MUSTER

Multi-Site Teacher Education Research Project

sponsored by DFID

Ghana
Lesotho
Malawi
South Africa
Trinidad &
Tobago

Discussion Paper 3
Primary Teacher Education
Curricula as Documented: a
Comparative Analysis
Janet S Stuart

July 1999

Centre for International Education

C ie
University of Sussex Institute of Education
 Multi-Site Teacher Education Research Project (MUSTER)

MUSTER is a collaborative research project co-ordinated from the Centre for International
Education at the University of Sussex Institute of Education. It has been developed in
partnership with:
• The Institute of Education, University of Cape Coast, Ghana.
• The Institute of Education, The National University of Lesotho.
• The Centre for Educational Research and Training, University of Malawi.
• The Faculty of Education, University of Durban-Westville, South Africa.
• The School of Education, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine’s Campus,
Trinidad.

Financial support has been provided for three years by the British Department for
International Development (DFID).

MUSTER is focused on generating new understandings of teacher education before, during

and after the point of initial qualification as a teacher. Its concerns include exploring how
new teachers are identified and selected for training programmes, how they acquire the skills
they need to teach effectively, and how they experience training and induction into the
teaching profession. The research includes analytical concerns with the structure and
organisation of teacher education, the form and substance of teacher education curriculum,
the identity, roles and cultural experience of trainee teachers, and the costs and probable
benefits of different types of initial teacher training.

MUSTER is designed to provide opportunities to build research and evaluation capacity in

teacher education in developing countries through active engagement with the research
process from design, through data collection, to analysis and joint publication. Principal
researchers lead teams in each country and are supported by three Sussex faculty and three
graduate researchers.

This series of discussion papers has been created to provide an early opportunity to share
output from sub-studies generated within MUSTER for comment and constructive criticism.
Each paper takes a theme within or across countries and offers a view of work in progress.

i
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables iii

Acknowledgements iii

Abstract 1

1. Introduction 2

1.1 A note on methods used 2

2. Contextual Frames 4

2.1 Background to recent developments 4

2.1.1 Ghana 4
2.1.2 Lesotho 4
2.1.3 Malawi 5
2.1.4 UDW 6

2.2 Comparing the development of the programmes 8

2.2.1 Policy 8
2.2.2 International influences 8
2.2.3 Views of the teacher 8
2.2.4 Change processes 9

2.3 Governance and Control 9

2.4 Requirements for students on entry 9

3. Curricular structures and strategies 11

3.1 Structure 11
3.2 Subject Content 13
3.3 Relationship between Subject Content and Methods 14
3.4 Professional Components 16
3.5 Pedagogy for the ITPP 18
3.6 Teaching / Learning Materials 19
3.7 Assessment 20
3.8 Assessment of the Practicum 20

4. Summary and Discussion 22

4.1 Some of the issues emerging from the above analysis 23

ii
 4.1.1 Transition 23
4.1.2 Different directions 23
4.1.3 What is the Curriculum? 23
4.1.4 The relation of the curriculum to the life-worlds of the trainees. 23
4.1.5 What sort of teacher? 23
4.1.6 Teacher Educators 24
4.1.7 Patterns of differences 24

References 26

Appendix 1: Analysing the teacher preparation curriculum from documentary

sources. 27

Appendix 2: The Curriculum Strategy in Context 30

LIST OF TABLES

Table 1: some comparisons between programmes 10

Table 2: Different ways of structuring the programmes 12

Table 3: Proportions of contact time suggested for each subject area 13

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This analysis has benefited greatly from discussion and contributions from other members of
the MUSTER team, notably Kwame Akyeampong (Ghana), Alison Croft (UK), June
George (Trinidad & Tobago), Demis Kunje (Malawi) , Pulane Lefoka (Lesotho), Michael
Samuel and Labby Ramrathan (South Africa)

iii
 ABSTRACT

This paper compares primary teacher curricula using examples from Ghana, Lesotho,
Malawi, South Africa and Trinidad and Tobago, to show similarities and differences, to seek
out trends, and to raise general issues. First the contextual frameworks are sketched,
describing the five programmes and showing how they have developed over recent years.
Then the curricular structures and strategies are analysed from available documents, and
compared in terms of aims, objectives, content, pedagogy and assessment. Findings include
the following:
• In general, teacher education appears to lag behind other educational sub-sectors both
in terms of curriculum development and of the professional development of the teacher
educators.
• Although in all but one of the countries initial teacher training is in transition, the changes
are in different directions and follow different rationales. There seems little consensus on
either the aims of initial training or on how best to achieve them.
• With the exception of South Africa, the curricula still reflect traditional types of
organisation and content, often borrowed from the North with little adaptation to make
them relevant to local needs or to the lifeworlds of the trainees. Pedagogy and
assessment methods also follow traditions patterns; few textbooks are written or
published locally, and many are outdated.
• Some of the differences found seem to relate to levels of economic development, but
others may be more deeply rooted in historical, social and cultural factors, such as views
of knowledge, or the relations between the generations.
• Further exploration is needed to understand how the curriculum as documented relates
to the curriculum as understood by the tutors, delivered in the classroom, or experienced
by trainees. There may be wide gulfs between all these.

1
 1. INTRODUCTION

This paper relates to the Curriculum Strand of the MUSTER project, which examines how
new teachers acquire the knowledge, skills and attitudes necessary for professional practice.
It reports the first stage of the analysis, focusing on the curriculum as designed, drawn up,
and set out by the curriculum developers in various curricular documents, such as syllabi,
course outlines, discussion papers, and sometimes handbooks. One purpose of such
analysis is to provide a baseline against which to examine the ‘curriculum in action’ - how it
is delivered, enacted and experienced in practice. Here is it also used comparatively across
the five case studies to show similarities and differences, to seek out trends, and to raise
general issues. First the contextual frameworks are sketched, describing the five
programmes and showing how they have developed over recent years. Then the curricular
structures and strategies are analysed and compared. Final emerging issues are discussed
and areas pinpointed for the next phase of the study.

1.1 A note on methods used

The framework for analysis is adapted from Eraut’s (1976) model (set out in the
Appendices) and is based on two main ideas. Firstly, a coherent curriculum strategy
involves consistency among aims, objectives, content, pedagogy and assessment patterns.
Secondly, teacher preparation and development programmes cannot be understood outside
of their context; influential factors include systems for governing and financing the
programmes, the quality of entrants, the types of schools for which the new teachers are
destined, and the historical and cultural matrix in which the whole process is embedded.

For the present analysis, the main source has been documents; we assumed these would be
full and explicit, but this was not always so! In none of our sites did we find full and explicit
documentation about what was to be taught and learnt during the programme. This paucity
of documentation for on-going programmes invites certain questions:
- is it a symptom of the neglect of teacher education at higher levels?
- how far does the curriculum in action deviate from that which was originally designed?
- on what do tutors, especially new ones, base their teaching?
- what effect do the adaptations and changes have on the teaching and learning of trainees?
These questions, along with others, will help guide the next stage of research, which will look
at how the curriculum is delivered, by gathering data from students and tutors, and by
observation.

2
1.2 Primary Initial Teacher Preparation Programmes (ITPPs) in a state of flux

The last major comparative studies of such curricula in developing countries took place in
the 1980’s (Dove 1986, Lockheed & Verspoor 1991, Rust and Dalin 1990) and these
gave an impression of stasis and neglect; much attention was focused on primary education
in schools, while the preparation of primary teachers was ignored. However, in the current
decade there seems to be much rethinking, restructuring or even reconceptualising (Wideen
& Grimmett 1995) taking place and all our case study countries are in a period of transition.
Here is a summary of the present position.

Ghana: a new restructured 3-year Certificate programme began in Sept. 1998; the major
change is to focus Year 1 on upgrading the trainees’ subject knowledge; only after passing
exams in all core subjects may they proceed to Years 2 and 3, where curriculum studies are
taught, integrated with methods, and linked to school experience.

