Browsing by Author "Rousseau, Nicoline"
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- ItemFostering learner autonomy amongst second language student teachers with computer assisted language learning in a supportive role(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2008-03) Rousseau, Nicoline; Du Toit, R. O.; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Modern Foreign Languages.
- ItemThe role of reflection in integrating theory and practice in foundation phase teacher education(Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2015-12) Rousseau, Nicoline; Robinson, Maureen; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies.ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this study the perceptions and experiences of a number of South African Bachelor of Education Foundation Phase (FP) teacher educators and students were explored to obtain insight into the role of reflective practice in BEd FP programmes. The study was undertaken against the background of a combined initiative of the European Union (EU), the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) and a number of universities to improve undergraduate FP teacher education. Reflective practice is a core aspect of many teacher education programmes and supported in this regard by policy (DHET, Revised Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications, 2015:9-11). Reflective practice is also generally regarded in teacher education scholarship as playing a key role in the integration of theory and practice. However, there is a lack of research evidence that this actually happens. There is also a lack of clarity with regard to the challenges involved in implementing reflective practice for optimal learning, while the purposes or envisaged “endings” for the process of reflective practice are equally vague. The main objective of the study was therefore to gain a better understanding of the role of reflective practice in Foundation Phase teacher education in South Africa with regard to both conceptual and operational issues. A further objective was to explore how the challenges experienced in the process of reflective practice in four South African universities linked with the central debates in the literature. The argument in this study is that reflective practice is a complex concept, yet potentially a very valuable tool in teacher education at different levels. Reflective practice can play a meaningful role in developing agency amongst student teachers (and qualified teachers) with positive consequences in a developing country such as South Africa. However, for reflective practice to be productive and meaningful, certain conditions need to be observed to meet the challenges involved. A multi-site case study design was used for this qualitative, interpretive inquiry. Propositional categories gleaned from the work of seminal authors informed the initial planning of the interview protocols. The data was generated through semi-structured interviews with FP teacher educators, focus group interviews with student teachers and an analysis of relevant documentation, thereby contributing to rich, in-depth data. A process of thematic analysis generated four themes with sub-themes, thereby organizing the essential meanings extracted from the interviewees’ understandings and experiences of the role of reflective practice. The findings were interpreted according to the framework generated by the thematic analysis. A number of key issues were highlighted by the findings, the first being that the perceived theory-practice gap reflects a false dichotomy embedded in the language of education. A second theme revealed that FP teacher educators, as well as student participants, had disparate views of the conceptual nature and the purposes of reflective practice. Thirdly, the FP teacher educators, as well a student participants, had disparate views of the operational aspects of reflective practice. Finally, understandings of reflective practice in FP teacher education remained largely tacit among the role players; this points to a need to develop an explicit vocabulary and an equally explicit framework assisting teacher educators and students in coming to terms with envisaged purposes and processes with regard to reflective practice. The findings of this study is specific to the contexts of the four participating universities and the period during which the interviews were conducted. However, the findings contribute to a scholarly understanding of the dilemmas, challenges and choices which teacher educators face when implementing reflective practice in developed, but specifically also in developing countries, as a means to integrate theory and practice.