Postgraduate Certificate in Education in Senior Phase and Further Education and Training Teaching

Purpose

The purpose of the Postgraduate Certificate in Education in Senior Phase and Further Education and Training Teaching [PGCE (Senior Phase and Further Education and Training Teaching)] qualification is to contribute to developing in learners, beginning teacher competence in teaching at least one specialist school subject in the Senior Phase (grades 7 - 9) and one specialist school subject in the Further Education and Training Teaching phase (grades 10 - 12).

Beginning teacher competence refers to teachers as knowledge professionals who are developed through disciplinary learning (with specific focus on the study of education and its foundations), pedagogical learning (specific and general), practical learning (learning in and from practice) as well as situational learning (learning in and about context). The qualification aims to provide teachers with an integrated and effective mix of knowledge, skills and values required to function as a professional qualified teacher who would be sensitive to the teaching context prevalent within South Africa. The qualification focuses on providing experiences for developing the teachers' reflexive competence that will contribute to the development of a self-directed teacher capable of reflecting in informed and theoretical ways on their learning experiences. The qualification will also contribute to developing critically engaged scholars who would be able to address social and contextual realities and challenges in schools with a view to becoming transformative in their approach to education and development. Teachers will develop competence that will enable them to further their studies in Education academically through post-graduate studies in Education, and/or professionally through alternate qualifications for professional growth.

Rationale

The Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) qualification is one of two pathways for developing professional teachers to teach within the South African school system. The PGCE follows or 'caps' an appropriate general first Degree qualification (not an education Degree) at Level 7 or 8 or an appropriate 360 Credit Level 6 Diploma for more specifically appropriate scarce subjects. The PGCE Senior Phase and Further Education and Training Teaching qualification is needed to produce qualified teachers who are able to take up a teaching post in a primary school in grade 7 or a secondary school in grades 8 to 12 in the areas of their specialisations, teaching Senior phase and Further Education and Training (FET) phase specialist subjects. The PGCE Senior Phase and Further Education and Training Teaching is regulated by the National Teacher Education Framework as gazetted in 2007 and more recently by the Revised Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications (MRTEQ) gazetted in 2015.

The provision of this qualification is a direct response to regional and national teacher demand, which will also serve national educational development initiatives that aim at developing and strengthening the human capital resources as well as the social and cultural values of the nation. Natural teacher attrition, coupled with significant improvement in access to schooling and retention of learners in the schooling system strongly indicate the need for a constant supply of high quality teachers.

Statistics on the national supply and demand of teachers indicate that the number of teachers that leave every year is higher than the number of teachers trained every year. The statistics show that the largest number of teachers leaving the profession was in Gauteng with 5 614 followed by KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) with 5 005, leaving the profession between 2005 and 2008. In KwaZulu-Natal, the current situation on supply and demand suggests that we need an excess of approximately 5500 teachers are needed to meet the demands as a result of teacher attrition (based on a calculation of 5.5% attrition rate per year). There are approximately 15 000 teachers in KwaZulu-Natal who are either un- or under-qualified and are teaching in state schools.

South Africa's national imperative is to meet the 2015 'Education for All Goals' is to attract a new group of young, motivated and appropriately trained teachers to the teaching profession every year as well as develop a competent teaching force. The production of newly qualified and appropriately qualified teachers through the PGCE qualification will address the concern of on-going appointment of un- and under-qualified teachers. The PGCE (Senior Phase and Further Education and Training Teaching) is also designed to meet the increased demand for teachers in the country, in scarce skills areas such as Mathematics, Sciences, Commerce, Languages, Arts and Technology.

The PGCE (Senior Phase and Further Education and Training Teaching) qualification is also needed to produce graduate learners who are able to pursue Postgraduate studies in Education leading to research and knowledge production in various fields of Education.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

The university has an RPL policy and system in place to support access and advanced standing in academic programmes.

RPL may serve the purpose of recognising prior learning by the award of credits for modules towards the PGCE qualification. A learner that transfers from one academic institution to another can apply for exemption for one or more modules.

Also, a learner who has obtained a minimum of two years of full-time teaching experience in a school, as a form of prior learning, may be awarded advanced standing and be exempted from modules. A learner will submit a Portfolio of Evidence of adequate attainment of level of competence. The portfolio should provide evidence in support of the specific RPL application. The portfolio should include relevant documentation (in written, visual or aural/oral form, as appropriate) in support of the application. In addition, an interview and/or lesson presentation(s) may be required. The assessment and moderation of the evidence in support of the application will be carried out by a panel of at least three academic members of staff from the relevant School and College. One of the panel members will be the Academic Leader of the programme. The institutional RPL processes for implementation and approval will be followed as set out in the RPL criteria and guidelines of South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA). This will include a pre-assessment stage (preparing the learner for assessment), assessment stage (assessment, moderation stage and feedback stage (recording of decisions, appeals process and post assessment support).

