4.3 What activities do English First Additional Language teachers participate in in
4.3.3 Discussion of issues relevant to the teaching of EFAL
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the meeting, teachers were reminded when and where the final cluster meeting for the year was going to be held, they were also reminded to bring all the necessary documents to the meeting.
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and the date or if they needed to skip a line and then write the date thereafter. This question belonged to Learning Outcome three of the National Curriculum Statement, DoE, (2003, p. 13) which is Writing and Presenting. It states that: ―The learner is able to write and present for a wide range of purposes and audiences using conventions and formats appropriate to diverse contexts‖.
The teacher‘s questions were answered by their colleagues. The teachers who mark the grade twelve final examinations also highlighted that teachers needed to start training their learners as early as grade ten to start a new section on a new page, as this helps them to determine the length of the essay and prepares them for grade twelve. Teachers were also encouraged by their colleagues to mostly speak to their learners in English, as this trained learners in speaking the language, increased their vocabulary and familiarized the learners with the language to make things easier for them in the final grade twelve examinations, as stated in the DoE (2003). Teachers indicated that learners cannot express themselves in English because they were not familiar with the language, and had difficulty understanding simple instructions in examinations.
Teachers also indicated that they also discussed issues such as the methods of teaching certain aspects of the curriculum, as indicated by the Mr Mhlongo in the following excerpt:
Let’s say you are doing poetry or short stories, you get empowered by your colleagues. Like you would tell them that I’m not good in poetry, then you
mention the poem that you are uncomfortable with and they will brainstorm it for you. Maybe you are approaching it in another way. It helps.
Teachers indicated that sometimes when they are working as teachers, they realized that they cannot apply what they were taught when they were training as teachers, they have to learn new methods of doing things. Theory and practice are not the same and teachers work in different environment that are different from what their lecturers may have been
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exposed to. Teachers indicated that clusters helped them in preparing for their practice as teachers and applying the relevant methods; as revealed by Mr Zondo below:
Sometimes due to certain reasons, one might deviate from what you were taught at college. When you are in the field you get your methods of doing things, you must come with daily preparations, it’s what you are taught at college, but
sometimes it’s impossible to do with the teacher: pupil ratio that is challenging in school. So you learn new methods of doing your work when attending cluster meetings.
Teachers indicated that it was not only moderation activities that were done in clusters, but they also planned for the year and for the upcoming work that they still needed to do, as mentioned by Mr Maphanga:
Apart from moderation, certain things have to be discussed, like we did in our last meeting, I am happy you were there because you saw it was not only about moderation. We discussed some things in preparation for next year and, challenges that teachers are facing, preparing for exams and orals and so on.
In another meeting that I attended, it was closer to the meeting for moderating orals. A teacher who was teaching EFAL for the first time asked what was done in oral moderation and what was expected from him. A whole discussion about the oral moderation ensued. Teachers participated and told the teacher what needed to be done, what was expected of him in the oral moderation cluster meeting, how many learners he had to prepare, how the learners were selected, what he needed to bring and how the day of the moderation proceeded. The teacher was well informed about the oral moderation at the end of the meeting and he thanked his peers for their contribution and responding to his question.
The subject advisor advised that schools should have a clear framework for at least three years that indicated exactly what aspects of the curriculum were going to be covered in a certain grade and where the next grade would continue from. She also mentioned that
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teachers should always think of innovative ways to improve their work in class and help learners achieve better results as this was their core duty. The teachers did not discuss what needed to be taught and at which time it needed to be taught, but the subject advisor told them how they needed to do their planning in order to make their teaching more effective.
Some teachers seemed to share the same sentiments as the subject advisor about having a clear working framework for the EFAL in schools as they suggested that schools could adopt the method of teaching the same class from grade eight up to grade twelve. This was encouraged because the teacher would understand the learners‘ strengths and weaknesses and know exactly what they have been taught throughout high school. The teacher would also know all her or his learners level of understanding and capabilities.