Am I ‘qualified’ to teach? The implications of a changing school system for criteria for teacher qualifications

Abstract

This paper is located within the broad discussion on supply and demand of teachers in South Africa. It draws on a study that was done in the Western Cape in 2008 which asked if the province had sufficient qualified teachers appropriately deployed in its schools. The study found that clear criteria for ‘being qualified’ to teach specific learning areas or subjects in particular school phases did not exist and in fact were difficult to define. Many schools grappled with allocating and timetabling existing staff with subject specialisations obtained under a different system, into new areas of the school curriculum. The paper argues that, with the changing landscape of teacher education and schooling, the concept of teachers being appropriately qualified for their posts is more than a numerical calculation of years of study or formal qualifications. It includes considerations of the changing rules of qualification structures, the qualification routes of ‘old’ and ‘new’ teachers, the demands of the curriculum and expectations of new forms of interdisciplinary knowledge, and the epistemological basis of teachers’ professional identity.