Abstract
In this chapter, we acknowledge the complexity of defining pedagogy, particularly in a South African higher education context with the students’ demands to decolonise the curriculum. From this call, we interrogated the nature of knowledge and debates in our third-year pedagogy course, and problematised the assumptions we make in different activities in the course. Our conception of pedagogy is concerned with the interplay between teaching and learning and learning and teaching from alternative pedagogies in complex contexts that are marginalised in initial teacher education. We argue the importance of exposing pre-service teachers to pedagogical knowledge and contexts that are different from what they know and introduced to in their pedagogy course. This starts with reconceptualising the pedagogy course to include local research and debates, for the students to critically engage with different ideas to position themselves within current debates. We used autoethnography to discuss our experiences and the decisions we have made while reconceptualising the course. The process conscientised students to different debates and pedagogies that they were taking for granted, because of dominant exposure to urban-centred schools. The culture of disengagement with readings for lectures and tutorials changed, as students were motivated by the additional local readings in the course. There was improved participation in lectures and tutorials, as students participated in discussions and critical dialogues about the main concepts of the readings. In this autoethnography, we discuss how our practices in one of our courses reflect pedagogical responsiveness to enable the pre-service teachers to be pedagogically responsive.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
The mid-continent refers to 12 states in the central part of the United States of America.
- 2.
In this chapter, Black African refers to South Africans, Africans or Black students who are either indigenous or expatriate Black people from other African countries who are studying at the Wits School of Education.
- 3.
In 1950, the government divided South Africans into four broad groups – White, African, Coloured and Indian – to enforce the minority government’s policy of racial segregation (South African History Online, 2019). This classification continues to be used by Statistics South Africa and government departments to track the increment for each racial group.
References
Adams, T. E. (2011). Narrating the closet: An autoethnography of same-sex attraction. Left Coast Press.
Alexander, R. J. (2001). Culture and pedagogy: International comparisons in primary education. Blackwell.
Alexander, R. (2008). Culture, dialogue and learning: Notes on an emerging pedagogy. In N. Mercer & S. Hodgkinson (Eds.), Exploring talk in school: Inspired by the work of Douglas Barnes (pp. 91–114). Sage.
Balfour, R. J., Mitchell, C., & Moletsane, R. (2011). Understanding rurality in the troubling context: Prospects and challenges. In F. Islam, C. Mitchell, N. De Lange, R. J. Balfour, & M. Combrinck (Eds.), Partnerships for hope: A school–university collaboration for educational change in rural South Africa (pp. 15–31). Edwin Mellen. http://robertbalfour.co.za/wp-content/uploads/2015/09/2011-Chapter-Understanding-rurality-in-the-troubling-context-Prospects-and-challenges.pdf
Barley, Z. A. (2009). Preparing teachers for rural appointments: Lessons from the mid-continent. The Rural Educator, 30(3), 10–15. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ869310.pdf
Bekker, T. (2013). Ensuring epistemological access. In K. Horstkempe, P. Siyakwaqzi, E. Walton, & C. Wolhuter (Eds.), Education studies (pp. 463–485). Oxford University Press.
Bell, B., Gaventa, J., & Peters, J. (Eds.). (1990). Myles Horton and Paulo Freire: We make the road by walking: Conversations on education and social change. Temple University Press.
Biesta, G. J. J. (2014). The beautiful risk of education. Paradigm.
Bowers, C. A. (2003). Mindful conservatism: Rethinking the ideological and educational basis of an ecologically sustainable future. Rowman & Littlefield.
Boylorn, R. M. (2015). Stories from sweetwater: Black women and narratives of resilience. Departures in Critical Qualitative Research, 4(1), 89–96. https://doi.org/10.1525/DCQR.2015.4.1.89
Buthelezi, T. M. (2004). The HIV/AIDS epidemic and teacher development: Defining ‘positional’ perspectives. In R. Balfour, T. Buthelezi, & C. Mitchell (Eds.), Teacher development at the centre of change. University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Caena, F. (2014). Teacher competence frameworks in Europe: Policy-as-discourse and policy-as-practice. European Journal of Education, 49(3), 311–331. https://doi.org/10.1111/ejed.12088
Corbett, M. (2016). Reading Lefebvre from the periphery: Thinking globally about the rural. In A. K. Shulte & B. Walker-Gibbs (Eds.), Self-studies in rural teacher education (pp. 141–156). Springer.
