Elaine Browne.pdf - Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University

Introduction
Chapter 2
Literature review
Motshekga, current Minister of Education, stated unambiguously that South Africa urgently
needs “dedicated, inspired teaching” (2009, 3). As such, she reiterated that teachers are the
key change agents to the realisation of improved quality education in South Africa. Pudi (2006,
100) also sees teachers as the central change agents enabling educational transformation.
Fullan (1991, 117) agrees, asserting that the success of educational change largely “depends on
what teachers do and think” [own emphasis].
However, in order to be a successful change agent, the teacher needs to understand the
change, be part of it and support it. Hence, the teacher, as change agent, needs to embrace the
change and engage with it. Fullan (1991, 117) as well as Onwu and Mogari (2004, 161) thus
highlight a fundamental prerequisite for successful educational change, namely competent
teachers, who possess solid content knowledge and are confident about their ability to
facilitate teaching and learning in the classroom. In this chapter, the notion of a competent
teacher will be discussed, not only in general terms, but also more particularly, as pertaining to
arts education. In order to do so, I will also provide insight into the unique nature of this
learning area.
15