The dynamics of pre-service teacher entry into teacher education : student teacher selection into teacher training colleges in Zimbabwe

Abstract

The world over, selecting pre-service teachers for training represents a critical stage of teacher education. The process is meant to ensure that suitable candidates join the teaching profession, strengthen the teaching workforce and enhance education quality. However, discourse on student teacher selection into teacher training worldwide has raised numerous questions regarding whom to select and how to select. To date, there seems to be no consensus on selection criteria, mediational tools and rules for student selection into initial teacher education. This study sought to understand student teacher selection into four selected teacher training colleges in Zimbabwe. Through a multiple-site case study involving the selected teacher training colleges, a qualitative approach within an interpretive paradigm was adopted. A multi-modal approach to data generation which involved focus group discussions, interviews and observations of live student selection interviews was employed. Data were transcribed and manually analysed inductively utilising open coding. Drawing on the Cultural Historical Activity Theory (CHAT) and the Funnel Theory to unpack, understand and describe data, I argue that pre-service teacher selection into teacher training programmes involves many complex and convoluted processes. The findings suggest that mediational tools used in student teacher selection into teacher education in Zimbabwe combine psychological (language, knowledge, experiences and signs), and material tools (databases, SMS, written tests, interview schedules, interviews, print media, social media and word of mouth). The rules that guide student teacher selection into the four selected teacher training colleges include college guidelines, minimum requirements, academic performance, student teacher attributes, Public Service Regulations and quality assurance. Stakeholders respond to the demand for vacancies in various ways. Prospective students apply and attend selection interviews, and some unsuccessful candidates pay fees without the offer of vacancies. Government officials respond by submitting lists, while Responsible authorities, politicians, chiefs and community members also submit lists and demand quotas and lecturers threaten to strike if their relatives are not considered. This study further discovered that colleges invite too many candidates – more than 8 000 competing for approximately 500 to 600 vacancies – using a 20-25 minutes interview as the selection tool. In the absence of Ministry policy, colleges adopt diverse tools and rules for student selection. This study argues for an additive model which combines selection tools, guided by clearly laid down Ministry policy for student selection to provide standardisation across colleges and make the process more robust. The thesis suggests a need for further research into enhancing student teacher selection into teacher training colleges. In relation to CHAT, my argument is that the framework provides a useful generic, analytical tool for thinking through the interactions and relationships between human, non-human and social elements on how student teacher selection happens in the activity system – the teacher training college. However, on its own, CHAT does not provide a complete lens to make sense of what happens in the stage-by-stage movement of the prospective student on the selection journey. The thesis, therefore, argues for an additive model to CHAT, which includes a complementary lens – Funnel theory – to expand the framework and deepen its applicability, specifically in trying to understand student teacher selection processes. The thesis suggests the need for more studies, drawing on the framework and developing it to determine its applicability beyond this particular inquiry.