Council of the European Union. (2014). Conclusions on effective teacher education. In Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council meeting, Brussels, 20 May 2014. http://www.consilium.europa.eu/uedocs/cms_data/docs/pressdata/en/educ/142690.pdf
Council of the European Union and European Commission. (2012). Joint report of the Council and the Commission on the implementation of the strategic framework for European cooperation in education and training (ET 2020). “Education and training in a smart, sustainable and inclusive Europe”. Official Journal of the European Journal, C 70/9, 9−18. https://eur-lex.europa.eu/legal-content/EN/TXT/PDF/?uri=CELEX:52012XG0308(01)&from=EN
Darling-Hammond, L. (1997). Doing what matters most: Investing in quality teaching. National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/ED415183.pdf
Davids, M. N. (2018). Ideology critique as decolonising pedagogy: Urban forced removals as a case study. Educational Research for Social Change, 7(SPE), 16–30. https://doi.org/10.17159/2221-4070/2018/v7i0a2
Deacon, R. (2016). The initial teacher education research project: Final report. JET Education Services. https://www.jet.org.za/resources/deacon-iterp-final-composite-report.pdf
Duncan, M. (2004). Autoethnography: Critical appreciation of an emerging art. International Journal of Qualitative Methods, 3(4), 28–39. https://doi.org/10.1177/2F160940690400300403
Du Plooy, L., & Zilindile, M. (2014). Problematising the concept epistemological access with regard to foundation phase education towards quality schooling. Journal of Childhood Education, 4(1), 187–201. http://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1187166.pdf
Education International. (2009). Public private partnerships in education − A report. https://download.ei-ie.org/Docs/WebDepot/PUBLIC%20PRIVATE%20PARTNERSHIP.PDF
Ellis, C., Adams, T. E., & Bochner, A. P. (2011). Autoethnography: An overview. Forum: Qualitative. Social Research, 12(1), 1–18. https://doi.org/10.17169/fqs-12.1.1589
Ellis, C. (2007). Telling secrets, revealing lives: Relational ethics in research with intimate others. Qualitative Inquiry, 13(1), 3–29. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800406294947
Ellis, C. (2009). Telling tales on neighbors: Ethics in two voices. International Review of Qualitative Research, 2(1), 3–27. https://doi.org/10.1525/irqr.2009.2.1.3
European Commission. (2015). Shaping career-long perspectives on teaching. A guide on policies to improve initial teacher education. ET2020 Working Group on Schools Policy (2014-15). Directorate-General for Education and Culture. https://www.schooleducationgateway.eu/downloads/files/Shaping%20career-long%20perspectives%20on%20teaching.pdf
Falkenberg, T., Goodnough, K., & MacDonald, R. J. (2014). Views on and practices of integrating theory and practice in teacher education programs in Atlantic Canada. Alberta Journal of Educational Research, 60(2), 339–360. https://journalhosting.ucalgary.ca/index.php/ajer/article/download/55837/42667
Flora, C. B., & Flora, J. L. (2013). Rural communities: Legacy & change (4th ed.). https://doi.org/10.4324/9780429494697
Fook, J., & Askeland, G. A. (2007). Challenges of critical reflection: ‘Nothing ventured, nothing gained’. Social Work Education, 26(5), 520–533. https://doi.org/10.1080/02615470601118662
Frank, A. W. (1995). The wounded storyteller: Body, illness & ethics. University of Chicago Press.
