| dc.description.abstract | This study reports on the extent to which colleges of education in Swaziland prepare
student teachers to be gender-sensitive in their practice as teachers. It focused on two
colleges, the Manzini Nazarene Primary College as the first teacher training college in the
country ( opened in 1936), and William Pitcher Secondary College as the main college
training secondary school teachers. The sample population included seventy-eight student
teachers, twenty-eight lecturers, two college principals and the Chief Inspector of
Colleges. The problem areas of the study included, a) the extent to which gender issues
were included in the first curriculum of colleges of education, b) the extent to which
gender issues are included in the current curricula of colleges of education, c) the gender-related
challenges facing those implementing the curriculum, and d) factors perceived to
be associated with effective implementation of a gender-sensitive curriculum in colleges
of education.
The topic was studied both from the historical and the contemporary perspectives. The
historical analysis focused on the first years of establishment of teacher education in
Swaziland. The perspective in this analysis was structural. Gendering in contemporary
teacher education, both primary and secondary was approached from the curricula and
agency perspectives. This included analysis of student teachers' encounters with sex-related
issues and an analysis of their choice of teaching subjects. It also included the
implementers of the curriculum investigating challenges they face and their perceptions
of factors associated with effective implementation of a gender-sensitive curriculum in
colleges of education. Special tools used to analyse gendering in the two perspectives
were the culturally produced differences and their symbolic meanings and asymmetrical
valuation.
The findings revealed that gender biases were highly visible in the first teacher education
curriculum. These are still visible in the current colleges' curricula though the wording
may have changed over time. Some of them include: female students orienting
themselves to teaching young children in lower school levels, while male students orient
to teaching older students in the higher levels of schooling; identifiable gender bias in
college textbooks; teaching approaches used by lecturers enhance gender biases and
different career development objectives for students; factors such as the need for gender-related
initiatives to address gender issues, and the need to address gender hierarchies in
colleges. Envisaged constraints to implementing a gender-sensitive curriculum included:
lack of resources; and uncoordinated efforts by lecturers to address gender issues through
the curriculum.
Recommendations then included that: teachers and teacher educators should examine
their syllabuses with the view of incorporating a gender dimension and the Ministry of
Education should consider continuity in funding workshops, or programmes designed to
make students and teacher educators to be gender sensitive in the area of instructional
materials, teaching approaches and classroom management. | en_US |
