Start main page content

Theme 2: Pre-service teacher education and lifelong professional learning

This theme focuses on the multiple aspects of becoming and being a teacher, including the cognitive, professional, physical, and ethical dimensions. It considers the challenges of learning to teach and opportunities for teachers to develop their professional knowledge and identity as they navigate life and their careers. Teacher learning is explored in various settings: formal university coursework, interactions with other educators, and learning through classroom life.


  • Bertram, C., & Rusznyak, L. (2024). Navigating Tensions in Designing a Curriculum That Prepares Preservice Teachers for School-Based Learning. Education as Chan28(1), 1-23.
  • Rusznyak, L., & Österling, L. (2024). What matters for competent teaching? A multinational comparison of teaching practicum assessment rubrics. Teaching and Teacher Education, 151, 104745. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.tate.2024.104745
  • Langsford, D., & Rusznyak, L. (2024). Observing Complexity in Teachers' Choices: Preparing Preservice Teachers for Work-Integrated Learning. Education as Change28(1), 1-23.
  • Mbhiza, H. W., Nkambule, T., & Masinire, A. (2024). Student teachers’ mentorship experiences during teaching practice: A comparison of mentor-student dynamics in rural and urban schools. Interdisciplinary Journal of Education Research6, 1-14.
  • Mandikonza, C., Nyamupangedengu, E., Tsakeni, M., & Chauraya, M. (2024). Reimagining the Teaching of STEM Subjects Through Arts-Based and Participatory Methodologies. Educational Research for Social Change13(1), vi-ix.
  • Venkat, H. (2024). The Mental Starters Assessment Project: Ambitious Teaching in the South African Context. In Proceedings of the 14th International Congress on Mathematical Education: Volume II: Invited Lectures (pp. 659-673).
  • Sullivan, S., & McIntyre, J. (2024). How Can University Teacher Educators Contribute Towards a ‘Better Normal’Within a Highly Regulated Policy Space?. In Building a Better Normal: Visions of Schools of Education in a Post-Pandemic World (pp. 95-117). Emerald Publishing Limited.
  • Herrera Seda, C., & Walton, E. Teacher education for inclusive education: Scholarship from the Global South [bibliography].
  • Bertram, C. & L. Rusznyak. (2024). Navigating Tensions in Designing a Curriculum that Prepares Preservice Teachers for School-based Learning. Education as Change 28(1): 1-23. https://doi.org/10.25159/1947-9417/14677
  • Langsford, D. & L. Rusznyak. (2024). Observing complexity in teachers’ choices: The impact of preparing preservice teachers for work-integrated learning. Education as Change 28(1):1-22. https://doi.org/10.25159/1947-9417/14676 
  • Ávalos, B. (2023). TEACHER PROFESSIONAL. Approaches to Teaching and Teacher Education: ISATT 40th Anniversary Yearbook, 59.
  • Robinson, M., Rusznyak, L., Sathorar, H. & Luckay, M. (2023). The complexities of teacher education: Advancing the debate. Journal of Education. Issue 90, 1-9. https://doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i90a00 
  • Kahn, R., Raina, R., & Nyamupangedengu, E (2022). Investigating opportunities for integrating methodology when teaching a pfe science topic (meiosis), to fourth-year pre-service teachers: A case study. Journal of Education, (86), 63-83. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i86a04
  • Robinson, M., & Chisholm, L. (2022). Unpacking the past: The ambivalent legacy of colleges of education. Yesterday and Today no. 27, pp. 43-64. http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2223-0386/2022/n27a2
  • Rusznyak, L. (2022). Using semantic pathways to reveal the ‘depth’ of pre-service teachers’ reflections. Education as Change, 26(1), 1-24. http://dx.doi.org/10.25159/1947-9417/10013 
  • Rusznyak, L., Walton, E., & Kenny, J. (2022). Pre-service teachers’ experiences of schooling: Implications for preparation for inclusive education. South African Journal of Education, 42(3). http://dx.doi.org/10.15700/saje.v42n3a2090 
  • Walton, E., Carrington, S., Saggers, B., Edwards, C., & Kimani, W. (2022). What matters in learning communities for inclusive education: A cross-case analysis. Professional Development in Education 48(1), 134-148. http://www.sciepub.com/reference/400420 
  • Walton, E., & Osman, R. (Eds.), (2022). Pedagogical responsiveness in complex contexts: Issues of transformation, inclusion and equity. Springer. https://www.researchgate.net/pubpcation/363781
  • Niyibizi, E., Nizeyimana, G.,Perumal, J., & Umutesi, E. (2021). Traditional and Contemporary Approaches for Teaching through English in Rwandan Higher Education. In A. P. Ndofirepi& E. T. Guaravanda (Eds.). Mediating Learning in Higher Education in Africa (pages 134–159). Publisher: Brill. E-Book ISBN: 9789004464018 Series: African Higher Education: Developments and Perspectives, Volume: 9. pnk: DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004464018_009
