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(SP/FET) is to provide learners with the necessary knowledge and practical and research skills to teach in the Senior and Further Education and Training Phases in South African schools. The qualification enables candidates who have completed a bachelor's degree other than a Bachelor of Education or other approved Diplomas to obtain a professional 'capping' qualification.

Upon completion of the qualification, learners will be able to

• Interpret and use numerical and elementary statistical knowledge to facilitate and manage teaching, learning, and assessment.
• Demonstrate conversational competence (listening and speaking) in one of the official languages of South Africa other than English and Afrikaans in ways that facilitate classroom learning.
• Demonstrate competence concerning the knowledge base underpinning the specialist learning areas or subjects that will be taught.
• Plan, design, and reflect on learning programmes appropriate for own learners and learning context.
• Select, use, and adjust teaching and learning strategies in ways that meet the needs of the learners and the context.
• Manage and administer learning environments and support learners in ways that are sensitive, stimulating, democratic, and well organized.
• Monitor and assess learners' progress and achievement in one's specialisation.

Rationale

The news media frequently reports on the shortage of qualified teachers in South Africa, which highlights the need for additional teacher training. This qualification responds to the need for competent and committed professional educators in South Africa. It also aims to foster teachers-in-the-making a commitment to being a teacher and provide them with a specialisation in one chosen subject in the Senior Phase (SP) and one chosen subject in the Further Education and Training (FET) Phase. A structured, systematic three-phase Practice Teaching system, exposing learners to various educational contexts will be a central aspect of the learning process in the qualification, preparing learners to face challenges that characterise both the public and private South African education systems.

This qualification is intended for suitably qualified graduates who wish to teach in Grades 7 to 12. The qualification ensures that graduates meet the minimum set of competences required of newly qualified teachers as per the Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications (MRTEQ) in South Africa. It addresses a critical need in South Africa for teachers who are equipped to deal with the challenges facing education, who are knowledgeable, love teaching and learning, and will empower the lives of the learners they teach.

The qualification will be offered in the contact and distance modes to increase its potential reach and be available to as many diverse cohorts of learners as possible. Distance learning provides access to learners who were previously unable to gain access to higher education due to socio-economic factors, simply by decreasing the costs associated with contact mode studies, such as travel and accommodation. Even if e-learning programmes incur costs of internet access, in the context of remote and multimodal teaching and learning, the affordability of distance learning remains an important factor.

The qualification allows a qualifying learner to be registered with the South African Council for Educators (SACE) as a fully qualified educator with sound knowledge and expertise in one subject in the Senior Phase and one in the Further Education and Training Phase education field.

Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL)

The institution recognises the significance of RPL and Credit Accumulation and Transfer (CAT) for many of its prospective learners entering the PGCE (SP/FET) qualification to obtain a professional teacher qualification. Their teaching experience, unconventional knowledge, and learning histories are perceived not as a barrier but as a source of alternative knowledge and capabilities that may enrich the academic project and curriculum. The Institution's policy on RPL and CAT (revised in 2020) grants access and/or credit towards a qualification based on their prior learning, subject to certain rules and procedures.

Recognition of Prior learning (RPL) is the process through which the prior knowledge and skills of a person are recognised for alternative access and/or advanced credit. The RPL and CAT Unit in the Office of the Registrar offers specialised services and qualifications aimed at advising and supporting candidates, learners, and academic staff at all stages in the process.

RPL for access

• RPL is significant for adult learners whose learning journey has not always followed conventional pathways, especially those who have been historically disadvantaged.
• Many have not been able to meet the necessary entrance qualifications but have gained teaching and/or life experience that qualifies them for admission.

