Section One

How to use this module

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1.1 What will we do in this module?

Introducing the module
Desired learning outcomes

1.2 How is the module structured?

How should the module be studied?
How to navigate through the module

1.3 The changing contexts of teaching

The teacher as an agent for professional change
Dealing with educational change
How can we manage change constructively?
The changing role of South African teachers
Becoming a reflective practitioner

1.1 What will we do in this module?

Introducing the module
Copyright 2012. Oxford University Press Southern Africa.

Welcome to Getting Practical . We don’t know if you feel the same, but we get excited when starting a new section of work or
opening a book for the first time. We wonder, ‘Will we learn useful stuff?’ and ‘Will we enjoy reading this material?’ Of
course, there is always the possibility that the module will be boring and irrelevant, and our excitement will turn to
disappointment. We hope that this will not be your experience with Getting Practical .
In Section One, we will explain what the module covers and what you will learn. We will explain how we have structured the
module, provide ideas about how to study effectively, examine the challenges posed by changes in South African education and
explore ways of dealing with these changes. We will explore the many (and changing) roles teachers are being expected to play
and introduce you to the notion of teachers as reflective practitioners.
The module, as a whole, explores the changes in South African education in much greater depth. Section One is simply an
introduction. For example, the idea of teachers as reflective practitioners is introduced in Section One, but is dealt with in more
detail in Section Eight and Section Nine. This alerts us to an important point about the structure of this module: sections are
written in relation to each other. We don’t deal with one issue and then forget about it. Instead, the issue will shape the sections
that follow, and will often be developed further in these sections.
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 Desired learning outcomes
It’s always helpful to know what the writers of a module had in mind when they developed it. In this module, we want to
provide answers to this key question: ‘What competences and understandings do we as teachers need in order to teach in a
rigorous, learning-centred manner?’
This is a big question! So let’s examine what it contains. We all know that in South Africa, as in countries throughout the
world, a paradigm shift in how we think about education is occurring. But that conceptual shift is going to make no difference at
all if it is not followed through into parallel shifts in our practices as day-to-day educators. In other words, our competence as
teachers will be judged by our demonstrated abilities to:
Involve learners in their learning
Enable them to think and problem-solve
Develop in learners a deep understanding of the subject or learning area we teach
Link school learning with life and enable learners to learn throughout life.

In order to develop these competences, we need to provide you with both appropriate knowledge and an appropriate learning
methodology. Before you continue, turn back to the Abridged Table of Contents pages and read through the short descriptions
of each section. These will give you an idea of what knowledge we will cover in this module.
But a methodology module is not that interested in your ability to talk (or write) about ‘learner centredness’ or ‘group work’
or ‘outcomes’ or ‘assessment practices’! Instead, it aims to skill you in the use of these methods. So, although you will be a
learner as you work through this module, we will also regard you as a teacher who has to use these ideas in your own
classroom. For this reason, our teaching method is interactive: we have a conversation with you, share ideas, model what we
mean (we provide examples in the text) and ask you to do activities, alone and with fellow teachers.
That is all we can do. However, to become more skilled as a teacher, it is important that you do more than simply read
through the module. Stop and think about an idea when we ask you to do so. Try out the ideas raised. Do the activities. Discuss
the success or otherwise of your teaching activities with other teachers. Then try again! If you work in this way, we believe you
will develop the competences described in the checklist below by the end of this module.
Use the checklist that follows to monitor your progress. Return to this page regularly. Tick each competence in the column
that appropriately reflects your abilities at the time. By the end of the module, all your ticks should be in the central column. We
have included more precise learning outcomes at the beginning of each section. We haven’t listed them all here because it is
unlikely that you’d understand what they really mean before you do some studying. (If you did understand exactly what we
meant, it could be argued that you shouldn’t waste your time studying this module!)
Understood, Understood Don’t really
but not and understand
practised practised

Thoughtfully and systematically plan year-long work plans, shorter modules of lesson plans and
single-period lesson plans (Section Two)

Plan and teach in a manner that engages learners intellectually and enables them to use their
knowledge (Section Three)

Develop a critical understanding of what a learning-centred education system implies for

teaching and learning (Section Two and Section Three)

