Browsing by Author "De Kock, Cisca"

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    Exploring frames that provide opportunities for learning by teaching, learning by reflecting and learning by collaborating: case studies of pre-service teachers
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2023-03) De Kock, Cisca; Botha, Marie Louise; Reddy, C. P. S.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explored frames that provided pre-service teachers opportunities for learning by teaching, learning by reflecting and learning by collaborating within the practicum. This study aimed to add towards the development of an understanding on how pre-service teachers’ professional learning is influenced during the practicum and what the key factors are that shape the professional learning of pre-service teachers. One of the key features of the study was to examine existing understandings of the practicum as a frame and to develop new theoretical understandings of the ways in which pre-service teachers acquire professional learning during the practicum period. The practicum, collaborative mentoring, reflective practice, and assessment of pre-service teachers were used as components to lead to a discussion of possible improvements within a context of quality. Literature often does not engage in an in-depth understanding of how learning by teaching, reflecting, and collaborating during the practicum period influence the pre-service teachers’ professional learning nor does it focus on different frames that can be implemented to explicate the above. the influence the practicum has on pre-service teachers’ professional learning, but also to make a case to have these as a regular feature within Initial Teacher Education programmes. The results are presented as three case studies, that chronicled the lived experiences of three pre-service teachers enrolled for a Bachelor of Education degree with a focus on specialising in the Intermediate and Senior Phase. This research study was located within an interpretive case study design which enabled the researcher to enter the pre-service teachers’ experiences and gain understanding thereof. A qualitative approach provided the opportunity to understand needs and challenges with a view to consider and make suggestions regarding applicable frames or systems for improvement. A multiple method approach that included semi-structured interviews, reflective journals, focus group discussions, illustrations and observations with each participant was used to generate data. The findings of this study revealed that the divide between schools and universities, and their lack of knowledge, contribute to the disconnect the pre-service teachers’ experience during the practicum period. To bridge this divide, pre-service teachers need to engage in continuous professional learning. Furthermore, the findings from this research add to the literature on professional learning of pre-service teachers, and the information gleaned from this study hasadded theoretically and methodologically to the knowledge of frames that provide opportunities for professional learning during the practicum process. The significance of the study is in the contribution it makes to understanding the key practice factors that shape the foundation of professional learning as experienced by pre-service teachers during the practicum that include developing practically, personally, observationally, reflectively, collaboratively, and contextually. The practicum period in this study emerged as a system which interconnects on numerous levels of impact on the pre-service teachers’ professional learning. The elements embedded within the practicum indicated paradoxes between the system being functional or ineffective. The data revealed that the practicum process has different conditions and factors that interrelate as a system that leads to a complex system. Thus, professional learning should be viewed as an interconnected non-linear system. Areas to strengthen and improve the practicum process was identified as the incorporation of a collaborative professional learning system, collaborative learning communities and to incorporate structural systems of support for pre-service teachers with the potential to communicate the results throughout their Initial Teacher Education programmes, policies and beyond.