Re-imagining teacher education: Connecting the spaces between vision, context and curriculum

Abstract

This article discusses the process of re-conceptualising and re-designing the B Ed curriculum for future primary school teachers at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology. It outlines the context of policy change in which the curriculum re-design took place, the underpinning vision to build the capacity of new teachers for ongoing learning in a changing world and the shared principles of curriculum design. These design principles included the notions of less is more, connectedness and transformation, as well as particular clusters of graduate attributes. The article outlines the dilemmas of context, design and change experienced during this process, as well as the growth path of those involved. It further illustrates how teacher educators’ professional identities and commitments allowed them to rise above constraining contextual factors and, through a process of scholarly inquiry and participatory action research to engage deeply with curriculum challenges.

Keywords:

• teacher education
• curriculum reform
• curriculum design
• participatory action research
• conceptions of learning
• graduate attributes