Abstract
Education has invariably been important in the transferring of knowledge and skills. The main purpose of education in schools is to educate our youth within society, to prepare and to qualify them for the world of work. However, South Africa presents with increasing dropout rates, resulting in more youth that are unqualified and unprepared to enter the workforce. These learners are unemployed and do not have access to education or training. Consequently, this adds to the existing shortage of skilled workers in our country. Our country has long since acknowledged our shortage of skills given the lack of skills training both in school and after the first exit stage. While South Africa’s basic education programme is academically orientated, the education system fails our less academically inclined youth, leaving them with limited options either to earn an income or to study further. The Department of Education developed a threestream Technical and Vocational Education system which was piloted in 2017 and planned for implementation in some secondary schools in 2018. The aim is to introduce a curriculum which will serve the diverse needs of all youth of South Africa, to encourage skills training and to develop their creativity. While secondary teachers are currently at the frontline of the delivering of this curriculum, the challenge is to train and prepare them for the implementation of the technical and vocational curriculum in education. The aim of this study is to explore Grade 8 teachers’ needs in preparing for the implementation of the technical and vocational curriculum in education. The research followed a constructivist paradigm through purposeful sampling of Grade 8 teachers as participants. Data was collected by conducting semi-structured individual and group interviews as well as photovoice. The data was analysed by using thematic analysis. By using the constructivism theory as the framework of this study, three main themes emerged. The first was ‘the role of education stakeholders,’ with the sub-themes, ‘partnerships with industries’, ‘community and parental involvement’, ‘learner placement assessment’ and the ‘promoting of TVE’. The second theme referred to ‘the role of the SMT,’ such as ‘the provision of policies, training and curricular support’, as well as ‘the allocation and managing of funding and equipment’. The final main theme was a focus on ‘the need for professional development’ amongst teachers...
M.Ed. (Educational Psychology)