  • Lawrence, C., Peart, S., & Abdulrahman, H. K. (2021). Impacting trainee teachers’ self-efficacy with BAME pupils through real-world teaching resources. BERA. https://www.bera.ac.uk/blog/impacting-trainee-teac
  • Nyamupangedengu, E. & Khupe, C. (2021). Was it a case of teacher educator entitlement? Revisiting faculty perspective on pre-service teachers' classroom behaviours. In T. Ratnam, & C. Craig, (Eds.), Understanding excessive teacher and faculty entitlement: Advances in research on teaching, 38, pp.227-240. Emerald. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1479-368720210000038016
  • Robinson, M. (2021). Research for policy and practice in teacher education: The case of the professional practice schools research project. Journal of Education, 82. https://dx.doi.org/10.17159/2520-9868/i82a06
  • Rusznyak, L., & Bertram, C. (2021). Conceptualising work-integrated learning to support pre-service teachers’ pedagogic reasoning. Journal of Education, 83, 34-52.  http://dx.doi.org/ 10.17159/2520-9868/i83a02
  • Buma, A., & Nyamupangedengu, E. (2020). Investigating teacher talk moves in lessons on basic genetics concepts in a teacher education classroom. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 24(1), 92-104. https://doi.org/10.1080/18117295.2020.1731647
  • Foo, K. F., Huang, J. S., Tan, K. W., & Heng, H. H. (2020). Closing teaching and learning gaps in mathematics classrooms. In N.H. Lee, C. Seto, R.A. Rahim & L.S. Tan (Eds.), Mathematics Teaching in Singapore (pp. 295-310). https://doi.org/10.1142/9789811220159_0019
  • Hayes, D., Christie, P., Mills, M., & Lingard, B. (2020). Teachers and schooling making a difference: Productive pedagogies, assessment and performance. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/97
  • Khoza, H. C., Msimanga, A., & Nyamupangedengu, E. (2020). In search of the fundamentals of planning that can foster the depth of teaching and learning biology in pre-service teacher education classrooms. Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 236. https://www.researchgate.net/pubpcation/339484475_
  • Robinson, M., & Rusznyak, L. (2020). Learning to teach without school-based experience: conundrums and possibilities in a South African context. Journal of Education for Teaching, 46(4). https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/106816 
  • Rusznyak, L. (2020). Supporting the academic success of students through making knowledge-building visible. In C. Winburg, S. McKenna, & K. Wilmot (Eds.),Building knowledge in higher education: Enhancing teaching and learning with Legitimation Code Theory. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.43
  • Shawa, L. B. (2020). Advancing the Scholarship of Teaching and Learning Using Learning Theories and Reflectivity. Center for Educational Policy Studies Journal, 10(1), 191-208. https://files.eric.ed.gov/fulltext/EJ1249358.pdf
  • Shawa, L.B. (2020). The public mission of universities in South Africa: community engagement and the teaching and researching roles of faculty members. Tertiary Education and Management, 26, 105–116. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11233-019-09040-1
  • Walton, E., & Rusznyak, L. (2020). Cumulative knowledge-building for inclusive education in initial teacher education. European Journal of Teacher Education, 43(1), 18-37. https://doi.org/10.1080/02619768.2019.1686480
  • Huang J.S. (2019.) Diffusing innovative pedagogies in schools in Singapore: Case studies on school leaders’ diffusion approaches and their rationalisations. In: D. Hung, S. Lee, Y. Toh, A. Jamaludin, & L. Wu (Eds.), Innovations in educational change. Education Innovation Series. Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-13-6330-6_10
  • Huang, J. S., & Sha’ari, I. (2019). Developing teacher laterality in a centralized system: An exploratory case study. Paper accepted by the Annual meeting of the American Educational Research Association (AERA), Toronto, Canada. /education/research-centr
  • Robinson, M. (2019). Conceptions and models of teacher education. In G.W. Nobpt (Ed.), Oxford Research Encyclopedia of Education. Oxford University Press. https://doi.org/10.1093/acrefore/9780190264093.013.571
  • Walton, E., & Rusznyak, L. (2019). Developing standards for inclusive teaching in South Africa: A dilemma analysis. Southern African Review of Education with Education with Production, 25(1), 89-106. https://www.tandfonpne.com/doi/full/10.1080/1360
  • Nyamupangedengu, E. & Lelpott, A. (2018). Planning for teaching a genetics course to pre-service teachers: Experiences of a biology teacher educator. African Journal of Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education, 22(3), 308-318. https://www.tandfonpne.com/doi/full/10.1080/18117
