Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Tutorial Letter 101/0/2024: Teaching Practice 1 TPF2601 Year Module Department of Early Childhood Education
Tutorial Letter 101/0/2024: Teaching Practice 1 TPF2601 Year Module Department of Early Childhood Education
Teaching Practice 1
TPF2601
Year module
BARCODE
CONTENTS
Page
1 INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................................................................. 3
2 PURPOSE AND OUTCOMES ........................................................................................................................ 4
2.1 Purpose ........................................................................................................................................................... 4
2.2 Outcomes ........................................................................................................................................................ 5
3 CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION ............................................................................................................. 7
4 LECTURER(S) AND CONTACT DETAILS .................................................................................................... 7
4.1 Lecturer(s) ....................................................................................................................................................... 7
4.2 Department ...................................................................................................................................................... 7
4.3 University ......................................................................................................................................................... 8
5 RESOURCES .................................................................................................................................................. 8
5.1 Prescribed book(s) .......................................................................................................................................... 8
5.2 Recommended book(s) ................................................................................................................................... 8
5.3 Electronic reserves (e-reserves) ........................................................................................................................ 8
6 STUDENT SUPPORT SERVICES .................................................................................................................. 9
6.1 The Unisa First-Year Experience Programme .............................................................................................. 10
7 STUDY PLAN................................................................................................................................................ 11
8 PRACTICAL WORK AND WORK-INTEGRATED LEARNING ................................................................... 11
8.1 School placements ...................................................................................................................................... 11
8.2 Duration of teaching practice..................................................................................................................... 11
9 ASSESSMENT .............................................................................................................................................. 12
9.1 Assessment criteria ....................................................................................................................................... 12
9.2 Assessment plan ........................................................................................................................................... 12
9.3 Assessment due dates .................................................................................................................................. 13
9.4 Submission of assessments .......................................................................................................................... 13
9.5 The assessments .......................................................................................................................................... 14
9.6 Other assessment methods .......................................................................................................................... 14
9.7 The examination ............................................................................................................................................ 14
10 ACADEMIC DISHONESTY........................................................................................................................... 15
10.1 Plagiarism ...................................................................................................................................................... 15
10.2 Cheating ........................................................................................................................................................ 15
10.3 For more information about plagiarism, follow the link below: ...................................................................... 16
11 STUDENTS LIVING WITH DISABILITIES ................................................................................................... 16
12 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS .......................................................................................................... 16
13 SOURCES CONSULTED ............................................................................................................................. 16
14 IN CLOSING.................................................................................................................................................. 16
15 ADDENDUM ...............................................................................................................................16
2
TPF2601/101/0/2024
1 INTRODUCTION
Dear Student
Unisa is a comprehensive open distance e-learning (CODeL) higher education institution. The
comprehensiveness of our curricula encapsulates a range of offerings, from strictly vocational
to strictly academic certificates, diplomas and degrees. Unisa's "openness" and its distance
eLearning character result in many students registering at Unisa who may not have had an
opportunity to enrol in higher education. Our CODeL character implies that our programmes are
carefully planned and structured to ensure success for students ranging from the under-
prepared but with potential to the sufficiently prepared.
Teaching and learning in a CODeL context involves multiple modes of delivery ranging from
blended learning to fully online. As a default position, all post graduate programmes are offered
fully online with no printed study materials, while undergraduate programmes are offered in a
blended mode of delivery where printed study materials are augmented with online teaching and
learning via the learner management system – myUnisa. In some instances, undergraduate
programmes are offered fully online as well.
Furthermore, our programmes are aligned with the vision, mission and values of the University.
Unisa's commitment to serve humanity and shape futures combined with a clear appreciation of
our location on the African continent, Unisa's graduates have distinctive graduate qualities which
include
• independent, resilient, responsible and caring citizens who are able to fulfil and serve in
multiple roles in their immediate and future local, national and global communities
• having a critical understanding of their location on the African continent with its histories,
challenges and potential in relation to globally diverse contexts
• the ability to critically analyse and evaluate the credibility and usefulness of information
and data from multiple sources in a globalised world with its ever-increasing information
and data flows and competing worldviews
• an awareness of their own learning and developmental needs and future potential
3
we use myUnisa as our virtual campus. This is an online system that is used to administer,
document and deliver educational material to you and support engagement with you. Look out
for information from your lecturer as well as other Unisa platforms to determine how to access
the virtual myUnisa module site. Information on the tools that will be available to engage with
the lecturer and fellow students to support your learning will also be communicated via various
platforms.
You are encouraged to log into the module site on myUnisa regularly (that is, at least twice per
week).
This module, TPF2601, is an essential part of the Initial Teacher Education (ITE) programmes.
