Abstract
The need for this research is substantiated by two sets of research literature, namely, literature that belabours the so-called ‘theory–practice divide’ in teacher education and, secondly, literature on the dismal state of science education in South Africa. This chapter critically looks at the pre-service education of life sciences student teachers and reports on an intervention that was conceptualised and implemented by the UJ to address some of the shortcomings of the customary school practice experience (or WIL). Teacher education institutions are often criticised as being distant from practice and therefore ineffective in preparing student teachers for the demands of the teaching profession. This is especially true in the teaching of the natural sciences (including life sciences and physical sciences) – a national priority in a country that is not performing well in international benchmark tests. This chapter reports on an innovative intervention of the UJ whereby undergraduate student teachers were given the opportunity to teach life sciences (FET Grades 10–12) to learners from a top-performing school that did not offer life sciences as a subject. The authors will indicate how this intervention addressed three fundamental problems associated with learning to teach, namely, (1) the problem of the apprenticeship of observation; (2) the problem of enactment and (3) the problem of complexity. This qualitative research focussed on how this intervention contributed to the 81 student teachers’ (who participated) professional development. The Japanese lesson study approach, where student teachers prepared and presented lessons in groups of four, were further enhanced with the technique of prolepsis, which involves structuring learning opportunities in a way that assumes that the student teachers know more than they actually do. By using such a prolepsis approach in teacher education, the teacher educator can explore the optimal distance between the student teacher’s actual and potential development...