Teacher Education and Institutional Change in South Africa pptx

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Futures are not inevitable. They are imagined and created, but always with the legacy
of the past bound into their very fabric. The important task we have is to be willing to
imagine the creation of institutions and social relationships that maximize outcomes
for all individuals rather than for a few. (Robertson 2005: 167)
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Tables and figures vi
Preface viii
Acknowledgements x
Acronyms and abbreviations xi

1 Studying teacher education and institutional change in
South Africa in 2006 1
Part฀1฀ Historically฀contingent฀pathways฀of฀
restructuring฀
2 Rapidly changing policy and governance 18
3 Internal restructuring in response to external imperatives 35
4 The dynamics of externally mandated change (I): the
incorporation of colleges of education 49
5 The dynamics of externally mandated change (II): mergers
and complexity 79
Part฀2฀฀ Impact฀on฀initial฀teacher฀education฀
6 Current structure, focus and capacity 112
7 Impact of restructuring on the core business of initial teacher
education 152
8 Initial teacher education and institutional change 181
Appendices฀
Appendix 1 Overview of teacher education restructuring,
1990–2004/05 194
Appendix 2 List of interviews conducted at each university 201
Appendix 3 Case study report template 215
References฀ 221
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Tables
Table 1.1 Provision of teacher education, 1994 1
Table 1.2 Provision of pre-service teacher education at public higher education
institutions, 2005 2
Table 1.3 Selection matrix – trajectories of change 10

Table 2.1 Provincial distribution of colleges of education, 1994 21
Table 2.2 The shift from faculties to departments or schools 27
Table 2.3 Trajectories of change in teacher education 33
Table 3.1 Deficits across faculties, University of the Witwatersrand, 2003 42
Table 3.2 Faculties at the University of Fort Hare, 1994–2006 44
Table 3.3 From technical colleges to universities of technology 45
Table 4.1 Legislated college incorporations, 2000 49
Table 4.2 Colleges in KwaZulu-Natal incorporated into higher education
institutions 51
Table 4.3 Amounts allocated for the incorporation of colleges of education (R’000) 53
Table 4.4 Students and academic staff at colleges of education in the Free State,
1998 61
Table 4.5 Colleges of education, Limpopo province, 2000 62
Table 4.6 Colleges of education in the Eastern Cape, 2000 64
Table 6.1 Structure of the divisions at the University of the Witwatersrand School of
Education 126
Table 6.2 Programme organisation, University of the Witwatersrand 127
Table 6.3 Education article output by institution, 2000 and 2004 134
Table 6.4 Permanent academic staff numbers, 2006 135
Table 6.5 HEQC accreditation: National MEd Review, 2005/06 136
Table 6.6 Total education enrolment by province, 1995–2005 139
Table 6.7 Headcount education enrolments per university, 2005 140
Table 6.8. Initial teacher education enrolments, 2005 141
Table 6.9 Postgraduate enrolments in education at universities, 1995–2003 142
Table 6.10 Postgraduate enrolments in education at technikons, 1995–2003 143
Table 6.11 Enrolment trends at the University of Zululand, 2000–2005 144
Table 6.12 Race and gender profile of education students, 1995 and 2004 145
Table 6.13 Initial teacher education enrolments at the University of the Free State,
2001–2005 148
Table 6.14 Enrolments by race and gender at the Cape and Peninsula Technikons,

1995–2003 149
Table 6.15 Enrolments by qualification at the Cape and Peninsula Technikons,
2004 150
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Figures
Figure 5.1 Institutional restructuring in the formation of North-West University 86
Figure 6.1 Rhodes University Faculty of Education organisational structure, 2006 116
Figure 6.2 Structure of the Faculty of Education, University of Zululand 117
Figure 6.3 Structure and hierarchy of the Faculty of Education at the University of
Fort Hare 120
Figure 6.4 Structure of the Faculty of Education at the Cape Technikon 122
Figure 6.5 Structure of the education schools and departments at the Nelson Mandela
Metropolitan University, 2006 123
Figure 6.6 Comparative headcount enrolments in education at the Eastern Cape
universities, 1994–2004 146
Figure 6.7 Students registered at Rhodes University Faculty of Education, 2006 147
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The Teacher Education in South Africa series is produced as part of the Teacher
Education Programme (TEP), funded by the Embassy of the Kingdom of the
Netherlands from 2005 to 2008.
The programme took place at a critical juncture in the development of teacher
education in post-apartheid South Africa. Since 2004, sustained attention has been
given to the improvement of teacher education consequent on the revision of the
curriculum and the restructuring of higher education. In October 2004, the Council
on Higher Education (CHE) initiated a review of teacher education programmes. On

