Teaching students face the challenge of putting their theoretical knowledge into practice, reports Lorraine van der Merwe
As part of a compulsory module, final-year students at the College of Education at Wits University (previously the Johannesburg College of Education) participate in a programme which gives them the opportunity to do fieldwork at schools that are a lot less privileged than those they are used to.
The programme operates in conjunction with the School Wide Enrichment Programme (SWEP) and a selection of schools. They are organised to benefit everybody involved, from the university students, to the schools, the school teachers and especially the pupils.
This year about 50 students went to two schools over a period of six weeks, for two hours a week. The students had to plan and put into practice a learning programme in literacy and communication along selected themes, in this case water and trees, and carry it out with the class teachers.
The culmination of one of these programmes was celebrated on April 26 at Lejoeleputsoa Primary School in Meadowlands, Soweto and Olifantsvlei Primary School in Lenasia. Attending the celebration at Lejoeleputoa was Jean Place, head of the junior primary department at the College of Education.
Place says the results of the programme were fantastic, and that from the students’ side, ”there was a lot of learning to work together, the teamwork side, the planning, the replanning if things don’t work out, and flexibility that is needed. It has brought out students who we didn’t think had the courage to face new areas when it comes to teaching situations. They were very reticent on the first visit, and now they are so at home. It has been fantastic to see their teaching personalities develop.”
Place says that the students, experience with all aspects of the project has added a dimension to their training that they never would have had four years ago before this programme was set up.
Bianca da Silva, a fourth-year student who was on the programme at Olifantsvlei, says: ”At first I was really challenged because the language barrier was big and I was a little despondent the first week, but all that changed. The teachers worked so hard with the children while we weren’t there, and then we built on that every week. It was wonderful and it really exposed me to a different community”.
The teachers at the schools concerned claim that they too have gained a lot from these programmes. One teacher, Tshidi Mamabolo, came to Olifantsvlei Primary School from her previous school, where she was involved with SWEP. She was determined to get Olifantsvlei onto the programme when she found that the teachers there needed teaching and classroom skills.
Mamabolo says, ”I didn’t know what to do because they had never had any workshops or anything. I didn’t even find any timetables in the classrooms. So I started with basic things like introducing the programme”. After sharing what she had learnt previously from SWEP with other interested staff members at Olifantsvlei, Mamabolo managed to get the school included in the programme. Many of the teachers at Olifantsvlei are now so enthused with learning to better their teaching skills that they have also attended in-service training at the College of Education.
Grade 4 teacher, Sibongile Mnguni of Olifantsvlei, says the programme has given her new ideas. She says the student teachers have different approaches and techniques for teaching that she too is now putting into practice.
Mnguni says the children have really enjoyed having the students every week and that when somebody different comes into the classroom, the children always listen attentively. The children were also helped by the extra attention as every group in the class could be attended to by either her or a student, whereas usually she is alone in the class with her 41 pupils.
Another teacher, Tebogo Masenya, a grade 4 teacher at Lejoeleputoa, enthusiastically talks about how much the co-operation with the students has helped her. Not only has the whole school benefited over the last few years from the help with setting up a library, a toy class and an art room, but she says she has gained a lot of confidence in the classroom.
Masenya says: ”The children are confident too because everything we are doing with the students helps the children too, even more than the teachers”.
This sentiment was echoed by many teachers, who would like to do as much as possible for their pupils.
– The Teacher/M&G Media, June 2001.
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