Lesotho: At the National Teacher Training College (NTTC), a 3 1/2 year Diploma in
Education (Primary) (DEP) also began in Sept. 1998, to replace the old 3-year Primary
Teachers Certificate (PTC). The main changes are higher entry qualifications, a one-
semester bridging course in core subjects, an overall greater emphasis on academic subject
content, and a two-stage practicum.

Malawi: One- and two-year residential training programmes were replaced in January 1997
by the 2-year mixed mode Malawi Integrated Inservice Teacher Education Programme
(MIITEP), whereby unqualified serving teachers spend 3 months at college followed by 20
months distance learning under supervision in their schools; they return to college for a
month’s revision and examinations. Graduates receive the same Teachers’ Certificate as
before.

South Africa: The entire system of teacher development is being transformed. In this paper,
we shall refer briefly to the new 4-year Bachelor of General Education and Training
(BAGET) degree introduced in January 1999 at the University of Durban-Westville
(UDW). This has been designed from scratch, with new ways of linking content and
methods, and with a large element of school-based training. It is not typical of current South
African practice, but will be used as an example of reconceptualisation.

Trinidad & Tobago: there have been no recent published changes to the 2-year post-
experience Teachers’ Diploma programme. However, preliminary interviews in the two
colleges show that the curriculum there is ‘in transition’; it has changed in practice though not
at the official level. This will provide a good example of how curricula evolve and change.
(See Table 1 below, p.10, for a summary).

The case study sites are all very different and serve perhaps to indicate a lack of consensus
about ways to prepare teachers. Some of the background reasons for the variety will be
explored in the next section.

3
 2. CONTEXTUAL FRAMES

2.1 Background to recent developments

All teacher preparation programmes emerge out of, and are constrained by, their economic,
political, social and historical conditions; their goals and structure can only be understood in
terms of this cultural context. In our case studies, this often includes the aftermath of
colonialism and continuing influences from the North through donor aid. So a brief
description of some of the most recent developments are in order, looking at how the
programmes developed, what rationales are given, the roles played by internal and external
stakeholders, and the kind of teacher that is to be produced.

2.1.1 Ghana

There are presently 38 Teacher Training Colleges (TTCs) which offer a 3-year Certificate
training programme for both primary and junior secondary schools combined. Lack of
impact of the 1987 basic school education reforms drew attention to the teacher training
programmes, which were criticised as ineffective. From 1989-93 a British-funded project -
Junior Secondary School Teacher Education Project (JUSSTEP) - helped the Teacher
Education Division of the Ministry of Education to review the curriculum and to write
materials for training; nearly one hundred college tutors went for further study in the UK.

A Strategic Planning Group (SPG) of overseas consultants and local educationists set out a
theoretical framework for re-organising the curriculum which highlighted four themes:
Communication across the curriculum, caring for pupil progress, assessing pupil
achievement, and reflecting on practice. However, this reconceptualisation was not
reflected at policy and planning level, nor is it closely linked to the Ghanaian educational
culture at classroom level. It was realised that the newly qualified teachers were not applying
the methods.

The new model of the curriculum that emerged was strongly influenced by the performance
and competency models such as those recently introduced in UK, rather than the
‘academic’ or ‘applied theorist’ models which had underlain previous Ghanaian teacher
education. It stressed what the beginning teachers should be able to do, rather than what
they know, and sought to provide opportunities for more work in schools. The goal seems
to be to produce a ‘technical practitioner’, one attuned to the realities of Ghanaian
classrooms.

2.1.2 Lesotho

Most ITPPs evolve out of what was there before - few start afresh. But in 1975 the
Government of Lesotho closed down the seven church-affiliated TTCs and opened one
‘National Teacher Training College’ (NTTC) to replace them. Set up as a

4
UNESCO/UNDP ‘project’, it had ample funds, an American director, and an international
team of tutors (very few Basotho having the necessary qualifications) who developed a
completely new curriculum, based on the behaviourist model of teacher training then current
in the US. Primary trainees entered with Junior Certificate (JC); content and methods were
given equal emphasis; the first and third years were spent in college, with an intervening
internship year in school, supervised by field-based trainers.

When the ‘project’ ended, the NTTC took its place under the Ministry of Education, and
gradually Basotho staff replaced expatriates. Although to this extent local ownership was
established, local funding sources were so inadequate that for most of its life NTTC has
depended for new initiatives on donor support. Notably, USAID funded a ‘Basic and Non-
formal Education Support’ project and Irish aid set up a Secondary Technical Teacher
Certificate programme.

The Primary Teacher Certificate internship was replaced in 1986 with one semester of
teaching practice, on the ground of expense. Growing dissatisfaction with the perceived
quality of graduates led in 1994 to the introduction of a 3-year inservice Diploma in Primary
Education (DPE) to upgrade curriculum specialists and train headteachers. Meanwhile other
PTC graduates were upgraded by the National University of Lesotho (NUL) through a 2 or
3 year B.Ed. programme. Thus it was taking 5-6 years to produce a quality primary
teacher.

After a review in 1994 by two Irish consultants (Burke & Sugrue 1994) the decision was
taken to rationalise this structure by replacing both PTC and DPE with a new Diploma in
Education (Primary). The entry requirements were raised to 4 Cambridge Overseas School
Certificate (COSC) credits, and the academic content was considerably strengthened. Part
of the rationale was to raise the status of primary teachers, looking eventually to an all-
graduate profession.

The curriculum was developed by working parties of the College Staff, with some assistance
from the Irish consultants. It is not very clear from the published document how far the
programme has taken on a new guiding philosophy, and how far it is an attempt to restate
and reshape the same principles of teacher education as have informed the NTTC since its
inception. The overall aims and objectives of the new Diploma are couched in terms of a
reflective ‘extended professional’, stressing both depth and breadth, while the intentions of
the subject syllabi are phrased in more technicist terms.

2.1.3 Malawi

The MIITEP programme shows both continuities and discontinuities with the past. Due to
the increasing pressure to produce more qualified primary teachers more quickly, ITPPS in
Malawi have undergone a number of structural changes in the last ten years, all in the
direction of shortening and condensing the formal period of college-based training. The
number of colleges has been reduced from 12 in 1972 to 6 in 1998.

5
Since Independence in 1964, the ‘normal’ training programme has been the two-year
residential college course, taking entrants with either a Junior Certificate (JC) or a Malawi
School Certificate of Education (MSCE), who qualified respectively as T3 or T2 teachers.
In 1987 a ‘crash’ one-year inservice initial course was instituted in one college, to train
unqualified but experienced teachers. As this did not suffice to meet the demand, the
Malawi Special Teacher Education programme (MASTEP) was set up in 1989 to train
teachers on the job through a combination of short residential courses, local seminars, and
distance learning methods. This was discontinued after 3 years, and replaced by a
programme of one year’s field training followed by one year’s residential course in a college
(Hauya 1997).

A substantial revision of the primary school curriculum began in 1987, and in 1990 the
curriculum of Primary Teacher Training was revised to ensure that teachers were trained to
teach the new subjects. How far the methods were also revised to take account of the
espoused emphasis in schools on pupil-centred, activity-based, and community-relevant
teaching (ibid), is not clear.

After the multiparty elections in 1994, the new government introduced free Primary
Education and recruited 17,000 untrained teachers to cope with the influx of pupils.
Consultations with donors, notably the World Bank and GTZ, led to the setting up of
MIITEP in January 1997. All other teacher education programmes were suspended, so
that the six teacher training colleges could be used for the residential blocks. It was planned
that six cohorts, each of 3000 students, should be trained over the three years.

It is unclear how much influence was exercised by GTZ and the World Bank on the design;
once the outline decision was taken, the programme was worked out, staffed and
implemented by Malawians, with only one or two German consultants. A ‘Teacher
Development Unit’ was set up within MOE, and it would appear that Malawi ‘ownership’
was established. MIITEP’s main aim is to turn the unqualified recruits into certified and
‘effective’ teachers, capable of delivering the current primary curriculum, as quickly as
possible.

