these teachers. It was recommended, among others, that an empirical study should be carried out to assess the quality and quantity to preparation given to the pre-service teachers in South African universities.

Keywords: Foundation Phase Education, Teacher Preparation, Attitude towards Teaching, Improvisation Skills, Entry Behavior

Paper Id: 5.503

Published On: 2024-07-07

Published In: Special Issue - International Conference on Trends and Innovations in Management, Engineering, Sciences and Humanities (July 2024)

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