Recommendations towards a self-directed blended learning programme for German Second Additional Language teachers

Abstract

The expectation on teachers in South Africa to be lifelong learners is emphasised in relevant policies and the importance thereof has often been reiterated in the literature. In practice, various factors hamper the opportunities for teachers, but especially for teachers of German Second Additional Language (SAL) in South Africa to remain lifelong learners. All too often these teachers are faced with professional development programmes that are based on a one-size-fits-all approach and do not take into account the specific teaching and learning contexts of teachers of German SAL work in in South Africa. While the field of teacher professional development for German as a Foreign Language (Deutsch als Fremdsprache / DaF) has enjoyed much attention internationally, only very limited research has been conducted in South Africa. Existing studies remained descriptive and are currently rather outdated. This study therefore aims to address this shortcoming by establishing teachers’ exact context-specific developmental needs before designing a theoretically founded professional development model for teachers of German SAL in South Africa. needs analysis was conducted in various steps. Results of the needs analysis were consolidated from qualitative data from expert interviews, a questionnaire answered by teachers of German SAL, relevant policies and scholarly literature. Results showed that a professional development programme for teachers of German SAL should focus on sufficient individualisation to allow for the heterogeneity of the teaching population, while encouraging SDL and collaborative learning (CL). Based on these findings, an initial three-cycle model was designed, which was informed by Van Merriënboer’s Four Component Instructional Design Model (4C/ID model) for instructional design. The model was informed by collaborative learning (CL) and blended learning (BL) as approaches in support of self-directed learning (SDL). A practice environment was developed on Moodle. A panel of international panel of experts on DaF and German SAL evaluated the practice environment to establish its ease of use, relevance and suitability for the professional development of teachers of German SAL. Certain adaptations were made, after which participants of the initial needs analysis were invited to participate in a trial run of the programme. After completion, participants evaluated the programme in terms of its usefulness, relevance to their contexts and their likelihood to use the programme for further their professional development. Conclusions were drawn based on all data and recommendations for the development of a professional development programme, which focuses on SDL, BL, CL and individualisation were made. These conclusions can serve as a point of departure for professional development facilitators and researchers who wish to develop a context-specific professional development programme, which focuses on individual participants’ need, while encouraging collaborative learning.