26 April 2007, a National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and Development
was gazetted. This provided the basis for a new system of teacher education and
development for a new generation of South African teachers.
The TEP emerged within this overall context of enhanced attention being given
to the improvement of teacher education. Its overall goal was ‘to contribute to
the knowledge and information base for policy formulation and implementation
regarding the organisation and practice of teacher education, with a particular
emphasis on initial teacher education (both pre-service and upgrading), as well as the
professional development of school leaders and managers’ (CEA, CEPD, EFT, HSRC
& SAIDE 2005). The work was organised under four major themes: teacher supply
and demand; institutional culture and governance; the development of education
management; and literacy and teacher development.
The programme was designed by a consortium of agencies with considerable
expertise and experience in the field: the Centre for Education Policy Development
(CEPD); the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC); the South African Institute
for Distance Education (SAIDE); the Centre for Evaluation and Assessment (CEA)
at the University of Pretoria; and the Education Foundation Trust (EFT).
1
The TEP
was developed in consultation with stakeholders such as the national Department
of Education, the Ministerial Working Group on Teacher Education, the Deans’
Forum and the Council on Higher Education/HEQC, amongst others. Briefing and
consultation continued through the process of research, for the consortium as a
whole and in relation to specific projects.
This is the first of two monographs on the work of a project defined under the theme
of institutional culture and governance. The project aimed to explore, empirically
and conceptually, the impact of two interrelated moments in specific public higher
education settings across the provinces:
• Whataretheconditionsforandthenatureofapproachestoteachereducation
created within specific public higher education institutions, as the outcome of

complex forms of institutional restructuring since 1995?
• Whataretheresultantformsofcurriculumrestructuring,andhowdothey
impact on the preparation of future educators?

1 The EFT has been disbanded, and uncompleted projects have been taken over by the consortium.
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The project was operationalised in sequential components. Component One
comprised a set of literature, conceptual, contextual and empirical overviews, to
lay the foundation for the study. Component Two focused on the history of the
restructuring of teacher education institutions and examined, through a set of
11 case studies, the nature, forms and impact of distinct college incorporation, higher
education restructuring and merger processes on the institutional conditions and
base for teacher education in universities and technikons. Case study site visits were
conducted between February and April 2006.
Returning to the same sites a year or more later, Component Three built on this
analysis by conducting in-depth case studies of curriculum restructuring in the
education schools and faculties of each institution.
The present monograph reports only on the study conducted to address the first aim,
on the history of restructuring. A further monograph reports the findings of the study
that addresses the second aim, on curriculum restructuring in the new configurations.
Both monographs are usefully complemented by reports from the other consortium
research projects, particularly under the themes of supply and demand of teachers,
and of the design and delivery of initial teacher education programmes.
Michael Cosser, HSRC Organisational Manager, Teacher Education Programme
Glenda Kruss, Project Leader
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This study, more than any I have ever worked on, owes everything to the 11
universities that so generously agreed to participate in the study. The study took
place at a time when education faculties and schools were preparing themselves for
the scrutiny of national quality assurance processes, for the first time. As the study
reveals, this came hard on the heels of complex intertwined processes of institutional
restructuring, qualifications and curricula restructuring and changes in the schooling
system – all of which have demanded simultaneous attention from teacher educators,
over a very short and intense period of time. That they were willing to accommodate
our team of researchers at all is testament to their strong and positive commitment to
developing the teaching profession and the teacher education system.
The team of researchers who conducted the case studies in many senses co-authored
this report and, indeed, in places, I have used direct extracts from their reports. For
insightful research conducted under conditions that were not always ideal, I extend
my strong appreciation to, in alphabetical order:
Adele Gordon (consultant), who conducted the case study of teacher education at the
University of Witwatersrand.
Anne Hill (CPUT), who conducted the case study of Rhodes University.
Crispin Hemson (UKZN), who conducted the case study of teacher education at the
University of Zululand.
Ursula Hoadley (HSRC), who conducted the case study of teacher education at North
West University.
Bernadette Johnson (Witwatersrand), who conducted the case study of teacher
education at Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University.
Peter Kallaway (UWC), who conducted the case study of teacher education at the
University of KwaZulu-Natal.
Moeketsi Letseka (HSRC), who conducted the case study of teacher education at the
University of Limpopo.
Mahlubi Mabizela (HSRC), who conducted the case study of teacher education at Fort
Hare.
Venitha Pillay and Chaya Herman (UNISA), who conducted the case study of teacher

education at UNISA.
Yusuf Waghid (Stellenbosch), who conducted the case study of teacher education at
the University of Free State.
Trend data on institutional enrolments were extracted from the HEMIS database
by Fabian Arends, and his willingness to address myriad queries and requests is
gratefully acknowledged.
The support of my colleagues at the HSRC and within the Teacher Education
Programme consortium, particularly Mignonne Breier, Michael Cosser, Tessa Welch,
Michelle Buchler and Phoebe Kaniki, has been invaluable.
The reviewers of the first draft of the monograph provided critical insights that
enabled a more coherent end product. My deep appreciation to Jonathan Jansen,
Linda Chisholm and Mokubung Nkomo for the benefit of their academic expertise.
Finally, I am grateful to the Embassy of the Kingdom of the Netherlands for the
funding which made this research possible.
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ACE Advanced Certificate in Education
BARAT Basic Accounting and Revenue Attribution
BCE Bloemfontein College of Education
BEd Bachelor of Education
BEd Hons Bachelor of Education Honours
BPaed Bachelor of Pedagogics
BPrimEd Bachelor of Primary Education
BTech Bachelor of Technology
CATE College of Advanced Technical Education
CEA Centre for Evaluation and Assessment
CEPD Centre for Education Policy Development
CESM Classification of Education Subject Matter (codes)

