The purpose of the study was explore and describe experiences of student teachers currently registered for the BCUR degree studying in an ODL university. The degree comprises nursing education and management and the students had attended the teaching practice workshop, a component of nursing education programme. An explorative, descriptive,…

Exploring students' habits of using WhatsApp is important: such introspection helps students to reflect, and improve their actions. Habits are subconscious thoughts that drive students, for example, to use WhatsApp, even without concentrating on their learning actions. Habits are formed after students have repeated the same action. Twelve…

Background: In South Africa socio-economic problems such as poor health conditions, juvenile delinquency, high rates of school dropout and teenage pregnancy are increasing. Therefore, it is vital to prepare foundation phase (FP) pre-service teachers to fortify children with basic life skills (LS) that will help them to cope with real-world…

The development of 21st century competencies and skills in science teaching and learning is a key strategic imperative. Game-based learning platforms can be used to promote pedagogic innovation in various educational settings. Game-based applications such as Kahoot! have been increasingly used in education to facilitate meaningful enactment of…

In South Africa, English is used as a language of learning and teaching for most students from Grade 4 onwards. National policies have requirements for all teachers regarding language proficiency in English, and they also require all teachers from Grades R (pre-school) to 6 to be English language teachers. Because most teachers are not English…

This paper reports on the process of understanding myself and my pre-service teacher education students better through my lecture reflections and deliberations with critical friends as I taught a South African film entitled Tsotsi. Conversations with colleagues deepened my analysis as I was challenged to revisit my musings on lecture reflections,…

The pursuit of excellence in preparing student teachers for the teaching profession is a never-ending endeavour. This study aimed at investigating the value of teaching practice as perceived by the participants, how they determined such value using human judgement and whether value judgement can be used as a form of reflection during teaching…

Many students embark on an international experience (study tour and/or practicum/placement) during their teacher education program. There are benefits and challenges for those participating in such programs. Reflection is a useful tool in enabling the students to reflect on their experiences; capitalise on the benefits and assist in meeting the…

This paper examines digital inclusion and equity in international higher education with particular focus on Global South-North Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL). Practice examples, bringing together students and academics in Brazil, South Africa, and the UK, are used to consider how COIL is being integrated into higher education…

Motivation to enter initial teacher education is a key concern in research globally and in South Africa specifically. Supply of teachers for the Foundation Phase is identified as a critical need in South Africa and understanding why individuals enter these programmes is crucial. In this context, this article explores what motivates student…

This study used the community of inquiry (CoI) framework and the affordances of Internet of things (IoT) to explore how the faculty of education of a rural campus of a university transitioned from face-to-face to online modes of instruction. In this qualitative interpretive study, data were collected through open-ended questionnaires from four…

COVID-19 and the resultant national lockdown saw thousands of initial teacher education students in South Africa moving at short notice to online learning. For teacher educators this represented significant technical and pedagogical challenges, as they faced the task of adapting their teaching to an online modality, while simultaneously…

The self-study investigates my professional learning during participation, coordination and facilitation of a Curriculum Framework development project for Advanced Diploma in Adult Education with adult education academics from 10 South African universities. The potential for reflective questions as a key reflection and professional learning…

Background: South African schooling is caught in a vicious cycle, characterised by weak initial teacher education (ITE) and weaker-than-average learning outcomes, resulting in low teacher status and attempts to reform schooling by means of continuous professional development (CPD). Aim: The paper attempts to understand the reasons for poor…

The divide between theory and practice is an enduring challenge commonly attributed to disconnection in teacher knowledge between 'knowing what to do' (planning) and 'doing what you know' (enacting in class). We re-visited this divide from the new perspective of pedagogical content knowledge with the purpose of examining the ways in which…