Prof Veronica McKay speaking about the successes and challenges of CEDU in context
The College of Education (CEDU) has been in existence for just over a year now. In a meeting called with the Staff of CEDUin the Senate Hall on 7 May 2013, the Principal and Vice Chancellor of Unisa, Prof MS Makhanya, said the successes are being noticed. The meeting began with a word of welcome by Prof Veronica McKay who began with a presentation entitled“The successes and challenges of CEDU in context”. Her presentation began with a reference to some of the systemic needs for teacher development as identified in the “Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development”by the Departments of Higher and Basic Education. She mentioned that the College of Education would need to work towards,in particular, strengthening foundation phase teaching including Grade R, teachers with specialisations in Mathematics and Science, the African languages and English as a second language amongst others.
She referred to the 2013 enrolment statistics of the College stating that a large proportion of the CEDU’s students are from Kwa-Zulu Natal and Gauteng and the majority of CEDU’s students are 20 – 29 years old. She also pointed out that Data from the SACMEQ tests (and a range of other local and international assessments) show that teachers require more training in the content of their subjects. In this context it is evident that the University needs to take cognisance of that reality and needs to provide opportunities to bridge the gap for teachers who wish to improve their skills. The Programme Qualification Mix (PQM) renewal process within the College of Education is linked to this endeavour.
Prof McKay also shared that many development initiatives are taking place within the College of Education. Twenty two staff members are being groomed for their NRF rating applications and 37 staff members are participating in the Brown Bag Series to assist them with Doctoral degrees. An ODL research group has been established and various regional workshops have been presented to give guidance to the Master’s and Doctoral students enrolled in the college. However she pointed out that college is struggling with a shortage of supervisors.
She referred to the 27-funded community engagement projects as being “engaged research” projects that will impact on schools and communities and which will also feed into curricular formulation and result in a number of publications. In particular, she mentioned the Teacher Centre project funded by the Department of Higher Education aimed to give CEDU and other practicing teachers access to ICT facilities and communities of practice. The college is implementing this project with the DBE and will be functioning in 45 of the DBE’s 112 teachers’ centres in Africa which gives the university access to 65 teacher centres now accessible to CEDU. These centres will enable CEDU to assist and engage with our students. While large numbers of staff were involved in funded community engagement projects she pointed out that staff needed to take advantage of the external grants available for research.
Prof MS Makhanya, Principal & Vice Chancellor of Unisa addresses the colleagues at the College of Education
In his address to CEDU, Prof MS Makhanya said there are no shortcuts and that Unisa students need to meet the requirements before they can graduate hence there is a need to pay attention to issues of quality. He also stressed that the university have committed to a digital future as the number of students applying with the university have increased which leaves the university no other option but to do things differently. Appropriate investments are being made by the university to build the infrastructure of the university so that they are able to deliver optimally but that quality relied on everyone in the university to work harder and smarter to be able to give the students the kind of teaching that they require. It cannot be achieved by only a few hardworking people. As a university we are creating our own future. We need to justify our funding from government. We can only be funded to the level of what we are delivering. He pointed out that the College needs to impart the values of teaching and learning both through what we teach and by how we teach. We have to create teachers who are able to help and teach our young children.
Our students need a system which provides clear guidance as to what they need to study to become a certain kind of teacher, be that mathematics, science or geography teachers. A simplified PQM will assist CEDU with this. With regard to research, Prof Makhanya pointed out that NRF ratings will also be rewarded with more privileges for NRF rated researchers as it confirms the academic’s scholarship. The university aims to attract NRF Chairs and this is linked directly to our areas of excellence. He commended the new on-line placement for students needing to do teaching practice and stressed that this “work integrated practice” should also lead to teachers coming out of their training who are well equipped to excel in the classroom.
Prof RM Phakeng, Vice Principal: Academic & Research shares her thoughts on the potential residing within the CEDU staff
In her turn Prof MC Maré, Vice-Principal: Academic & Research stressed that high throughput must be matched by high quality. She outlined the importance of the new PQM serving the graduateness of teachers so that the College is able to supply the system with teachers of high quality. Prof RM Phakeng, Vice-Principal: Research & Innovation also complimented the College on the achievements of the staff and emphasised the potential which CEDU has. She referred to the pockets of excellence and the “young bright sparks” who are emerging as talented researchers. The university will continue to grow and nurture the staff and it is only a matter of time and then the results will begin to show.
CEDU staff members listen attentively