CHE Council on Higher Education
COTEP Committee on Teacher Education Policy
CPTD continual professional teacher development
CPUT Cape Peninsula University of Technology
CUT Central University of Technology
DE Diploma in Education
DET Department of Education and Training
DEU distance education unit
DoE Department of Education
DOK Durbanonderwyskollege
DUT Durban University of Technology
ECHEA Eastern Cape Higher Education Association
EFT Education Foundation Trust
ELRC Education Labour Relations Council
FDE Further Diploma in Education
FERTI Faculty of Education, Research Technology and Innovation Unit
FET further education and training band
GET general education and training band
HDE Higher Diploma in Education
HEI higher education institution
HEQC Higher Education Quality Committee
HSRC Human Sciences Research Council
INSET in-service education for teachers
IOP institutional operating plan
JCE Johannesburg College of Education
JET Joint Educational Trust
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LSM learning support material
MASTEC Mathematics, Science and Technology Education College
MCTE Ministerial Committee on Teacher Education
MEC member of the executive council
MEd Master of Education
MT Mangosuthu Technikon
MTech Master of Technology
NDE National Diploma in Education
NHDE National Higher Diploma in Education
NMMU Nelson Mandela Metropolitan University
NPDE National Professional Diploma in Education
NWU North-West University
OBE outcomes-based education
PET Port Elizabeth Technikon
PGCE Postgraduate Certificate in Education
PGDHE Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education
PSCBC Public Service Co-ordinating Bargaining Council
RAU Rand Afrikaans University
RNCS revised national curriculum statements
RU Rhodes University
RUEL Rhodes University East London (campus)
SACOL South African College for Open Learning
SACTE South African College of Teacher Education
SAIDE South African Institute for Distance Education
SAQA South African Qualifications Authority
SED secondary education
SES School of Educational Studies
SLLME School of Language, Literacy and Media Education
SSSE School of Social Science Education
SSMTE School for Natural Science, Mathematics & Technology Education

STD Secondary Teachers Diploma
TEP Teacher Education Programme
TSA Technikon Southern Africa
TUT Tshwane University of Technology
UCT University of Cape Town
UDW University of Durban-Westville
UED University Education Diploma
UFH University of Fort Hare
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UFS University of Free State
UJ University of Johannesburg
UKZN University of KwaZulu-Natal
UL University of Limpopo
Unibo University of Bophuthatswana
UNISA University of South Africa
Unitra University of Transkei
UP University of Pretoria
UPE University of Port Elizabeth
US University of Stellenbosch
UV University of Venda
UWC University of the Western Cape
UZ University of Zululand
VUDEC Vista University Distance Education Campus
VUT Vaal University of Technology
WCED Western Cape Education Department
Wits University of the Witwatersrand
WSE Wits School of Education
WSU Walter Sisulu University

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Studying teacher education and
institutional change in South Africa
in 2006
Introduction
This monograph attempts to analyse the distinct restructuring processes evident in a
diverse range of public teacher education providers, and the complex ways in which
these shape the conditions for, and approaches to, initial teacher education.
Rapid institutional shifts in teacher education provision in South Africa
In 1994, at the time of the first National Teacher Education Audit, the South African
teacher education landscape was considered to be highly fragmented, located in a
wide variety of institutional sites, in contact and distance mode (see Table 1.1). A
large proportion of provision was ‘in-service’ education offered by NGOs and the
Department of Education. There was a total of 116 796 students enrolled for initial
teacher education programmes (Hofmeyr & Hall 1995). Most of these students were
enrolled in state contact colleges of education (70 731), followed by contact universities
(20 734). The trend towards a growing scale of provision in the private colleges and in
distance education in the state colleges was marked (some 11 000 each) (Hofmeyr &
Hall 1995). From this large student enrolment, it was predicted that the system would
produce a modest 26 316 new teachers in 1994. Notably, very few new teachers were
graduating from technikons and distance universities.
Table 1.1 Provision of teacher education, 1994
Providers Number of institutions Total enrolment New teachers
State colleges (contact) 93 70 731 17 655
State colleges (distance) 8 44 117
Private colleges (contact) 5 11 000
i

