How much of what? An analysis of the espoused and enacted mathematics and English curricula for intermediate phase student teachers at five South African universities
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Date
2016
Authors
Bowie, Lynn
Reed, Yvonne
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Faculty of Education, University of the Free State
Abstract
Regulatory bodies such as the Department of Higher Education
and Training (DHET) provide a framework of formal criteria to
be addressed by providers of initial teacher education (ITE) but
these criteria can be interpreted in many different ways. The Initial
Teacher Education Research Project (ITERP) has investigated
the preparation of intermediate phase (grades 4 to 6) teachers
of mathematics and English at five South African universities,
selected as representative of the major ‘types’ of institutions
offering ITE. In this article we draw on our analysis of data from this
research to describe and discuss the courses in mathematics and
English offered by each of the five universities to student teachers
specialising in mathematics or English and to ‘non-specialists’.
We suggest that while there are examples of excellent curriculum
design and implementation, none of the universities in the study
is fully addressing the challenges of teaching and learning in
diverse intermediate phase classrooms. While acknowledging
that answering the question “how much of what?” is particularly
complex in teacher education contexts in which some students
enter university with an inadequate knowledge base from which
to develop content and pedagogic knowledge in a number of
disciplines and inter-disciplinary fields, we offer some curriculum
suggestions for teacher educators to consider.
Description
Keywords
Initial teacher education, Curriculum, Mathematics for teaching, English for teaching, Intermediate phase, Diverse classrooms
Citation
Bowie, L., & Reed, Y. (2016). How much of what? An analysis of the espoused and enacted mathematics and English curricula for intermediate phase student teachers at five South African universities. Perspectives in Education, 34(1), 102-119.