In response to the first research question, it was noted that new, professionally unqualified teachers developed professional knowledge“on the job”by drawing on three main sources of learning: their memories of their own schooling experiences, informal mentoringand formal learning from their primary degree. In this study, learning on the job falls under these three main ideas.
6.3.1 Memories of own their schooling experiences
The results of the study revealed that eight out of the 10 teachers learned how to teach by using their own memories of schooling experiences. For these teachers it is their own schooling experiences which were useful in helping them to teach in the classroom. It can be
said that all teachers have an opportunity to observe their own school-teachers at work. For this reason, all who decide to become teachers have an idea of what happens in the classroom if they are to teach. This is referred to as the apprenticeship of observation, where many teachers’ ideas on how to teach can be traced back to their memories of how their own teachers used to teach (Grossman, 1990). This implies that many novice teachers’ ideas and beliefs about teaching originate from personal experiences as young learners. In this study, these childhood experiences were largely personal and controlled by the teachers who were observed as models. The teacher models observed influenced the teaching and learning on the job, either positively or negatively. This apprenticeship of observation is developed informally and mostly unknowingly. This means that it is unintended and unplanned learning which develop when learners are schooled. Teachers develop this knowledge without the intention of using it, but at a certain point in life, beginner teachers may end up using this knowledge in their learning how to teach.
It is generally agreed that memories of their own schooling played a role in leading the participants to take up teaching. The effect of such memories in teaching is known as conservation of teaching (Grossman, 1990). This is where teachers replicate the teaching strategies they experienced as learners. This means that other traits in teaching are conserved and are passed on from one generation to next. One’s perceptions about teaching are likely to be shaped by memories of one’s own schooling. In reviewing the literature this apprenticeship of observation is likely to influence teachers’ knowledge on curriculum, subject matter knowledge and pedagogical content knowledge. Traditionally, South Africans learners were exposed to conservative theories and practices of teaching and learning (Vayrynen, 2010). This means that learning and teaching were perceived as a set of prescribed contents which were to be learned in a certain order and time. Considering the history of education, rote-learning was widely spread and there was little space for allowing critical thinking and questioning in learners. Most educators trained during apartheid were in this framework, given that teacher education colleges were segregated along the lines of race and ethnicity, creating partial, multiple and separate pathways to teacher education (Sayed, 2001). Today the PGCE programme is not of value to new teachers only, but also old teachers, mentors and colleagues in their professional learning communities, where they have to share experiences and learn from them.
It can be said that memories of their own schooling have a positive or negative influence on shaping the way novice teachers do their work, depending on the teacher role-models that the
novice teachers experienced in their own schooling. Therefore this should not be overlooked, as it helps in shaping the development of new teachers in the teaching profession, positively and negatively.
6.3.2 Informal mentoring (positive and negative) experiences
In the area of mentoring, the results of the study indicated that the majority of the participants were mentored in a positive manner when they started their teaching. This means that the novice teachers were assisted by experienced teachers in their learning how to teach. The participants actually gained in this way, because they were given professional skills, knowledge and supervision which enabled them to improve their teaching. The results are in line with findings from the literature, which are that professional expert teachers provide support to teacher learning, by modelling reflective and deliberative classroom processes to novice teachers (Wilson & Demetriou, 2007). This implies that most novice teachers in this study are not thrown in at the deep end when they begin teaching. They are given professional assistance, which guides them in their journey of teaching as they learn how to teach. Hence the role played by professionally experienced mentors in the teaching profession cannot be ignored. The reviewed literature has shown that support given by head teachers and other colleagues focuses on creating and maintaining a learning climate and professional learning opportunities for new teachers which relate to the core needs to sustain commitment (Day & Gu, 2007). Many studies from developed countries have shown that novice teachers do not work on their own, but alongside experienced professionals who are there to model reflective good classroom practices (Wilson & Demetriou, 2007).
In developing countries, with reference to South Africa, a review of the literature has shown that the mentoring process has great potential for developing the professional practices and skills of mentees. In South Africa, Moreeng, van Wyk, Alexander and Milondza (2011) report that at the University of the Free State, a mentorship programme, in collaboration with selected schools for PGCE student teachers, was implemented to increase the duration of work-based learning as a requirement for proper teacher training. The findings from the mentorship programme indicated that the student teachers learnt a lot and made more meaning from their interactions with mentors. The different learning environment created by the interaction that student teachers had with their mentors in a real, school-based learning situation went a long way in deepening students’ knowledge and practical competencies.
Student teachers gained advantage by developing GPK and PCK from that mentoring programme.
Two participants in my study specified that they were not given any constructive feedback from their mentors. They did not benefit from their mentors, meaning that they did not grow professionally, as they lacked supervision from their mentors. Perhaps they could have still grown professionally, despite the lack of mentoring. If they were assisted professionally they would have gained more practical professional knowledge, thus developing familiarity with the profession.
6.3.3 Formal propositional learning in the undergraduate degree
In teacher education, propositional or codified knowledge is considered important by teacher educators (Wilson & Demetriou, 2007). In the PGCE it is assumed that students’ learning from the first degree equips them with content knowledge which is vital for teaching. The current study noted that eight students acknowledged that they benefitted from their first degree, whilst two indicated that their first degree did not help them in any way. The majority of the students claimed that they gained from the content that they learned in their undergraduate degree. This resonates with the reviewed literature of scholars such as Shulman (1986), Grossman (1990) and Wilson and Demetriou (2007), who advocate that good codified subject knowledge is essential for teaching. This is developed in formal learning and enhances the intellectual development of teaching and learning. In this view, in order for a teacher to be able to teach a subject he or she needs both breadth and depth of knowledge in that subject area (Calderhead & Shorrock, 1997). This concurs with studies that have been done in the United States, about students’understanding of the subject matter they teach. Evidence from research has shown that a large amount of time is spent in the first few years of teaching, relearning the subject matter for the purposes of teaching it. From the present study it was noted that those teachers who benefitted from their first degree were actually teaching subjects which were covered in their first degree. In other words, they gained significantly in terms of content knowledge for teaching.
Content knowledge learned from a primary degree forms part of Grossman’s crucial component of teacher knowledge domains. This knowledge is acquired during undergraduate studies and in teacher training. She says that without knowledge of the structures of a discipline, teachers may misrepresent both the content and the nature of the discipline itself.
It is important that teachers should possess this kind of knowledge when teaching, as suggested by Grossman (1990). The higher number of educators who reported benefitting from the undergraduate degree may be linked to a few reasons. One could be that of experienced and qualified lecturers who were teaching different modules in different
undergraduate programmes. Another reason may be that the level of content that they were teaching at their schools could be lower than the one taught in undergraduate programmes.
The two students who did not benefit in terms of content knowledge from the first degree were not teaching subjects that were covered in their undergraduate degrees. Their primary degree had nothing to do with the subjects they were teaching. Research has generally shown that high school Maths and Science teachers, who have majors in the subjects they teach, elicit greater gains from their students than teachers who do not have any content knowledge of the subjects (Darling-Hammond & Young, 2002). The same studies suggested that possessing an undergraduate major in Maths and Science has a greater positive effect on student performance than certification in those subjects (Darling-Hammond & Young, 2002:8). This implies that subject knowledge for teachers is considered important for the purposes of teaching. According to the Department of Higher Education and Training (2010), one of the roles of teachers in a school is to be a specialist in a subject discipline. This means that a specialist ought to have well-grounded knowledge and skills, methods and procedures relevant to the learning and teaching of the subject discipline.