ByHayley Bentham

University of Life Sciences

ESD in South Africa• “We cannot imagine how the people of all nations could

move toward a more sustainable world without the contribution of educators from around the globe.” (UNESCO, 2005, p.11)

• 2010 report by UNESCO reveals what has been achieved within the first five years of the UNDESD as well as the strategy for the second half of the UNDESD

• The strategy suggests generally that teachers’ pedagogical practice be developed by supporting teachers with regards to how they might develop ESD teaching and learning strategies (ESD Competences)

• “In Africa, the re-orientation of education towards sustainable development requires the strengthening and boosting of the quality and efficiency of capacity development initiatives (education, training, community development and public awareness programmes) to address the relevance of education to development and poverty alleviation objectives.” (UNESCO, 2010, p.5)

Historical considerations of TEI’s in South Africa.How does institutional policy encompass

global and national initiatives, specifically the UNDESD?

Is it fair to assume that it involves the same task for all nations? (Beyond the argument of resource access)

What colours the issue in a South African Context?

South African TE prior to 19941910 constitution divided responsibility of

teacher education between national and provincial government

Provincial responsibilities – Colleges of Education & Primary school education

National responsibilities – Secondary teacher training (Universities and Technikons)

1950s = Bantu Education (stabilizing Apartheid as a special skill-based education)

Teacher training colleges separated according to provinces/homelands and were governed by provincial education departments

120 Colleges by 1994

South African TE after 1994.• 1994 – Post Apartheid, new democratic

constitution• Teacher Education endured a double

transition as (1) education and teacher policy changed, as well as (2) higher education structure

• All with the specific slant of dismantling the apartheid past (Kruss, 2008) and redressing injustices

• Inherited TE was fragmented (despite strong CNE core curriculum), inefficient (costly) and quality was questionable (National Teacher Education Audit, 1995)

(1) Transition of education policyANC - Democratic constitution (SACE &

RDP)Teacher Audit (1995)SAQA & NQFNorms & Standards for Teacher Education

(1996)GEAR (2 goals and 2 foci – EfA and

employment opportunities)Need for new policy (RDP undermined)New Norms and Standards (2000) & OBE-

oriented NQF and C2005

The Norms and standards provide a generic picture of a teacher and the required competences, together with the guidelines for the development of learning programmes aligned with the new Outcomes Based NQF.

Intended to significantly contribute to the implementation of C2005 by training educators who have the knowledge, skills and values to make learning in schools more relevant to social and economic needs of South Africa.

7 Roles and Competences of an Educator• Learning Mediator• Interpreter and designer of learning programmes and

materials• Leader, administrator and manager• Scholar, researcher and lifelong learner• Community, citizenship and pastoral role• Assessor• Learning Area/subject/discipline/phase specialist

National Professional Diploma in Education (NPDE) re-skilled teachers who did not meet the NQF.

In-Service Education and Training (INSET) workshops were delivered to attempt to implement the new curriculum 2005, (unfamiliar facilitator roles & learner-centred OB focus.

The Department of Labour (DoL) -strong influence on the development of the SAQA act and the Skills Development Act.

Strong focus within education policy on labour movement and the implementation of education and training in line with an outcomes-based epistemology…training designed for economic and social development.

A Time for In-service Teacher re-skilling

(2)Restructuring of Higher EducationIn 1996 TEIs were made a National competenceHigher Education Act of 1997 made all TEIs part

of the Higher education systemColleges = ran like schools, practical based,

required no research productivity output, under-qualified staff in many instances.

Higher Education Act of 1997 stipulatedTE may become autonomous HEIs if they had

2000 full-time student minimum enrolmentOtherwise, become part of existing Universities

and TechnikonsColleges shut down

Restructuring = Pressures on TEResearch productivity output (5 % of all publications

only (CHE, 2006)) lowest financial provisionsRaising academic standing is a focus – due to furthering

of knowledge interests of HEIsStiffled the teacher professional development and equity

interests of the Department of Education Is it fair to expect ESD competences to be seen as a priority

focus in teacher education?The concern is not simply that the capacity to produce sufficient numbers of new teachers appears to have been

significantly eroded. The capacity of the teacher education system to produce the kinds of teachers required by new education policy to promote development and growth in

South Africa is equally significant (Kruss, 2008)

These transformations complicated things for Teacher Educators

The complexity continues…• However the redesigning of the curriculum faced and

still faces other challenges• “..the pedagogical and theoretical approaches

articulated by academics from different backgrounds and institutional identities, which shape future curriculum development in teacher education” (Kruss, 2008, p.86)

• Another challenge involves the differing perceptions of teacher education that previous colleges of education and present Universities hold.

• Perceptual disjuncture = conflict in how teacher education modules should be delivered and what percentage of theory and practice they should contain.

TEIs in SA – What it boils down toToday colleges of education have diminished and

22 HEIs have since been tasked with offering initial teacher education and training (Kruss, 2008)

Forced teacher education and training under a university style framework.

“, teacher education has typically been shifted from the specialized college sector into the higher

education sector….Hence, teacher education internationally has also become subject to the multiple new demands of globalization and the

knowledge economy as they are played out on the higher education terrain,” (Kruss, 2008, p.77)

If ESD competences are addressed in certain TEIs, then what forces/factors assist this?

(Resilience?)

SA National Curriculum offers a way…Identify & solve problems & make decisions using critical and

creative thinking. Work effectively with others as members of a team, group,

organization and community. Organise and manage themselves and their activities

responsibly and effectively. Collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information. Communicate effectively and critically showing

responsibility towards the environment and the health of others.

