A critical exploration of trainee teachers’ construction of primary school context during placement=Ukuhlola okuhlaziyayo kwemicabango yothisha abaqeqeshwayo bamabanga aphansi ngenkathi besaqeqeshelwa ezikoleni.

Abstract

The journey of this thesis started when I joined a teacher education institution as lecturer. My sociology background drew me towards the primary school as a placement site as I was enthusiastic about grasping the experiences of trainee teachers while being their teaching practice tutor. The negotiation that the trainee teachers made between what they acquired as theoretical knowledge and the in-situ understandings of the primary school as their future workplace was astounding. It was this first observation which triggered my curiosity to start the study with them as knowers of school contexts while considering their personal assumptions, memories, gaze, and experiences as pivotal lenses. By doing so, their stories, narratives, anecdotes are not just described as personal productions but are expressed as their social constructions situated in time, space, and place. The temporal element expresses the specific period of teacher training when the data is collected but also when the trainee produces the data. In other words, the data gets constructed in the temporal context which I term placement period. The spatial element refers to the visibility of the trainee teachers as knowers with a voice, who has an empowering presence in the knowledge production process in the sense that their voice demystifies power relationships, ideological structures about teaching and learning practices. Their participation in the study represents a breathing space to divorce themselves from the vernacular of power which might be pejorative to school administrators, mentors, and academics. The study explores those personal accounts as a force which contains a collection of personal and individualized accounts which are attached to memories and experiences of those trainees. Lastly, the notion of place also refers to physical make up of placement sites, i.e., primary schools. With the exceptions of one, all the trainee teachers participating in this study have experienced placement to more than one primary schools during their teacher training periods. This opportunity allowed them to encounter the heterogeneity of school contexts as they learn their craft. In this study I explore the nature of trainee teachers’ construction of primary school context and in doing so trace the cognitive maps of their professional journeys as knowledge producers. By doing so, the study opens avenues on policy decisions and reforms aroundteacher training and professionalization a context where teaching is constantly scrutinized and subject to adaptations school contexts. A critical interpretivist outlook is exploited to gauge at the different ways in which trainee teachers construct these contexts while being on placement. Eight participants on primary pre-service training were selected using purposive sampling strategy. The data produced are derived from participatory approaches namely, transect walks, interviews and conversations around collages and photography taken by the participants. To keep the richness and authenticity of the data, the findings were presented thematically and in verbatim as they are narrated by the participants. These themes presented enable the creation of key sociological concepts to explain how construction takes place in this study and finally leads to the thesis building, which aims at scholar contribution in the field of teacher professional socialization and sociology of knowledge. This thesis consists of ten chapters and is divided into three broad sections. Section one describes the context, background, and rationale of the study (chapter one), followed by a literature review (chapter two), theoretical framework (chapter three) and research methodology (chapter four). Section two unravels the research findings and analysis (chapter five to seven) and finally section three presents the key theorization, thesis building and conclusion (chapter eight to ten).

