Collaboration for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa

1. Joint DBE/DHET Presentation on Teacher Education and Development to a joint sitting of the Portfolio Committees on Basic Education and Higher Education and Training 11 June 2013 1

2. Structure of the Presentation • DBE/DHET collaboration on teacher education and development in the context of the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development (ISPFTED) • The Teacher Education and Development Continuum, and some of the current areas of work • Strengthening the formal teacher education system • Addressing the development needs of practicing teachers in a targeted fashion?

3. DBE/DHET collaboration within the context of the ISPFTED • The ISPFTED is a comprehensive plan to improve teacher education and development in the country, constructed collaboratively by education stakeholders, with implementation driven by DBE and DHET. • Some of the key objectives of the ISPFTED is to ensure: • Ateacher education system that provides sufficient numbers are high quality new teachers • Practicing teachers receive targeted development support designed to improve the quality of teachers work in key subject areas and schools in ways that lead to improvement in learner results • Formal structures that have been activated to enable DBE/DHET collaboration on the implementation of the Framework include: • National Teacher Education and Development Committee • Provincial Teacher Education and Development Committees • DBE/DHET Bilaterals • Joint DHET/DBE teacher education qualifications evaluation committee • DBE/DHET/NSFAS FunzaLushaka Bursary Advisory Committee • DHET/DBE National Teacher Education Qualifications Evaluation Committee 3

4. TED challenges, the TED Continuum and the ISPFTED • Low status of the profession • Insufficient new teachers to meet system requirements Output 1: Individual and systemic teacher development needs are identified and addressed Recruitment and Advocacy • Concerns about the quality of ITE programmes • Teacher Education system capacity constraints Initial Teacher Education Output 2: Increased numbers of high achieving school leavers are attracted into teaching • Nuanced understanding of teacher demand at provincial and district levels. • The redistributive challenge. • Barriers to the employment of new teachers Teacher Uptake and Deployment Output 3: Teacher support is enhanced at the local level • No induction system in place to support newly appointed teachers Induction • Concerns about the quality of CPD programmes • Lack of support to teachers at local level • Teachers poor subject knowledge and pedagogic knowledge • Weak system to identify systemic and individual teacher development needs Output 4: An expanded and accessible formal teacher education system is established Continuing Professional Development 4

5. INITIAL TEACHER EDUCATION

6. The Formal Teacher Education Landscape • Teacher education is a national competence: funded and regulated through the DHET. • Teacher education is offered by accredited higher education institutions, mostly public universities but also some private higher education institutions. • Teaching is a graduate career. Two pathways: • Bachelor of Education degree (NQF exit level 7; 480 credits; 4-year full-time) • Appropriate undergraduate degree or diploma followed by a Post-Graduate Certificate in Education (NQF exit level 7; 120 credits; 1-year full-time) • Teachers can specialise as Foundation Phase teachers; Intermediate Phase teachers, Senior Phase/FET teachers. • 21 Public universities offer initial teacher education. Vaal University of Technology will soon be involved. MUT does not offer teacher education. The two new universities (MP and NC) will offer teacher education. Also a number of private HEIs becoming active in this area. 6

7. Growth in Teacher Education 7

8. Teacher Supply-Demand gap1 Notes: 1. This is a very basic analysis. Other factors such as teacher utilisation and deployment, system growth, employment of foreign educators and so on, will need to be taken into account to obtain a more accurate picture. This is being done. 2. Based on a 4.5% national attrition rate. 3. From the universities based in each province. UNISA graduates (2 644) and Rhodes in-service B Ed graduates (65) not taken into account. 8

9. Quantitatively Strengthening the Teacher Education System to address the Supply-Demand gap 3-Fold strategy – focus on growth in enrolments • Expand initial teacher education enrolments on existing campuses to ensure full utilisation of existing capacity [all universities] • Expand capacity on existing campuses through increased funding to support the development of new infrastructure • Establish new teacher education campuses These strategies being translated into a detailed operational plan for each province. 9

