The last decade has seen an increase in the
institutionalised professionalisation of the White teachers
in the Republic of South Africa. In 1981 the de Lange
Commission called for the professionalisation of teacher
educators and this was accepted by the Government in the
White Paper of 1983. Subsequently teacher educators have
been compelled by the National Education Policy Amendment
Act (House of Assembly), 1986 (Act 103 of 1986) to register
with the Teachers' Federal Council and financial pressure
was brought to bear under the Act for teacher educators to
associate with recognised teacher organisations. The outcome
of this requirement appears to be greater control of the
profession by the Government.
It is timely to investigate precisely what is understood by
professionalisation vis-a-vis teacher educators, as the
professionalisation of teacher educators cannot be
accomplished by statutory fiat alone. Nor have teacher
educators held a particularly professional position within
education. The colleges of education have been hemmed in by
the provincial authorities on the one hand and by the
powerful university lobby on the other. Colleges of
education have historically been associated with secondary
education and still are, in that they are controlled by the
provincial authorities and have not been accorded full
tertiary status and standing within the educational
organisational structures. The colleges of education
per se have no representation and no direct input into
policy making and planning for education in South Africa. It
is relevant and urgent to ask questions such as "What is
meant by the professionalisation of teacher educators?",
"What process is involved in professionalisation?" and "How
can the increased professionalisation of teacher educators
be realistically accomplished in the Republic of South
Africa?" To this end, a full exposition of the concept of
professionalisation is derived from the literature. The
phenomenon and process of professionalisation are thoroughly
considered, mainly from a theoretical sociological
perspective. A relatively recent history of important events
in Education within the Republic of South Africa is
considered in the light of the possibilities for furthering
the process of the professionalisation of teacher educators
in this country,. In particular, the implications of the
recommendations of the De Lange Commission (1981) and the
Government's reaction to this Commision, as contained in the
White Paper (1983), are considered. The South African
Teachers' Council for Whites and its impact is assessed, and
the implications of the 1983 Constitution are considered, as
they affect teacher education in the Republic of South
Africa.
All the facets and factors implicit in the process of the
professionalisation of teacher educators are critically
reviewed via the attributive and process paradigms of
professionalisation as explicated by Ozyga and Lawn.
Recommendations are generated based on the insights
obtained. In particular two facets of paramount importance
emerged : (i) The need for an organised professional teacher
educator association, to promote professional concerns and
to represent professional interests in educational
provisioning, is essential; and
(ii) The need for the Government to reorganise its
educational structures, so as to afford teacher educators a
channel of professional representation, is evident.
These facets would be of mutual value to the profession and
the Government alike.
Current education structures are sketched and futuristic
idealistic models of organisational structures are proposed.
On the basis of these studies a number of recommendations
are proposed, including, inter alia, the following primary
facets : Teacher education should be occupationally delineated, its
members should be incorporated in a distinct and discrete
professional registration category and statutory recognition
should be given to this profession and its members;
Teacher educators should form a fully developed national
professional association to promote individual and corporate
interests and to negotiate on matters of interest and
concern;
The teacher education profession should be rationalised and
coordinated nationally, be accorded a greater degree of
professional autonomy and be formally involved in national
policy making in a unitary general affairs body;
Teacher education should be upgraded to a fully degreed
profession, with specialised post graduate degrees being
made available with a specific bearing on teacher education,
including the opportunity for research; and
The courses offered by colleges of education should be
upgraded via establishing the option of degree courses at
colleges, concentrating all teacher training at colleges of
education, providing enhanced facilities for serving
teachers to upgrade their qualifications at colleges,
promoting a wider acceptance and implementation of
integrated teacher training degree courses and promoting the
esteem of teaching degree and diploma courses as
professional and academic qualifications of repute. / Thesis (M.P.A.)-University of Durban-Westville, 1987.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:ukzn/oai:http://researchspace.ukzn.ac.za:10413/10006 |
| Date | 15 November 2013 |
| Creators | Nicholls, Gordon Charles. |
| Contributors | Coetzee, W. A. J., Behr, A. Leslie. |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | en_ZA |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
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