2.1.4 UDW

During the apartheid years in South Africa (1948-1994) all parts of the education system
were divided along racial lines and teacher education was no exception. While White
students were reasonably well provided for, Black students were scattered in over a
hundred mainly small, often rural, colleges, whose quality was extremely low. Many
students entered such colleges merely to get a college diploma, with no intention of teaching;
academic subjects were given priority and taught with very little reference to professional
studies; teaching practice was two weeks per years, much of which was unsupervised. In
addition, teachers were prepared within a particular theoretical framework known as
‘fundamental pedagogics’, which derived from a mixture of Calvinist theology and Idealist
philosophy, and was part of the racist ideology of the government.

6
The new government elected in 1994 set out to transform all aspects of education and
training. A National Qualifications Framework (NQF) was set up, under which the
emphasis was on the outcomes rather than the content of courses - in this they seem to have
been influenced particularly by developments in Australia, the Netherlands and UK. For the
schools, Curriculum 2005 (the new school curriculum) is being developed around pupils’
‘learning outcomes’, and organised in eight ‘learning areas’ which incorporate both
traditional school subjects and newer skills.

A Committee on Teacher Education Policy (COTEP), representing both government and

professionals, was set up to review Teacher Education. In late 1998, after much
consultation, it published guidelines in the form of ‘Norms and Standards for Educators’. It
was also decided that Teacher education should become part of the Higher Education
sector, and that universities should validate college courses.

Like all NQF learning programmes, ITPPs must include ‘critical cross-field outcomes’;
these include skills in communication, problem-solving, critical and creative thinking,
information gathering and evaluation, and working with others, and also stress the
development of self-responsibility, environmental awareness and civic participation.

More specifically, educators are to be prepared to play five generic roles:

• mediator of learning
• interpreter and designer of learning programmes and materials
• leader, administrator and manager
• scholar, researcher and life-long learner
• community, citizenship and pastoral role

And a specialist one, in a subject/discipline, or in a particular phase of schooling (early

childhood, intermediate, senior or further)

The actual programmes should be planned backwards from the outcomes, which are
described in terms of three forms of integrated and applied competences:
Practical: the demonstrated ability to teach, including consideration of alternatives,
decision-making, and implementation
Foundational: demonstrated understanding of the underpinning knowledge and concepts
Reflexive: demonstrated ability to integrate action and understanding, to reflect on practice,
attempt to improve, and explain the underlying reasons.

The Faculty of Education at UDW, working within this context, started with a clean board,
saying: ‘if you wanted to create a quality professional teacher, what kind of individual do you
want this teacher to be? what would this person need to be able to think, do, act, feel, in
relation to the current South African context?’ They saw the practicum as central to the
teacher’s development, and decided to form partnerships with local schools in order to
realise this. About one third of the course is spent in schools, including a final internship year.
The aim is to produce teachers who are ‘curriculum activists’, capable of adapting the
government’s framework to the needs of the particular pupils they are teaching and if
necessary to critique that framework.

7
2.2 Comparing the development of the programmes

Over our five sites, we have found few common patterns or trends; the changes seem largely
in response to local conditions. When there is dissatisfaction with the schools, the teacher
training programmes are criticised and solutions sought in reforming them. But there is no
consensus on how to do this. Each country builds on its recent - or not so recent - past
experience, and responds to their own perceived problems. I shall highlight four issues here:
the lack of policy, international influences, the different views of the teacher, and problems of
change.

2.2.1 Policy

The picture suggests a general lack of concern for teacher education among policy makers.
In none of our countries did it seem a high priority for the Ministry of Education. Teacher
education institutions do not seem to have high profiles or political significance. At an
international level, donors have until recently paid little attention to this sector; the Jomtien
Declaration, for example, made only passing reference to training the teachers needed to
provide ‘education for all’.

2.2.2 International influences

While there does not appear to be a ‘donor conspiracy’ to impose particular models of
training, there are undoubtedly international influences. In this era of globalisation, people
will naturally look outside their own country for new ideas. This cultural borrowing,
however, may be constrained by the international donor network; to examine many options,
as South Africa did, takes time and resources. Ghana found itself with JUSSTEP, Malawi
with GTZ, Lesotho with Irish Aid. This is not to say solutions were imposed; in every case
the work of curriculum development was done by local teams. But the donor may influence
which of the various ideas around locally get adopted. An interviewee remarked of the
external consultants: ‘They only said what we had been saying all along, but people listen
more to a foreigner’. Which of the local voices get heard and taken up by the outsiders?
Who decides which ideas are actually relevant and useful in the local context? Further in-
depth enquiry would be necessary to answer such important questions.

2.2.3 Views of the teacher

Another finding from this preliminary comparison is the lack of agreement about what kind
of teacher is desired, not only across the sites, but within them. There is evidence in all our
examples of competing approaches and visions - perhaps symptomatic of different
underlying ideologies. There are of course political implications as well as professional ones
about the teacher’s role: most states like to control teachers while insisting they deliver the
curriculum effectively, while many educationists argue that only teachers who are prepared
to exercise their own professional judgement can offer high quality teaching in the modern
world (Stuart and Tatto, forthcoming).

8
2.2.4 Change processes

These accounts point to some of the difficulties in effecting change in teacher education.
Countries very seldom make a fresh start, and the new philosophies and conceptual
frameworks thought desirable have to contend with the weight of established traditions and
vested interests. Few college tutors are given opportunities for professional development,
yet they are expected to design and implement new courses based on different premises
from those they grew up with.

2.3 Governance and Control

Another important contextual point concerns the locus of control, and this differs among the
case study sites. In many countries, Colleges of Education fall directly under the Ministry of
Education, which awards the Certificates, so their curriculum and assessment are controlled
by various bodies external to the college, although there may be degrees of consultation. In
South Africa, however, colleges are being moved into the Higher Education Sector, and
linked to Universities for validation and certification, which will establish a more arms’ length
relationship to the policy-makers.

These relationships have implications for the conditions of work, status and perspectives of
the tutors. Their relevance here has to do with modes of assessment, and also with the
perceived freedom of the tutors to adapt and develop the curriculum out of its documentary
form.

2.4 Requirements for students on entry

The general requirement is some kind of secondary school leaving certificate. In Ghana,
Lesotho and Trinidad & Tobago, four or five subjects must be passed, preferably with
credit, at the local equivalent of the British O Level. In Malawi, MIITEP also recruited
candidates with only a Junior Certificate (2 years secondary school). In South Africa,
candidates need university entrance (matric, between O and A level).

It is common knowledge, however, that many students applying to Teacher Training

Colleges do so as a second choice, having failed to get into university or more prestigious
colleges, and their grades are often weak or in the wrong subjects, which has implications
for the curriculum itself.

9
Table 1 summarises some of the basic data about these five programmes.

Table 1: some comparisons between programmes

COUNTRY GHANA LESOTHO MALAWI T&T UDW

Entry level 5 O level 4 COSC JC or MSCE + 5 CXC passes, Matric
credits credits 2 yrs work On Job
Training + 2yrs
work
Course length 3 years 3 1/2 years 2 years 2 years 4 years
Training Teacher T. Teacher T. TTC + schools Teacher T. University
Institution College College College
Qualification Certificate Diploma Certificate Certificate Bachelor’s
degree
Awarded by MOE NTTC MOE MOE UDW
Donor support UK Ireland Germany - -
Teacher should a technical well- an effective well-educated, a curriculum
be: practitioner grounded instructor knowledgeable activist
academically

We shall now look at the programmes in more detail, how they are constructed, and how
the different components of the curriculum fit together.

10
 3. CURRICULAR STRUCTURES AND STRATEGIES

3.1 Structure

One obvious difference is between those programmes which take candidates straight from
school - for 3 or 4 years full-time training - and those which offer a two-year course to
trainees who already have experience. Malawi and Trinidad provide contrasting examples,
related to the different economic and educational contexts. Trinidad offers on the job
training for a whole year, and then a two-year fully residential course later on. Malawi offers
a very brief orientation, and later a 3-month residential course followed by distance learning,
with a short final residential block.

The timing, length and placing of the practicum is a key feature in teacher preparation. Both
Ghana and Lesotho offer gradual introductions to teaching, and split the actual teaching
practice into two blocks; these are more extensive in Lesotho, but still only comprise one
semester out of seven i.e. 14% of the course. . It is interesting that Trinidad - although a
‘post-experience course’ - appears to keep up the old tradition of TP - also just 15%. But
most striking is the UDW decision to make the fourth year one of internship, in addition to 3
earlier blocks of school or workplace practice. Is this the image of the future?