Entry Requirements

The minimum entrance requirements are

• An approved undergraduate Bachelor's Degree (Level 7 or 8) with at least two approved university subjects aligned to school teaching subjects.

Or

• An approved Diploma with 360 Credits at Level 6 with specialised fields such as Tourism, Dance, Music, Dramatic Art, Business Studies, Accounting, Sport and Exercise, Technology, Fine Arts, Information Technology, Applied Science, Mathematical Technology and others specified in the Revised Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications (Appendix E, 2015).

This qualification consists of compulsory and elective modules at Level 7 totalling 128 Credits.

Compulsory Modules: 64 Credits

• Education Studies: Teaching, Learning and Contexts, 16 Credits.
• Education Studies: Curriculum and Policy, 16 Credits.
• School Experience 701, 16 Credits.
• School Experience 702, 16 Credits.

Elective Modules

• Teaching Specialisation1: FET subject 701, 16 Credits.
• Teaching Specialisation1: FET subject 702, 16 Credits.
• Teaching Specialisation 2: Senior phase subject 701, 16 Credits.
• Teaching Specialisation 2: Senior phase subject 702, 16 Credits.

Teachers are also required to complete the following two non-credit bearing modules

• Computer Literacy endorsement.
• Language endorsement.

1. Demonstrate the academic knowledge of Educational studies and ability to apply such knowledge to the practice.
2. Demonstrate academic, reflexive and contextually grounded knowledge in educational theory as well as focused pedagogical learning (general and specific) which builds on the subject knowledge studied previously.
3. Draw on the deep conceptual disciplinary and pedagogical knowledge to interpret the National Curriculum Statements for schools together with other national education policy documents to competently plan and implement a coherent sequence of lessons in the subject teaching specialisations.
4. Demonstrate competence in teaching in both the Senior Phase and Further Education and Training (FET) subjects in the appropriate grades in schools.
5. Demonstrate the ability to identify, manage and debate issues related to barriers to teaching and learning in the specific specialisations and phase.
6. Demonstrate the ability to behave as a professional ethical teacher in accordance with professional ethics with full school responsibilities as a beginning teacher.
7. Demonstrate research skills as developing teacher researchers that will enable them to pursuit self-directed professional development as well as Postgraduate studies in education.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1

• Analyse selected topics related to education from different perspectives such as historical, socio-economic and psychological perspectives and applying such knowledge to the practice.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2

• Apply academic, reflexive and contextually grounded knowledge in educational theory as well as focused pedagogical learning (general and specific) which builds on the subject knowledge studied previously.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3

• Apply conceptual and pedagogical knowledge to select, plan, and effectively teach a coherent sequence of lessons in the subject specialisations as per the national curriculum requirements.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4

• Apply acquired knowledge and skills to demonstrate the ability to plan and present lessons to a diverse range of learners and to demonstrate the ability to engage in reflection within the context of the subject specialisations.
• Integrate innovative instructional strategies, technology and manipulatives in teaching of the subject specialisations.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 5

• Engage in critical debate around barriers to teaching and learning and apply acquired knowledge and skills to create a conducive teaching and learning environment which is inclusive of social issues in the lives of learners.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 6

• Apply the key principles described in the codes of professional ethics and conduct for the teaching profession.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 7

• Integrate acquired research skills in the academic writing and enable them to continue with self- directed professional development as well as Postgraduate studies.

Integrated Assessment

The assessment process in the Postgraduate Certificate in Education in Senior Phase and Further Education and Training Teaching qualification is guided by the institution's assessment policy, which is aligned to the teaching and learning policy and aims to enhance the quality of assessment practices in the University.

There are various forms of assessment across all modules in the qualification. These assessments are appropriate to the qualification and the learning outcomes for each respective module. These assessments include formative assessments methods consisting of tests, assignments, tasks, project work, academic and research essays, oral presentations, seminars, portfolios of work, and summative assessments in written examinations, research essay and portfolio formats. The focus and content of the assessment tasks include knowledge of educational theories, demonstration of pedagogical content knowledge, demonstration of practical learning, application of knowledge and reflexive/reflection skills.

Integrated assessment, therefore, forms the core to thes assessment tasks. Assessment procedures in some modules in this qualification could be based entirely on continuous assessment.

Teachers are required to demonstrate their integrated knowledge and competence within a real classroom situation. The assessments in the School Experience modules will include a variety of learner tasks such as lesson plans, observation records and reflection reports, teaching and learning resources accumulated in a professional development portfolio as well as assessment through formative and summative reports by school teacher(s) and university appointed supervisors. The integrated assessment for teaching practice will focus on assessing the extent to which a teacher can teach competently and effectively in South African schools.

The formative and summative reports on teachers' workplace teaching experiences in schools from teacher mentors and university tutors as well as learner professional portfolios are submitted to the Teaching Practice unit for moderation and final assessment. This internal moderation is done by the Academic Leader of Teaching Practice and/or another appointed lecturer(s) from the School to assess consistency of assessment in terms of the assessment criteria for the respective School Experience module.