700
Private colleges (distance) 3 24 532
Universities (distance) 3 60 038 225
Universities (contact) 20 28 954
ii
7 420
Technikons (contact) 5 1 846 316
Technikons (distance) 1 164
NGOs 99 115 882
NGOs (distance) 3 763
Dept. INSET 41 122 290
Source: Hofmeyr & Hall (1995)
Note: i This figure represents an estimate, as the sector was not audited comprehensively; ii This figure includes higher degree
and INSET (in-service education for teachers) enrolments
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Just over ten years later, in 2005, initial teacher education was taking place in a very
changed institutional landscape, consisting of 22 public universities and universities of
technology, and, on a small scale, national institutes of higher learning (NIHL) in the
two provinces that do not host universities (see Table 1.2). Continuing professional
development remains based in a wider range of universities, departmental institutions
and a small number of registered private higher education providers.
Table 1.2 Provision of pre-service teacher education at public higher education institutions, 2005
Institution Enrolments for pre-service teacher
education (4-year diploma or
degree, or PGCE)
Expected completions by

April 2006
Universities
UNISA 6 390 1 974
UFH 329 117
NMMU 482 145
RU 42 42
WSU 587 60
UFS n.a. n.a.
UP 2 057 381
Wits 889 300
UJ 599 156
UL 538 27
UV n.a. n.a.
UKZN 1 923 461
UZ n.a. n.a.
NWU 2 844 435
UWC 426 95
UCT 94 94
US 681 216
Universities of technology
CUT 580 198
TUT 741 132
VUT n.a. n.a.
DUT 437 19
CPUT 2 109 316
National institutes
NIHL (Mpumalanga) 365 154
NIHL (Northern Cape) n.a. n.a.
Source: Adapted from data supplied by the Ministerial Committee on Teacher Education, August 2005
Note: For the full names of the institutions, please refer to the list of acronyms and abbreviations on pp. xi–xiii.

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Table 1.2 provides an indication of the scale and rapid pace of change in the teacher
education system between 1994 and 2005, characterised by a decline in status and
size of the initial teacher education sector (Hindle 2003; Crouch 2000; Crouch & Perry
2003). It is estimated that the system now has the capacity to produce approximately
5 000–6 000 newly qualified teachers in a given year.
2
This has led to concerns
about a shortage in teacher supply, and about the quality of the teachers produced
and their ability to deal with the rigours of implementing the new education system
(Department of Education 2005a; Peltzer et al. 2005). The concern is not simply that
the capacity to produce sufficient numbers of new teachers appears to have been
significantly eroded. The capacity of the teacher education system to produce the
kind of teachers required by new education policy to promote development and
growth in South Africa is equally significant (Welch 2004b).
The capacity of the system has been shaped by a decade of far-reaching national
legislative, policy and structural change. In particular, a complex process of
institutional restructuring has led to changes in the nature of the provision of teacher
education in South Africa, as the teacher education system has engaged with global
trends and national demands since 1994. Change is necessary and inevitable after the
democratic transition of 1994, but a rapidly shifting institutional and organisational
base has implications for the ways in which the challenges of initial teacher
education can be met.
Typically, it is claimed that a great deal of the energy of higher education providers
has been directed towards dealing with institutional restructuring and mergers
(Parker 2003; Lewin, Samuel & Sayed 2003; Reddy 2003; Jansen 2002). The demands
placed on teacher education and the strain potentially placed on the provision of

initial teacher education are immense, to the extent that some have raised questions
about the ability of the new higher education providers to ‘enact the mandate of the
laudable visions for teacher education with the current resources and capacities left
within the system’ (Samuel 2004: 2).
Clearly, research is required in order to understand the specificities of institutional
change and its impact on the conditions for teacher education. Such is the broad task
to which this monograph aims to contribute, with a specific focus on the provision of
initial teacher education.
A double dynamic shaping teacher education globally
Institutional change in South African teacher education has occurred in the context of
a double dynamic driving teacher education globally, of changes relating to education
and teacher policy, on the one hand, and changes occurring in higher education, on
the other.
Teachers and schools are challenged to prepare young people in new ways to meet
the needs of a knowledge economy. In a range of international contexts, teacher
policy, standing at the heart of the education system, has been variously reformed,
remodelled and transformed (Butt & Gunter 2005; Stuart & Tatto 2000; Sandy 2006;
Avalos 2000). This impacts on teacher education, and has shifted the relationship
between teacher education institutions and different levels of government, with
2 Excluding estimates for the Universities of Free State, Venda and Zululand, the Vaal University of Technology and the
Northern Cape National Institute, 5 322 qualified teachers are expected to be produced.
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different degrees and forms of ‘state steering’ typically leading to greater centralisation
of control over teacher education (Belfield 2005; Thomas 2005; Ozga 2005; Ball 2003;
Bales 2006; Lomas 2005).
At the same time, teacher education has shifted from being based in independent
colleges in a post-secondary sector to being incorporated within the tertiary sector,