This teaching practice is now the culmination of everything you have studied and need to put in
practice. It is a work-integrated learning module set out as follows:
PRACTICAL APPLICATION
TPF2601 – Five weeks of school based practical teaching experience in the Foundation Phase
divided as follows:
You will be required to submit two assessments (Assessments 1 and 2) and two portfolios
(Assessments 50 and 51) for this Teaching Practice module.
The Teaching Practice module forms part of a series of learning situations for prospective teachers
in which they are systematically confronted with, or have the opportunity to carry out, teaching and
classroom management activities under the supervision of experienced teachers and mentors.
4
TPF2601/101/0/2024
The purpose of this module is to give you the opportunity to become acquainted with formal
teaching in a practical school situation and to apply the theoretical knowledge you have gained
in all the modules of this programme. This module therefore focuses on the practical application of
the various teaching and learning strategies of the theoretical modules.
Unisa follows a school-based initial teacher education model. According to this model, partner
schools and higher education institutions (HEIs) are jointly responsible for the planning and
management of programmes, and the training and assessment of student teachers. Schools have
the responsibility to train student teachers to teach their subjects and learning areas, to assess
learners and to manage classes. Schools are also required to supervise student teachers and
assess their competence. HEIs have the responsibility to ensure that programmes meet the
requirements for academic validation, to present programmes for accreditation, and to award
qualifications to successful student teachers.
According to the Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications (2018), practical
learning is associated with the acquisition, integration and application of knowledge for teaching
purposes. This document further explains that “work-integrated learning (WIL) takes place in the
workplace and can include aspects of learning from practice (e.g. observing and reflecting on
lessons taught by others), as well as learning in practice (e.g. preparing, teaching and reflecting on
lessons presented by oneself). Practical learning is an important condition for the development of
tacit knowledge, which is an essential component of learning to teach”.
This module builds on all the modules in your BEd programme as well as on Teaching Practice I
where the focus is on the school-based observation. It provides guidelines for a five-week
placement period in a school focusing on observation. Qualifying graduates will observe and
report on school policies, classroom activities, and available resources in a class context. The
placement will require five weeks in a school.
2.2 Outcomes
Your learning process, through this Teaching Practice module, is based on purposeful and
systematic practice and learning (from supervised teaching to co-teaching through to independent
teaching).
5
• to provide you with an opportunity to put theories into practice and to develop a deeper
understanding of educational principles and their implications for learning and
to assist you in developing skills relating to the application of fundamental procedures,
techniques and methods of teaching
• to assist you in developing desirable professional interests, attitudes and ideas relative to
the teaching profession
• to provide you with an opportunity to observe and report on classroom activities, policies
and available resources in a class context
Below are the specific outcomes you should achieve in this module, together with the assessment
criteria related to each outcome.
Please make sure that you read the Educator Code of Conduct as drafted by the South African
Council for Educators – especially point 3, which relates to the educator and learners. You will be
expected to conduct yourself in accordance with this code and the specific code of conduct for
teachers that your school has set out. You also need to apply for registration with SACE as a
student teacher. This is explained in Tutorial Letter 102. You will find the Educator Code of Conduct
here: www.sace.org.za/upload/files/ethics-brochure.pdf.
6
TPF2601/101/0/2024
3 CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION
Unisa has implemented a transformation charter, in terms of which the University has placed curriculum
transformation high on the teaching and learning agenda. Curriculum transformation includes student-
centred scholarship, the pedagogical renewal of teaching and assessment practices, the scholarship of
teaching and learning, and the infusion of African epistemologies and philosophies. All of these will be
phased in at both programme and module levels, and as a result of this you will notice a marked change in
the teaching and learning strategy implemented by Unisa, together with the way in which the content is
conceptualised in your modules. We encourage you to embrace these changes during your studies at Unisa
in a responsive way within the framework of transformation.
If you have queries that are not of a general administrative nature, but are about the management
of this module specifically, please direct these to the coordinator. Please have your study material
at hand when you contact the module coordinator. Although the e-mail address and telephone
number of the module coordinator are mentioned above, you may wish to write to the coordinator
via e-mail.
4.2 Department
7
4.3 University
If you need to contact the University about matters not related to the content of this module, please
consult the publication Study @ Unisa, which you will have received with your study material. This
brochure contains information on how to contact the University (e.g. whom to contact if you have
queries, important telephone and fax numbers, addresses and details of the times certain facilities
are open).
Contact addresses of the various administrative departments appear on the Unisa website:
http://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/corporate/default/Contact-us/Student-enquiries.
5 RESOURCES
5.1 Prescribed book(s)
Louw, LP, & Du Toit, ER. 2016. Help I’m a student teacher! Skills development for teaching
practice. Pretoria: Van Schaik.
Taole MJ. (Ed). 2015. Teaching practice, perspectives and frameworks. Pretoria: Van Schaik.
