Chapter 7 - Pre-Service Teacher Professionalization: Becoming a Teacher in South Africa

Abstract

In this book chapter, the authors focus on pre-service teacher professionalization through the medium of teaching experience at a South African university. They first provide an overview of the policy guidelines and expectations of teacher professionalization in South Africa and proceed with one example of their implementation at Wits University. They then present a case study in which teacher professionalization was implemented through teaching practice supervision and mentoring for pre-service science teachers in both B.Ed. and PGCE programs. Using the comments of supervisors and mentor teachers, as well as the students' self-reflections, they will use Legitimation Code Theory (LCT) to provide insights into how students see themselves acquiring a professional identity.