  • Nyamupangedengu, E., & Mandikonza, C. (2018). Using students' experiences of lectures as a lens for learning about teaching pre-service teachers: A methodological approach to transformative practice through self-study. Educational Research for Social Change, 7(2), 117-131. https://www.academia.edu/101347161/
  • Robinson, M., & Rousseau, N. (2018). Disparate understandings of the nature, purpose and practices of reflection in teacher education. South African Journal of Childhood Education, (pp. 1-9).  https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/106816
  • Rusznyak, L. (2018). What messages about teacher professionalism are transmitted through South African pre-service teacher education programmes? South African Journal of Education, 38(3). https://doi.org/10.15700/saje.v38n3a1503
  • Rusznyak, L., & Kimathi, F. (2018). Advancing professional teaching in South Africa: Lessons learnt from policy frameworks that have regulated teachers' work. Education as Change, 22(3), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.25159/1947-9417/4042 
  • Rusznyak, L., & Masinire, A. (2018). The role of developing pre-service teachers’ pedagogical reasoning to support contextually responsive teaching. In E. Walton & R. Osman (Eds.), Teacher Education for Diversity and Development in the Global South (pp. 53-68). Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/chapters/edit/10.4324/9
  • Walton, E., & Osman, R. (2018). Teacher education for diversity: Conversations from the Global South. Routledge. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/edit/10.4324/9781315209418
  • Shaketange, L., Kanyimba, A. T., & Brown, E. (2017).  The challenges and measures for internship among fourth-year students in the department of lifelong learning and community education at the University of Namibia. Creative Education, 8(14), 2258. https://www.researchgate.net/publication/321187 
  • Walton, E. (2017). Inclusive education in initial teacher education in South Africa: Practical or professional knowledge? Journal of Education, 67, 101-128. https://www.academia.edu/33971654/Inclusive_education_in_initial_teacher_education_in_South_Africa_practical_or_professional_knowledge
  • Walton, E., & Rusznyak, L. (2017). Choices in the design of inclusive education courses for pre-service teachers: The case of a South African university. The International Journal of Disabipty, Development and Education, 64(3), 231-248. https://www.tandfonpne.com/doi/full/10.1080/1034
  • Avalos, B. (2016). Learning from research on beginning teachers. In J. Loughran & M.L. Hamilton (Eds.), International Handbook of Teacher Education (pp. 487-522). https://pnk.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1007/978-981-10-0366-0_13.pdf 
  • Kabanda, C., Nizeyimana, G., Nzabaprwa, W., Peeraer, J., & Uworwabayeho, A. (2016).  Factors influencing the uptake of learner-centered pedagogy in teacher education in Rwanda. The International Journal of Development Dialogue, 1(1), 21-42. https://www.ijdd.co.ke  
  • Maodzwa  Taruvinga, M. (2016). Critical thinking pedagogy and the citizen scholar in university based initial teacher education: The promise of twin educational ideals. In J. Arvanitakis & D. Hornsby (Eds.), Universities, the Citizen Scholar and the Future. Palgrave Macmilpan. https://pnk.springer.com/content/pdf/10.1057/97811
  • Nyamupangedengu, E (2016) Using self-study to learn to teach genetics to pre-service teachers for understanding and for teaching. In G. Buck & V. Akerson (Eds.), Enhancing professional knowledge of pre-service science teacher educators by self-study research: Turning a critical eye on our practice (pp. 69-91). Springer. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-32447-0_4
  • Nyamupangedengu, E. & Lelpott, A. (2016).  Using modeling as a method of teaching a content course to pre-service teachers: Lessons learnt. 11th International Conference on Self-Study of Teacher Education Practices. In D. Garbett & A. Ovens (Eds.), Enacting self-study as methodology for professional inquiry (pp. 85-91). /education/research-centres/un
  •  Nyamupangedengu, E. (2016). Teaching genetics to pre-service teachers from diverse backgrounds: A South African self-study. In J. Kitchen, D. Tidwell & L. Fitzgerald (Eds.), Self-study and diversity II: Inclusive teacher education for a diverse world (pp.151-172). Sense Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-6300-534-0_10
  • Rusznyak, L. (2016). Making conceptual connections visible to students in professional programmes: The case of initial teacher education. South African Journal of Higher Education, 30(2), 205-225. https://doi.org/10.20853/30-2-576