Use ongoing formative assessment to teach, to diagnose learning problems and to adapt
teaching (Section Three)

Design rigorous and appropriate formative and summative assessment procedures (Section
Three)

Intervene sensibly when learning breaks down, owing either to learning difficulties or disciplinary
problems (Section Four and Section Eight)

Use a range of teaching methodologies – teacher-led, whole-class activities and

learner-centred, small-group activities – to teach (Section Five and Section Six)

Use a range of learning resources, including appropriate information and communications

technology (ICT), effectively and appropriately in your teaching (Section Six and Section Seven)

Work with other teachers to team-teach and teach in theme-based learning programmes
(Section Eight)

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 Design and use school spaces in a manner that reinforces the kinds of learning being attempted
in class (Section Eight)

Extend learning beyond the classroom – through extracurricular activity and homework – to
encourage lifelong learning (Section Eight)

Develop a means of ongoing reflection – individually and with other teachers – to improve
teaching continuously (Section Nine)

1.2 How is the module structured?

How should the module be studied?
Becoming a competent teacher is a difficult task that takes time and that requires teachers to read and practise. Simply
memorising the information that you read cannot turn you into a skilled and knowledgeable teacher.

Practise the ideas, don’t just memorise them

We link theory and practice constantly in the module. Instead of listing tips about good teaching, the module explains why these
tips are useful and demonstrates how they work. We model ways of teaching through in-text dialogues and classroom
transcripts.
Ultimately, though, only you can make the ideas we present practically useful to you. We can provide the examples and
activities to assist you in doing this, but practical learning – skilling – will only occur if you:
Do the activities regularly and seriously
Discuss the learning that occurred through the activity with fellow teachers (and, sometimes, with your learners)
Consciously make links between these activities and other experiences you (or your fellow teachers) have had
Use the readings that follow some activities to reflect on and deepen your understanding of the activity you have just
completed.

Focus on key concepts, don’t get lost in the detail

We haven’t attempted to include everything we believe teachers need to know and be able to do in this module. Instead, we
have limited our coverage to what we believe are the core concepts and skills required to teach in a learner-centred and
outcomes-based way.
The module presents a holistic approach to the subject. As a consequence, we don’t deal with an issue in one section and then
forget about it.
Teaching is an integrated practice in which planning influences teaching, which influences assessment, which, in turn,
influences planning (and so on). As you study, take note of how we argue a point and make links between issues dealt with in
the different sections. Page back and reread sections when we suggest you do so and when you remember something that you
think might be linked to the new ideas being presented.

Read further: Make reading a part of lifelong learning

As we have said, this module offers a small part of the enormous amount that could be learnt about
teaching. It is simply the beginning of a lifelong professional development journey.
In order to assist your further learning, we refer you to further reading. An icon like this will appear
when we refer you to further
reading.
Independent self-study or formal, structured learning?
This module has been written primarily for use in formal pre-service or in-service study. When used in this way, it is likely that
the teacher-learners will be studying other modules, on educational psychology or Mathematics method, for instance. In this
kind of study course, presenters would make the links between the different aspects of teacher education.
But we also hope that the module will be used by practising teachers as a reference book or handbook that they’ll keep on

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 their desks and dip into when they’d like to refresh their understanding of different issues. To assist with this, we have titled
each section and sub-section clearly. This should enable teachers to quickly refresh their thinking about role plays, for instance,
by opening the book at Section Six.

How to navigate through the module

You may already have flipped through the pages of this module, stopping here and there as things caught your eye. Why not do
this now if you haven’t already? Spend about ten minutes scanning through the module. Read section and sub-section titles, and
read the desired outcomes in the first sub-section of each section. Then, randomly, read a page or two here and there. Look at a
couple of activities. Then discuss your observations about the learning demands of this module with fellow teacher-learners.
You probably have some questions about what certain things mean or why we have arranged the module in the way we have.
To answer all these frequently asked questions, we have reproduced two sample pages from the book to help you navigate (find)
your way around it.

1.3 The changing contexts of teaching

In the illustration below, Cynthia Maile, a teacher from Kokstad, expresses some of the frustrations many South African
teachers are currently experiencing. While classrooms are exciting and challenging places to work in, the rapid change that has
occurred over the last few years can also evoke fear and anger.