with varying degrees of de/re-professionalisation, in a range of countries (Bereiter
2002; Hall, Symes & Luescher 2004; Middleton 2004; Willumsen 1998). In the
Australian context, for example, the process was driven by the national government,
and was designed to create a more flexible and responsive higher education system
that could ‘do more with less’ funding (Abbot & Doucouliagos 2003; Abbot 1997).
Teacher education then becomes subject to the challenges and global dynamics
shaping higher education itself. Globally, teacher education providers are facing an
imperative to change, both from shifting education policies and relationships, and
from shifting policies and relationships within their new higher education location,
intersecting in complex ways.
However, while there is a strong degree of global convergence, and considerable
evidence of ‘policy borrowing’ (Phillips & Ochs 2004; Jansen 2004; Steiner-Khamsi
2006; Spreen 2004), this double dynamic takes distinct forms and trajectories in
different national contexts. The South African mediation of global trends is highly
particular, in that it is strongly shaped by the imperatives of dismantling the apartheid
past. It is also apparent that shifts in teacher education governance that played out
over decades in other national contexts have been compressed into a very short time
frame in South Africa. Since 1994, change has been initiated on all fronts and at all
levels simultaneously (Parker 2003; Samuel 2004).
In brief, the South African trajectory is strongly shaped and constrained by the
inherited, fragmented, inefficient system described by the National Teacher Education
Audit in 1995. The initial focus of change was to rationalise the inefficient and costly
college sector, by incorporating teacher education into the universities and technikons
(Reddy 2003; Pratt 2001; Sayed 2002; Nieuwenhuis & Mokoena 2005). However,
insufficient attention was paid to the capacity of higher education institutions to bear
the full responsibility for teacher education; and teacher education policy-makers did
not foresee the process of institutional merger that would, in turn, change the higher
education institutional landscape a few years later.
This stark analysis of the double dynamic belies the complex trajectories of individual
institutions. It does not reflect the distinct trajectories of change that teacher

educators, faculties, schools and departments in the new universities, comprehensive
universities and universities of technology have taken to arrive at the present point.
The increasing trend towards stronger centralised state steering, and the analyses of a
growing gap between policy intent and institutional practice, highlight the complexity
of state steering of change and the political processes of interaction at multiple levels,
and that understanding institutional interactions and mediation of policy imperatives
is critical (Lewin et al. 2003; Welch & Gultig 2002; Parker 2003).
It may be that there are yet greater governance changes awaiting us in the next few
years. However, ten years is a good period to reflect on, to critically analyse and
attempt to understand the ways in which institutions have come to take the shape
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they have, the kinds of relationships they are able to forge externally and internally,
and the kinds of possibilities and constraints these place on initial teacher education.
A contingency approach to research restructuring
For the most part, the comparative and emerging South African literature on mergers
was found to be too limited for the task. Much of the initial literature had a policy
intent, attempting to debate the merits of mergers as a government policy tool to
transform the higher education system (Kotecha & Harman 2001; Hall et al. 2004;
Elliot 2005; Humphrey 2003; Anderson 2004; Reddy 2000). However, a ‘contingency’
approach, evident in the study of mergers and of policy change in teacher education
(Welch & Gultig 2002; Sayed 2002; Robinson 2003; Samuel 2001; Lewin et al. 2003;
Parker 2003; Jansen 2002), provides an appropriate framework for understanding the
trajectories of change of distinct higher education institutions. Specifically, our study
draws on the work of Jansen and his colleagues, who argued that the origins, forms
and outcomes of mergers are conditioned by, and contingent on, specific forms of
interaction between institutional micro-politics and government macro-politics. In
order to understand the new organisational forms that result, we need specific studies

of the ways in which distinct institutions have mediated policy and have been able to
negotiate their interests, based on their institutional micro-politics, in complex forms
of interaction with government macro-political frameworks and actions (Jansen 2002;
Sehoole 2005; Mfusi 2004; Pillay 2004).
Such an approach to understanding the processes and outcomes of restructuring is
historical and sociological, rather than psychological. This is in contrast to a sizable
emerging body of research into the psychological impact of mergers on academic
staff in South Africa, typically using a methodology of surveys of perceptions and
attitudes (Wyngaard & Kapp 2004; Woodward & Parsons 2004; Arnolds & Boshoff
2004; Maree & Eiselen 2004; Hay & Fourie 2002; Becker et al. 2004; Van der
Westhuizen 2004). A contingency approach assumes that change is not top-down
and that policy implementation is not a rational process. In this study, it leads us to
examine the interplay between the macro, meso and micro levels of the interplay
between national policy, institutional strategies and education faculties/schools/
departments with their academics. It stresses the importance of understanding
complex micro-political processes and interactions, particularly the conflicts,
compromises and contestations that occur as policy is mediated in practice. Thus,
it emphasises the importance of empirically contextualised analyses of individual
institutional dynamics, of understanding the trajectories of education faculties and
departments as their academic staff mediate policy in their engagement with national
policy frameworks and with their own institutional management.
On the basis of their comparative case studies of incorporations and mergers, Jansen
and his team developed a useful, contextually grounded taxonomy of forms of
merger and incorporation. In some cases, mergers and incorporations have led to
‘institutional obliteration’, where little remains of the structures and programmes of
the partner being incorporated, or to ‘protected enclosure’, where the incorporated
institution continues to operate along the lines of business as usual, but within the
merged institution. Other forms are ‘subsumed integration’, where the one partner
is integrated but in a subordinate manner, retaining only parts of its former identity
or programmes, and, finally, ‘equal partnership’, where integration occurs on a more