RPL for exemption from modules

• Each application includes an academic transcript. A Letter of Application to challenge for exemption based on RPL is submitted online and accompanies the application.
• Applications are reviewed by an Education Department Selection Committee, which includes the Head of Department (HoD) and the Admissions Administrator of the RPL and CAT Unit to determine the feasibility of the application.
• Applicants consult with the Admissions Officer specifying what forms of evidence should be produced.
• If positive, the applicant is issued an Acceptance Letter, which specifies all granted RPL for exemption within the PCGE (SP/FET) qualification.
• RPL challenges for exemption are assessed on a case-by-case basis, and results are subject to review and approval by the Department Leader and the RPL and CAT Committee.
• A maximum of 50% of the credits of a completed qualification may be transferred to another qualification.

Entry Requirements

• Bachelor's Degree, NQF Level 7 with two appropriate teaching subjects for Grade 7 -12 teaching in the selected area of specialisation.

Or

• Approved Diploma in Education, NQF Level 6 with two appropriate teaching subjects for Grade 7 -12 teaching in the selected area of specialisation.

This qualification consists of the following compulsory and elective modules at National Qualifications Framework Levels 5 and 7, totalling 125 Credits.

Compulsory Modules, NQF Level 7, 80 Credits

• History of Education, 10 Credits.
• Philosophy of Education,10 Credits.
• Educational Psychology, 12 Credits.
• Instructional Methods, 8 Credits.
• Teaching Practice I, 6 Credits.
• Teaching Practice II, 6 Credits.
• Teaching Practice III, 12 Credits.
• Study of Classroom Practice, 8 Credits.
• Education and Ethics in Social Context, 8 Credits.

Elective Modules, NQF Level 5, 5 Credits (select one module)

• Conversational isiXhosa, 5 Credits.
• English for Education, 5 Credits.
• Afrikaans Vir Onderwys, 5 Credits And

Elective Modules, NQF Level 7, 40 Credits (Choose two specialisation subjects): Senior Phase and FET subject specialisations are complementary, and specialisation should occur according to the combinations:

SENIOR PHASE

• SP English Home Language, 20 Credits.
• SP English First/Second Additional Language, 20 Credits.
• SP Afrikaans First/Second Additional Language, 20 Credits.
• SP isiXhosa First/Second Additional Language, 20 Credits.
• SP Creative Arts, 20 Credits.
• SP Mathematics, 20 Credits.
• SP Social Science, 20 Credits.
• SP Life Orientation, 20 Credits.
• SP Economics and Management Sciences, 20 Credits.

FET PHASE

• FET English Home Language, 20 Credits.
• FET English First/Second Additional Language, 20 Credits.
• FET Mathematics, 20 Credits.
• FET Afrikaans First/Second Additional Language, 20 Credits.
• FET isiXhosa First/Second Additional Language, 20 Credits.
• FET Business Studies, 20 Credits.
• FET Mathematics Literacy, 20 Credits.
• FET History, 20 Credits.
• FET Geography, 20 Credits.
• FET Life Orientation, 20 Credits.
• FET Dance Studies, 20 Credits.
• FET Dramatic Arts, 20 Credits.
• FET Economics, 20 Credits.
• FET Accounting, 20 Credits.

1. Demonstrate competence in reading, writing, listening, and speaking the language/s of instruction in ways that facilitate academic learning in the classrooms.
2. Interpret and use numerical and elementary statistical knowledge to facilitate and manage teaching, learning, and assessment.
3. Demonstrate conversational competence (listening and speaking) in one of the official languages of South Africa other than English and Afrikaans in ways that facilitate classroom learning.
4. Demonstrate competence in the knowledge base underpinning the specialist learning areas or subjects that will be taught.
5. Demonstrate the ability to plan, design, and reflect on learning programmes appropriate for own learners and learning context.
6. Demonstrate the ability to select, use, and adjust teaching and learning strategies in ways that meet the needs of the learners and the context.
7. Manage and administer learning environments and support learners in ways that are sensitive, stimulating, democratic, and well organised.
8. Demonstrate the ability to monitor and assess learner progress and achievement in one's specialisation.
9. Function responsibly within the education system, the institution, and the community in which the institution is located
10. Demonstrate a respect for and commitment to the educator profession.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 1