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 The work of teachers has changed a lot in recent years. Today, teachers are expected to do many things they did not have to do
in the past. In addition, they are being asked to do things they have always done in very different ways. This rapid change
characterises society too. If you read the newspapers regularly, you will notice that schooling and its main audience – young
people – face massive challenges today.
If you are interested, you might want to subscribe to The Teacher , a monthly newspaper for teachers. You could also use the
Internet to keep yourself informed about trends in education by visiting websites such as that of The Teacher (
http://mg.co.za/publication/theteacher ). Most newspapers now have an online version. Check out your favourite newspaper
online regularly to find out what education stories are making the news headlines.
You can also subscribe to education-related newsfeeds, chats and/or blogs on social- or professional-networking sites like
Facebook, Twitter and LinkedIn.

Activity 1
1. Do this activity quickly. Work with a couple of other teachers. Don’t spend more than 30 minutes on it.
2. Collect a few of last month’s newspapers. Scan through these newspapers.
3. Find a couple of articles that deal directly with changes in schools and classrooms (for example, ‘Teachers using Twitter to
keep kids engaged’).
4. Find a couple of articles that don’t deal directly with schooling, but that may have an effect on what happens in the classroom
where you teach, for instance, youth violence, unemployment or other issues in wider society that will have a spillover effect on
education (for example, ‘Are our schools safe havens for orphaned and vulnerable children?’).
5. Write down two ways in which the issues reported in these articles could affect the classroom where you teach today. Explain
what you would do to confront these new challenges imaginatively.

The teacher as an agent for professional change

The work of a teacher is all about change. Teachers must plan proactively for deliberate change, but also respond appropriately
to unexpected change. How is the teacher’s work different from that of other professionals?
The next activity will help you to begin to identify the unique challenges of being a member of the teaching profession.

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 Activity 2
1. Suggest any similarities and differences between the work of a teacher in a school and:
The work of a clerk in an office in a company
The work of a manager in an office in a company
The work of an artist
The work of a doctor, lawyer, social worker or accountant.
2. Write your definition of the word ‘professional’.

We think that a professional person can be described as someone who, on the basis of a lengthy period of training, exercises the
knowledge and skills acquired in accordance with the perceived needs of clients in a context in which autonomous judgements
are made.
Teachers make many professional decisions about what and how to teach in their individual classrooms. At the same time,
they remain accountable to others for learner achievement against agreed standards and progress made through the planned
curriculum. Sometimes tensions arise between teachers’ professional choices (for example, the need for more teaching
resources of a particular kind or use of particular teaching strategies) and the professional choices of school managers (who,
among many other things, need to ensure the school can balance its budget, and can operate in an effective and orderly way). So
teachers exercise professional autonomy within limits.
The school as a workplace is very different from that of many other professions. The teacher’s primary ‘clients’ are learners,
but unlike the clients of most other professionals, learners are required to attend, are encountered in large groups rather than as
individuals and are under professional control over an extended period of time. Unlike people in other professions, teachers may
therefore need to respond to problems of ill-discipline.
Also, the goals of teaching are very diverse. A doctor needs to relieve an illness, for example, and a lawyer must win a case.
However, the goals that society sets for education and the goals that teachers set themselves (for example, to maximise the full
potential of every learner) are never full achievable. The teacher’s work is never really completed. So professional competence
is harder to assess and the context of practice can be both emotionally challenging and demanding.
Unlike in the past, schools today are part of a much more open system. Schools and school teachers are accountable to
learners themselves, to parents, to the profession and to politicians.
Finally, teaching does not follow the same predictable pattern every day. It has the following characteristics:
Complexity: Classrooms are dynamic places where changing problems interact with one another. When we try to take
action on one problem, it may have an unanticipated knock-on effect on another problem, and when we turn our attention
to that problem, we find that it is linked to yet another.
Uncertainty: Time and resources are always limited, and so we have to decide what can and cannot be done. However,
many of the possibilities that confront us seem equally worthwhile so that, as we make the decisions of everyday teaching,
we often experience a feeling of uncertainty about whether we have made the best
choice.
Value conflict: Even when we are sure about our decisions, there is the strong possibility that someone else would be
equally sure that they were not the best choices. We operate within a set of assumptions that others may not share. This
value conflict resulted in problems in implementing outcomes-based education (OBE), for example, where curriculum
reformers valued ‘experiential learning’ and ‘learner discussion’, while many parents, based on their own experiences,
valued ‘rote learning’ and ‘exercises written in books’. A similar tension exists with the language policies of schools:
research suggests that learners need to build literacy skills first in their home language, while many parents want their
children to master English as soon as possible.
Instability: This manifests in two ways. To begin with, there are the unwanted interruptions that disturb the planned day.
Then there is the type of unpredictability where, for example, a well-planned lesson does not work, but the instant
improvisation is a great success.
Uniqueness: No class, group or learner is ever quite like any other. Despite all of our knowledge and experience, we still
have to adapt our actions to suit the unique circumstances with which we are dealing.