Iqoqa

Uhambo lwalolu cwaningo lwaqala kusukela ngifika esikhungweni sokuqeqesha othisha ngiyofundisa khona. Isisekelo sami somkhakha wezokuhlalisana kwabantu wangiholela esikoleni samabanga aphansi njengenkundla yokuqeqeshela ngoba nganginesasasa lokuthola amava othisha abaqeqeshwayo, lapho mina nginguthisha wabo welingekufundisa. Ukuxoxa kothisha abaqeqeshwayo ngalokho ababekuthola njengolwazi lobunjulalwazi nalokho abakuqonda-ngqo esikoleni samabanga aphansi njengendawo yokusebenza yekusasa, kwakumangaza. Yilokhu kwethamela okwaqubula ukufisa ukwazi kimi ukuba ngiqale ucwaningo nabo njengabantu abazi kangcono izimo zasesikoleni ngenkathi ngiqaphela ukuhlawumbisela kwabo, izinkumbulo, ukubheka, namava njengezinsizakubuka ezimqoka. Ngokwenza kanjalo, izindaba, izingxoxo, nezindatshana zabo akuyizo nje ezakhiwe ngumuntu ngamunye kodwa zixoxwa njengemicabango yenhlalobantu emayelana nenkathi, umkhathi nendawo. Umunxa wenkathi uveza ngqo inkathi yokuqeqeshwa kothisha lapho kwakhiwa imininingo kodwa nalapho futhi umqeqeshwa ezakhela imininingo. Ngamanye amazwi, imininingo yakhiwa esimeni senkathi engiyibizwa ngokuthi yinkathi yokujutshwa yakhe. Umkhakha womkhathi uthinta ukubonakala kothisha abaqeqeshwayo njengabaziyo futhi abanephimbo, ubukhona babo okunikeza amandla endlelenikwenzeka yokukhiqizwa kolwazi ngokomqondo othi izwi labo lisombulula ubudlelwano bamandla, ukwakheka kwemicabango ngokwenzeka ngokufundisa nokufunda. Ukuzimbandakanya kwabo kulolu cwaningo kumele indawo yokuzahlukanisa nolimi lwamandla okungenzeka lube nokwahlulela kubaphathi besikole, abalolongi nothisha.

Ucwaningo luhlola lezo zindaba zangasese njengamandla aphethe iqoqo lezindaba zangasese nezomuntu ngamunye ezihambisana nezinkumbulo namava alabo baqeqeshwa. Okokugcina-ke umcabango wendawo uthinta ukwakheka kwemicabango ngezindawo abajutshwe kuzo, okungukuthi izikole zamabanga aphansi. Ngaphandle koyedwa, bonke othisha abasaqeqeshwa ababambe iqhaza kulolu cwaningo sebeke bajutshwa ngaphezu kwesikole esisodwa ngenkathi yabo yokuqeqeshwa. Leli thuba labavumela ukuthi bahlangane nezinhlobonhlobo zezimo zasezikoleni ngenkathi befunda amakhono abo.

Kulolu cwaningo, ngihlola umsuka wemicabango yothisha abaqeqeshwayo basesimeni sezikole zamabanga aphansi futhi ngokwenza kanjalo ukulandela amabalazwe emicabango ezindlela zabo zobungcweti njengabakhiqizi bolwazi. Ngokwenza kanjalo, ucwaningo luvula amathuba ezinqumo ngenqubomgomo nokubuyekezwa kokuqeqeshwa kothisha nobungcweti esimweni lapho ubuthisha bubukisiswa futhi buguqulelwa ezimweni zesikole nesikole. Ukubukeka okuhumusheka ngokuhlaziya kusetshenziselwa ukukala izindlela ezahlukene lapho othisha abaqeqeshwayo behlawumbisela lezi zimo lapho besajutshiwe. Kwaqokwa ababambiqhaza abayisishiyagalombili basohlelweni olwandulela olwamabanga aphansi kusetshenziswa isu lokuqoka okuyinhloso. Imininingo ekhiqiziwe yazuzwa ngezindlela zokuzimbandakanya okuyilezi; umgudu wokuhambisana, izimposambuzo nezingxoxo ngamaqoqo nezithombe ezathathwa ngababambiqhaza. Ukwenzela ukulondolozwa komcebo ngokwethembeka kwemininigo, kwethulwa okuzuziwe ngokwezindikimba zabukhoma ngenkathi kuxoxwa nababambiqhaza. Lezi zindikimba zethulwa ukwenzela ukusungulwa kwemiqondomsuka yezenhlaliswano yabantu ukuchaza ukuthi imicabango yakheka kanjani kulolu cwaningo futhi kugcine kuholela ekwakhekeni kwale thisisi eqondee ekunikeleni kwezifundiswa emkhakheni wobungcweti bothisha nasekuzejwayezeni ngenhlalo.