G e t t i n g F E T
Your guide to further education and training for teachers
South Africa’s oldest university is going all out to give today’s teachers what they need, writes Julia Grey
Old and established institutions are well known for sticking to tried-and-tested ways of doing things and resisting change. But the 108-year-old University of South Africa’s (Unisa) faculty of education is taking on the new as quickly as it can.
Unisa, like all universities, has been thrust into the eye of change with the Council on Higher Education’s decision to incorporate colleges of education into them. The two colleges incorporated into Unisa are the South African College of Teacher Education (Sacte) and South African College of Open Learning (Sacol). In effect, Sacte’s 18 regional centres and Sacol’s KwaZulu-Natal based operation have become satellite campuses to the distance learning giant.
The addition of around 8 000 students to Unisa’s numbers – a welcome turn around from the years of dwindling enrolment with the faculty – is one positive addition. Another is the expansion of courses on offer: whole ranges of programmes (like technical subjects) offered by Sacte and Sacol will be included in Unisa’s repertoire of courses. Others not deemed as valuable will be ditched.
Deputy dean of Unisa’s education faculty, Steward Mothata, is handling the transition, and says complete integration should be achieved by 2002. Meantime, the students enrolled at Sacte and Sacol are being termed “pipeline students”, with the option of either completing their courses at Sacte and Sacol by the end of 2002 or being absorbed into the new structures.
Besides the conventional education degrees on offer, Unisa is also staying in touch with the emerging demands of South Africa’s world of teaching. One example is the course in Peace Education. Teachers can enroll for either the six, nine or 12 month course, and will learn more about conflict and stability, dealing with deadlocks and how to employ creative alternatives in reaching solutions. As Mothata points out, with tensions like racism and militant student action being commonplace in schools, having a teacher or principal with such skills can make the difference between a happening or a dysfunctional learning environment.
Presently, the peace education courses don’t have many takers – unlike education management courses, which Mothata rates as the most popular. One reason for this is the fact that “most teachers see it as a stepping stone to a managment position, either as principal or in district offices”. And, of course it has its every day uses as well, since “being faced with a class of 60 children also demands good management skills”, says Mothata.
School governance is one area that Mothata believes needs serious attention from teacher training institutions. “I worry that we tend to focus on teachers in our training, and forget there are governers,” says Mothata. “Governers have been given more power than educators in the running of a school.”
A weakness in many school governing bodies is that vital functions – like budgeting large sums of money, or setting out a code of conduct – have to be taken on by parents who lack experience, and even skills like literacy. Mothata says plans to address this include developing a course in school governance, targeted at principals who could then lead the process of governance more effectively. A team to teach basic literacy to the community would have to accompany such an initiative to make it work, says Mothata.
Unisa presently has a course that goes some way to helping schools make the most of their community. A 12 month course in parental involvement gives educators skills in developing partnerships with a vital part of the school community.
A vital new course due to be up and rolling by January 2002 is the National Professional Diploma in Education (NPDE). The course is designed to upgrade the skills of teachers who are under- or unqualified (the official term is REQV11 or 12, and refers to having a standard 8 or 10 and a primary teachers’ certificate). Prior experience is recognised as a basis for enrolment.
The NPDE aims primarily to make outcomes-based education a clear and workable concept for teachers, and to improve classroom practise. Once the NPDE has been completed (either two years full time or four part time), the student can go on to do an advanced certificate in education and even an honours degree in education. In short, it can be used as an entry to further education by teachers who have gone through their professional lives with very little training.
Mothata has good news for those currently enrolled at Sacte and Sacol, especially if they are in their first year: Unisa has received R2.5-million through National Students Funding scheme, specifically for these students. His office is open for applications, and the most important requirement to be eligible for a bursary is financial need. Phone (012) 429-4770 for more information.
— The Teacher/M&G Media, Johannesburg, July 2001.