We have to cope with situations such as these from our very first anxious days as beginner teachers. Because of the complexity
and continual change, we can never really say we have nothing left to learn.
Teaching is very much about making decisions. In order to make decisions, we need a way to choose between the ‘valuable’
and ‘not-so-valuable’ learning opportunities that occur in any classroom. In other words, the experience of learners in a
classroom is dependent on their teacher’s ‘theories-in-use’, which guide the teacher’s intuitive ability to think on his or her feet

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 as that teacher operates in the classroom. Since both our classroom practice and the ways in which we seek to interpret and
control it are inextricably linked, they tend to reinforce each other. In diagram form, it looks like this:

Our professional practice – what we actually do in the classroom – is therefore embedded in a whole way of thinking, feeling
and seeing that enables us to give meaning to our experience. In other words, our behaviour is shaped by the way we see the
world, our ‘perspective’. However, although our perspective allows us to see and operate in the world in certain ways, it also
prevents us from seeing and operating in the world in other ways. As we ‘gain experience’, we probably lose contact with our
actual experience. As a result, we can become trapped in myths that we have developed through our past experience that come
to control our outlook on the present and the future. This means that if we want to make fundamental changes to how we
behave, as opposed to superficial or short-term changes, then we need to change our perspective.
The next activity provides an example of the ideas discussed above. Before you look at the activity, read through the case
study that follows.

CASE STUDY: How perspective shapes our professional practice

‘Oh dear,’ thought Mrs Mateza. ‘Tomorrow I have to teach them about interest charges as part of their numeracy and
life skills programmes. And they always find it so difficult. I expect they’ll all fail to understand, just like they do every
year …’
The next day, Mrs Mateza starts her class by saying, ‘Today we are going to look at a very difficult topic.’ She then
writes the word ‘interest’ on the board and proceeds to work through an example showing how paying for a bicycle in
instalments with interest means paying more in total in the end. It is the same approach and example that she uses every
year.
After completing the example, she asks the learners to complete an activity on interest charges in their textbook. After
the lesson, she begins marking their activities: ‘Just as I thought, they don’t understand this difficult topic.’

Activity 3
1. What advice would you give to the teacher in the case study?
2. Identify a topic that your learners (if you are a practising teacher) or you (if you are a student) tended to have difficulty with and
that needed to be ‘taught’ more than once.
a. Describe the different approaches you have used or experienced in the teaching of this topic.
b. Which approach or approaches seemed to yield the best results?
c. What do your answers reveal about your own practice or that of the teachers you experienced?

Our classroom practice is informed by embedded theory. We can distinguish between espoused theories (what we say to justify
what we do) and theories in use (what we actually do). In order to become better teachers, we may need to identify, challenge
and change our embedded theories or perspectives. Conscious reflection can help us to break open the closed loop of repetitive,
unchanging practice. In Mrs Mateza’s case, her prediction is self-fulfilling: she continues to teach in the same way that has not
worked for her in the past and gets the same kind of result. She needs to consider adopting a different approach.

Dealing with educational change

In Activity 1, you probably found a large number of articles about issues that in some way or another influence your work as a
teacher. The challenges facing teachers in implementing the changing curriculum and the increasing emphasis on achieving
results that are internationally benchmarked are probably the changes you have heard most about. We are told we must undergo
a complete paradigm shift:
The curriculum has changed.

