In response to the severe shortage of qualified Foundation Phase (FP) teachers in South Africa, a new research consortium has been formed by four universities in the Eastern and Western Cape, which seeks to underpin the Department of Higher Education and Training's (DHET) plan of strengthening the capacity of the higher education system to provide more and better FP teachers.
In response to the severe shortage of qualified Foundation Phase (FP) teachers in South Africa, a new research consortium has been formed by four universities in the Eastern and Western Cape, which seeks to underpin the Department of Higher Education and Training's (DHET) plan of strengthening the capacity of the higher education system to provide more and better FP teachers.
Rhodes University (RU), Walter Sisulu University (WSU), Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University (NMMU), and University of Western Cape (UWC) are working together on the newly formed Cape Consortium Foundation Phase Research Programme, which is being funded by the DHET in conjunction with the European Union (EU) at a cost of R20.6m.
Principal investigator for the consortium, Professor Jean Baxen, Deputy Dean (Research) at Rhodes University’s Faculty of Education, is collaborating with Dr Noluthando Toni, Prof Cyril Julie and Dr Christabel Mantlana who are the institutional coordinators at NMMU, UWC and WSU, respectively.
The three-year programme is scheduled to operate from 2011 to 2013 and focuses on three objectives namely; teaching practices and teacher education practices; programme design of teacher education courses; and material development for teacher education. During the three-year period, each university will work with a cluster of ten schools in the Eastern and Western Cape, in both rural and peri-urban settings, where teaching practices will be analysed and support material will be trialled with teachers.
Speaking at a media briefing before the official launch of the programme, Baxen said that there was currently very little research being done on the Foundation Phase, and explained how the consortium came to be formed: "The DHET received funding from the EU to support primary education in South Africa and a substantial amount of the funding was set aside to support FP teacher education," she said. "When the DHET called for proposals, different institutions submitted their individual proposals, but after we met in June last year as institutions that were interested in doing research in the FP, we decided to form this consortium."
Baxen said that research of this nature is aimed at providing a coherent base for understanding what is happening in schools, so that they can improve the teacher education component in the institutions. The consortium has not yet decided how they are going to choose the schools that they are going to work with during the three year period.
"In the DHET's perspective, there is a recognition that if we were to improve quality in the system, we have to focus on teachers and teaching because that is the key leader in ensuring that our learners in the classroom are getting quality learning experience," said Doctor Witty Green, Acting Chief Director of teacher education in the DHET. "In the past universities operated in isolation from the department, and this programme signals a different way of working."
