Insights from South African students preparing for early childhood teaching: contexts neglected in teacher preparation

The preparation of teachers for diversity within and between schools is a growing focus in teacher education worldwide, and particularly in South Africa, where the education landscape has shifted dramatically since the democratic elections of 1994. While diversity is a recurring theme in the literature, the matter of contextual diversity still offers serious challenges to teacher education. This paper focuses on the urgent need to prepare teachers for all school contexts in South Africa, particularly those where neglect carrying over from Apartheid inequalities make failure and a sense of inferiority the norm. It uses critical theory and the capabilities approach to analyse extracts from discussions with early years’ student teachers which express needs with regard to preparation for specific situations faced during field experience with young children. The analysis shows that these students are not adequately prepared to teach in the previously disadvantaged schools which cater for the majority of South Africa’s learners, and that there is a disjuncture between preparation received in the lecture room and realities encountered in the field. It argues for a shift in emphasis from teacher education models which construct middle class classrooms as ideal to those which build quality education for disadvantaged learners, rural contexts, and African language speakers.