Mokotedi, R.T.(IJSRE, http://www.ijsre.com, March NaN, 2013)
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Abstract:
In recent years, there have been a number of innovations and reforms aimed at making education relevant to the needs of the society. Despite the premium placed on education, there
continue to be challenging and persistent issues negatively affecting teacher education. One of
these challenges is the generalist approach of primary schools whereby teachers teach all
subjects in the curriculum. This is often a departure from their pre-service training where they were trained as specialists. The purpose of this study is to establish new teachers’ perspectives on the role of subject specialization in Botswana Colleges of Education and the implications of
this training for the professional development of those who did not specialize in languages. This study adopted a survey research design in which questionnaires were the main data
collection instrument. This study targeted two primary schools in the Southern Region with a sample of twenty (20) beginning teachers (with Diploma Certificates in primary schools). Of
this sample of twenty, ten (10) completed the questionnaires. The results of this study reveal that beginning teachers advocate for specialization in primary schools because it allows them an area they can teach with confidence. These teachers raised the issue of in-service
development and support as a source of information on matters pertaining to language teaching
because for those who did not specialize in languages, teaching this complex subject is a
challenge and can be highly demotivating.
Nenty, H.J.(IJSRE, http://www.ijsre.com, October NaN, 2010)
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Abstract:
The extent to which teachers perceive the existence of pressure emanating from negative stereotype of teaching as a career by the society tends to reduce the amount of affective and cognitive investments on teaching and learning by teachers and teacher trainees. Given this problem, the purpose of this study was to determine the level to which stereotype threat as perceived by University of Botswana (UB) teacher trainees influences their learning- and teaching-related behaviour. To test the nine research hypotheses posited to guide the study, data for the inferential survey study was collected using a validated 48-item questionnaire from a sample of 452 UB teacher trainees. Data analyses were done using t-test of single mean, chisquare (72) test and one way analysis of variance (ANOVA). The findings showed that the level to which UB teacher trainees perceived teaching as a stereotyped career significantly influences the amount of affective investment they are making on their training programme and hope to make on their teaching. These findings were discussed and recommendations that emanated from findings were made.