10. 5 Year Enrolment Planning Cycle 2014-2019 • Teacher education will continue to be prioritised as a scarce skill area • Focus expanded to include not just the number of teacher education enrolments but also the type of teacher that is being produced, for example in relation to phase and subject specialisation • First engagement with universities indicate new teacher graduates projected to exceed 20 000 - 22 000 by 2019. This is still being discussed. • Given that learner population growth is predicted to remain stable or even decline between then and now (National Development Plan), this will bring us very close to eradicating the supply-demand gap. 10

11. 11

12. New Teacher Education Campuses • In Mpumalanga Province, the Siyabuswa Teacher Education Campus on the former Ndebele CoE site was launched in February. A new B.Ed. programme has started this year. The campus will be part of the new university and will be supported to grow to a student enrolment of 1 500-3 000 (depending on feasibility) • In the Eastern Cape, NMMU is being supported to establish the Missionvale campus as a teacher education campus. • In KwaZulu- Natal, a feasibility study is currently being conducted into the use of the former uMzimkhulu CoE site as a new teacher education campus, possibly linked to DUT. • In Limpopo Province the department is in the process of exploring the feasibility of utilising the former Sekhukhune CoE and Giyani CoE sites as possible new teacher education campuses. • In Gauteng, VUT is being supported to develop teacher education on the Sebokeng campus. The development of new teacher education campuses is entirely dependent on obtaining additional ring-fenced funding from the fiscus. 12

13. What about quality in teacher education? • While the system is improving outputs, throughput in initial teacher education programmes needs to be improved at some universities. • Anecdotal perceptions indicate that newly-qualified teachers are not always fully equipped to take up positions as new teachers – slippage between qualifications and competence [but not a uniform picture across all institutions – some institutions producing excellence]? • Research, for example the recent NEEDU report, shows substantial challenges with teacher ability (in schools) – link to poor teacher knowledge: • Subject knowledge • Knowledge for teaching • Practical knowledge • Inability to work with higher order cognitive processes • (NB. This is not a statement about new teachers – it reflects teachers in the • BE system generally) • A Foundation Phase teacher education system that needs strengthening. 13

14. Qualitatively Strengthening Teacher Education to Address the Supply-Demand Gap? • Intentional steering of part of the Teaching Development Grants allocated to institutions towards improving throughput in initial teacher education programmes. • Strengthening Foundation Phase teacher education through a dedicated programme focussed on this area. • Development and implementation of a new qualifications policy for teacher education that has a central focus on teacher knowledge and practice. Development of knowledge and practice standards for specific teaching specialisations is the next step in standard setting. • Enhancing the practice teaching component of teacher education programmes through the establishment of teaching schools and professional practice schools. • Conducting a longitudinal research study to investigate the ability of newly qualified teachers to successfully transition from teacher education studies to teaching. This will inform further qualitative initiatives to strengthen teacher education. 14

15. CONTINUING PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT

16. Current Priorities • 1. Caps, ANA/NSC, Workbooks Implementation • 2. Develop Teacher Diagnostic Assessments • 3. Development of Provincial Teacher Development Institutes and District Teacher Development Centres • 4. EFAL Strategy • 5. Inclusive Education • 6. Implement Teacher Union Collaboration • 7. CPTD Management System Implementation • 8. Setting up the National Institute for Curriculum and Professional Development (NICPD) • 9. Develop catalogue of all courses provided by PEDs, HEIs and Unions 16

17. CAPS , ANA/NSC and Workbooks Implementation 17

18. Develop Teacher Diagnostic Assessments 18

19. Development of Provincial Teacher Development Institutes and District Teacher Development Centres 19

20. English First Additional Language (EFAL) Strategy 20

21. Inclusive Education 21

22. Implement Teacher Union CPD Collaboration 22

23. Implement the CPD Management System 23

24. Setting up the NICPD 24

25. Development of a CPD Course Catalogue 25

26. Thank You