Table 2 shows how the programmes are structurally organised and gives an overview of the
curriculum content.

11
Table 2: Different ways of structuring the programmes

GHANA
Coming from: Year 1 Year 2 Year 3
Senior Secondary Education + E Education + curriculum Same +
School 9 subjects (content X studies & methods in 9 8 weeks TP
only) A subjects
M

LESOTHO
Coming from: Bridge Course (1 Year 1 Year2 Year 3
semester)
High School 4 core subjects + Education + 7 Same Same
study skills subjects +10 weeks TP +5 weeks TP

MALAWI
Coming from: 3 months 20 months 1 month
2 week orientation, In College: Distance study at work :Same In College:
+3-4 yrs teaching Education subjects: revision +
experience + 11 subjects exam

TRINIDAD & TOBAGO

Coming from Year 1 Year 2
1 month orientation Education + 12 subjects Education + 10 subjects
1 year on the job training + 1-2 3 weeks TP 9 weeks TP
years experience

UDW
Coming from: Year 1 Year 2 Year 3 Year 4
High School Education, Educ, comms, Educ, comms, 4 Internship +
communications, 4 content/ content/methods. conceptual
6 subjects,+ method courses, courses + seminars within
workplace + community school-based schools
education service & practice
school-based
practice

12
3.2 Subject Content

Table 3 (although incomplete) enables some further comparisons to be made regarding the
subjects studied

Table 3: Proportions of contact time suggested for each subject area

Subject Area GHANA* LESOTHO MALAWI T&T UDW**

Education 10.4% 16.3% 24.1% 30%
local lang. 13.8 8.4 - 5
English 13.8 13.9 22.4 15
Maths 13.8 12.3 10.3 15
Science 13.8 11.2 7.8 15
Social Studies Env. & Soc. R.E. & Dev. Soc. & Gen. Soc. Studs. 5
Stds. Stds. 10.4 Stds 8.6 6.7
Expressive Music & Art & craft, Music 4 one from A & 5
Arts Dance PE, music, Creative C, music,
drama 10.4 Arts 3.6 dance,
drama 5.9
Technical/ Tech. Skills Agric., Home Agric. 6.3 Agric. 2.7 Econ. Ed. 5
Applied Voc. Skills Econ., Health Home Econ. ICT 15
Science Ed. 10.4 6.1
Religious/ Religious. & - R.E. 4.4 Family Life Life Skills 5
moral educ. Moral Educ. Educ. 6.7
Physical P.E. 4.6 Physical and
education Health Ed. 4.4
Electives - - - 9 10
Study Skills - 2.7 - -
* Final decisions about proportions of time are still pending
** Students choose between certain subjects

All the programmes are closely linked to/dictated by the current primary school curriculum in
terms of subjects. As in all these countries, except SA, primary teachers are class teachers
and do not specialise, they have to be prepared for teaching all the subjects, which can lead
to great overload and/or fragmentation. Lesotho and Ghana, in their respective recent
rationalisations, have tried to deal with this by combining the smaller subjects into broad
disciplinary areas: eight in Lesotho, nine in Ghana. Trinidad uses options and electives as a
partial solution. The Malawi programme still tries to include everything, and the curriculum is
divided into 12 different subjects.

As long as the primary school curriculum remains strongly framed in subject terms and
primary teachers are required to teach all the subjects, so the ITPP is constrained to follow
suit. However, there are differences in the ways training providers deal with the problem.

Everywhere education, language, maths and science form the core, taking up between half
and two-thirds of class time. There are interesting differences in the proportions devoted to
educational courses - nearly a quarter in Trinidad compared to a tenth in Lesotho - but one
needs to see how much of this is theory as opposed to practical skills, and how far the

13
subject courses include pedagogy. The proportions spent on language are not dissimilar,
plus/minus a quarter, except that in three of the African countries this has to be divided
between English and the local language, both of which may for part of the primary
curriculum be used as the medium of instruction. For maths and science, Lesotho gives
considerably more time (27.6%) than Trinidad (18.1%).

The literature on teacher education curricula often mentions ‘general education’ for personal
development; there are few traces of that except in Trinidad. Here the expressive arts
options, although pedagogically oriented, encourage students to develop their own skills in
music, art and drama, and the electives permit them to pursue individual interests to a higher
level.

Lesotho’s Study Skills course seems the only acknowledgement that students are often
under prepared for post-secondary study. Also absent is explicit reference to developing
the trainees’ proficiency in English as the medium of instruction; this is apparently left to the
English courses. In view of the problems associated with teaching and learning in a second
language, this is a very serious omission.

3.3 Relationship between Subject Content and Methods

Another key question is whether content and methods are taught separately or together, and
what balance obtains between them. This is not always made explicit in the documentation,
and it will have to be clarified by observing the curriculum in action. However, close
scrutiny of topic lists, module titles, and defined objectives revealed that there are sometimes
striking differences even within programmes between subjects with regard to the integration
of content and methods, and to the weight given to each. This will be exemplified from the
core subjects.

In Ghana, the new TTC curriculum is designed to a common pattern across all subjects.
Year 1 is devoted entirely to the content of the main subjects; if the students pass the Year 1
exam they proceed into Years 2 and 3 where the focus is entirely on how to teach the
primary curriculum in that subject.. The intended overall content: methods balance appears
thus to be 1:2

Lesotho’s new DEP was deliberately designed to enhance trainees’ academic knowledge,
and the desired content: methodology ratio was set as 70:30%. There was also a clear
intention to separate the two, so that each module has to be labelled as one or the other.
According to these labels there is little difference between subjects; English, maths and
science signalled content for 70-75 % of the work. Education labelled just over half its
modules as ‘content’ i.e. theory; the rest included micro-teaching and preparation for TP as
well as general pedagogic knowledge and skills.

In spite of the imposed common format, there are some interesting differences between the
courses. In the English course, there is a clear emphasis on improving trainees’ own English
language abilities, through the study of grammar, and by paying attention to developing their

14
personal communication and writing skills. English literature is foregrounded, with modules
on novels, plays and poems, which are to be studied from two points of view: for enriching
the trainees’ knowledge and understanding, and for teaching literature to primary pupils.
The course is clearly linked to the primary syllabus, and includes both theories and practical
approaches to ESL teaching.

By contrast, maths and science are more heavily oriented towards content, and while some
pedagogic content knowledge and practical skills are included, neither course appears to
offer any of the conceptual frameworks underlying the teaching of maths and science.

In Malawi, although the subject teams were given a common format for preparing ‘units’ for
the Student Teacher Handbooks, they actually produced very different kinds of courses.
For example, the Science course has a few introductory units about teaching science in
general, but thereafter consists entirely of subject content knowledge - physics and
chemistry during the college period, biology during the school-based period. The stated
objectives confirm this, being phrased in terms of:
- explain meanings / applications of... ,
- state examples, factors, uses for ....,
- perform activities.......
The student is given no guidance at all about how to translate this into pedagogic content
knowledge or skills.

By contrast, the English course is focused almost entirely on how to teach aspects of the
primary school curriculum. There is no literature or grammar content, and only 3 units on
developing students’ own English skills. Objectives describe the skills to be achieved, such
as:
- teach pre-reading activities
- use dialogues/pair work/ role play etc. for language practice
- make and use phonic charts for teaching reading
- construct different types of comprehension questions
- identify errors in pupils’ written work

In general the MIITEP course is focused on skills rather than content; it is assumed that
trainees only need to learn enough content to deliver the primary curriculum.

Trinidad approaches the curriculum differently. It is heavily oriented towards giving student
teachers the ‘knowledge base’ for teaching and indeed phrases about ‘students shall know /
understand’ appear frequently in the specific objectives. Classroom skills and practical
objectives are mentioned much more rarely. Only in the Language and Reading Education
courses are classroom skills highlighted.

