Conducive organisational behaviour of workintegrated learning and mentorship training for secondary schools: a systematic review
Abstract
The unsatisfactory outcomes of the teaching practice portfolio of evidence of teacher-students' after the completion of work-integrated learning (WIL) at rural secondary schools combined with poor feedback and complaints of the placement schools, raised concerns at the work-integrated office of a Faculty of Education Sciences at a South African university, that quality assurance of the WIL process in these settings are sub-standard and influencing the student-teacher negatively. The results from a student teachers' survey conducted by the NWU WIL office, revealed that the supporting teachers at rural schools do not have sufficient content knowledge of their particular subject, the majority of teachers are not updated with new teaching practices or they lack the ability to apply theory to practice. The main concern was the inadequate support or coaching the student-teacher received. This can be contributed to the known pressures and challenges experienced in the secondary school environment which often lead to a culmination of unmotivated teachers, schools with an absence of a learning culture, no collective teaching and little collaboration among personnel, especially when combined with a lack of leadership. The academic achievement of the learner is determined by the quality of the learning experiences. The learning culture in a school refers to the intellectual rigour of the school, which is the environment and opportunities created by the school for the students to interact with each other, teachers and others beyond the classroom. It is also linked to the interaction with the studentteacher as it has been determined that the teaching practice has a positive impact on the learning environment in the classroom and the knowledge gained by the supporting teacher during the practicum period contributes towards the mentor-teachers' professional development. Many of the distance learning students or students studying at higher education institutions which feed from rural areas are exposed to rural schools during their practicum and negative learning culture at a school where teaching practice should be performed will have an adverse effect on the student-teachers cognitive learning during the process, as well as the receptiveness to learn from his mentor. The aim was to obtain the best available evidence of the conducive organisational behaviour of schools, especially secondary schools in rural communities, regarding the organisational behaviour related to WIL and mentorship training. A rigorous systematic review was conducted through a search process and a selection of articles in an attempt to obtain research evidence on conducive organisational behaviour in a school system which will be conducive to WIL and mentorship training in secondary schools in rural areas. During an eight-step process, a critical appraisal of the methodological quality; assessment of bias, data extraction, data analysis and synthesis, a final four (n=4) articles were identified according to the characteristics and categorisation of the basic organisational behaviour model, Stage II by Robbins et al. (2009) on an individual, group and organisational level. Five (5) themes emanated from the research indicating that mentor-teachers are (1) positive, (2) strength focussed , (3) enabling; (4) limited support exists for teachers on organisational level; (5) learner achievement are related to conducive organisational behaviour and is possible regardless of the rural challenges. Research on work-integrated learning and mentorship training applying the perspective of organisational behaviour is a new field of study. This systematic review concludes that schools as organisations with multi-level relationships and as ecosystems where student-teachers are met through WIL and mentoring, necessitates a stronger integration of organisational behaviour. This could be viewed as a valuable contribution towards responsible citizenship and positive learner outcomes despite rural-related challenges. Organisational behaviour needs to be included into the curriculum of teacher education and be a minimum requirement in the arsenal of managerial skills required within schools. A policy brief was formulated as additional mode of dissemination targeted at key decision-makers within the South African schooling system.