Being a Teacher: Reading 11. Authority, Responsibility, and Democracy in Creating Climates for Learning
Possibly the most significant professional choice that teachers make (consciously or unconsciously) relates to how they see their responsibilities as people in authority. In this note, originally written for a University of the Western Cape study guide, Professor Morrow tries to help teachers understand this authority role. In order to do so, he introduces a number of significant distinctions.... more
Being a Teacher: Reading 8. Accountability for Professional Practice
All professions are required to be accountable in various ways for the quality of the service they render – to their clients, to the public and to their fellow professionals. In the article from which this excerpt is taken, the writer analyses five forms of accountability that may operate in various institutions in a democratic society. Only two of these forms are applicable to teaching on a... more
Being a Teacher: Reading 6. A Culture of Teaching
In this brief article, Professor Morrow states strongly that teachers are central to the transformation of education and the reconstruction of society in South Africa. But in order to carry out this role, teachers themselves must rediscover their special professional responsibilities, and come to see themselves as agents, not as victims. more
Being a Teacher: Reading 10. Study of Effective Schools - Summary of Major Findings
Reading 10 is a brief extract from a report in which researchers Christie and Potterton describe the key factors that they found in those South African schools that demonstrated resilience in the face of difficulties. This excerpt focuses on only one of these factors: a shared sense of responsibility on the part of the teachers on the staff – a moral responsibility that goes beyond... more
Being a Teacher: Reading 9c. Manual for Teacher Appraisal
The ELRC’s Teacher Appraisal policy is another important means by which teachers’ professional accountability can be assured in South Africa. Note the important emphasis on teachers’ professional development rather than on simply judging teachers’ performance. more
Being a Teacher: Reading 9b. The Duties and Responsibilities of South African Educators
This excerpt comes from an Education Labour Relations Council resolution published in 1998. It is essentially a job description for South African teachers. more
Being a Teacher: Reading 9a. A Code of Conduct
One of the most important means of ensuring professional accountability among teachers in South Africa (and of ensuring that such accountability is administered by teachers themselves) is the Code of Conduct of the South African Council of Educators (SACE). Introduced in 1997, the Code establishes the basic standards by which teachers’ professional conduct may be judged. Note that the Code... more
Being a Teacher: Reading 7. The Teacher's Purpose
In this brief excerpt, Fullan and Hargreaves identify what they think characterizes professionalism in teaching. They argue that it is not so much the possession of a certain level of qualifications or status, nor the possession of a set of technical teaching skills. Rather, it is the full acceptance of the moral responsibility that is attached to the role of teachers today, and the ability to... more
Being a Teacher: Reading 5b. Tricky Tension for Teachers
This reading from "Being a Teacher" focuses on protecting teachers' own interests, but that it should not be at the expense of their obligations to their pupils. more
Being a Teacher: Reading 5a. Teachers Want What Students Need
The following two excerpts present the views of the leaders of two major teachers’ organizations as they expressed them in 1994. They are extracts from brief articles commissioned for a publication that attempted to describe and discuss the education scene in the first year of South Africa’s new democracy. more
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