In some subjects - typically the ‘science’ ones - the teaching of subject specific or ‘content
knowledge’ is clearly separated from the curriculum studies and methods of teaching
(pedagogic content knowledge, knowledge of curriculum, practical skills). In other subjects
-typically arts and humanities - the disciplinary knowledge and the pedagogic aspects are
more likely to be treated within the same unit. This is most clearly seen in Literary Studies,

15
where the student’s understanding of prose, poetry and plays is, according the objectives,
closely interwoven with strategies for presenting these to children, or in drama, where
students learn about drama in the context of learning how to teach it.

From the documentation available, well over half the modules appear to deal with straight
content, pure methods comprise less than a fifth, and about a quarter of modules teach both
together.

At UDW the BAGET programme proposes to integrate the teaching of almost all the
content and methods. The main disciplinary courses are all labelled ‘Language Education,
Maths Education, Integrated Arts Education’ etc. and are taught within the Faculty of
Education. Students take only four ‘pure content’ courses, in a subject of their choice,
which are taught in other faculties.

So the approaches are different. In broad terms, UDW, Malawi and Ghana in different
ways try to integrate subject content and methods, Lesotho and Trinidad try to separate
them. Current research into teacher thinking and into the nature of practical professional
knowledge suggests that students need much help to bring both together effectively, and
there may be dangers in teaching them separately for too long. At the same time, there is
general agreement that to teach a subject well, the teacher needs to feel confident in her
understanding, which requires in-depth study. There is no easy solution.

3.4 Professional Components

Key decisions for the professional component in any ITPP include:

• what kinds and amounts of ‘theory’ - conceptual frameworks, research findings, useful
generalisations - to select
• how to make it relevant and meaningful to the trainees
• what practical, managerial and administrative skills can and should be taught in college
rather than in school
• how to organise the practicum
• how to help the trainees bring the theory and practical elements together.

Brief descriptions will indicate some of the ways our case-study programmes approach it.

Lesotho: the Education course devotes just over half the time to ‘theory’ modules. These
include the traditional ‘ologies’: psychology, sociology and philosophy of education, together
with curriculum studies, guidance and counselling and educational administration. There are
also modules on Early Primary and Special Education. The remaining seven ‘methodology’
modules cover methods, resources, testing, and micro-teaching; ICT and research skills are
also included. Only four of the many sub-themes listed specifically mention Lesotho
schools, and it not clear whether the content is drawn largely from Northern/Western
sources, or whether it has been adapted to local conditions. The way the components are
divided up suggest a view of knowledge as something fixed and given, to be parcelled and
transmitted, rather than understanding to be developed in context.

16
A special module is devoted to Teaching Practice Preparation, which includes visiting local
schools to teach one lesson and observe one’s peers. There is no indication of how the first
practicum experience is to be reviewed and utilised for the second block practice.

Malawi: The residential course starts with the technical professional skills of writing lesson
plans, formulating objectives, drawing up schemes of work and keeping records, as well as
introductions to different kinds of teaching methods and how to improvise and use various
kinds of teaching/learning aids. It moves on to child development, theories of learning, and
testing. Back in school the units focus on management and administration of schools,
keeping records, roles of head and PTA, school and community relationships, professional
ethics and conditions of service, together with more classroom management skills.

This is clearly a very practically-oriented course, but information about the classroom tends
to be stronger on rhetoric than on reality i.e. saying what should happen in good practice,
rather than focusing on problems and how to deal with them. There is more on what to do
than on how to implement it in real classrooms - which is strange as the aims of the
programme are to produce effective classroom teachers in what are recognised as difficult
conditions.

Trinidad: In the published documents, Professional Studies is divided into three: Education I
and II are largely theoretical, and cover the traditional areas of sociology, psychology, social
psychology and history of education, with some references to the local context. There are
also sections on ‘contemporary issues in education’ and on gender. Education III is called
Principles of Effective Teaching and is devoted to methods and micro-teaching. There
seems to be separation between theory and practice and again there is no explicit use of the
students’ previous experience in schools.

Ghana: Education Studies in Ghana take a more integrated approach, taking themes from
the old ‘disciplines’ of psychology and sociology of education, setting them in the Ghanaian
context - a number of modules are explicitly concerned with local issues - and linking them
to practice via observation of pupils in local schools.
Here an attempt has been made to relate the theories of child development, based on
Western research, to the local context. If the activities with children are undertaken as
outlined, there would be many opportunities for discussion and comparison, where the
‘knowledge’ could be seen as socially constructed, tentative and open to change.

The practicum takes place in Years 2 and 3. It starts with school attachment for
observation, continues with on-campus teaching practice, and concludes with two separate
4-week periods of school-based teaching practice. These stages are designed to allow for
reflection and review between each practicum.

UDW has broken with the traditional divisions and topics. BAGET sets out seven modules
designed to integrate themes from a range of educational theories and apply critically them to
the Durban context. The titles give a flavour: Teaching and learning, School and Society,
Policy and Practice, Identity and Diversity, History and Administration of Education,

17
Concepts, Ideas and Values, Teaching and Assessment. The practical aspects are
presumably subsumed under the subject-oriented modules, or perhaps are to be learnt on
the job, since the practicum takes up over a third of the course.

It is difficult to generalise, but from the evidence available so far, certain issues emerge for
further investigation in the next phase of the study. For example, the educational theories
seem to be largely drawn from Western sources of some decades ago (there is no mention,
for example, of social constructivism): how far are these being subjected to critique in the
light of local culture and conditions? The theoretical components are mainly taught
separately from the practical and skills components: how do the student teachers bring these
together? Ways in which the practicum is to be integrated with the rest of the course is not
spelt out in the documents: how is this done in practice? Broader social issues, such as
equity, access and gender relations, are not listed: is this linked to conceptions of the
teacher’s role as ‘technician’ rather than ‘professional’?

An example from Malawi, where we have begun to look at the curriculum in action, will
illustrate one problematic area. Lectures did not seem to relate the educational theories to
Malawi generally, nor to the student teachers’ own experience either at home or in school.
It was particularly obvious in the unit on child development; many of the students are
married with children, yet there was no discussion of whether these ‘stages’ correspond to
their own understanding of bringing up children. For example, do Malawian children, in the
village, engage first in ‘solitary’ and then ‘associative’ play, as European children are
supposed to do, according to Piaget and others? What happens when ‘the child becomes
curious and asks questions’ in a culture where children are not supposed to ask adults
questions?

It seems there may be two parallel discourses going on: a theoretical one largely drawn
from Western conceptual frameworks, and another about the kinds of teaching / learning
and socialising experiences that go on in the real communities, both home and school, which
the trainees ‘know’ at a different, more practical level. It is these latter which they are likely
to draw on when they get into the classroom, and this brings up such questions as: how
relevant is this part of the teacher preparation programme? what understandings do the new
teachers take with them into schools? what kinds of knowledge is being acquired here?

3.5 Pedagogy for the ITPP

This is always the most difficult to deduce from documents. The Ghana course outlines list a
variety of interactive and participatory methods, in line with the espoused philosophy of the
change agents; lectures are seldom mentioned. Similarly the Trinidad syllabi set out many
recommended teaching methods; here ‘lectures’ are indeed the most frequent, but they are
closely followed by ‘research’, along with demonstrations, discussions, groupwork, role-
play, field-trips, projects, and many variations on these themes.

These lists certainly show an awareness of a wide range of different possibilities, but the
documents do not set out any rationale for their use, nor are they discussed in the light of

18
adult learning theories, which would be particularly relevant in the Trinidad case, where
students come with several years of experience.

In Malawi the MIITEP project teams produced five excellent and detailed handbooks,
which set out both content and how it should be taught in the form of hour-long ‘units’.
These are in effect lesson plans for the tutors in the college component, and study guides for
the trainees when back in school. There is a real attempt to model the espoused
‘interactive, participatory’ teaching approach here, which in some subjects, such as English,
looks effective and consistent, but in others mixed messages are being conveyed. In
education, for example, the most common instruction is ‘students discuss in groups’, but
then the book lists all the points they ‘should come up with’; in other words, there is a
transmission of knowledge model within an apparently constructivist teaching method.

