CHAPTER 5 DISCUSSION, LIMITATIONS AND FURTHER
5.1 FINDINGS
5.1.3 Training of Technology Teachers
5.1.3 Training of Technology Teachers
It became apparent from the data that the availability of properly trained teachers to teach Technology wasn’t seriously considered prior to the implementation of the new curriculum and introduction of the new subjects into the schools. The data also revealed that schools had difficulty in finding suitably qualified Technology teachers.
5.1.3.1 In-service teacher training
The researched schools experienced a severe shortage of qualified teachers to teach Technology. They found that many of their teachers were ill-prepared for the inclusion of Technology into the revised curriculum. After attending in-service training workshops presented by the DoE, a number of teachers felt incompetent teach the subject. Furthermore, there is also an inadequate supply of new teachers trained specialist Technology teachers graduating from the Higher Education.
Many existing teachers were given the opportunity to be re-skilled and trained to teach Technology through short-term in-service training workshops conducted by the DoE. However, it would appear that these workshops were far too short in duration and counter- productive to their purpose. They were often found to be inadequate, ineffective and subsequently left teachers more confused about the subject. Consequently, after these courses teachers felt more ill-prepared and despondent about teaching Technology, resulting in them becoming de-motivated and less willing in wanting to teach such a diverse and complex subject.
5.1.3.2 Initial teacher training
Initial teacher training in Technology presently falls under the auspice of Higher Education. For Higher Education to sustain their initial teacher training programmes specialising in Technology requires continuous strong disciplinary developmental support from subject initiation at schools right through to programme implementation
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in Higher Educational Institutions. The viability of producing successful Technology teachers is, firstly, dependant on the recognition of Technology as being a ‘scarce learning area’ (Pandor, 2005; South Africa, 1995) and secondly, reliant on the supply of suitable candidates emerging from the school system with a technologically grounded background.
The data disclosed that Technology lacks the required human, physical and financial support from the education and training bodies (see 4.3.9). It is a complex and expensive subject to run (A 35; C 30; Alam, 2008) which in addition to specifically trained human resources it also requires specific infrastructural resources (see 4.3.4). The data also revealed how the lack of support and resources has impacted on the researched schools. One school was unable to sustain Technology in their school curriculum and was subsequently forced to discontinue Technology classes in preference to academic subjects (see 4.3.7); whilst another of the researched schools was unable to initiate Technology and get classes off the ground (see 4.3.8).
Situations such as this create a knock–on effect. Discontinuing Technology as a subject in the senior secondary schools that were previously offering it results in more learners exiting schools without any background exposure to the subject composition of Technology. Consequently, fewer prospective student teachers with the necessary pre-requisites become available to train as specialists in FET Technology, as a result initial teacher training programmes at Higher Education institutions are not well subscribed and thus are not producing sufficient new FET Technology specialist teachers to satisfy the market demand. The impact of this is specifically felt in Kwa Zulu Natal where the initial training of specialist FET Technology teachers is being done by only one Higher Education Institution (Table 4.3).
With schools experiencing problems in trying to get suitably qualified teachers to teach Technology, one wonders about the feasibility of employing experienced
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tradesmen (possibly the more ageing tradesmen) as teachers to teach the Technology subjects in their respective trade areas. As a short term initiative this intervention could go a long way in relieving the shortage of specifically skilled technological teachers until such time as the supply of trained teachers from the Higher Education Institutions start filtering through the system. The spin-off could have a number of benefits; firstly, highly skilled people with a wealth of experience are being captured from the labour market and absorbed by the school sector.
Secondly, the schools can sustain the subject as they now have a teacher who is a specialist in their respective subject areas. Thirdly, the teacher shortfall situation is inadvertently being addressed. Fourthly, this initiative would provide employment opportunities for unemployed trades-people thereby reducing the fiscal burden on the social economy. Unfortunately there are a number of foreseeable limitations affecting this short term initiative. Firstly, it would probably be difficult to find these types of people when the economy is booming as most tradesmen would most likely remain ‘working at the bench’ which in all probability has a higher earning potential than teaching can offer, whereas, in harder times there would be a greater possibility of more trades-people being available. Secondly, although a large number of tradesmen, such as the older bricklayers and carpenters for example, have many years of ‘hands on’ work related experience they do not possess any relevant formal qualifications as many were denied the opportunity of post school education during the apartheid era and consequently resorted to ‘learning on the job’. Unless some form of intervention strategy was applied, the lack of a formal ‘paper’ qualification in their relevant trade area would in all probability exclude them from a teaching post, as this a stringent prerequisite for employment in the teaching sector. Metcalfe expressed concern “that too much focus was placed on lecturers having theory- based, academic qualifications whilst people from industry were ignored (Parliamentary Monitoring Group, 2010:9).
In addition these trades-people would in all probability not have any teaching and classroom experience. Higher Education in collaboration with the DoE could be tasked with conducting an induction education programme to train these people (ex-