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 Pedagogy has changed.
Assessment is changing.
As Cynthia suggests and Mrs Mateza illustrates, even we will have to change!

No wonder some teachers complain that they are suffering from ‘change fatigue’. They are exhausted from too much change!
Let’s listen to a conversation among a group of teachers attending a regional workshop meeting on the topic ‘Implementing the
NCS’.

Get practical! This seems to be the call of many teachers we have spoken to. But, while workshops filled with new terminology
are one reason why teachers reject new ideas, all change everywhere in the world is usually met initially with fear and rejection.
All over the world, new ideas and approaches to education are being explored. The focus in many places is on making teaching
more learner centred, with a more problem-solving nature, and outcomes based. And, throughout the world, there are teachers
like Cynthia, Joe and Mac who complain about these changes.
This is logical: any major policy change makes huge demands on a nation’s teachers. As
changes take place in policy at the top, so we have to make changes in our own classroom These teachers are
practice. This threatens all our old, practised and familiar ways of doing things. It isn’t just that fictitious characters who will
teachers are lazy or old-fashioned. After all, a change to something new often implies that there accompany us through this
module. These characters
was something wrong with the old, and that makes us feel uncomfortable. As good teachers, our are based on teachers we
challenge is to find ways to manage change. know and on our own
experiences of teaching.
We use characters and
dialogues to reflect the
How can we manage change constructively? real-life dilemmas teachers
face and to ground the
The first step in dealing intelligently with change is to think back in order to understand how our module in the real world of
history shapes our present thoughts and practices. But we need to do this thoughtfully rather than teaching.
nostalgically. We love romanticising the past and, in so doing, we often blind ourselves to new
possibilities! We need to ask ourselves questions such as:
How did I get to be a teacher or trainee teacher in the first place?

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 Why do I teach in the way I do?
What makes me so resistant to changing or improving my practice?

Activity 4
1. Spend about 40 minutes on this activity. Probe into your past as thoroughly as you can. If you are studying other courses, try
not to refer to articles about change that you may have read until you have finished exploring your own attitudes. Once you
have completed this reflection, bring these articles into your discussion.
2. Sit quietly and try to answer the questions in the list above alone. Did you choose to become a teacher because you wanted to
or because there was nothing better to do? How did you learn (or are you learning) to teach: from your college studies, for
example, or by copying how you were taught? Do you resist suggestions that you change? Why?
3. Then discuss your ideas with a group of other teachers or trainee teachers. How similar are your histories? How different are
they?

Try to be as honest as you can. This is difficult for all of us. Maybe other teachers can play the role of really interrogating you
when you think you may not be able to see the truth!

How did we respond to this activity?

We teach the way we do because of how we were taught ourselves
All those years at school, sitting in classrooms and observing teachers, have given us clear memories and pictures in our heads
about how teaching should or should not be done. Sometimes we use this teaching consciously: we remember that it worked and
we copy it in our teaching. But often we use this teaching unconsciously: we do it without any real memory of where we saw it
and even if it really worked or not.
Many teacher educators say that trainee teachers learn the new ideas they offer them, but don’t use them in their teaching.
Instead, they teach as they were taught at school! While this sometimes results in good practices, this copying frequently
promotes poor practices. If we are conscious of the influences on us, we are more likely to be able to choose to keep good
influences and modify poor influences. The fact that so many of these ideas are held unconsciously makes it difficult to change
them: they are too deeply embedded.

Our practices are influenced by our educational and life beliefs

Most of us have different beliefs about life, about education and about human beings. Some of us believe that the most
important characteristic of society (and thus human beings) is that we should be free, even if this leads to disrespect for order
and authority. Others believe that human beings should respect traditional values and our elders. Or that respect for a god –
whether the Christian God, the Muslim Allah or the god of any other religion – is more important than individual freedom. In
these cases, it is likely that order and obedience are more highly valued than freedom.
These beliefs often shape our educational practices. Teachers with a passionate belief in freedom are more likely to be well
disposed to learner-centred pedagogies, for instance. But our beliefs about learning, which are often held without any evidence,
make it difficult for us to change. For instance, many teachers believe that corporal punishment improves learning, even though
there is little research evidence to support this. So we may find it difficult to accept official views about education if these are
not similar to our own ideas. By understanding our beliefs, which are often deeply hidden, we become more able to accept new
ideas and practices.

