Abstract
Governments worldwide are modifying education curricula in primary and secondary schools to develop learners’ skills for employment in the 21st century. The introduction and integration of information and communication technology (ICT) in education can fundamentally affect teaching and learning. The experience of the COVID-19 pandemic in education and various social activities was a wake-up call for the adoption of technology to solve the world’s problems. Teachers are the drivers of any economic change through educational practices that embrace change.
This research study focused on Foundation Phase teachers’ perceptions on the use of English for their training of coding and robotics in township schools. This study looked exclusively at teachers in the townships teaching the core subjects in the Foundation Phase in African languages. A literature review presents a series of sources that spoke directly to the merits of professional development to improve teaching and the challenges of understanding coding and robotics technical terms in African languages. A mixed qualitative research approach was used, and the data collected was from a sample of Foundation Phase teachers teaching in African languages in two different townships. The participants responded to an online survey and took part in semi-structured interviews about their experiences during training for coding and robotics that was conducted in English.
The results of this study indicated that most of the participants faced several obstacles during the training that was conducted in English, including challenges with technical terminology. Most participants felt that the training conducted in English and online is not impacting their practices and found it frustrating. These negative experiences were greatly attributed to the lack of training skills and support the African language teachers received during training. The results further highlighted the challenges township Foundation Phase teachers experienced with regard to practical, face-to-face training. Recommendations from this study include a review of the training of African language teachers by institutions to accommodate issues around the availability of resources in languages other than English and making African language speakers available as trainers.