Pre-service Social Sciences Teachers' Reflections on a Teacher Preparation Program

Paul Nwati Munje, Thuthukile Jita

Abstract


The need for quality education in South Africa and beyond encourages research that interrogates the preparation of pre-service teachers and their ability to teach in the classroom after graduation. This qualitative paper focuses on the reflections of final year pre-service Social Sciences teachers in a South African public university. Gibbs’ reflective cycle is used as a lens. We used open-ended questions to gather data from 19 pre‑service Social Sciences teachers to explore their preparedness and readiness to teach in future. The research process constituted two phases. Phase one was implemented from 10 February 2020 to 9 March 2020 and phase two occurred in July 2020. Phase two was necessitated by the negative educational implications of COVID-19. Findings indicated that the participants faced challenges pertaining to content knowledge, which was aggravated by the introduction of online learning due to COVID-19. Despite these challenges, participants remained resilient and optimistic toward the teaching profession. Deducing from their voices, we recommend clarification of content in Social Sciences core subjects of History and Geography. Balanced tuition for content knowledge and pedagogy is recommended. Ongoing professional development is needed for academic advisors concerning subject specifications and for lecturers to empower them about remote teaching, communication, and technological skills to improve teaching and learning. Regular monitoring by the teaching and learning unit in the faculty is required to identify challenges and to intervene where necessary. The varied challenges of online learning also warrant the equipping of students with the necessary resources to facilitate learning. 

https://doi.org/10.26803/ijlter.20.5.9


Keywords


content knowledge; COVID-19; online learning; pre service teachers; Social Sciences; South Africa

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References


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