Freire, A. M. A., & Vittoria, P. (2007). Dialogue on Paulo Freire. Inter-American Journal of Education for Democracy, 1(1), 97–114. https://scholarworks.iu.edu/journals/index.php/ried/article/view/115
Freire, P. (1970). Cultural action and conscientization. Harvard Educational Review, 40(3), 451–477. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.40.3.h76250x720j43175
Freire, P. (1973). Education for critical consciousness. Continuum. http://abahlali.org/files/Paulo%20Freire%20Education%20for%20Critical%20Consciousness%20Continuum%20Impacts%20%202005.pdf
Freire, P. (1986). Letter to North-American teachers. (trans. C. Hunter). http://www.acervo.paulofreire.org/xmlui/bitstream/handle/7891/2356/FPF_OPF_09_036.pdf
Freire, P. (1994). Pedagogy of the oppressed (20th anniversary ed.) (trans. M. B. Ramos). Continuum.
Freire, P. (1998). Cultural action for freedom. Harvard Educational Review, 68(4), 499–522. https://doi.org/10.17763/haer.68.4.656ku47213445042
Gillon, G., & Macfarlane, A. H. (2017). A culturally responsive framework for enhancing phonological awareness development in children with speech and language impairment. Speech, Language and Hearing, 20(3), 163–173. https://doi.org/10.1080/2050571X.2016.1265738
Glass, R. D. (1996). On Paulo Freire’s theory of liberation and education, and nonviolence (Unpublished doctoral thesis), Stanford University, California.
Gobo, G. (2008). Doing ethnography. Sage. https://doi.org/10.4135/9780857028976
Green, N. C., & Nolan, A. (2011). Preparing the Australian early childhood workforce for rural and remote settings: A review of the literature. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 36(12), 83–96. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2011v36n12.3
Gruenewald, D. A., & Smith, G. A. (2014). Introduction: Making room for the local. In D. A. Gruenewald & G. A. Smith (Eds.), Place-based education in the global age: Local diversity (pp. xiii–xxiii). Psychology Press.
Hargreaves, A., & Shirley, D. (2009). The fourth way: The inspiring future for educational change.
Heleta, S. (2016). Decolonisation of higher education: Dismantling epistemic violence and eurocentrism in South Africa. Transformation in Higher Education, 1(1), 9. https://doi.org/10.4102/the.v1i1.9
Jensen-Hart, S., & Williams, D. J. (2010). Blending voices: Autoethnography as a vehicle for critical reflection in social work. Journal of Teaching in Social Work, 30(4), 450–467. https://doi.org/10.1080/08841233.2010.515911
Kwenda, C. M., Adendorff, S. A., & Mosito, C. P. (2017). Student-teachers’ understanding of the role of theory in their practice. Journal of Education, 69, 141–159. https://doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i69a06
Lapadat, J. C. (2017). Ethics in autoethnography and collaborative autoethnography. Qualitative Inquiry, 23(8), 589–603. https://doi.org/10.1177/2F1077800417704462
Lave, J., & Wenger, E. (1991). Situated learning: Legitimate peripheral participation. Cambridge University Press.
Lingard, B., Hayes, D., & Mills, M. (2003). Teachers and productive pedagogies: Contextualising, conceptualising, utilising. Pedagogy, Culture & Society, 11(3), 339–424. https://doi.org/10.1080/14681360300200181
Lotz-Sisitka, H. (2009). Epistemological access as an open question in education. Journal of Education, 46(1), 57–80.
