Teacher Learning in a Community of Practice: A Case Study of ...

teacher education by the state, (as universities would become the main providers ofboth
primary and secondary teacher education), it could also be construed as the "direct
reversal ofabout 90 years ofapartheid teacher education policy" (Sayed 2004:256). The
demise ofteacher education colleges and the relocation ofteacher education within
universities signalled an important curriculum issue in teacher education, namely, that
South African teacher education should focus on developing'subject/learning area
content knowledge' (ibid.).
The dramatic change in the shape and size ofthe teacher education system in the 1990s
can be ascribed to an interplay ofboth design and default mechanisms (Parker 2002).
Teacher education provision was moulded around and responded to stipulations in the
provisions ofthe interim constitution where legislation advocated private provision of
higher education and the prescription that colleges ofeducation be incorporated into
higher education. The changing landscape ofteacher education in South Africa has thus
essentially been a centrally directed strategy.
1.3.2 Teacher education curriculum changes and the Norms and Standards for
Educators (NSE)
Teacher education curricula underwent dramatic transformation in the 1990s. During the
apartheid era, a diverse range ofcolleges, universities and technikons created equally
diverse curricula. The 1995 National Education Policy Act made teacher education a
direct responsibility ofthe education ministry. The Norms and Standards for Teacher
Education was declared national policy. This legislation was to guide teacher education
programmes. The Norms and Standards for Teacher Education established the core
curriculum and the process for accrediting qualifications. It provided guidelines for the
development ofleaming programmes aligned with the new outcomes-based National
Qualification Framework. The South African Qualifications (SAQA) Act of 1995, the
National Education Policy Act of 1996, the Higher Education Act of 1997 and The Skills
Development Act of 1998 indicated the procedural functions that would apply, in terms
of the locus and nature ofteacher development programmes.
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