scholarly journals Integrating the World of Work Into Initial TVET Teacher Education in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (1) ◽  
pp. 13-28
Author(s):  
Andre J. Van der Bijl

South African Policy on Professional Qualifications for Lecturers in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (2013) provides a framework of professional qualifications for lecturers in the TVET system, which requires work-integrated learning placements in both education and industry settings. South Africa, however, does not have a convention of industry placement for vocational lecturers. This absence led the Department of Higher Education and Training, with the European Union, to co-fund a research and development project, the ‘effective delivery of the work-integrated learning (WIL) component of TVET and adult and community education and training lecturer qualification programmes’. The key output of this project was the development of a comprehensive curriculum framework for the industry-WIL component of the qualifications. This paper provides a reflective analysis of the multiple institutions, the national process through which the curriculum framework was developed and the knowledge generated through it.

Author(s):  
André Van der Bijl ◽  
Vanessa Taylor

South Africa’s policy frameworks for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) and adult and continuing education and training (ACET) lecturers require that the work-integrated learning (WIL) element of programmes include WIL in appropriate ‘industry settings’ to ensure that TVET lecturers develop expertise in both teaching their subjects and preparing their students for the demands of the workplace. Whereas the country’s education faculties have a strongly developed practice of school-based WIL, none currently offers a formal programme that includes WIL in industry. International literature on teacher placement in industry thus largely concerns the in-service placement of practising educators to develop and update their industry knowledge and experience. In South Africa, some institutions have embarked on projects that have developedknowledge of industry WIL for TVET college lecturers, one of these being the SSACI-EDTP SETA WIL for Lecturers Project, through which more than 400 college lecturers have completed a work placement, conducted between 2014 and 2017. It provides a significant amount of information on the possible nature and implementation of the industry-based WIL component of the lecturer qualifications currently being developed. Using the Shulman and Shulman (2004) framework on teacher learning, this article analyses the project. It seeks to deepen the understanding of the nature of lecturer learning through WIL and also to contribute to the national, African and broader international discourse on the placement in industry of vocational educators and articulation between the worlds of work and education.


Author(s):  
André Van der Bijl ◽  
Vanessa Taylor

The South African Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) published two policies in 2013 and 2015 respectively, on professional qualifications for lecturers at Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) and at Adult and Community Education and Training (ACET) colleges. These policy frameworks require lecturers in TVET and ACET to complete work-integrated learning (WIL) in two settings: teaching (eg in classrooms, laboratories, workshops) and industry-based (eg factory, work sites, offices). Whereas the notion of industry and specialised workplace WIL for TVET and ACET lecturers was welcomed in certain circles, its inclusion in the ACET policy and the associated qualifications were not uniformly welcomed. Antagonism emerged primarily from some universities planning to offer ACET lecturer qualifications, ranging from insecurity about matters related to its implementation to outright rejection. This article draws on the theory of critical discourse analysis (CDA), reflecting on and debating the challenges that emerged during the development of the national curriculum frameworks for industry and the specialised workplace-based WIL component of the qualifications. Three discourses emerged: the first relates to a conflict between adult and community education with the discourse on industry-based WIL; a second relates to differences of opinion about what constitutes appropriate specialised workplace-based WIL for trainee ACET lecturers; and the third relates to the nature of ACET. It is argued that it differs from other forms of education and should not be subordinated to the ‘dictates of the state and capital’.


Author(s):  
Catherine Roberts ◽  
Liezel Frick

The notions of leadership and management in the technical and vocational education and training(TVET) sector have become blurred in South Africa. The growing need for responsive and flexibleleadership in the TVET sector has resulted in challenges that can only be overcome with therelevant leadership knowledge and skills. Our findings suggest that the demands of leadershipand management have created conflicting priorities for leaders at the TVET colleges. Leadershipdevelopment in the TVET sector may be one way of addressing these issues. Yet, in South Africa,there are no strategically planned, custom-designed leadership development programmes forleaders in public TVET colleges. A curriculum framework for leadership development should beinformed by these conflicting priorities in order to reprioritise the focus of TVET leaders in SouthAfrica on their core business: that of vocational education. This article reports on current andfuture TVET leaders’ perceptions of how the notions of leadership and management influencetheir practice.


2021 ◽  
Vol 30 (30 (1)) ◽  
pp. 397-405
Author(s):  
Ágnes Stomp ◽  
Marianna Móré

Continuous development of education and training programmes in the European Union is a key factor in enhancing cooperation at European level. Today, economic and social changes are taking place in the world, which is why vocational training is seen as a tool to prepare people for a changing world of work, improving employability and competitiveness. Vocational education and training must adapt to changes affecting the economy, society and the labour market. Vocational education and training (VET) policy has been a national, autonomous area of the Member States for decades, but the issue of VET has increasingly been given priority in the process of European economic unification. At the Lisbon Summit, the European Council recognised the important role of education as an integral part of economic and social policies, which is an important tool for increasing the European Union’s competitiveness. European cooperation in VET has been promoted by the three common European instruments created as a result of Copenhagen process: the European Qualifications Framework (EQF), the European Quality Assurance Reference Framework for Vocational Education and Training (EQAVET) and the European Credit System for Vocational Education and Training (ECVET), which are progressively integrated in their VET systems by the Member States. The aim of these instruments is to support recognition between European VET systems, to promote lifelong learning and mobility and to improve learning experiences. The aim of our study is to explore with a comparative study, to what extent and manner the V4 Member States (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Slovakia) have integrated EQF, EQAVET and ECVET transparency instruments into their national vocational training systems and to what extent the transformations are in line with EU objectives.


2017 ◽  
Vol 13 (22) ◽  
pp. 94 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sampson Tawiah

In South Africa, Adult and Community Education and Training (ACET) is established to cater for the educationally disadvantaged individuals, especially rural women, hence, ACET programmes are running in the country nationally. One of the aims of ACET is to open economic opportunities for women; however, the majority of rural women are still performing poorly economically. This empirical study aimed to explore the effect of ACET on the economic development of women in the Lusikisiki district of South Africa. A qualitative approach in the form of a case study design was used for the study to help the researcher relate to the real life circumstances of the women. Purposive sampling was used to select 35 participants from a population of 115. The participants were selected because they had wealth of information and could explain better the phenomenon under study. Data collection instruments used were face to face individual interviews which were audio recorded with the consent of participants. The major findings of the investigation include the following: inadequate learning resources available to women; inadequate skills development programmes provided and skeptical perception of the economic benefit of ACET to women. The study suggested that the programmes of ACET should be restructured and skills driven to meet the needs of women, especially in rural communities.


Author(s):  
Salim Akoojee

This paper explores the extent to which latest developments in the Technical and Vocational Education and Training System in South Africa respond to key principles espoused for a developmental, democratic and inclusionary ideal. The White Paper for post school education and training approved by Cabinet in November, 2013 is referred to by the Minister as the "definitive statement of the governments vision for the post school system" and as such represents a crucial strategy document intended to chart the TVET direction to 2030. Using key theoretical constructs from development theory, this paper provides an assessment of the TVET strategy contained is the paper and explores the extent to which it does respond to the agenda defined by the promise. It is argued that the challenges outlined are not yet able to provide the blueprint for a TVET transformative vision. It is concluded that while the development rhetoric contained in the paper is plausible, the creative tinkering of the system is unlikely to lead to the radical revisioning necessary for a truly transformative TVET system. The underlying assumptions regarding purpose, impact and outcome will need to be carefully reconsidered if the system is to be responsive to the promises of the democratic developmental ideal to which the government is committed.


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