Taole MJ. (Ed). 2020. Teaching practice in an African context. Pretoria: Van Schaik.
E-reserves can be downloaded from the library catalogue. More information is available at:
http://libguides.unisa.ac.za/request/request.
E-reserves can be downloaded from the library webpage Find e-reserves. More information
is available at: http://oasis.unisa.ac.za/search/r
8
TPF2601/101/0/2024
Recommended guides :
This brochure contains important information and guidelines for successful studies through Unisa.
If you need assistance with regard to the myModules system, you are welcome to use the following
contact details:
You can access and view short videos on topics such as how to view your calendar, how to
access module content, how to view announcements for modules, how to submit assessment
and how to participate in forum activities via the following link: https://dtls-
qa.unisa.ac.za/course/view.php?id=32130
9
Registered Unisa students get a free myLife e-mail account. Important information, notices and
updates are sent exclusively to this account. Please note that it can take up to 24 hours for your
account to be activated after you have claimed it. Please do this immediately after registering
at Unisa, by following this link: myLifeHelp@unisa.ac.za
Your myLife account is the only e-mail account recognised by Unisa for official correspondence
with the university and will remain the official primary e-mail address on record at Unisa. You
remain responsible for the management of this e-mail account.
Many students find the transition from school education to tertiary education stressful. This is also true in
the case of students enrolling at Unisa for the first time. Unisa is a dedicated open distance and e-learning
institution, and it is very different from face-to-face/contact institutions. It is a mega university, and all our
programmes are offered through either blended learning or fully online learning. It is for this reason that we
thought it necessary to offer first-time students additional/extended support to help them seamlessly
navigate the Unisa teaching and learning journey with little difficulty and few barriers. We therefore offer a
specialised student support programme to students enrolling at Unisa for the first time – this is Unisa’s First-
Year Experience (FYE) Programme, designed to provide you with prompt and helpful information about
services that the institution offers and how you can access information. The following FYE services are
currently offered:
www.unisa.ac.za/FYE fye@unisa.ac.za
FYE1500
Post
myUnisa; Study
Registration
Referrals to Skills; Academic &
Orientation Digital Literacies;
other support
services i.e. etc
Counselling;
Reading & Writing
workshops
To ensure that you do not miss out on important academic and support communication from
the SRU, please check your myLife inbox regularly.
10
TPF2601/101/0/2024
7 STUDY PLAN
You need to read the study material for Teaching Practice and submit the requirements.
Student teachers are placed in schools, which have been identified as sites of excellence in terms
of teaching and learning, where they will be able to complement their theoretical training with
practical experience, gain valuable exposure to the day-to-day operations at a school, and be
immersed in an authentic teaching and learning situation.
In order to facilitate all the relevant procedures, as a student teacher you must make the necessary
arrangements with the various partners, namely the Teaching Practice Office administrator(s);
school principal; university lecturer(s) and/or supervisor(s); and mentor/subject teacher(s).
• The placement office deals with all the placements of students in schools and the
confirmation thereof.
• You must make sure you read Tutorial Letter 102 which deals solely with the
placement and procedures.
• You must be placed and receive confirmation of placement before you can start your
teaching practice.
• No lecturer can assist you with your placement.
For this module, you need to complete two assessments and two portfolios as evidence of your
teaching practice experience. You may plan to visit the school(s) according to your own personal
circumstances, taking the following into consideration:
• Assessment 1 must reach Unisa before the due date to enable exam admission.
• Assessment 2 must reach Unisa no later than final due date.
• Portfolios 50 & 51 must reach Unisa no later than the final due date.
• No extension is possible, as you have several months to complete the five weeks school-
based teaching practice. However, it must be no later than 2 weeks after you have
completed your teaching practice in the schools.
11
• Allow yourself time to gain sufficient insight into all the theoretical subjects before you start
with your teaching practice and the completion of assessments.
• Students registered for this course are expected to complete their teaching practice in the
mainstream school system. You may not do your teaching practice at a school that
provides educational services exclusively for children with special educational
needs.
• Teaching practice activities cannot be carried over from one year to the next; you must
complete your teaching practice in the year in which you have registered.
• Don’t leave documentation at the school for signatures as they are often mislaid.
• If you fail to submit all the assessments, you will not pass the module and you will need to
reregister for the module.
9 ASSESSMENT
9.1 Assessment criteria
You will be required to demonstrate competency in written planning and preparation of lessons as
well as in presenting lessons for the subjects in the Foundation Phase. You will be expected to
implement current policy governing teaching in your lesson planning and preparation. You will also
be expected to integrate relevant education theories relating to the specific subjects in the
theoretical modules in your lesson plans. You will be required to demonstrate competency in writing
out lesson aims and objectives and lesson development in the planning documents. You will be
expected to draw on relevant learner teacher support material (LTSM) to develop, communicate
and present lessons. You will need to demonstrate that your lesson planning is aimed at conceptual
development and active learning. You will also be expected to critically reflect on your lessons.
