Advanced Certificate in Intermediate Phase Mathematics and English First Additional Language Teaching

Purpose:

The Advanced Certificate in Intermediate Phase Mathematics and English First Additional Language Teaching is a vocational orientated qualification. The knowledge gained emphasises the general principles and their application in Mathematics and English Education. The qualification provides teacher education learners with a sound knowledge base for teaching Mathematics and English (FAL) in Intermediate Phase. It also provides a learner with the ability to apply their knowledge and skills to classroom teaching while equipping them to undertake more specialised and intensive learning. This qualification has a strong professional focus to prepare teachers to teach mathematics in the Intermediate Phase, or to strengthen their existing Mathematics and English content knowledge in the Intermediate Phase. This qualification includes a WIL component embedded. This qualification intends to address the needs of three groups of teachers:

1. Teachers who want to specialise in teaching Mathematics and English (FAL) but who have not studied Mathematics or English as a First Additional Language in a prior professional teaching qualification (retraining).
2. The teachers who have a professional teaching qualification but did not specialise in the intermediate phase. These teachers have acquired appropriate background knowledge by teaching the IP and want to strengthen their knowledge and skills by completing a formal qualification in the Intermediate Phase (Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL) upgrading).
3. Teachers who wish to enhance their specialisation in Mathematics and English (FAL) as a subject in the Intermediate phase. Teachers who studied in an initial three-year Diploma in education, offered by former College of Education or a National Professional Diploma in Education at NQF Level 5) (upgrading).

Rationale:

All learners in South African schools have to take Mathematics and two languages as compulsory subjects up to the end of Grade 9. In all the school phases, learners in South Africa take English as a school subject, be it as a Home Language or as a First Additional Language. For the vast majority of learners, English is, however, the First Additional Language. The teaching of learners is in their Home Language in Grade R-3, but from Grade 4, onwards English becomes the Language of Learning and Teaching (LoLT). Thus learners in Grade 4 and onwards not only have to master new subject content, but they also have to become proficient in English as the LoLT and the FAL. Learners' lack of competence and primarily academic competency in English as the LoLT often causes a barrier to learning and academic success. The results of the various tests and systemic evaluation in Mathematics and Language skills that were published, it is distressing to note how poor the results of the majority of learners are. Mathematics is a hierarchical subject in which cognitive ability to grasp new concepts rests upon previously gained experience. If teachers did not explain the basic concepts in Mathematics, in the Intermediate Phase, it would be impossible to complete further and future studies in Mathematics successfully. Teachers' content knowledge contributes to the quality of teaching mathematics. The ACT (IP) endeavours to train teachers in the content as well as the pedagogical content knowledge to teach mathematics effectively. Language is the vehicle that carries the content of all subjects that have to be studied. If one does not understand the language of learning and teaching, proper knowledge cannot take place. The situation is made worse by the fact that there are a significant number of teachers in South Africa not trained in modern language teaching methods. At the same time, it is planned to strengthen teachers' knowledge of English grammar, language structures and conventions, vocabulary and pronunciation, as well as their understanding of modern language teaching methods. In this Advanced Certificate, it is thus envisaged to strengthen both the subject content knowledge and the curriculum knowledge in Mathematics and English as FAL of IP teachers. When one refers to other subjects taught in the IP phase in the modules of English as FAL, examples from Mathematics will be used.