School of Education
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Item Lesson Planning Guidelines: A scaffold for developing Pedagogical Content Knowledge.(2011) Rusznyak, L.; Walton, E.Lesson planning for student teachers is often regarded in technical terms, merely as the means to ensure effective classroom performance. This approach limits the possibilities that the process of lesson planning offers to the development of professional competence among student teachers. In particular, student teachers need to begin to develop their pedagogical content knowledge (PCK), the capacity to make pedagogical choices that are logically derived from content and contextual knowledge. This article reports on a Lesson Planning Guideline which is used to scaffold the construction of student teachers’ PCK individually by requiring them to consider the constituent parts of PCK individually and in relation to one another during the planning process. This guideline was developed in response to perceived limitations of existing guidelines used in our institution and found in texts for student teachers. Called a “Rationale for lesson design” the Guideline does not attempt to simplify the planning process, but rather enables students systematically to access the complexities inherent in effective lesson preparation. By requiring students to articulate their content knowledge and narrate their pedagogical reasoning in some detail, the Guideline enables students not only to teach with confidence but also to construct PCK.Item Using metaphors to gain insight into South African student teachers’ initial and developing conceptions of ‘Being a teacher’(2014) Rusznyak, L.; Walton, E.Metaphors are a useful way of accessing students' conceptions of teaching and tracking how their conceptions shift over time. This article analyses metaphors for ‘being a teacher’ written by a group of South African student teachers at the beginning and end of their first year of study. The metaphors depict teachers' interactions with learners and reveal how students recognise a specialised knowledge base for teaching and their understanding of learner diversity. One third of students constructed initial metaphors that emphasised teaching as nurturing, an endeavour they associate with particular personality traits but without a specialised knowledge base. We analyse how student teachers' initial and subsequent metaphors reflect significant shifts in their conception of ‘being a teacher’ and we briefly explore how students account for these shifts. Revisiting their initial assumptions about teaching within a programme that offers a coherent conception of teaching enabled student teachers to better understand the goals of initial teacher education.Item Approaches to assessing pre-service teachers’ learning in authentic and rigorous ways: The case of an Inclusive Education module(© UV/UFS, 2016) Walton, E.; Rusznyak, L.Initial teacher education programmes offer inclusive education modules that seek to prepare teachers for teaching diverse learners. While there is growing research on the content and pedagogy of inclusive education modules, relatively less attention has been given to the assessment of these modules. This paper focuses on the challenges of promoting authenticity, academic depth and rigour in inclusive education through assessment tasks. Drawing on Cochran-Smith and Lytle’s (1999) concepts of knowledge for-, in- and of- practice in education, we critically reflect on three approaches used to assess an inclusive education course over a number of years. The first approach required pre-service teachers to articulate their understanding of important concepts associated with inclusive education, the second required them to provide evidence of their ability to use inclusive strategies, while the third approach provided opportunities for them to participate in a research project about inclusionary and exclusionary practices in schools. We find that these approaches represent inclusive education knowledge with different degrees of conceptual integrity and provide opportunities for pre-service teachers to participate in authentic academic and professional practices to different extents. We conclude by suggesting how the assessment of inclusive education can be approached so that neither academic rigour nor authenticity is compromised.Item Could practicum placements in contrasting contexts support the preparation of pre-service teachers for an envisaged inclusive education system? A South African study(2017) Rusznyak, L.; Walton, E.In contexts where inclusive education is nascent, teacher educators face the challenge of preparing pre-service teachers for a system that does not yet exist. While this might be possible through universitybased coursework, difficulties arise when so few sites that model inclusive pedagogies are available for practicum placements. This article investigates whether practicum placements in contrasting contexts may prepare pre-service teachers for teaching in an envisaged inclusive education system. We analyse the reflections of South African pre-service teachers who have conducted practicum sessions in two contrasting contexts, neither of which offered ideal models of inclusion. We explore the extent to which moving between contexts enabled pre-service teachers to develop orientations towards teaching and learning that Black-Hawkins and Florian identify as essential for promoting and sustaining inclusive pedagogic practices. With reservations, we conclude that practicum placements over contrasting contexts potentially support the preparation of preservice teachers for inclusive education.Item Choices in the design of inclusive education courses for pre-service teachers: The case of a South African university.(2017) Walton, E.; Rusznyak, L.It is expected that that pre-service teachers are adequately equipped to meet the needs of diverse students. This article discusses the choices that teacher educators must make in designing inclusive education courses. The first choice is whether inclusive education will be infused into the curriculum or presented as a stand-alone course. If the latter, the second decision is what determines the content of courses – teacher need, policy directives or the authority of the field where knowledge is produced. If teacher educators look to the field of knowledge production, they might choose among inclusive education as an issue of student diversity; teaching competence; and schools and societies. We animate these choices as we describe an inclusive education course taught in a South African university. Our conclusion suggests that pre-service teacher education for inclusive education would be strengthened by more critical appraisal of the assumptions and orientations informing the design of courses.