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 Activity 5
1. Do this activity on your own. Spend no more than 45 minutes on it.
2. Think about your own life history as a teacher. (If you aren’t a teacher, then try to put yourself in the shoes of a teacher you
respected and answer these questions as if you were that teacher.)
3. Think about the things that have made you the teacher you are today or wish to be in the future. Complete the sentences below
and look at your answers again at the end of the module to see if you have altered your thinking in any way.
a. I first remember wanting to become a teacher ... (when? why? and so on). If you didn’t want to become a teacher, then
explain why you entered the profession.
b. The three things I liked about my best teacher were ... (for example, personality, method or attitude).
c. The worst things I remember about school are ... (the learners? other teachers? the school environment? and so on).
d. I hope to achieve the following as a teacher ... (for my learners? for myself?).
e. I believe I am a good/bad teacher because ... (for example, I am educated? committed? caring?).
f. Look back over your answers. If you were asked to list the seven most important traits a good teacher should demonstrate
or the roles a teacher should play, what would your list be?

The changing role of South African teachers

The second step to constructive change management is looking forwards. It requires that we understand what is important in all
of the new ideas that come our way. It asks us to weld these ideas to the strengths we bring from the past. So what is the nature
of the new ideas confronting South African teachers?
We are asked to:
Design classrooms and use methods that are learner and learning centred
Teach learners how to solve problems and think critically
Teach learners how to use the knowledge we teach them (this is sometimes referred to as developing learner competences)
Plan lessons guided by a combination of knowledge focus and learning outcomes (also referred to as objectives, aims,
goals or purposes in other systems).

This kind of teaching clearly needs a very different sort of teacher from the chalk-and-talk teacher
our history has given us. The changed roles for teachers were described in a South African policy Sign up to receive regular
document called the National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South education news updates
Africa ( Government Gazette , No. 29832 of 25 April 2007, Vol. 502), which confirmed and from the South African
Institute for Distance
slightly renamed the seven key roles that teachers need to play discussed in an earlier document Education (SAIDE) by
called Norms and Standards for Educators, published by the Department of Education in the year sending an e-mail to Jenny
2000 ( Government Gazette , Vol. 415, No. 20844, Pretoria). Louw at
That’s the kind of teachers South Africans would like to have. But these teachers will have to [email protected].
come from among us, that is, from those people whose educational model is the autocratic and didactic system of the past. And
they will have to teach in schools that are also only partly changed (at best) and often under-resourced. How will we do this?
Here is a case study about a day in the life of a teacher. When you have read through this, you will be asked to answer some
questions.

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 A day in the life of a teacher
Having sorted out her family at home, and got them to school clothed and fed, Cynthia arrives at her school after a taxi
ride during which she chatted with a few colleagues about some of the items they had heard on the morning radio.
Once at school, Cynthia clears her pigeonhole in the staffroom. There is a note from the principal. He has asked
Cynthia and her head of department (HOD) to meet with the parents of one of Cynthia’s learners who had failed the
previous term. There is also a memo from the curriculum committee she serves on, reminding her of a workshop on
implementing and monitoring the NCS.
At this school, assembly is held first thing in the morning. Cynthia listens to the principal talking to the school about
recent violence in the school hostel. She thinks she should speak to her register class about this. At the end of assembly,
she announces that a speaker will be coming to talk about career planning to the Grade 10 and Grade 11 classes.
Her first lesson involves giving back a test that the class had done the previous week. They did not perform well and
she wants to go over that section of work again.
After tea, Cynthia introduces a new section of work to her senior class. It’s a new addition to the curriculum and she’s
excited about it, having done a lot of reading and preparation for this. She’s also trying out a role-play exercise that she
got from an in-service course she went on.
In her free period before lunch, she finishes off a worksheet for the next day and makes copies for the learners.
At lunchtime, she chats to her colleagues about the new lesson, which went better than expected, and spends a few

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 minutes adjusting her plans for the following day’s lesson in the light of this.
After lunch, one class works through a worksheet based on their textbooks in small
groups and the other finishes off a project they will be presenting the next day.
After school, Cynthia stays behind for a subject meeting. Her HOD asks her for the
continuous assessment reports for the previous term as he wants to prepare for a parents’
meeting.
Eventually, a very tired Cynthia makes her way home with a pile of marking and a
reminder to work on the draft plan for next term.