It is often argued that trainee teachers need to experience the methods they are expected to
use in class with their pupils, but apart from Malawi, there is very little mention of this. Only
the Trinidad science syllabus lists this as an intention.

What the documents do not tell us is how teaching is likely to be constrained by group size.
In all these countries student cohorts are large - 250 in Lesotho, up to 4-500 in Ghana. If
tutors choose, or are told, to teach year groups together, lectures are going to be the most
common method, with effective groupwork only possible when students have been taught
how to study co-operatively. If staff are available, and time-tabled, to take smaller groups,
then other methods become more viable. But where field trips (Trinidad) or research
projects in schools (Ghana) are recommended, again there are obvious logistical implications
if large numbers of students are all expected to carry out fieldwork.

Only in UDW is this problem overtly tackled, by limiting the maximum number of students to
50 per year, so that teaching can take place in small groups. This should enable an
interactive and dialogical approach to be used, where both personal experience and theory
can be reflected on and critiqued.

3.6 Teaching / Learning Materials

Only Malawi has specially designed textbooks for students. The documents from the other
three college sites all include prescribed texts as well as books for further reading;
sometimes the primary syllabi and textbooks are mentioned, most often in the English
courses. In Ghana there are a number of subject-specific handbooks for tutors, circulating
in printed or xeroxed form, which guide the tutor in both content and pedagogy, but nothing
similar for students.

In resource-poor countries it is obviously difficult for colleges to buy up-to-date

publications, and many of the books listed in the Ghana and Lesotho documents were
published before 1990. No journals are mentioned. Very few, other than local school
texts, are about Africa or by African authors.

19
All this suggests students are being offered limited intellectual horizons. The choice of texts
can be criticised from two different directions: they do not have access to the latest Western
ideas on teaching and learning; nor are they given opportunities to reflect on how
appropriate these might be to the African context.

3.7 Assessment

All the documents set out assessment requirements and regulations, which are clearly seen
as important. All programmes use a mixture of coursework and exams. Only in Lesotho
and UDW do the tutors set and mark the exams; in other places external bodies exercise
varying amounts of control. UDW has to conform to University regulations which stipulate
exams at the end of every module, but the intention is to de-emphasise these.

The suggested coursework exercises set out in the documents, particularly in Trinidad and
Lesotho, are varied and interesting, but in some cases large numbers of students would
make the organisation, supervision and marking - e.g. of field-based projects - quite
problematic. Library-based reports may suffer from inadequate resources and perhaps
weak study skills among students. Almost all the assessment suggested takes a written form
- though in science some practical work may be assessed - and this raises issues about the
linguistic capabilities of the students, especially in Africa where they come from oral cultures
and may be working in a second or even third language. Group projects are mentioned,
but there is no indication of how these would be marked.

Apart from micro-teaching and the occasional peer lesson, none of the assessments are
about actually demonstrating teaching competences, even when these appear among the
aims and objectives. This is left entirely to the practicum. Few of the exercises even seem
to be about applying knowledge; most of them require students to just show on paper what
they know. This is at odds with many of the stated aims and objectives. To find out what
level of cognitive skills were being required one has to examine the actual test papers.
Preliminary findings from Malawi show that only quite low cognitive skills are being tested,
mainly at the recall level.

It looks as though student teachers are frequently assessed, but that the assessment is not
always consistent with the aims and objectives. We do not know how much this is
perceived as a burden, nor how the assessment procedures affect the teaching/learning
processes; this remains to be researched through the Curriculum in Action studies.

3.8 Assessment of the Practicum

The documents are remarkably silent on TP, and no assessment schedules are included. It
has to be ‘passed’ but what this means differs between sites. Normally, percentage marks
are given, and a grade awarded on this basis, but in Ghana a new system is being developed
based on a competency model using ‘high, medium and low’ rather than grades. Lesotho
used to have just ‘pass/fail’ but the DEP will use marks. The regulations usually set out a

20
minimum number of assessment visits by tutors - between 3 and 5 - and the marks are
averaged. In none of the countries do teachers assess the students, though all state that the
views of the school will be taken into account, and Malawian headteachers are supposed to
send in assessment forms as well.

21
 4. SUMMARY AND DISCUSSION

Only a limited amount of information can be gained from documents about initial teacher
preparation programmes. However, this exercise has enabled us to note some important
differences and similarities.

Each ITPP has its own identity and characteristics which have developed out of its particular
historic and cultural context, but all these five are also marked by wider intellectual influences
from the Anglophone world. All but one are undergoing structural changes, yet common
trends are hard to discern. Given the need to combine subject knowledge with professional
expertise, two (Lesotho and Trinidad) seem to emphasise knowledge and to teach it
separately from professional aspects. The others try in various ways to integrate content
and methods, with an overall emphasis on gaining professional competence, though these are
based on very different visions of the teacher: the effective instructor, the technical
practitioner, or the curriculum activist.

Only UDW appears to have a coherent and well-developed rationale that informs all
aspects of the course. In the other cases one can usually detect elements of contending
philosophies and epistemologies, some of which have been introduced - though in no case
imposed - by donors. Although the new courses are often designed to a common format,
substantial differences can be found between subjects and it seems that ‘academic tribes’
exist even within colleges.

All the programmes are linked closely to the local primary school curriculum, but they have
different relationships with schools. MIITEP and BAGET embrace the schools most closely
as sites for learning, though for very different reasons. The other three use schools as
convenient places for short periods of practice, without integrating them into the programme
as a whole.

With the exception of BAGET, it is not obvious from the documents how far the actual
content and pedagogy of the programmes have been adjusted to take account of changes in
schools, particularly where universalisation of primary education has created very different
conditions from those experienced by earlier generations. Another big question mark is
over the real needs of entering students. There is very little provision for academic support
and development for those who enter with low qualifications or special needs of some kind,
such as limited language skills. There is also very little about the personal development of
the young teachers. Attitudes are often mentioned in the overall aims, yet the design of the
programmes does not make clear how these are to be changed and nurtured.

But it may be that differences in how ITPPs are designed and documented do not matter
very much. What matters is how those programmes are implemented, organised, taught and
assessed, and what the students experience as they pass through them and on to the
schools. Such studies form the next phase of the MUSTER curriculum strand.

22
4.1 Some of the issues emerging from the above analysis

4.1.1 Transition

In all sites the TEC is in transition - after a period of neglect, reform is high on the agenda,
but does this lead to superficial restructuring or deep reconceptualisation?

4.1.2 Different directions

Different directions are being taken: the old dilemma between emphasising content or
professional preparation is still alive: everyone would like to emphasise both - you must
know your subject but also understand how to induct learners into that subject - but choices
have to be made. How are those choices made, and why? Whose agenda operates here?
Are they informed by the real needs of the new teachers in the classrooms, or by academic
models of what someone in the past or in another country thought teachers ought to know
and do?

4.1.3 What is the Curriculum?

It is becoming clear that the curriculum exists in different forms:

• in the printed documents
• in the minds of the tutors
• as delivered in the lecture room
• as experienced by the students
We have looked at the first, begun a dialogue with tutors about the second, just starting on
the third and fourth. There are considerable differences! So which is the real Teacher
Education Curriculum?

4.1.4 The relation of the curriculum to the life-worlds of the trainees.

This is emerging as a very interesting and problematic area. Partly because of the ways
these programmes have evolved, much of the material originated outside the countries
concerned, and still does not seem to have been thoroughly adapted and integrated into the
local context. We need to try to establish what kind of sense the student teachers make of
what they are taught, and how it influences what they actually do in the classroom.

4.1.5 What sort of teacher?

When one looks at the overall aims of the teacher preparation programmes, they are quite
hard to pin down. This is a contested area, and clearly aims relate partly to political issues -
what sort of teacher does the government want in its schools? and partly to epistemological
issues, like how is knowledge perceived? is it something to be transmitted or to be
constructed? and this applies both to pupils in school and teachers in training.
For example, we identified
• Malawi’s effective instructor

23
 • Ghana’s technical practitioner
• UDW’s curriculum activist

But in practice there is a great variety of ideas and little consensus about the ultimate vision,
within a country or even within one training institution. Tutors and students bring very
different images, expectations and experiences of the good teacher, and of good teaching
and learning. These are not often acknowledged, unpacked or discussed, and it seems
important that ITPPs should make space for such reflection and discussion.

