mechanics was observed using a range of data collection methods. Two sets of semi-
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structured interview schedules were designed for pre-observation and post-observation use. The pre-observation schedule documented information presented by the lecturers about their educational background, their experience, their plans for the year for specializing their students and their perspective on what was required across the entire specialization programme to facilitate students’ learning. The interview questions and other data collection methods were designed with special consideration for mapping the pedagogy used by lecturers, in terms of their decisions and interactions in the institutional setting, as well as investigating the broader aspects that linked vocational training to the workplace in the Swazi context. The post-observation interview schedule was designed to tie the loose ends together, closing any gaps and allowing the lecturer to look back at how he or she was able to specialize students and with what challenges; as well as to look forward to what chances the specializing students were moving towards. It also provided an avenue for the participant lecturers to raise other issues connected to pedagogic practice. These post-observation interviews were conducted after observation of lectures, following both theory lectures and workshop practicals, towards the end of the year.
In addition to the one-to-one interviews, other data collection methods used were observations and analysis of documents. The documents analysed included course materials and course guidelines, among others. Observations took place within a classroom setting for theory and within a workshop for all practical sessions, using field notes. A more detailed explanation of their use follows in the subsection on observations and other methods.
The main focus of the study was the specialization of first year students, to determine what pedagogies are used by lecturers to develop someone with little or no knowledge of automotive mechanics into a mechanic and how, on the basis of emerging data, this specialization contributes to, or ties in with, a student’s progressive practical ability in automotive mechanics. The basis for selecting first year was that it provided a common ground for entry into automotive specialization that worked across all three settings, namely: Swaziland College of Technology (SCOT), VOCTIM and MITC. All three institutions offer first year training, with MITC training offering only this first year in terms of students being specialized within the institution. At SCOT and VOCTIM second year students are out on industrial attachments with private garages or industries to obtain
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practice, and therefore are away from their institutions, with no lecturer contact. They return to do their third year, which is the last year of their diploma. It was, however, possible to gain an understanding of how lecturers prepare students for the second year of practical training from the lecturers’ accounts during interviews. While the third year (the year after attachment) has been excluded from the study, it has been used for background information as this is the pathway graduates would take who would eventually rise to supervisory (or technician) levels. Lecturers commented on what happens in this third year in the one-to-one interviews.
Gwamile VOCTIM offers a one-year craft certificate in Motor Vehicle Systems, with the second year being a year of attachment for students to obtain practical experience with industry before they return to complete another year to obtain a diploma offered by City and Guilds. MITC offers a one-year training course in automotive mechanics providing a certificate of attendance, and then sends trainees on a one-year attachment to industry.
MITC was of interest to me because it has a minimum entry requirement of Grade 7, and although many of the students now have Form 5 (or Grade 12), there were occasionally students who were hardly able to read and write. The institution is sometimes required to provide oral assessments in lieu of written assessments for students in this category.
SCOT follows a regime similar to VOCTIM but trains with one year in, one year out, one year in – and awards a diploma, examined through lecturer set examinations.
Since pedagogy also requires assessment to evaluate what learning – or the extent of the learning – that has occurred, I also endeavoured to find out how assessment is used in the specialization of automotive mechanics. However, given that VOCTIM uses examinations that are set and controlled by City and Guilds of London, and that MITC does not offer formal examinations, for all institutions I had intended to follow what assessments were done and how, as part of students’ formative assessments. When I attempted this, however, l found that the lecturers showed discomfort and uneasiness each time I requested information on assessments; there appeared to be a veil of secrecy that shrouded evaluation. Many times I was referred by the lecturers to the administrative structures for answers to my questions, only to meet with either a similar protectiveness or a referral back to the lecturers who had sent me. Eventually it began to dawn on me that I might compromise the trust that I had striven to build, and reluctantly I gave up my
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pursuit. However, driven by my curiosity to see behind the curtain, I did manage to discover that at VOCTIM if a student fails to identify a component or part, or explain a function or process, in the City and Guilds end of year practical assessments, he/she is asked to prepare more by reading and consulting his/her peers and return when he/she was ready to try again. The questions would have been altered slightly. In some cases, students had been asked to prepare at least four times on different days. When I asked one student about this, he said that the reason was to eventually get all of them pass the assessments, and not to fail them. Although it took some time, eventually all the students passed the practical assessments.