Please view the support of and feedback from your mentor teacher or supervisor as developmental
and formative.
9.2 Assessment plan
• To complete this module, you will be required to submit four (4) assessments.
• All information on when and where to submit your assessments will be made available to
you via the myUnisa site for your module.
• Due dates for assessments, as well as the actual assessments, are available on the
myUnisa site for this module.
• The assessments 1 and 2 weighting for the module is 20% of the year mark.
• Your assessments will comprise a combination of forms and two portfolios, containing
teaching practice lessons completed as part of your online teaching and school-based
teaching practice.
• The examination portfolios will count 80% towards the final module mark.
12
TPF2601/101/0/2024
Your year mark, which is made up of the marks you achieve for 20%
your assessments (Assessment 1 & 2)
Your examination mark (Assessments 50 and 51) 80%
• Assessment due dates will be made available to you on the myUnisa landing page for
this module. We envisage that the due dates will be available to you upon registration.
• Please start working on your assessments as soon as you register for the module.
• Log on to the myUnisa site for this module to obtain more information on the due dates
for the submission of the assessments.
• The myUnisa virtual campus will offer students access to the myModules site, where
learning material will be available online and where assessments should be completed. This
is an online system that is used to administer, document, and deliver educational material
to students and support engagement between academics and students.
• The myUnisa platform can be accessed via https://my.unisa.ac.za. Click on the myModules
2024 button to access the online sites for the modules that you are registered for.
• When you access your myModules site for the module/s you are registered for, you will
see a welcome message posted by your lecturer. Below the welcome message you will see
the assessment shells for the assessments that you need to complete. Some assessments
may be multiple choice, some tests, others written assessments, some forum discussions,
and so on. All assessments must be completed on the assessment shells available on the
respective module platforms.
13
• To complete quiz assessments, please log on to the module site where you need to
complete the assessment. Click on the relevant assessment shell (Assessment 1,
Assessment 2, etc.). There will be a date on which the assessment will open for you. When
the assessment is open, access the quiz online and complete it within the time available to
you. Quiz assessment questions are not included in this tutorial letter (Tutorial Letter 101),
and are only made available online. You must therefore access the quiz online and complete
it online where the quiz has been created.
• It is not advisable to use a cell phone to complete the quiz. Please use a desktop computer,
tablet or laptop when completing the quiz. Students who use a cell phone find it difficult to
navigate the Online Assessment tool on the small screen and often struggle to navigate
between questions and successfully complete the quizzes. In addition, cell phones are more
vulnerable to dropped internet connections than other devices. If at all possible, please do
not use a cell phone for this assessment type.
• For written assessments, please note the due date by which the assessment must be
submitted. Ensure that you follow the guidelines given by your lecturer to complete the
assessment. Click on the submission button on the relevant assessment shell on
myModules. You will then be able to upload your written assessment on the myModules site
of the modules that you are registered for. Before you finalise the upload, double check that
you have selected the correct file for upload. Remember, no marks can be allocated for
incorrectly submitted assessments.
As indicated in section 9.2, you need to complete four assessments for this module. Details on the
assessments will be posted online.
There are no assessments included in this tutorial letter. Assessments and due dates will be
made available to you on myModules for this module. We envisage that the due dates will be
available to you upon registration
The examination
Examination information and details on the format of the examination will be based on the summary
below. Portfolios are your final examination submissions. There is no written examination at the
end of the year for TPF2601. You may not carry the Teaching Practice module over to the next
year – you must complete it in the year of registration before the due date.
14
TPF2601/101/0/2024
10 ACADEMIC DISHONESTY
10.1 Plagiarism
Plagiarism is the act of taking the words, ideas and thoughts of others and presenting them as your
own. It is a form of theft. Plagiarism includes the following forms of academic dishonesty:
• Copying and pasting from any source without acknowledging the source.
• Not including references or deliberately inserting incorrect bibliographic information.
• Paraphrasing without acknowledging the original source of the information.
10.2 Cheating
Cheating includes, but is not limited to, the following:
15
10.3 For more information about plagiarism, follow the link below:
https://www.unisa.ac.za/sites/myunisa/default/Study-@-Unisa/Student-values-and-rules
13 SOURCES CONSULTED
Department of Education. 2007. National Policy Framework for Teacher Education and
Development in South Africa. www.education.gov.za.
Revised Policy on the Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications. 2015.
Government Gazette: 38487.
14 IN CLOSING
I sincerely hope that you will enjoy this module and I wish you every success with your studies.
You are welcome to contact me for assistance with academic queries.
15 ADDENDUM
No Addendum
©
Unisa 2024
16