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Physical sciences teaching and learning in Eastern Cape rural schools: Reflections of pre-service teachers
Open accessAbstract
The experiences of pre-service teachers who come from rural backgrounds differ widely from those who are from urban schools. It can be assumed that these experiences play a crucial role in shaping their teaching careers during and after the formal teacher training. Even though much research has already dwelt on the various challenges experienced by rural schools in South Africa, little has been done on pre-service teachers’ perspectives. Using an exploratory research method, this article explores the status of physical sciences teaching and learning in rural schools in one of the most disadvantaged provinces of South Africa, using pre-service teachers enrolled in a rural-based university as the participants. While many factors were reported as hindering the effective teaching and learning of physical sciences in rural schools, it was found that some schools and teachers used some appropriate strategies to promote teaching and learning.
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“Analyses of available studies on mentoring pre-service teachers (PSTs) in rural schools indicate that mentoring largely reinforces teacher-centred teaching strategies [6].”
From Are Pre-Service Teachers Receiving Quality Mentoring in Rural Schools? A Synopsis from Research in South Africa (2026) · cites this paper as [6]
In the citing paper
“This has come to define rural pedagogy and represents how pre-service teachers themselves have been taught [6].”
From Are Pre-Service Teachers Receiving Quality Mentoring in Rural Schools? A Synopsis from Research in South Africa (2026) · cites this paper as [6]
In the citing paper
“Various studies [6,14,15,32,33,58,69] highlight a significant gap in the use of digital technology during teaching practice.”
From Are Pre-Service Teachers Receiving Quality Mentoring in Rural Schools? A Synopsis from Research in South Africa (2026) · cites this paper as [6]
In the citing paper
“Many schools in rural areas have large classes, despite the stipulated teacher-learner ratio [4,6,61].”
From Are Pre-Service Teachers Receiving Quality Mentoring in Rural Schools? A Synopsis from Research in South Africa (2026) · cites this paper as [6]
In the citing paper
“While in some studies [6,14,32] pre-service teachers made reference to this, it is not illustrated how they managed these classes.”
From Are Pre-Service Teachers Receiving Quality Mentoring in Rural Schools? A Synopsis from Research in South Africa (2026) · cites this paper as [6]
In the citing paper
“In numerous studies, pre-service teachers describe their instructional method as a lecture format, where they primarily dictate notes with occasional explanations while students copy them down [6].”
From Are Pre-Service Teachers Receiving Quality Mentoring in Rural Schools? A Synopsis from Research in South Africa (2026) · cites this paper as [6]
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Cited by
Sorted by citations
Tsoka, M., Runhare, T., Machisi, E., & Magosha, T. A. (2026) · Trends in Higher Education · doi:10.3390/higheredu5020037
“While in some studies [6,14,32] pre-service teachers made reference to this, it is not illustrated how they managed these classes.”
Influential
Metadata
- Authors
- Department of Mathematics, N. A. C. S. E., & John, M.
- Affiliations
- Walter Sisulu University (ZA)
- Corresponding author
- John, Merlin
- ORCID
- John, Merlin
- Venue
- South African Journal of Education
- Published
- 2019-09-30
- Volume
- 39
- Issue
- Supplement 1
- Pages
- S1-S12
- ISSN
- 0256-0100 (ISSN-L)
- 2076-3433
- OpenAlex
- W2987414562
- Cited by
- 24
- References
- 0
- Citations by year
- 2026: 4 · 2024: 4 · 2023: 6 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 9
- FWCI
- 6.75
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- gold
- doi.org
- Licence
- cc-by
- Locations
- South African Journal of Education (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion)
- Topics
- Social Sciences › Education › Education in Rural Contexts
- Social Sciences › Education › Science Education and Pedagogy
- Social Sciences › Education › Indigenous and Place-Based Education
- Keywords
- physical science teaching, rural schools, pre-service teachers, teacher professional development, urban-rural differences, teaching and learning challenges, teaching methods, Eastern Cape, low-income schools
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