Activity 6
1. Spend about 40 minutes on this activity. Answer Part 2d and Part 2e thoughtfully. You may
want to share your ideas and experiences with a group of fellow teachers.
2. Write down answers to the following questions:
3. Identify the roles Cynthia plays in an average day. Write down each role and then the way in which she was involved (for
example, curriculum developer who has to make a draft plan for next term).
a. Which is her most commonly played role? Have any roles been neglected? Why do you think this is so?
b. Is Cynthia fulfilling any roles that are not mentioned in the National Policy Framework? (To check, reread the balls that the
juggler is juggling.)
c. Think of your own role as a teacher or trainee teacher on teaching practice. Is the breakdown of roles similar in your job? If
you are not playing some of the roles, why is that so?
d. Compare these roles to the traits you identified in Part 3f of Activity 5. How are they similar and different?

What did we think?

It’s interesting how the daily requirements of the teacher’s job meant that Cynthia had to switch between
roles all the time. No wonder she goes home tired! The important point here is that a competent teacher
must be able to fulfil many roles at the same time. This requires flexibility and adaptability. This might Competence is not
merely performance
seem an impossible task, requiring a ‘super-teacher’. However, at times, one particular role may be more …
important, while other roles are less important. For instance, if a child begins to cry in class because of
tensions at home, the teacher in her pastoral role needs to make decisions about how best to give comfort
to the child and deal with the situation. It is also inevitable that some teachers excel more in some roles
than in others, so we need to find ways of working together so that the school as a whole can be excellent in all these
dimensions by working collaboratively from positions of individual strength. Right now, as you study this module, you are in
the lifelong-learner role!
Some roles (for example, planning and designing learning programmes, and facilitating and managing the children’s learning)
seem to take up most of our time as teachers. This isn’t surprising and we’d be worried if you told us that these roles didn’t take
up the bulk of your teaching time. After all, these are the core business of schools. There is little point in creating a wonderfully
caring environment through playing your pastoral role well if no learning occurs at the school!
It should be noted that the precise number of roles is actually quite arbitrary. Many curriculum specialists would argue that
the roles of curriculum developer, teaching and learning specialist and assessment specialist are actually inextricably
interlinked. When SAIDE envisaged the Study of Education series, of which this module forms a part, we were guided by the
kind of thinking that underpins Activity 6 above. In thinking about the distinction between teachers and other professionals, we
came up with three key roles:
Caregiver (acting in loco parentis )
Leader and manager
Knowledge-worker.

It is the latter role that particularly distinguishes the work of a teacher from, say, that of a paediatric nurse or a social worker.
We could arguably map the seven roles identified in policy to the three roles outlined above in the following way:

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 However, the range of roles mentioned in the National Policy Framework does signal a shift away from the chalk-and-talk idea
of teaching, where the primary role was the conveying of information. Now, even the direct teaching roles are aimed at enabling
learning: empowering learners, rather than filling them with information.
In July 2011, after making a draft document available for comment in 2010, the Department of Higher Education and
Training published new guidelines for teacher education qualifications (Republic of South Africa [RSA]. [2011]. The Minimum
Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications. Government Gazette , No. 34467, 15 July 2011. Government Printer:
RSA.) This new policy document places more emphasis on kinds of knowledge competences than on discrete teacher roles. The
document, along with others, can be accessed at and downloaded from the website of the Department of Higher Education and
Training ( http://www.dhet.gov.za /). Curriculum documents, however, can be accessed at and downloaded from the website of
the Department of Basic Education ( http://www.education.gov.za ).
The increased focus on the concept of learning is the key conceptual shift we need to note. Morrow (2007: 3) argues that ‘we
should think of concepts not as names but as rules for practical thinking’. He then argues that defining the concept of teaching
‘as if it is the names of roles and responsibilities of teachers employed in the schooling system … generates an understanding of
teachers as civil servants rather than as members of a profession, it inflates the work of schoolteachers and … forecloses on the
possibility of other ways of teaching’. He argues that we should rather think of teaching as ‘the practice of organising
systematic learning’. It is this understanding of teaching that informs the content and design of this module.