equitable basis. These distinctions are adopted in our study to understand the forms
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of incorporation and merger that ultimately contribute to shape the challenges and
opportunities for the new teacher education faculty or school.
The present research study, thus, begins where the work of these researchers left
off, but extending and deepening the analysis of teacher education and institutional
change that has begun to emerge, in a number of ways.
First, most of the existing studies focused on a single case or, at best, a small number
of cases. This study covered a large number of cases (11), spread across the national
teacher education system in seven provinces, at a single point in time. Rather than
focusing on understanding mergers per se, it focused on the dynamics impacting on
teacher education, of which mergers are but one aspect.
Second, it consequently proposed to cover a wider range of forms of merger than
teacher college incorporation, to allow for meaningful cross-site comparisons, and to
inform understanding of the condition of the teacher education system in 2006/07.
The focus was on ‘institutional restructuring’, broadly defined, in its empirically
complex forms. The complexity of forms of restructuring meant that the study
needed to select cases of each possible form to illustrate the wide range of different
trajectories. This will be discussed further in the second section of this chapter.
Third, the study potentially deepened the existing analyses, in that it was able
to reflect on a ten-year period within which new symbolic policy and legislative
frameworks were mediated by individual institutions. Earlier studies reflected
on mergers and incorporations from a time perspective very close to their
implementation. For instance, teacher college incorporations were studied a year or
two after the event, which meant that there had been little time for the changes to
take effect and impact on daily practice. A longer time period can create analytical
distance. By drawing on some of the early research analyses of mergers and selecting

some of the same empirical sites, it was possible to develop better understanding of
restructuring processes and dynamics over an extended period of time.
Fourth, many of the existing studies were conducted at a time of heightened
policy expectation, and tended to focus on the gap between symbolic policy and
implemented policy. Such a deficit approach is not useful, as it does not assist us
in understanding the current institutional conditions within which teacher education
takes place, and within which policy goals are to be attained.
Finally, in its approach to restructuring, significantly, the study aimed to move beyond
the focus on organisational aspects and interpersonal issues so widespread in the
literature on mergers. Instead, it traced dynamics of mergers and incorporation historically
and interactively, in relation to their institutional, provincial and national contexts and
dynamics. It does not focus on analysing whether a merger or rationalisation has ‘worked’
or how it can be assisted to ‘work better’. Rather, it attempts to analyse how the structures
and dynamics that are the outcome of restructuring will shape the conditions in which
future decisions are taken about initial teacher education programmes and curricula.
The focus on a complex of dynamics simultaneously intersecting at multiple levels
framed the research questions that guided the empirical case studies:
• Whatarethehistoricalformsandprocessesofinstitutionalrestructuring
experienced by public teacher education providers from 1994 to 2005?
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• Howhaveschools,departmentsandfacultiesofeducationwithdistincthistories
mediated policy and negotiated their interests in relation to national policy
frameworks and national and provincial education structures?
• Howhaveschools,departmentsandfacultiesofeducationinteractedstrategically
within their institutions, in terms of mediating the impact of internally and
externally mandated restructuring?
• Howhaveacademicswithinneworganisationalstructuresinteractedtomediate

the impact of restructuring?
• Howhavedynamicsateachoftheselevelsinteractedtoshapedistinct
trajectories of restructuring?
• Whatistheimpactofdistinctformsofrestructuringoninitialteachereducation
programme and curriculum decision-making processes?
A multiple, comparative case study design
A multiple, comparative case study design was proposed, to facilitate the description
of the contingent nature of teacher education institutional trajectories of change
in relation to national policy, general institutional strategic dynamics and micro-
dynamics of faculties, schools or departments. Detailed case studies focused
on understanding the complex process of restructuring as it played out in each
institution, and its potential impact on shaping provision of initial teacher education.
The specific techniques utilised for the case study were:
• Aninstitutionalhistorywithafocussince1994,constructedfromanalysisofofficial
institutional policy and documents, interviews with current managers (deans, heads
of department or heads of schools) and former heads of colleges or merging
entities, as well as analysis of HEMIS data and of secondary research reports.
• Analysisof(therangeof)mediationsofthenewnationalteachereducationpolicy
framework and the experience of teacher educators within the newly restructured
institution, drawn from individual interviews with senior and long-serving staff
members and focus-group interviews with teacher educators, to represent all the
‘constituent institutions’ (whether a college, university or technikon).
• Anoverviewofthecurrentinstitutionalgovernancestructuresthathave
developed, focusing on the relative power and contribution of ‘constituent
institutions’, drawn from interviews with current managers within the teacher
education school, department or faculty, as well as former heads of colleges or
merging entities.
• Anoverviewoftherecenthistoryandcurrentpositioningofteachereducation
within the higher education institution, drawn from interviews with current
managers within the institution in general and in the teacher education school,

