| dc.description.abstract | The Basic Education Teacher Diploma (BETD) in Namibia was developed to transform the fragmented and segregated teacher education in the country before independence in 1990. The main aim of the BETD is to empower teachers to meet the challenges of the basic education with its four goals of equity, access, quality and democracy and to become change agents of being at the forefront of educational reform and development in the country. Developing reflective attitudes and skills were identified as the tool to realise this, since reflective practices have the potential to put the practitioner in charge o f her/tris professional development b y constantly reevaluating your practice in the quest for improving teaching and learning in your classroom. In essence, by taking reflective practices on board, teachers are being
acknowledged as having the potential to take charge of what is happening in their classrooms and to make positive changes towards quality education and thus national development. I found that, consistent with earlier studies, the BETD did manage to initiate attitudinal changes and to equip prospective teachers with the skills to inquiry practices. However, the BETD clearly indicates that it can only initiate this life long
journey of becoming reflective practitioners. Taking the nature and complexity of reflection into consideration, it could have been idealistic to expect of these young and inexperienced teachers to get into the field and to bring about changes. Besides the fact they have to struggle to come to grips with the realities of every day school life, they had a schooling repertoire of twelve years ahead of teacher education that were in direct contrast with reform principles. Moreover, they would be appointed at schools where the majority of the staff has extensive experience in practicing and upholding past principles and condoning the culture of silence. Through this study I investigated what the conditions are BETD graduates face at schools where they are appointed and how they manage to sustain their ongoing professional development as reflective practitioners. The case study revealed that, although the environment at the school was conducive to promote continual professional development through reflective practices, some additional measures are necessary to assist and support these graduate teachers to develop the confidence to implement and sustain the skills of inquiry in schools for the ongoing improvement of
their practices. Concerted efforts are necessary to raise the credibility of the BETD as a national teacher education programme, and to value its aims and purposes, as well as the strategies of reflective practices and lifelong learning it employs to realise these aims. Partnership between all stakeholders in teacher development at teacher education institutions and in the regions is essential to strengthen and reinforce these efforts and ensure that the teacher education reform initiatives permeate into schools, where it is meant to make a difference. | en_US |
