World Teachers Day 2021

Today is World Teachers' Day, and one and a half years into the COVID-19 crisis, #WorldTeachersDay 2021 will focus on the support teachers need to fully contribute to the recovery process under the theme “Teachers at the heart of education recovery”. See UNESCO’s World Teachers’ Day activities

Teachers deserve to be recognised for the important role they play in building societies. Through our several teacher development projects, from research to developing teaching standards and materials, to supporting teacher training activities, JET is committed to contributing to the building of a well-trained, professional teaching force at all levels of the education system. 

Our work in teacher development includes: 

• The Initial Teacher Education Research Project (ITERP) JET initiated this project partly in response to concerns about the poor quality of schooling outcomes in South Africa and consideration of research that has shown teacher quality to be a key determinant in learning outcomes.  ITERP examined the mathematics and language curricula offered to student teachers at 5 universities. The alarming findings were that some prospective teachers were being taught little to none of the subject knowledge and pedagogical knowledge necessary to teach English and Mathematics. 
• The PrimTEd Project JET has assisted in managing and contributing to the Primary Teacher Education (PrimTEd) project of the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET).  PrimTed forms a part of a suite of projects in the Teaching and Learning Development Capacity Improvement Programme (TLDCIP) that covers areas of Primary teacher education, TVET and Community College lecturer education, Inclusive education and Early Childhood care and education. The programme is supported by the European Union.
• An Implementation Evaluation of the Funza Lushaka Bursary Programme for student teachers for the Departments of Planning Monitoring and Evaluation and of Basic Education.
• The development of professional teaching standards with the South African Council for Educators.
• Research on secondary level teacher education in Sub Saharan Africa for the Varkey Foundation.Research on continuing professional development for technical and vocational education and training (TVET) lecturers.
• Pan-Commonwealth Standards Framework for Teachers and School Leaders Validation Report prepared by JET Education Services.
• The development of resources on vision and visual perception for early childhood development (ECD) practitioners.
• Using learners' responses to inform the teaching of mathematics: Resource materials based on the Annual National Assessments. Assisting the South African Democratic Teachers Union to establish the Curtis Nkondo Professional Development Institute and acting as the institute's managing agent.
• eMpela: With Conda Technologies and with initial funding from the MRP Foundation, we have been working on the development of this blended learning teacher development programme which is accessible to teachers in rural areas.   
• JET Bulletin: Focus: Teacher professionalisation. How can teachers become more professional?

• In 2020, the Teacher Internship Collaboration South Africa (TICZA) emerged as an innovative vehicle that brings together government, academia, the private sector and implementers in order to drive innovation and continuous improvement in the delivery of teacher internship programmes. The collaborative project, which is being managed by JET, aims to demonstrate teacher internships as an alternative pathway of Initial Teacher Education.