Full Text Available

Note: Clicking the button above will open the full text document at the original institutional repository in a new window.

Professional experiences of beginning home economics teachers in Malawi : a grounded theory approach

Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007.

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Kunkwenzu, Esthery Dembo
Other Authors: Reddy, C.
Format: Thesis
Language:English
Published: 2008
Subjects:
Tags: Add Tag
No Tags, Be the first to tag this record!
_version_ 1867614051164487680
access_status_str Open Access
author Kunkwenzu, Esthery Dembo
author2 Reddy, C.
author_browse Kunkwenzu, Esthery Dembo
Reddy, C.
author_facet Reddy, C.
Kunkwenzu, Esthery Dembo
author_sort Kunkwenzu, Esthery Dembo
collection Thesis
description Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007.
format Thesis
id oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1408
institution Stellenbosch University (South Africa)
language English
last_indexed 2026-06-10T12:45:52.267Z
license_str Not specified — see source repository
provenance_str_mv Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
publishDate 2008
publishDateRange 2008
publishDateSort 2008
record_format dspace
source_str SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository
spelling oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/1408 Professional experiences of beginning home economics teachers in Malawi : a grounded theory approach Kunkwenzu, Esthery Dembo Reddy, C. University of Stellenbosch. Faculty of Education. Dept. of Curriculum Studies. Beginning teachers Teacher education Grounded theory Dissertations -- Curriculum studies Theses -- Curriculum studies Home economics teachers -- In-service training -- Malawi First year teachers -- In-service training -- Malawi Life skills Thesis (PhD (Curriculum Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. This dissertation is an interpretive analysis of the professional experiences of six beginning Home Economics teachers in Malawi. The specific aim of the study was to explore the opportunities, challenges and problems of the teachers in their first year of teaching. The data for the study were developed using a triangulation of five research methods, including a questionnaire, face-to-face interviews, classroom observations, teachers’ reflective diaries and focus group discussions. Grounded theory was used as the methodology and analytical framework of the study. Research in teacher education acknowledges that learning to teach is a complex process (Calderhead & Shorrock, 1997; Flores, 2001; Flores & Day, 2006; Solmon, Worthy & Carter, 1993) and that the first year of teaching has a very important impact on the future careers of beginning teachers (Stokking, Leender, De Jong and Van Tarwijk, 2003; Solmon et al., 1993). The transition from the teacher training institution to the secondary school classroom is characterised by a type of reality shock in which the ideals that were formed during teacher training are replaced by the reality of school life (Lortie, 1975). The results in this study point at the school context as the ‘reality definer’ in the professional experiences of the teachers. The findings also support previous studies of beginning teachers which have emphasised the vulnerability of beginning teachers and show the first year of teaching as a ‘sink or swim experience’. However, the results show a unique relationship between the school context and school expectations. In this dissertation I contend that it is this relationship that was fundamental to the professional experiences of the six beginning Home Economics teachers. In the dissertation I present a three-stage substantive-level theory of the beginning teachers’ experiences and argue for the redefinition of the perception of teacher learning in Malawi: from a definition of pre-service teacher education as teacher learning, to teacher learning as a ‘triadic process’ comprised of teacher education, school induction and continued professional development. Doctoral 2008-04-08T07:36:48Z 2010-06-01T08:20:56Z 2008-04-08T07:36:48Z 2010-06-01T08:20:56Z 2007-12 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1408 en 1274984 bytes application/pdf application/pdf
spellingShingle Beginning teachers
Teacher education
Grounded theory
Dissertations -- Curriculum studies
Theses -- Curriculum studies
Home economics teachers -- In-service training -- Malawi
First year teachers -- In-service training -- Malawi
Life skills
Kunkwenzu, Esthery Dembo
Professional experiences of beginning home economics teachers in Malawi : a grounded theory approach
title Professional experiences of beginning home economics teachers in Malawi : a grounded theory approach
title_full Professional experiences of beginning home economics teachers in Malawi : a grounded theory approach
title_fullStr Professional experiences of beginning home economics teachers in Malawi : a grounded theory approach
title_full_unstemmed Professional experiences of beginning home economics teachers in Malawi : a grounded theory approach
title_short Professional experiences of beginning home economics teachers in Malawi : a grounded theory approach
title_sort professional experiences of beginning home economics teachers in malawi a grounded theory approach
topic Beginning teachers
Teacher education
Grounded theory
Dissertations -- Curriculum studies
Theses -- Curriculum studies
Home economics teachers -- In-service training -- Malawi
First year teachers -- In-service training -- Malawi
Life skills
url http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/1408
work_keys_str_mv AT kunkwenzuestherydembo professionalexperiencesofbeginninghomeeconomicsteachersinmalawiagroundedtheoryapproach