Teachers and teaching

The primary aim of this module is to empower teaching practice supervisors and school-based mentors to develop and implement appropriate mentoring programmes to support teaching practice placements in schools. However, as will be seen, the competences associated with mentoring can also be applied more widely.
The learning guide of this module addresses four key questions as follows:

• What has changed/is changing in the schooling system and what are the roles of supervisors and school-based mentors?
• What is mentoring?
• What are the personal and professional qualities of effective mentors?
• How can we manage the establishment, monitoring and evaluation of a school mentoring programme to support teaching practice placements?

In this Iomthamo, learners will think about, and try out, ways of organising learners into groups in the classroom, in order to help them to learn more actively and effectively. When teachers have completed Iomthamo, they should be able to:

• Plan an activity involving small group work;
• Organise and implement the activity;
• Critically evaluate what happened and why it happened.

Lomthamo is the second in the "Helping Learners Learn" strand. In lomthamo, teachers will look at learner-centredness.

In lo mthamo, teachers will look more closely at the languages you use in your classroom. These are called the Languages of Learning and Teaching (LOLT). The term previously used was 'medium of instruction'. Discussion will be held as to which language is the LOLT which helps learners to learn best.

In this umthamo, we will think about, and try out, ways of organising learners into groups in the classroom, in order to help them to learn more actively and effectively along these lines.

In this umthamo, we will consider ways of making sure that there are 'resources' in our classrooms from which learners can learn independently, without direct supervision from the educator.

This umthamo connects with and expands upon the imithamo on Curriculum and also on many other imithamo in other strands of the course. However, the authors believe that curriculum is the actual day-to-day activities of l earners and teachers constructing knowledge together. This takes place within their specific context, based on certain values, beliefs and principles. It may be guided by certain 'Curriculum documents,' but these only have life and bear fruit in the context of the classroom.

In this part of the course we will look at different aspects of language: thinking, talk, reading and writing and how it fits into our daily lives. Then we will look at ways of teaching language which brings all the different aspects together.

In this umthamo we will explore and share ideas about this unique ability we have to think and learn. Although many of the examples in this umthamo focus on you children, we will also think about how we as adults learn.

This umthato explores how thinking and learning at school differs from that at home. It also highlights the importance of the language of teaching.

In this module we explore and share ideas about this unique ability that humans have to think and learn. In particular, we will look at when learning starts, and how it develops as the child grows. We will look at the knowledge, skills and values that learners bring with them  to school and the importance of building on that.

In this umthamo, we will continue to think about talking. In particular we will think about the role talk plays in thinking and learning. We hope that you will become much more aware of the talk that goes on in your classroom. We will ask you to plan, observe and reflect on talk and learning.

In this umthamo we will focus our thinking on 'thinking about thinking'. The most important purpose of the umthamo is to encourage you to continue research the many ways our minds work.

This umthamo focuses on how human beings, both children and adults try to find sense or meaning in all aspects of their lives and the importance of this.

The focus of this umthamo is emotional intelligence and the part it plays in our learning. We will look at the role that homes, families and also the school play in developing emotional intelligence.

In this strand we move beyond the school. We look at how education, learning, learners, teachers and schools fit within the larger society. Our main goal in all this is to develop an idea of what different people think about the purposes and importance of education: people in our schools, in our communities and beyond. More importantly, however, we also want to revisit our own thinking on what education is, or should be, about.

In this umthamo, we will look at how education changes as society changes, and as different groups of people gain power. The education provided by communities and governments is different at different times and in different places all over the world.

There are a number of ways of looking at curriculum and the issues central to thinking about curriculum and what and how learners should learn. In lo mthamo, we will ask you to look at curriculum by examining what you do in your classroom. You will also look at curriculum by reading about syllabi, and by analysing part of a textbook. You will have an opportunity to think about the kinds of learning areas, or fields, that you think should be included in an ideal curriculum.

The current umthamo focuses on curriculum change in South Africa. The main aim here is provide educators with an opportunity to look critically at the curriculum change process in South Africa.