department or faculty, as well as with former heads of colleges or merging entities.
• Analysisoftheeffectsofrestructuringonthecorebusinessofteachereducation,
exploring consensus or conflict and tension around pedagogical approaches and
discourses of initial teacher education, through interviews with senior academics
and focus-group interviews with teacher educators.
This research design was a generic one, customised and tailored to the situation of
each institution.
3

3 The greatest adaptation was required in the case of Rhodes, given that the history of the Rhodes education faculty was
anomalous in relation to that of other institutions in the study, which had all undergone externally imposed restructuring.
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Developing a selection matrix
The selection of cases to illustrate the complex forms of institutional restructuring
nationally was critical.
The focus of the study was the public teacher education system, both because it has
been most subject to state steering in new policy directions, and for the purpose of
containing the empirical focus of the project. Likewise, the study focused on initial
teacher education programmes, both because of the looming potential shortage and
decreased institutional capacity to produce new teachers, and for the purpose of
containing the empirical focus.
There are several dimensions that may be considered significant in determining
criteria to select institutions for comparative case studies. For instance, the
geographical spread of teacher education provision has shifted significantly with
the incorporation of primarily rural-based colleges into higher education institutions
that tend to be based in major metropolitan areas. It has been suggested that the
rural-urban divide is a significant criterion. Or, the difference between university

and technikon (now university of technology) provision may be significant, in that
many technikons only recently have introduced or expanded their teacher education
provision, with the introduction of degree-granting powers in the form of the BTech.
It may also be argued that the apartheid-created distinctions between historically
advantaged and disadvantaged higher education institutions remain the most
significant criterion for selection.
The approach adopted here is that the salient feature for selecting cases is the
trajectory of change they have been subject to, intersecting with their formal
organisational structure. These two dimensions will be explained in the following
sub-sections, before the selection matrix is presented in Table 1.3.
Four possible trajectories
An initial analysis of the policy and legislative context suggested that restructuring
had four main trajectories, in distinct periods:
• Inthemid-to-late1990s,manyofthethen35universitiesrestructuredinternally
in response to changing global and national higher education imperatives.
In many cases, the status and position of education faculties was diminished
considerably within the institution. A total of six of the 22 teacher education
institutions have undergone ‘only’ this form of internally mandated change, and
no further institutional restructuring.
• FromJanuary2001,collegesofeducationwereincorporatedlegislativelyinto
higher education, driven by state concerns about the cost, efficiency and
quality of colleges. Five institutions have undergone this externally mandated
change, with varying permutations of incorporation, and no further institutional
restructuring. They are likely to have undergone earlier internal restructuring,
but this can only be established empirically.
• From2002to2005,aprocessofmergersandpartialincorporationswas
initiated to restructure the higher education landscape, impacting in distinct
ways on education faculties and schools. Three institutions have undergone this
externally mandated change, which may involve the incorporation or merger of
two or more formal structures of teacher education. Each may have undergone

earlier internal restructuring, but they did not incorporate colleges.
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• From1995to2005,someinstitutionsexperiencedthesemultiplewavesof
restructuring cumulatively in rapid succession over an extremely short period
of five years. They have undergone internally and externally mandated change,
having restructured internally, incorporated teacher education colleges, and
experienced institutional mergers consecutively. Eight teacher education
providers have undergone such multiple layers of organisational change.
Table 1.3 summarises the options this analysis contributed to the selection matrix to
ensure that a spread of possible trajectories of change was covered.
This analysis also highlights key definitional distinctions that are used consistently
throughout the study. ‘Restructuring’ is a generic term that describes the multiple
forms of institutional change experienced in teacher education. ‘Internal restructuring’
refers to structural processes and change internal to a university, driven by its own
agendas and interests. ‘Incorporation’ refers to a process in which one institution
or a component thereof becomes legally part of another public higher education
institution that retains its former identity (see also the definitions in the Higher
Education Act 101 of 1997). ‘Merger’ refers to a process whereby two or more
institutions are combined into a single new institution that has to create a new,
shared identity (see also Goedgebuure 2002; Kotecha & Harman 2001; Harman &
Meek 2002: Hall et al. 2004).
Shifts in the formal structure
Preliminary data on the current organisational form of each teacher education
institution were obtained from a 2004 audit conducted by the Higher Education
Quality Committee (HEQC) of the Council on Higher Education (a full summary of
the audit data is provided in Appendix 1.) An initial examination of trends in the
formal structure of teacher education provision in higher education highlighted a

