The impact of South Africa's new educational expectations on Mamelodi teachers role perceptions
Date
2014-04-03
Authors
Sibanyoni, Tsholofelo Tebogo
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Abstract
The main aim of the study is to investigate black teachers’ perceptions about their role in
Mamelodi a township east of Pretoria. It argues that policy changes at macro level, that do
not take into account the school and classroom settings, do not lead to a proper understanding
of their implications and, subsequently an improvement of classroom practice. Findings are
drawn from the accounts of twenty teachers from the primary and secondary sectors. The
study concludes that even though teachers were using the terminology related to new policy
expectations when talking about change, they were unaware of the essential skills related to
such expectations. As a result they failed to appreciate what is required to develop the
proposed critical skills for the learners. The teachers’ understanding of the new curriculum
policy is limited. The study recommends that for effective implementation relevant preset and
inset programmes need to be provided.
Key words.
Mamelodi, teaching-practice, role perception, policy, consciousness.