Demonstrate an understanding of the world as a set of related systems by recognizing that problem-solving contexts do not exist in isolation.

Use Science and Technology effectively and critically showing responsibility towards the environment and the health of others.

SA National Curriculum offers a way…

Reflect on and explore a variety of strategies to learn more effectively

Participate as responsible citizens in the life of local, national and global communities.

Be culturally and aesthetically sensitive across a range of social contexts.

Explore educational and career opportunitiesDevelop entrepreneurial opportunities.

Research Purpose

Examine the degree to which ESD permeates the goals and objectives of policies that guide teacher education programmes in South Africa

Understand to what degree TEI’s promote the development of ESD based competencies.

Explore in what ways teacher educators recognise and address ESD competencies, and why.

Overall Aim

It is hoped that ESD stakeholders gain more constructive insight into the existing

challenges and the complex net that holds the initiative together at an institutional level.

Research Questions1. In what way(s) does policy guiding teacher education,

promote the development of competencies in Education for Sustainable Development?

2. What methods have been employed at an institutional level to realise a teacher education that is ESD competency oriented?

3. To what degree do key policy implementers recognise and address ESD competencies within the teacher education curriculum?

4. Why do key policy implementers provide this degree of ESD competency address within the teacher education curriculum?

5. What contextual factors influence key policy implementers’ attempts to effectively engage in ESD-oriented activity?

MethodologySurveyDocument Analysis (Course outlines and

materials, guiding policies for Teacher Education, Constitutions)

Case StudyAttend meetings (upon invite) regarding any

internal restructuring, current issues faced by the education faculty, current educational foci etc.

Observation (Interaction between personal, institutional and policy motivations)

Informal conversations (snow-ball sampling)

Methodological ImplicationsWeb-based survey of 22 Teacher Education Institutions in

South Africa Question 1-3 = Biographical data Question 4 = Lists the Knowledge, Skills and Values related to

ESD that student teachers should display Asks the academic to rate the degree of attention

that the institution and themselves personally give to each K, S, & V

Question 5 = Academic is asked under each K, S, & V listed to tick the factors (listed) that they feel influence it’s address in the TE program

Question 6/7= General questions about SD as an institutional focus Question 8 = Only for teaching academics. Concerns how SD is

said to be implemented in their practice and how they motivate student teachers to develop ESD competencies

Question 9 = Seeks to understand what meaning academics give ESD

Select 2 InstitutionsOne case of an Exceptional TEIOne case of a typical SA TEIOr should I only consider one case?

Indepth exploration of the chosen TEI(s) – spending a period of 5-6 months in the field

– Aiming to identify: 1. What methods have been employed at an institutional level

to realise a teacher education that is ESD competency oriented?

2. To what degree do key policy implementers recognise and address ESD competencies within the teacher education curriculum?

3. Why do key policy implementers provide this degree of ESD competency address within the teacher education curriculum?

4. What contextual factors influence key policy implementers’ attempts to effectively engage in ESD-oriented activity?

TEI Framework

University Policy

Faculty DeanDoE D

oE

HoD - Science

HoD - Maths

HoD - Tech

HoD - Lang

Academics

•Course Outlines & Programs•LOs according to DoE•Finances (publications)•Personal Interests &Skills

Level 1

Level 2

Level 3

Conceptual & Theoretical SupportESD CompetenciesComplexity TheoryOrganization TheoryPhenomenology

The ESD Competences (UNECE, 2011)

The Holistic ApproachIntegrative/systems thinking (awareness of how

change in one part influences change in another)Inclusivity (consider a range of perspectives

critical to discussing sustainable futures)Dealing with complexities (e.g. citizenship,

poverty alleviation, sustainability assessment etc)Envisioning Change

Learning from the past (understanding & critique of previous developments)

Inspiring engagement in the present (address the needs of the present considering the future)

Exploring alternative futures (consider new pathways by considering scientific evidence, current beliefs and creative thinking

Achieving TransformationTransformation of what it means to be an

educator (critical reflective practitioners who are openly fallible and empathetic)

Transformative pedagogy (considers learners experiences and provides opportunities for learners to actively participate and creatively think towards sustainable living)

Transformation of education systems (Integration of ESD competences for learners into education policies)

Complexity & Organization TheoryConcerned with how the nature of a system may be

characterised with reference to its constituent parts in a non-reductionist manner (Manson, 2001)

Complexity research concerns how complex behaviour emerges from relatively simple local interactions between system components over time.

Phenomenological perspective that you cannot understand an individual or a group of individuals before understanding their environment and the interactions that take place within it.

It is a descriptive theory and not a prescriptive theoryTowards a modelling of the specific, local linkages that

interconnect actors, practices, and events across multiple levels of organisation.

Complexity theory encourages a look at the whole in terms of its parts and the connections between these parts (loose coupling), without simply reducing the system to a sum of its parts

Metaphors in Organization theory offer insights into the whole and constituted parts of the teacher education institution.E.g. Organizations as loosely coupled systemsE.g. Organizations as a CultureE.g. Organizations as a political system

Potential DifficultiesConceptually – Identifying ESD competences which can

often be disguised in other Learning activities and objectives. Data collection – Achieving a non-invasive way of

interacting with academics and building a trusting relationship that encourages snow ball sampling

Data analysis – How to promote validity and connect the dots in a way that tells a story about the cases being explored.

Worth – How can the findings become more meaningful in terms of promoting ESD? Should the research suggest implementation strategies/models or is it enough to reveal the structures that serve to promote/obstruct ESD realisation in TE?