Becoming a reflective practitioner

This more rounded, or holistic, idea of a teacher is sometimes referred to as becoming a reflective practitioner. Teacher
competence refers to becoming skillful, and becoming someone who can assess and adapt his or her teaching (in other words,
reflect on his or her practice). So what makes a teacher really qualified to teach? (We are talking about qualified as quality, not
simply as getting a certificate!)
The roles identified above show us that a competent teacher must have more than just subject
knowledge, more than just the ability to give that knowledge to others and more than just the skills to
manage other people. Current policy says, ‘Competence is not merely performance’, meaning that Teaching is … the
practice of
competence is more than simply doing an action such as planning a lesson, writing a lesson onto the organising
board, making a worksheet for a lesson or setting and marking a project. systematic learning.

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 A reflective competence includes at least three abilities:
Understanding and being able to explain why a particular method was chosen or action was taken.
You need to be able to consider different teaching possibilities. (‘Should I introduce the lesson using a story or a practical
demonstration?’) You need to be able to make the choice and justify your choice. (‘I’ll use a story because my learners
really become engaged by storytelling and I think it links well with the main concept I’d like to introduce later.’)
Acting effectively on decisions and carrying out basic teaching functions. It’s no good making thoughtful decisions and
then not being able to carry them out effectively! (‘Oh dear, I’ve always been a dreadful storyteller and now my class is
falling asleep!’) In order to do this, teachers need to know the knowledge pertinent to their subject or learning area and be
able to communicate these ideas to learners in a manner appropriate to their level. In other words, they must be able to
demonstrate an ability to use the knowledge they know and implement the teaching methods they have learnt.
Reflecting on actions and adjusting these in the light of this reflection. Part of being competent is the ability to monitor
how things are working out, to understand why they are working or not working, and then being able to adjust your action
in the light of your observations. (‘Hmm, people aren’t participating in this role play. It’s probably because I haven’t used
it before and they are a bit shy. They might think I am assessing them. Maybe if I join in they will feel more comfortable.’)

Clearly, then, practice isn’t simply a physical thing or an action, such as talking to a class, writing on a chalkboard or dividing
up the class for group activities. All practical actions are strongly influenced by thinking, whether we are conscious of this or
not. Thinking precedes every action, and then continues all the time we perform the action. The shift towards this kind of
reflective teaching is represented in the diagram.
A reflective teaching practice is one where teaching is regarded as an ongoing cycle of learning, rather than a linear process.
Each lesson is a learning moment for both teachers and learners. It is analysed and becomes the basis of the new lesson. In other
words, one teaching cycle (a lesson) feeds into the next cycle. Each lesson is educative: teachers learn from their mistakes and
good decisions, and use this knowledge in their planning and teaching of the next lesson. Teaching isn’t a linear process where
every lesson stands independently. Teaching isn’t a matter of simply following a formula. Instead, it’s about constantly
assessing whether the ‘formula’ works and adapting it.
If teaching could be taught as a formula, it would then be as easy as boiling a kettle: first plug in the kettle, then switch it on
and so on. Of course, anyone who has taught in a classroom knows that this is not what happens. In fact, all of us as learners
know that this doesn’t happen. When teachers try to do this, learners disrupt the neat plan. That’s the problem: teaching is a
human interaction. We deal with other human beings who are all different and unpredictable. Unlike a kettle, they react
differently each time we see them! As a consequence, competent teaching is a demanding, complex activity where thought and
action constantly influence each other.
Throughout this module, you will notice the emphasis on the two-strand, cyclical nature of teaching practice: thought to
action to thought and adaptations to another (revised) action. We will return to the idea of reflective practice in more detail in
Section Nine.
In Section Two, we will look at probably the most important part of teaching: planning.

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 References
Morrow, W. (2007). Learning to Teach in South Africa. Cape Town: HSRC Press.

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