Abstract
This study emanated from an announcement made in 2011 by the Department of Basic
Education and Higher Education and Training in South Africa that Teaching Schools
should be introduced in the country to improve the teaching practicum component of preservice
teacher education. Teaching Schools, as described in the Integrated Strategic
Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development in South Africa, 2011–
2025, are to be used as teaching laboratories where student teachers can learn by
observing best practice, and participate in microteaching exercises. As Teaching Schools
do not as yet exist in the country, this thesis set out to explore the potential of Teaching
Schools in South Africa to enable student-teacher learning for the teaching profession.
The main research question that guided this inquiry was: “What is the potential of teaching
schools in South Africa to enable student-teacher learning for the teaching profession?”
In order to understand the potential of Teaching Schools in enabling student-teacher
learning, I undertook an exploration of what and how student teachers need to learn to
be adequately equipped for the teaching profession. I argue that student-teacher learning
for the teaching profession is multi-faceted and multi-layered, by drawing on Feiman-
Nemser’s (2008) themes of learning to think like a teacher, know like a teacher, feel like
a teacher and act like a teacher. The importance of integrating coursework and fieldwork
in teacher education programmes is supported widely in the literature, which I explore.
Many countries also make use of special types of schools to strengthen the integration of
coursework and fieldwork. I examine the literature on the role of these schools, some
similar to the envisaged Teaching Schools in South Africa, in enhancing student-teacher
learning internationally. In so doing, I argue that student teachers’ learning experiences
at the school and in coursework are equally important and need to be connected to enable
student teachers learning for the teaching profession.
Ph.D.