  • Rusznyak, L., & Walton, E. (2016). Could practicum placements in contrasting contexts support the preparation of pre-service teachers for an envisaged inclusive education system? A South African study.The International Journal of Disabipty, Development and Education, 64(5),463-482. http://www.tandfonpne.com/doi/full/10.1080/1034912X.2016.1267333
  • Van Jaarsveld, P. (2016). Making a case for exact language as an aspect of rigour in initial teacher education mathematics programmes. Perspectives in Education, 34(1), 150-166. https://www.cambridgescholars.com/resources/pdfhttp://dx.doi.org/10.18820/0258-2236/pie.v34i1.11
  • Walton, E. (2016). Developing PLCs for inclusive education: A university community engagement opportunity. In K. Brodie & H. Borko (Eds.), Professional learning communities in South Africa (pp. 38-56). HSRC Press. https://www.nottingham.ac.uk/Education/People/epzabeth.walton
  • Walton, E., & Rusznyak, L. (2016). Approaches to assessing pre-service teachers’ learning in authentic and rigorous ways: The case of an inclusive education module. Perspectives in Education, 34(1), 84-101. https://www.researchgate.net/pubpcation/3049273
  • Walton, E., & Rusznyak, L. (2016). Choices in the design of inclusive education courses for pre-service teachers: The case of a South African university. International Journal of Disability Development and Education. http://dx.doi.org/10.1080/1034912X.2016.1195489
  • Peeraer, J., Kabanda, C., Nzabaprwa, W., Nizeyimana, G., & Uworwabayeho, A. (2015). Conceptions of learning and uptake of learner‐centred pedagogy in initial teacher education in Rwanda. In UKFIET the Education and Development forum (Vol. 58, No. 4, pp. 1247-1259).
  • Osman, R., & Booth, S. (2015). The scholarship of teaching and learning for educational transformation: Objects of learning in focus.  In S. Booth & L. Woollacott (Eds.), The scholarship of teaching and learning in higher education: On its constitution and transformative potential (pp. 155-167).  Sun Press. https://pnk.springer.com/book/10.1007/1-4020-5742
  • Rusznyak, L. (2015). Knowledge selection in initial teacher education programmes and its implications for curricular coherence. Journal of Education, 60, 7-29. https://www.semanticscholar.org/paper/Knowledge-selection-in-initial-teacher-education-Rusznyak/136de7fd6da0783535743b5570695a6ce2575ed4/figure/1
  • Rusznyak, L., & Bertram, C. (2015). Knowledge and judgement for assessing student teaching: A cross-institutional analysis of teaching practicum assessment instruments. Journal of Education, 60, 31-61. https://www.jet.org.za/resources/rusznyak-bertram-20
  • Nizeyimana, G., & Osman, R. (2014). Student teachers' academic backgrounds and beliefs about teaching: Predicting student engagement and performance in a developing country. Education As Change18(sup1), S77-S90.
  • Nizeyimana, G.,  & Osman, R. (2014). Student teachers academic backgrounds and beliefs about teaching: Predicting student engagement and performance in a developing country, Education as Change, 18 (1), 77-90. https://www.tandfonpne.com/doi/abs/10.1080/168232
  • Nyamupangedengu, E. (2014). Finding a voice: Reflections on a long journey from silent student to confident teacher educator. South African Journal of Higher Education, 28 (6), 2065-2078. https://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/sajhe/article/view
  • Osman, R. & Booth, S . (2014).  A research base for teaching in the primary school:  A coherent scholarly focus on the object of learning.  South African Journal of Childhood Education, 4 (3), 159-174. http://www.scielo.org.za/scielo.php?script=sci_arttext&pid=S2223-76822014000300011&lng=en&tlng=en
  • Rusznyak, L., & Moosa, M. (2014). Supporting student teachers through their first attempts at teaching: Possibilities and permutations afforded by school-based and campus-based models of support. Education as Change, 18(1), 91-105. https://www.tandfonpne.com/doi/abs/10.1080/16823206.2013.877354
  • Rusznyak, L., & Walton, E. (2014). Using metaphors to gain insight into South African student teachers’ initial and developing conceptions of ‘Being a teacher’. Education as Change, 18(2), 1-21. https://www.tandfonpne.com/doi/full/10.1080/16823
  • Walton, E., & Rusznyak, L. (2014).  Affordances and limitations of a special school practicum as a means to prepare pre-service teachers for inclusive education. International Journal of Inclusive Education, 18(9), 957-974. https://doi.org/10.1080/13603116.2013.872203
  • Nizeyimana, G., & Osman, R. (2013). First-year university student teachers’ beliefs about teaching and the teaching profession: The case of Rwanda.  South African Review of Education, 19 (1), 98-120. https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/EJC138657
  • Huang, J. S., & Brown, A. (2019). Enabling collaborative work in higher education: An exploration of enhancing research collaborations within an institution. Journal of Research Administration, 50(3), 63-89. https://eric.ed.gov/?id=EJ1237830
Share