Twenty-sixth International Conference on Learning

Abstract

In a world often filled with uncertainty, teachers need to be empowered not just with disciplinary knowledge and pedagogical tools, but also with an understanding of how to make a social difference to the lives of their learners, irrespective of context or resources. This paper reports on a study that foregrounded teacher agency within a South African teacher education programme. The study, underpinned by critical pedagogy, involved working collaboratively with pre-service teachers within a participatory action research design. The study found that pre-service teachers responded positively to lecture-rooms that were perceived to be safe and respectful of their views. By foregrounding agency, they felt empowered to make decisions and access resources, and they embraced challenges perceived to be valuable. By the end of the study, they recognised that teachers can serve as primary resources in schools if they empowered themselves with deep content knowledge, effective pedagogical skills and an understanding of how to make a social difference. They also understood the need to engage learners, scaffold learning, build on prior knowledge, affirm histories, and enable a classroom where learners’ contributions are valued. Ultimately, foregrounding teacher agency required the pre-service teachers to critically reflect on their practices, confront their prejudices, and ascertain the underpinning philosophy shaping their practices.