• Read academic and professional texts critically, integrate and use the knowledge in studies and teaching.
• Interpret with understanding, written and graphic materials relating to the area of specialisation.
• Select and use study methods appropriate to needs as well as the demands of specialisation.
• Use Information and Communications Technology to further learn and facilitate the learning of others.
• Convey the content of the area of specialisation in written, graphic, and other forms which are appropriate to the developmental level/s and language ability of the learners.
• Foster interactive communication with learners using non-judgmental language, supportive replies, constructive feedback, acknowledgement of feelings, and demonstration of mediation skills.
• Use the main language of instruction to explain, describe, discuss, and relate key concepts in their area of specialisation.
• Use additional language to explain, describe, and discuss key concepts in a conversational style.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 2

• Interpret numerical information in the learning area, subject, or discipline.
• Apply an understanding of numerical and elementary statistical knowledge to educational issues and cross-curricular activities.
• Analyse and apply numeracy and elementary statistics to manage classroom resources and monitor learner attendance.
• Apply numeracy and statistics to record, interpret, and report on the academic progress and achievement of learners.
• Interpret numerical data relating to the psychological assessment of learners.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 3

• Understand, speak, read, and write basic isiXhosa or any other official South African Language.
• Understand learners' statements and questions and communicate using appropriate language.
• Communicate feelings and provide constructive feedback to learners regarding their learning process.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 4

• Demonstrate an understanding of the fields of knowledge which underpin one's subject/learning area/s of specialisation.
• Demonstrate a commitment to the epistemic values and principles that characterise the fields of one's area/s of specialisation.
• Use evidence and modes of communication appropriate to the fields of knowledge in the area/s of specialisation.
• Use the typical language, terminology, and concepts of one's subject/s of learning area appropriately with confidence.
• Critically discuss the content of curricular knowledge in one's area/s of specialisation and apply appropriate values and conceptual frameworks to solve problems in the relevant fields.
• Interpret curricula in practice, in own area/s of specialisation, in terms of a broader understanding of the relevant fields.
• Evaluate what learning material (including textbooks) should be selected, at what level, in what sequence, and how it should be assessed in the chosen area of specialisation (phase and subject areas).

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 5

• Select and/or design materials and resources appropriate to learning programmes, taking cognisance of issues such as teaching approach and the needs of learners.
• Select, adapt, or design coherent learning programmes and lessons appropriate for the learners, context and specialisation, considering national, regional, and school curriculum policies, learner contexts, and learner differences.
• Plan lessons and other learning experiences within teaching programmes, selecting appropriate teaching and learning strategies.
• Justify selection and design of learning programmes in ways that show knowledge and understanding of a range of theories about teaching, learning, child development, and curriculum.
• Evaluate and improve learning programmes, lessons, and materials based on experience, classroom research, and an understanding of the knowledge underpinning the relevant learning areas or subjects being taught

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 6

• Select and use teaching and learning strategies appropriate to the subject, phase, and topic, and the needs of the learners.
• Create expectations that make appropriate demands on the learners.
• Select and use teaching and learning strategies that motivate learners to meet those demands and to take initiative.
• Accommodate differences in learning style, pace, and ability in the planning and use of teaching and learning strategies.
• Identify and assist learners with special needs and barriers to learning and development.
• Facilitate occasions where learners are taught in groups, pairs, and as individuals.
• Make judgments on the effect that language has on learning and, in that light, make the necessary adjustments to the teaching and learning strategies.
• Adjust teaching and learning strategies to cater to cultural, gender, ethnic, language, and other differences among learners in a range of contexts, both familiar and unfamiliar.
• Use teaching and learning support materials to facilitate learner progress and development.
• Assess the teaching and learning strategies used in a particular context in the light of the extent to which the objectives of the learning experience have been achieved.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 7

• Create conducive learning and maintain safe environments that foster creative and critical thinking.
• Discipline learners in firm ways, growth-promoting and fair, and within the bounds of school and departmental policies.
• Create learning environments that are sensitive to cultural, linguistic, gender, and other differences.
• Resolve conflict situations within classrooms ethically and sensitively.
• Perform administrative duties required for effective management of the learning environment.
• Take appropriate action to assist or refer learners in the solution of personal or social problems.
• Justify actions in ways that reflect knowledge and understanding of managing individual learners and classes.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 8