4.1.6 Teacher Educators

This is linked to another emerging issue: the way tutors are prepared, or rather not prepared.
It is quite rare for tutors to get professional development designed to help them. Most
stumble into it and train in the way they were trained - sometimes using their university notes
of 15 years ago!

In Malawi in the 80’s there was once a determined effort to do this: a Diploma in Primary
Teacher Education ran for 3 years at the University, which trained a cadre of tutors who
share certain knowledge, assumptions and practices - but sadly they have had no further
refresher courses since. In Trinidad and Tobago options do exist for Masters’ level work in
Teacher Training, but on the whole Teacher Educators are a neglected species.

4.1.7 Patterns of differences

Finally, how to analyse and if possible explain the differences? Looking at them historically,
it is obvious that they are deeply rooted in what went before, and what emerges is the result
of contestation among all sorts of influences, internal and external.

Some differences are resource-linked; the countries are economically very different, and
scarcity of money and human resources severely constrain choices, though they do not
determine them. This is clearest at the two ends of the economic development index: Malawi
and South Africa. In Malawi the low level of resourcing in both schools and colleges, the
sheer numbers to be trained as the system expands, coupled with the low entry level of
students and the political necessity to certify as many as possible in the shortest time, leaves
little option but to concentrate on curriculum knowledge and basic skills. In South Africa,
with an over-supply of teachers, established higher education institutions, and a new political
dispensation to encourage initiative, UDW can afford to design a course which depends on
a low teacher: student ratio and on time for in-depth personal and professional development.

Other differences seem to be linked to cultural values: to views of knowledge and to

assumptions about the role of the elder vis a vis the child. Such views are changing, there is
much cultural borrowing, and it is difficult to know how to evaluate this process. There might
be two different sets of criteria here: conceptual and practical. In conceptual terms, should
ITPPs keep up still more closely with the current educational discourses developing in the
North/West - such as constructivist theories of learning, even when these do not fit well into
their cultural world views? Or should they select aspects of international thinking that best fit

24
local educational norms and practices? How best to bring together the local cultural
experience of education, as lived by pupils and teachers, with universalist ideas about human
development and learning, so that they illuminate each other?

In more practical terms, how can ITPPs adapt practices which have worked well for student
teachers elsewhere - e.g. various forms of school experience - and make them work with
large numbers of students in resource-poor environments - e.g. where schools can offer no
support to trainees? Beeby’s stages theory, (1966) later reworked by Verspoor et al
(1986) suggests that different aspects of an education system must move more or less in
step with each other if change is to be effective and sustainable. Teacher preparation
programmes, then, cannot and should not be too far removed from other parts of the
education system. But at present they often seem to be the laggards - how could they
become the fulcrum for change?

25
 REFERENCES

Beeby C.E. (1966) The Quality of Education in Developing Countries, Cambridge,

Mass: Harvard University Press
Dove L. (1985) Teachers and Teacher Education in Developing Countries: Issues in
Planning, Management and Training, London: Croom Helm
Eraut M. (1976) ‘Some Perspectives on Curriculum Development in Teacher Education’ in
Education for Teaching, No. 99
Hauya RJR (1997) The Question of Curriculum, Blantyre: Dzuka Education Foundations
Lockheed M. & Verspoor A. (1991) Improving Primary Education in Developing
Countries World Bank/OUP [Chap.4]
Rust V.D. & Dalin P. (1990) Teachers and Teaching in the Developing World, N.Y.:
Garland
Shulman L.S. (1987) ‘Knowledge and Teaching: Foundations of the New Reform’ in
Harvard Educational Review, Vol. 57, No.1
Stuart J.S. & Tatto M.T. (forthcoming) ‘Designs for Initial Teacher Preparation
Programmes: an international view’, in International Journal of Educational
Research
Verspoor A.M. & Leno J.L. (1986) Improving teaching: a key to successful
educational change. Education and Training Department Report No. EDT50,
Washington: World Bank
Wideen M.F. & Grimmett P.P. (1995) (eds) Changing Times in Teacher Education:
restructuring or reconceptualising? Falmer

26
Appendix 1: Analysing the teacher preparation curriculum from documentary
sources.

The analytical framework used is based on Michael Eraut’s (1976) ideas about curriculum
design and development. As such curricula cannot be understood outside their context, a
brief survey is first given of how the programme developed, the roles played by different
stakeholders - government, professional/educational institutions, or outside agencies - and
any particular political or economic factors that have influenced its shape.

Background information is then given, to provide answers to such questions as:

• where does this teacher preparation programme take place?
• how long is it and how is it structured in terms of time and place?
• is it modular or developmental?
• how is the practicum organised? (length, timing, links with rest of course, role of
the school, logistic and financial arrangements, etc.)
and what are the entry requirements.

The programme is then analysed using Eraut’s model. This proposes a five-point ‘diamond’
frame, based on the assumption that decisions made about each of these five points - aims,
objectives, content, pedagogy and assessment - together constitute a ‘curriculum strategy’.
These decisions should be consistent with each other, so that the strategy is coherent,
balanced and workable. The college-based and school-based parts of the programme can
be analysed separately if appropriate.
An outline follows, showing the questions that guided the enquiry. See also Fig. 1 in this
appendix.

Aims and philosophy

Typically they are very broad and general, but they may indicate:
♦ what kind of teacher is desired?
♦ what is the underlying ideology, or value/belief system?
♦ what epistemological assumptions are made e.g. about the kind of knowledge
needed by new teachers?

Content
Although this varies it can generally be divided into four components:
• subject-related: content and pedagogy/method
• profession-related: education studies/foundation disciplines, and general pedagogic skills
• general education: for background, enrichment, attitudes, etc.
• practicum: practical teaching both in college and school

Questions that can be asked include:

♦ what principles appear to underlie the selection of topics and skills?
♦ what weighting/importance is given to each component?
♦ how are the components interrelated?

27
 ♦ how is the content related to the local school curriculum?
♦ are the written syllabi to be used as broad guidelines or prescriptive blueprints?
Link to aims: is the content relevant and appropriate?

Objectives and outcomes

These include aspirations and expectations; they may be stated either for the course as a
whole or for specific components of it e.g. separately for the practicum. They may be
holistic or specific; they may be phrased in the language of competence, knowledge, or
skills. They may also be inferred from the assessment modalities. Questions to ask include:
⇒ what knowledge, skills and attitudes are to be achieved?
⇒ are specific components of the course linked to specific outcomes?
⇒ what appears to be the underlying rationale e.g. behaviourist, constructivist,
knowledge-based, skills-oriented, reflective professional, etc.?
Link to aims: how closely do these objectives match the overall aims?

Assessment and accreditation

A brief description is given in terms of type(s) of tests, exams, assignments, projects, etc.
and then analysed in terms of dichotomies such as continuous / terminal, formative /
summative, academic / practical and so on.
Further questions might include:
◊ how are the different components weighted for the final grading?
◊ who carries out the assessment, and what moderation processes are there if any?
◊ what certification do successful graduates receive and from whom (e.g. Ministry,
college or university?)
Link to aims: how far do the assessment procedures encourage selection of the type of
teacher described in the aims?

Pedagogy
a) Teaching/learning methods
These are the hardest to infer from documents. Certain methods may be recommended, but
the college timetable, class size, physical space, and other types of resources may work to
constrain choice, so data on all these is relevant, if available. But documents may show:
∗ what methods are recommended explicitly?
∗ what methods seem to be implied, by looking at the other aspects of the
diamond?
∗ how practical and professional skills are taught?

b) Teaching/Learning Materials
These are often very scarce and/or inappropriate, with students largely relying on lecturers’
notes. What evidence is there for use of the following:
♦ textbooks for subjects, for pedagogy, for education studies?
♦ library resources, including relevant school textbooks, teaching aids etc.?
♦ audio visual resources?
♦ use of local resources, human or physical?
Link to aims: are the views of teaching and learning, and the relationships expressed in them,
consistent with the aims?

