Abstract
M.Ed. (Education)
Lecturers at technical colleges mostly come from industry and consequently they
seldom have experience of teaching or the necessary qualifications to teach. As
the educational profession has no formal and compulsory induction into the
profession, beginner lecturers are put directly into class and are expected to
teach. Although these lecturers have the required subject knowledge, they
definitely lack the necessary didactical skills or methodology of education. Due
to "swim-or-sink" attitude, beginner lecturers experience unique problems that
place them under tremendous pressure and stress.
The aim of this study was focused on the grounding of guidelines that could be
used in designing an induction programme for beginner lecturers at a technical
college. The methods used in grounding these guidelines for induction at a
technical college were:
* a relevant study of literature that was conducted into three induction
programmes used in various sectors of the industry, to enquire more
knowledge with regard to the design and function of these programmes;
a literature and empirical study of the experienced needs and problems of
beginner lectures when entering the teaching profession.
A qualitative research approach was used to conduct a study in which the needs
and problems of beginner lecturers in a specific technical college were identified
by means of structured interviews. The lecturers that participated in this inquiry
were asked to describe their experiences related to their needs and problems
when they entered the teaching profession.
From the analysed data the following needs and problems were identified:...