International Teacher Education Conference 2014 1

International Teacher Education Conference 2014
education curriculum. What transpired from both teacher educators and students’ accounts was that cultural
diversity was incorporated in the teacher education curriculum. Nevertheless, in the analysis presented in this
section, it became clear from some students’ utterances that there was a disjuncture between the theoretical and
practical knowledge taught in the teacher education curriculum. Factors such as culture, language, socioeconomic
status and race appeared to act as barriers to the practical implementation of cultural diversity in real
classroom situations. Most of the students’ challenges with implementing cultural diversity seemed to be rooted
in ineffective inclusion of cultural diversity in the teacher education curriculum.
As with other studies on teaching-practice placements of students in culturally diverse contexts mentioned
earlier, some students in this study sounded apprehensive about being placed in these schools. Some of the
experiences reported in this study echo those found in Sosibo’s (forthcoming) study, in which some Black firstyear
students found placements in culturally diverse schools challenging. In this study, Mazwai described the
source of their problem as emanating from the fact that,
We [Black students] are thrown in the deep end in these schools because, although we study theories of
teaching and learning, there is no theory that teaches us to operate in White or Coloured schools where
they teach through English or Afrikaans and where the culture is different. We should first be prepared
for this experience before we are sent out for teaching practice.
Ayanda expressed the same sentiment, arguing that the theory she had acquired from the teacher education
curriculum had not prepared her to deal with the negative attitudes and stereotypes exhibited by learners, as well
as alienation and discrimination by teachers in the White school in which she had been placed. She criticised the
university theory for not being contextualised to suit racially different school contexts.
Besides linguistic and cultural disharmonies expressed above, structural and situational barriers appeared to
adversely affect effective incorporation of cultural diversity in the teacher education curriculum. For instance,
Sello observed that university theory failed to emphasise situational learning that taught them about inequalities
among different cultural and racial communities. Yet, as he stated, he felt that classroom context was key to a
student’s growth and development as a teacher. Like Ayanda, he suggested that teacher educators should
contextualise the theories rather than teach them one-size-fits-all. He concluded by stating that,
At university the way we are taught is as if we are all going to teach in better equipped schools, yet
some of us have to go and teach where there are not enough learning facilities for learners. Most of the
classrooms in these schools are overcrowded. One-size-fits-all approach has a tremendous negative
effect on us when we get into poor schools.
Tyra reiterated the same point, stressing that when students encountered a situation in which computers were
dysfunctional in impoverished schools, the theory acquired in university went out the window, leaving them
disoriented and embarrassed. She called for theories that were relevant to diverse school contexts, to which
Morrow (2007) refers as formal elements of teaching, as they prepare students to function in any context
regardless of school conditions.
The students’ accounts made it evident that issues of race, racial identity and cultural diversity were not
addressed sufficiently in the teacher education curriculum. They claimed that this situation left them wondering
about their future careers as teachers in the new democratic South Africa. Beverley expressed her sentiment as
follows:
It’s as if we [White students] in the new South Africa are going to remain in our White schools and
Black students in their Black schools. What will happen if the only available job for me is in a Black
township school? I won’t have the vaguest idea of how to teach there because I have never been taught
how to function effectively in those schools.
Mahmoed had a somewhat similar view, citing the university classroom as not representative of cultural
diversity and as failing to set a tone for cultural diversity. His view was that:
In our [university] classrooms we barely ever practice diversity. We don’t mingle but we sit in groups
according to our races. Even when we do group work we stick to our own. Lecturers don’t care to
integrate us and those who try find it difficult to split us. When we go to schools with diverse learners
we encounter the same problems but we can’t do anything about it because we were never taught how
to handle them in the first place.
688