Makonye, J. P., & Luneta, K. (2014). Mathematical errors in differential calculus tasks in the Senior School Certificate Examinations in South Africa. Education as Change, 18(1), 119–136. https://doi.org/10.1080/16823206.2013.847014
Masinire, A., Maringe, F., & Nkambule, T. (2014). Education for rural development: Embedding rural dimensions in initial teacher preparation. Perspectives in Education, 32(3), 146–158. https://journals.ufs.ac.za/index.php/pie/article/view/1878
Masinire, A. (2015). Recruiting and retaining teachers in rural schools in South Africa: Insights from a rural teaching experience programme. Australian and International Journal of Rural Education, 25(1), 2–14. https://journal.spera.asn.au/index.php/AIJRE/article/view/91
Moffa, E. D. (2018). A paradox of place: Civic education in the rural south. Social Studies Research and Practice, 14(1), 105–121. https://doi.org/10.1108/SSRP-07-2018-0028
Nkambule, T. C. (2017). Student teachers’ perceptions of a Wits rural teaching experience project: What to learn and improve. South African Journal of Higher Education, 31(1), 191–206. https://doi.org/10.20853/31-1-901
Nkambule, T., & Mukeredzi, T. G. (2017). Pre-service teachers’ professional learning experiences during rural teaching practice in Acornhoek, Mpumalanga Province. South African Journal of Education, 37(3), 1–9. https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v37n3a1371
Pelias, R. J. (2011). Writing into position: Strategies for composition and evaluation. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), The SAGE handbook of qualitative research (pp. 659–668). Sage.
Peterson, S. S., McIntyre, L., & Heppner, D. (2018). Northern rural and indigenous teachers’ experiences and perceptions of rural teaching and teacher education. Journal of Teacher Education and Educators, 7(3), 189–205. http://jtee.org/document/issue17/makale1.pdf
Pidgeon, M., Archibald, J. A., & Hawkey, C. (2014). Relationships matter: Supporting Aboriginal graduate students in British Columbia, Canada. Canadian Journal of Higher Education, 44(1), 1–21. https://doi.org/10.47678/cjhe.v44i1.2311
Sirotová, M. (2016). Pedagogical praxis as a process of developing professional competencies in university education of future teachers. Procedia − Social and Behavioral Sciences, 228, 529–534. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.sbspro.2016.07.081
South Africa. Department of Basic Education. (2011). Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS). https://www.education.gov.za/Curriculum/CurriculumAssessmentPolicyStatements(CAPS).aspx
South Africa. Department of Education. (2003). Report to the Minister: Review of the financing, resourcing and costs of education in public schools. https://www.gov.za/sites/default/files/gcis_document/201409/educationfund1.pdf
South African History Online. (2019, August 27–updated). Race and ethnicity in South Africa. https://www.sahistory.org.za/article/race-and-ethnicity-south-africa
Tang, R. Y. (2004). A study on Paulo Freire’s dialogic pedagogy: An encounter of ideas and praxis (Unpublished doctoral thesis). National Taiwan Normal University, Taipei.
Tullis, J. A. (2013). Self and others: Ethics in autoethnographic research. In S. H. Jones, T. E. Adams, & C. Ellis (Eds.), Handbook of autoethnography (pp. 244–261). Left Coast Press.
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization. (2017). Education for sustainable development goals: Learning objectives. UNESCO. https://unesdoc.unesco.org/ark:/48223/pf0000247444
Watkins, C., & Mortimore, P. (1999). Pedagogy: What do we know? In P. Mortimore (Ed.), Understanding pedagogy and its impact on learning (pp. 1–19). Paul Chapman.
White, S., & Kline, J. (2012). Renewing rural and regional teacher education curriculum: Final report 2012. Department of Industry, Innovation, Science, Research and Tertiary Education (OLT), Australia. https://eprints.qut.edu.au/109112/1/109112.pdf
Young, K. D., Grainger, P., & James, D. (2018). Attracting preservice teachers to remote locations. Australian Journal of Teacher Education, 43(2), 157–171. https://doi.org/10.14221/ajte.2018v43n2.9
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Nkambule, T., Mbhiza, H. (2022). Teaching and Learning to Support Pedagogical Responsiveness to Complex Educational Contexts: A Case of Pre-service Teachers. In: Walton, E., Osman, R. (eds) Pedagogical Responsiveness in Complex Contexts. Inclusive Learning and Educational Equity, vol 9. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12718-2_8
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-12718-2_8
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-031-12717-5
Online ISBN: 978-3-031-12718-2
eBook Packages: EducationEducation (R0)