A newly qualified teacher’s competency in handling diversity: an auto-ethnography

Abstract

Although the topic of diversity has gained global popularity, there are various studies indicating that teacher competency in managing learner diversity is an area that requires improvement and additional research. This thesis explores a newly qualified teacher’s competency in handling diversity in a South African context. The study deploys a qualitative research approach and auto-ethnographic methodology to gain a deeper understanding of newly qualified teachers’ competencies in dealing with diversity. A newly qualified teacher’s personal experience and knowledge of diversity within the context of education has been triangulated against the existing literature of diversity to affirm the validity of the data. The study finds that even though diversity is covered in teacher training institutions, newly qualified teachers remain unprepared for the challenges with diversity that they will encounter in their classrooms. In addition, pre- service teachers have limited exposure to the wide spectrum of diversity among learners. The teacher training curriculum as well as teacher practice programmes do not provide pre-service teachers with sufficient knowledge of diversity studies, experience, and exposure. This study is useful for teacher training institutions, education policy makers, teachers, and academics in gaining insights and perspectives of pre-service and newly qualified teachers where diversity is concerned.