A professional development school model for the development of literacy teachers

Abstract

Against the backdrop of persistently poor levels of literacy in our country, this article presents work done by university faculty, pre-service and in-service teachers to establish a professional development school (PDS) aimed at helping literacy educators meet the demands of teaching children in overcrowded, high-need schools. The purpose of this article is twofold: First, to describe two innovative features of the PDS model, namely tapping into preservice teacher talents and using learning stations to individualise literacy instruction and, second, to demonstrate that the model leads to responsive teaching which contributes to raising students' reading levels. The article concludes by promoting the effectiveness of the PDS movement in educating teachers and contributing to student achievement.

Reading comprehension in South African schools: Are teachers getting it, and getting it right?

“…Secondly, there is the challenge of pedagogic content knowledge, the transformation of conceptual knowledge into knowledge-in-practice. Both Le Clercq (2014) and Nathanson (2014) point to the challenges in South African schools of applying and sustaining effective teaching methodologies, both for pre-service and in-service teachers. Clearly our teachers have not been taught the relevant reading concepts and methodologies during their teacher training.…”

Discourse-shifting practices of a teacher and learning facilitator in a bilingual mathematics classroom

“…Firstly, the role played by the learning facilitator was particularly valuable in this setting where there existed a significant gap between teacher/curriculum and learners; however, learning facilitators could be valuable in any multilingual education situation. Nathanson's (2014) suggestions for using pre-service teachers as resources in professional development schools could be taken up by having them work as learning facilitators alongside existing staff. Secondly, the finding indicating the multidirectional nature of the discourse-shifting in this classroom calls for further research.…”

A review of South African primary school literacy interventions from 2005 to 2020

“…Any intervention that does not, either effectively directly address teacher professional development, or, provide complementary/supplementary teaching, in the interim, will not significantly impact literacy development of South African learners. Nathanson (2014) argued for a professional development school model, which uses education faculty staff and pre-service teachers to support teachers in dealing with the demands of overcrowded classrooms. Underpinning this is the imperative to building the capacity, skills and confidence of teachers to teach more effectively.…”

“…These are referred to as overcrowded, high need schools(Nathanson 2014), high poverty schools(Pretorius & Lephalala 2011), no-fee, Q1, high poverty, modestly functioning, poor performing schools(Currin & Pretorius 2010), township schools(Winburg & Botes 2005) and deep rural schools(Webb & Mayaba 2010).…”