distinct shift over the period from an education faculty to a school or department of
education within a university faculty. These new parent faculties are most typically
the humanities, but range from faculties of science to management and commerce or
applied technology. In 1990, the predominant organisational form was a faculty, but
by 2005, there had been a significant shift towards schools and departments.
The significance of the shift from a faculty to a school within a larger faculty in
terms of the institutional status and power of teacher education will be elaborated
in Chapter 2. It is significant in terms of access to financial resources and decisions
about human resources at the meso level within an institution. While reorganisation
into fewer but larger managerial and administrative units is a global feature of change
in higher education structures, the loss of status of teacher education in South African
higher education from the late 1990s until recently is significant. As the Ministerial
Committee on Teacher Education (2004b) pointed out, it is underscored by the
fact that teacher education falls into the lowest funding band for the allocation of
government subsidy funds to an institution, which further diminishes the status of this
critical professional educational field.
While the difference between a faculty and a school may be overestimated, the shift
seemed stark initially and contributed a second dimension to the selection matrix (see
Table 1.3). Two cross-cutting options were whether teacher education remained (or
became) organised in a faculty or a school (or, in one or two cases, a department).
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A provincial spread
It was deemed important to have a provincial spread of cases, given the fact that
teacher education had been strongly shaped by provincial departments of education
until very recently, and that provincial education departments remain the employers
of graduates. Thus, a decision was taken to select two cases from provinces with a
large number of institutions offering teacher education, as follows:

• EasternCape(currently4highereducationproviders,althoughtherewere
7 providers in 2004, prior to the finalisation of higher education mergers);
• WesternCape(4from5institutionsin2004);
• KwaZulu-Natal(3from4in2004);and
• Gauteng(6from10in2004).
One case was selected from those provinces with a small number of institutions, as
follows:
• FreeState(currentlyandpriorto2004,2institutions);
• Limpopo(2institutions);and
• NorthWest(1providerfrom2in2003).
A factor that influenced the final selection was to choose institutions that were
being studied at the time or had been studied recently, which could create a richer
historical comparative base.
The selection matrix
Thus, the selection matrix was devised by juxtaposing the formal organisational
structure and the four possible trajectories. Institutions were selected as historically
situated exemplars of the range of possible restructuring dynamics in the South
African context over the previous decade. The 11 selected case studies are
highlighted in Table 1.3.
Table 1.3 Selection matrix – trajectories of change
Period Trajectory of change Education faculty School or department of
education
Mid-to-late
1990s
Internal higher
education institutional
reorganisation in
response to shifting
context
Rhodes University

Stellenbosch University
University of the
Western Cape
Vaal University of
Technology
University of Cape Town
1999–2002 Incorporation of teacher
education colleges
externally imposed
University of Zululand
University of Pretoria
University of the
Witwatersrand
University of Venda
2002–2005 Higher education
institutional mergers
externally imposed
University of Fort Hare
Tshwane University of
Technology
University of
Johannesburg
Central University of
Technology
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Period Trajectory of change Education faculty School or department of
education

2002–2005 Internal restructuring,
college incorporation
and institutional merger
Cape Peninsula
University of
Technology
Nelson Mandela
Metropolitan University
North West University
University of KwaZulu-
Natal
Durban Institute of
Technology
Walter Sisulu University
of Technology
University of South
Africa
University of Limpopo
University of Free State
The dean or head of department of each of the 11 institutions was approached
formally with a written letter and requested to negotiate the participation of his or
her institution. Through further telephonic negotiations, the consent of ten institutions
was obtained. The staff of Stellenbosch University declined to participate on the
grounds that their time was absorbed by the HEQC quality-assurance processes, and
further involvement would impact on the achievement of their performance targets.
After careful consideration, Rhodes University was selected as being most akin to
Stellenbosch, on the grounds that its institution had remained a faculty, and was
characterised by internal restructuring only, with minimal institutional change or
upheaval relative to other institutions in the national system. This, however, meant
that ultimately there were three cases from the Eastern Cape and one from the

Western Cape.
Data sources
Four primary data sources and one secondary data source were accessed in a range
of ways, for multiple purposes.
Institutional documentation and data ranged from faculty reports and data on staffing
profiles gathered on site to data on initial teacher education enrolment and graduation
compiled from HEMIS. University websites were consulted for data on the faculty/
departmental/school structure and the programme structure. Data were elicited using
an institutional profile template.
Individual semi-structured interviews with the dean or head focused on the history
and current organisational structure of teacher education in the national and
provincial contexts and within the institution. In some cases, it was important to
interview the former head of constituent structures, as well as the current head. In
some cases, it was important to interview the dean of the faculty within which the
institution was located, as well as the head of the school or department. An interview
schedule for former and current heads was used for this purpose (see Appendix 2 for
a list of interviews conducted).
The experience of senior staff and long-serving individuals at the second level of
authority and decision-making in the teacher education institution was accessed.
Heads of administrative/academic units within the faculty, school or department,
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