• Select, adapt, and/or design assessment tasks and strategies appropriate to the specialisation and a range of learning contexts.
• Explain the link between the method of assessment, the overall assessment purpose, and the outcomes being assessed.
• Design and administer assessment tasks using clear language and instructions.
• Use a range of assessment strategies to accommodate differences in learning style, pace, and context.
• Evaluate own and others' assessment strategies in terms of their validity, fairness, reliability, and sensitivity to gender, culture, language, and barriers to learning and development.
• Assess and record systematically the progress of individual learners.
• Use assessment results to provide feedback in educationally constructive ways on learner progress and achievement and to inform future teaching.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 9

• Maintain a sense of respect and justice towards others in the learning environment.
• Co-operate professionally with colleagues in an institutional setting by maintaining orderly learning environments.
• Initiate and maintain effective, professional communication with parents, guardians, and other members of the community, and involve them in school affairs.
• Engage critically with a wide variety of stakeholders regarding issues that are specifically relevant to teaching and learning practices.
• Use internal and external networking opportunities effectively.
• Engage critically with education policies, procedures, and systems that impact institutions and classrooms, as well as the national education and training landscape.
• Apply school policies and development plans to own teaching.
• Organise curricular, cross-curricular, and extra-curricular activities.
• Select, create, justify, deliver, and reflect upon and improve extra-curricular activities.

Associated Assessment Criteria for Exit Level Outcome 10

• Practice and promote a sense of respect and responsibility towards others by cultivating a critical, committed, and ethical attitude.
• Behave in ways that enhance the status of professional educators and ensure an accountable culture of teaching and learning.
• Promote the values and principles of the Constitution, particularly those related to human rights and the environment.
• Promote the practice of democratic values, attitudes, and dispositions in school, as well as in society at large.
• Encourage, create, and maintain a supportive and empowering environment for learners.
• Evaluate own professional progress effectively.
• Show a commitment to act in and actively promote the best interests of learners, parents, communities, colleagues, and the profession.

Integrated Assessment

Formative and summative assessment

Assessment approach emphasises a learner-centred, outcomes-based learning environment. Assessment approach, the needs of the learner, and the learning process guide the teaching process. Teaching activities are thus designed not for the transfer of knowledge, but for the facilitation of learning. This learning will include the knowledge, skills, and attitudes that are necessary for learners to achieve the desired outcomes for a given module and/or qualification.

Teaching and learning strive to be significant in that it is not merely focused on cognitive development. Certain kinds of learning emerge that are not traditionally found within a cognitive taxonomy. These include unlocking creative potential, leadership skills, interpersonal and communication skills, ethics, and character formation. Teaching and learning are also community-oriented in that they embrace a scholarship of engagement in their active and interactive connection with people and places outside the institution through activities of discovery, integration, application, and teaching. There is an alignment between the NQF Level 7 descriptors, the assessment strategy, and the PGCE qualification outcomes.

Assessment design is the responsibility of the lecturer but is approved by the Qualification Coordinator. The lecturer submits an updated module outline to the Qualification Coordinator and Faculty Officer, who conducts a quality assurance review of the module outline. All assessments are reviewed to ensure that they are appropriate for the qualification outcomes, and that both formative and summative assessments are used, and aligned to NQF 7 level descriptors.

A key outcome teaching and learning approach is to appropriately enable the learner to integrate their 'functional' and 'professional' knowledge. The ability for learners to integrate and apply knowledge authentically is embedded in the design of the qualification. The institution's philosophy of education is rooted in Freirean pedagogy, which encourages integrated teaching and learning. In the classroom, the learner is acknowledged as a creative individual who brings a world of lived experiences into the shared teaching and learning space.

