Faculty Perceptions of Teacher Education Curriculum Responsiveness and Pre-Service Teachers’ Acquisition of 21st Century Skills: A Case Study

Abstract

The curriculum is the vehicle that drives teaching and learning processes. Regarding the South African teacher education curriculum (SATEC), scholars and researchers are negatively disposed and have contrasting views about its responsiveness to learners’ diverse learning needs and skill development. This study, therefore, explored the perceptions of teacher educators at a public university in South Africa with regard to the teacher education curriculum’s responsiveness (TECR) and potential in developing pre-service teachers’ 21st century skills (PT21Cs). Underpinned by the constructivist theory (CT), via the interpretivist paradigm, this study utilised a phenomenological case study design of the qualitative research approach. This study’s population consisted of lecturers in the education faculty at the sampled university. The purposive sampling technique was used in selecting seven participants (five females and two males). A semi-structured interview guide was used to collect data for this study, and analysed using Inductive Thematic Analysis (ITA) via ATLAS.ti software version 24. The findings reveal that SATEC is somewhat culturally and disciplinarily responsive but highly structured and is not adequately developing pre-service teachers’ 21st century skills as it should. The challenges in implementing a responsive curriculum and the development of pre-service teachers’ 21st century skills, as well as strategies for addressing these, were discussed. This study recommends that further teacher education curriculum reviews and evaluations, as Education 5.0 dictates and per the Sustainable Development Goals 2030 and 2063, as well as teacher educators’ professional development and training, be pursued and actualised.