Abstract
M.Ed.
The aim and purpose of the study is to explore the Natural Science (NS) teachers'
perceptions of their teaching competence in Senior Phase township schools in Soweto.
An in-depth literature review on theoretical perspective in Natural Science teachers'
perceptions of their teaching competence in Senior Phase indicated that these partially
addressed the key questions of the study, namely: what are the perceptions ofNatural
Science teachers' about their teaching competence in Senior Phase township schools?
What competences are perceived to enhance and contribute to Natural Science
teaching in Senior Phase schools m Soweto? This study identifies a number of
motivational competences that have been derived from current theories.
The theory developed from the literature on NS teachers' competences review,
facilitated the development of an empirical research. Qualitative research was
conducted to explore NS teachers' perceptions of their teaching competence in Senior
Phase schools in Soweto. This was with a view to facilitating the improvement thereof
wherever necessary. Seven NS teachers from three Diepkloof Senior Phase schools
were sampled. It also emerged from the findings of the research that there are,
teachers who are not qualified to teach NS subject at the Senior Phase level. There
also seems to be a lack of competent N.S. teachers in Senior Phase schools in Soweto.
The high numbers of learners in NS classes create challenges for NS teachers to
provide individual attention to learners. NS laboratories are poorly equipped and that
the district officials do not provide sufficient support to NS teachers so that they can
be more effective in their teaching. The study gave the researcher the opportunity to
explore the teaching competence ofNS teachers in three Senior Phase township
schools in Soweto, where the competence gap had already been expressed. There
were many challenges identified by the findings. A comprehensive picture of the
many inter-dependant aspects affecting the NS teaching competencies was acquired.
The research conducted gave the researcher the motivational framework to establish
both the current level ofNS teaching competence and the ideal levels of competences
to which the three schools and other schools nationwide could aspire.