The integrated teaching and learning approach allow for and nurtures the skills of learners to employ the depth and wealth of their experiences in a theory-based manner that contributes to the enhancement of new knowledge. An important outcome that learners exit the PGCE qualification with at the NQF level 7 is the ability to integrate what they have learnt and apply this knowledge and WIL experience to teaching at Senior and FET levels professionally and competently. The learner attributes flowing from this integrated approach are for learners to critically engage with societal issues and questions as they work as educators and subject experts. Integrated assessments will be utilised in which several outcomes are assessed together. Learners must demonstrate an achievement of multiple outcomes within the assessment task.

Formative assessments

Formative assessments are designed to improve the quality of learning by allowing learners to engage in learning activities in which they are given feedback to become more effective in the learning process. Formative assessment can be both formal and informal. Formative assessment methods include discussion forum feedback, question and answer sessions, quizzes, and supervision feedback. Formative assessment is a vital component of distance learning modules, providing engagement opportunities for lecturers and learners. These include lesson guides mediated via the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), which contain learning exercises and comment sections for the learners, as well as discussion forums, in which learners engage with the lecturer and other learners. These may be assessed for a maximum 10% participation mark for the module but should primarily be used to ensure participation in the learning process.

Participation in discussion forums and distance learning exercises should be deemed a requirement for passing a module, although allowance must be made for a minimal level of non-participation. Clear expectations in this regard need to be communicated in the module outline, such as that learners must respond to discussion topics and comment on the postings by other learners to pass the module.

Summative assessments

• Summative assessments are used to certify achievements in a module and to allocate grades.
• Summative assessment methods include discussion forum assessment, case study responses, written session notes, supervisory interviews, personal journals, and reflection essays that explore the application of theory to praxis.

Such assessments are linked to specific learning outcomes with clear assessment criteria. There are two possible ways of assessing a module:

• Continuous assessment with a strong formative focus that counts toward no less than 60% and no more than 70% of the final mark, and a comprehensive, summative, final assessment task that counts no more than 40% and no less than 30%.
• This final assessment task may be an academic essay, paper, integrative case study, presentation, or project paper, etc. The preference for summative assessment tasks rather than summative examinations is also for academic integrity reasons: the institution is more easily able to check assessment tasks for cheating, using Turn- It-In, than it is to check (ex-post-facto) whether cheating occurred in an examination.

Continuous assessment with a strong formative focus that counts toward no less than 60% and no more than 70% of the final mark, and a comprehensive, summative, final examination that counts no more than 40% and no less than 30%. This final examination may be open book (with preference for pedagogical reasons and to minimise the possibility of cheating) or closed book (necessary for some subjects). In both cases, at least three different types of assessment should be used. For example, a reading report, presentation, and final examination may be required. Moreover, three to four assessments should generally be used (i.e., no less than three and no more than four).

Appropriate formative and summative assessment methods will be designed for the integrated curricula modality using both classroom and integrated learning environments. These assessment methods are intended to appraise the following types of learner abilities:

• Demonstrate knowledge and understanding.
• Critical thinking and making judgments.
• Solving problems.
• Performing procedures and demonstrating techniques.
• Designing, creating, performing.
• Managing and developing oneself.

Work-integrated learning, where applicable, is assessed by the assigned PGCE (SP/FET) qualification supervisor, with input from the learner's appointed subject specialist supervisor and site mentor teacher. The Education Department assesses the learners according to the outcomes and assessment criteria associated with the work-based learning requirements. Work-integrated assessments include reflective journal entries, activity logs, session notes, experiential activities, workshops presented, written evaluations by the supervisors, Presentations, and file submissions from the learner and interviews between the faculty supervisor and the learner. The exact combination and weighting of the various assessment methods is communicated to the learner in advance. Capacity building workshops for lecturers in the methodology of work-integrated learning take place twice a year, aimed at enhancing the validity and reliability of assessment practices. The purpose of these teaching and learning workshops is to ensure, among others, that assessment practices of teaching staff are effective and reliable in measuring and recording learner attainment of intended learning outcomes of work-integrated learning modules.