28
Evaluation and comparisons based on the analysis
Such descriptive analysis from documents is a concrete and practical place to start. Further
questions can then be asked, with the purposes of evaluating the curriculum against selected
criteria, or comparing it with others. e.g.:
• is the curriculum strategy as a whole internally coherent? i.e. are the aims, outcomes,
content, assessment, and pedagogy consistent?
• how relevant is it to what the new teachers will need in their jobs?
• what attention does it pay to what the trainees bring with them?
• how does it tackle values and attitudes?
• what are the gaps or silences within it?
• how is it embedded in its social context, how affected by history, by current social
movements, by the economic system, by levels of national development etc.?

29
Appendix 2: The Curriculum Strategy in Context

adapted from Eraut (1976)

30
The MUSTER Discussion Paper Series
No 1 Counting the Cost of Teacher Education: Cost and Quality Issues
(January 1999) Keith M Lewin

No 2 The Costs and Financing of Teacher Education Malawi

(March 2000) Demis Kunje & Keith M Lewin

No 3 Primary Teacher Education Curricula as Documented: A Comparative Analysis (July

1999) Janet S Stuart

No 4 “On the Threshold”: The Identity of Student Teachers in Ghana

(April 2000) Kwame Akyeampong & David Stephens

No 5 Malawi: A Baseline Study of the Teacher Education System

(December 1999) Demis Kunje & Joseph Chimombo

No 6 Trinidad & Tobago: A Baseline Study of the Teacher Education System

(July 1999) Lynda Quamina-Aiyejina, Jeniffer Mohammed, Balchan Rampaul, June
George, Michael Kallon, Carol Keller & Samuel Lochan.

No 7 Ghana: A Baseline Study of the Teacher Education System

(September 2000) Kwame Akyeampong & Dominic Furlong

No 8 Lesotho: A Baseline Study of the Teacher Education System

(September 2000) J Pulane Lefoka et al

No 9 Teacher Education in Trinidad & Tobago: Costs, Financing and Future Policy
(August 2000) Keith M Lewin, Carol Keller & Ewart Taylor

No 10 Costs and Financing of Teacher Education in Lesotho

(June 2000) Keith M Lewin, Vuyelwa Ntoi, H J Nenty & Puleng Mapuru
No 11
The Malawi Integrated In-Service Teacher Education Project: an analysis of the
curriculum and its delivery in the colleges
(February 2000) Janet S Stuart & Demis Kunje
No 12
The Malawi Integrated In-Service Teacher Education Programme and its School-
based Components
(June 2000) Demis Kunje & Shadreck Chirembo
No 13
The Importance of Posting in Becoming a Teacher in Ghana
(June 2000) John P Hedges
No 14
Gender Gaps in Schools and Colleges: Can Teacher Education Policy Improve
Gender Equity in Malawi?
(August 2000) Alison Croft
No 15

31
 Newly Qualified Teachers: Impact On/Interaction with the System
(Trinidad & Tobago)
(March 2000) Jeanette Morris & Arthur Joseph
No 16
Careers and Perspectives of Tutors in Teacher Training Colleges: Case Studies of
Lesotho and Malawi
(November 2000) Janet Stuart with Demis Kunje & Pulane Lefoka
No 17
Learning To Teach In Ghana: An Evaluation Of Curriculum Delivery
(August 2000) Kwame Akyeampong, J. Ampiah, J Fletcher, N. Kutor & B. Sokpe
No 18
The Costs and Financing of Teacher Education in Ghana
(December 2000) Kwame Akyeampong, Dominic Furlong & Keith Lewin
No. 19
On-the-Job Training: Pre-service Teacher Training in Trinidad & Tobago
(August 2000) June George, Janice Fournillier & Marie -Louise Brown
No. 20
Becoming a Primary School Teacher in Trinidad & Tobago, Part 1 The Curriculum
in the Teachers' Colleges
(October 2000) June George, Patricia Worrell, Joycelyn Rampersad, Balchan Rampaul &
Jeniffer Mohammed
No. 21
Becoming a Primary School Teacher in Trinidad & Tobago, Part 2: Teaching
Practice Experience of Trainees
(October 2000) June George, Patricia Worrell, Joycelyn Rampersad & Balchan Rampaul
No 22
Primary Teacher Trainees in Trinidad & Tobago: Characteristics, Images,
Experiences and Expectations
(January 2001) June George, Jeniffer Mohammed, Lynda Quamina-Aiyejina, Janice
Fournillier & Susan Otway-Charles.
No 23
Analysis of the Curriculum as Documented at the National Teacher Training College
in Lesotho
(May 2001) J. Pulane Lefoka & Janet S. Stuart
No. 24
The Experience of Training: a Study of Students at The National Teacher Training
College in Lesotho
(August 2000) J. Pulane Lefoka with Mantoetse Jobo, Baatswana Moeti & Janet S. Stuart
No 25
Teaching Practice at the National Teacher Training College in Lesotho
(May 2001) J. Pulane Lefoka with Mantoetse Jobo & Baatswana Moeti
No 26
Turbulence or Orderly Change? Teacher Supply and Demand in South Africa –
Current Status, Future Needs and the Impact of HIV/Aids
No 27 (June 2000) Luis Crouch Edited and Abridged by Keith M. Lewin

New Teachers on the Job: The Impact of Teacher Education in Lesotho

No 28 (September 2001) Edith M Sebatane and J Pulane Lefoka

Who Becomes a Primary School Teacher in Lesotho: Characteristics and

Experiences of the DEP Student Teachers upon Entry into NTTC

32
 Experiences of the DEP Student Teachers upon Entry into NTTC
No 29 (January 2002) J. Pulane Lefoka with M.K. Molise, J.M. Moorosi-Molapo, Edith Sebatane

Primary Teacher Education in Action: a peep into the TTC classrooms at the
National Teacher Training College, Lesotho
No 30 (June 2002) J.Pulane Lefoka and Vuyelwa.M. Ntoi

Roles and Responsibilities, Institutional Landscapes and Curriculum Mindscapes: a

partial view of teacher education policy in South Africa, 1990-2000
No 31 (March 2002) Ben Parker

Face-to-face Initial Teacher Education Degree Programme at University of Durban-

Westville, South Africa
No 32 (May 2002) Michael Samuel and Daisy Pillay

Teacher Education for Transformation: the case of the University of the Western
Cape, South Africa
No 33 (May 2002) Maureen Robinson, Tania Vergnani and Yusuf Sayed

Further Diploma in Education (Educational Management) by Distance Education at

the University of Pretoria, South Africa
No.34 (June 2002) Yusuf Sayed, Jan Heystek and Brigitte Smit

Face-to-Face Training in a Conventional Preservice Programme: a case study at

Edgewood College of Education in South Africa
No.35 (August 2002) Vijay Reddy

South African College for Open Learning: a model of an Inservice Distance

Education Programme for Initial Teacher Education
(August 2002) Vijay Reddy

The MUSTER Research Reports

No 1 Teacher Training in Ghana – Does it Count?
(December 2001) Kwame Akyeampong

No 2 Initial Primary Teacher Education in Lesotho

(January 2002) J.Pulane Lefoka with E.Molapi Sebatane

No 3 Primary Teacher Education in Malawi: Insights into Practice and Policy

(March 2002) Demis Kunje with Keith Lewin and Janet Stuart

No 4 Trinidad and Tobago: MUSTER Country Report

(May 2002) June George and Lynda Quamina-Aiyejina

No 5 Researching Teacher Education: New Perspectives on Practice, Performance

and Policy. Report on the MUSTER Project

33
 (June 2002) Keith M.Lewin and Janet S.Stuart

The discussion papers are downloadable from the following web address:
http://www.sussex.ac.uk/usie/muster/list.html

34
 Address for Correspondence

Centre for International Education

University of Sussex Institute of Education Falmer Brighton Sussex
BN1 9RG UK

T +44 +1273 678464

E [email protected]
F +44 +1273 678568

MUSTER Discussion Paper 3

ISBN 0 905414 26 8
© Janet S Stuart