Overview
The Faculty of Education currently offers a wide range of professional and academic programmes at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. These programmes are designed to develop the intellectual, academic and professional capacity of students in teaching and related professions.
They cover fields such as teacher education (both pre-service and in-service), adult education, higher education and vocational education. Added to this are the disciplinary areas such as language education, science and mathematics education, educational psychology, sociology of education, educational leadership and management, curriculum studies, comparative education and policy studies.
The programmes currently on offer are:
- Bachelor of Education Senior Phase & Further Education and Training (BEd SP & FET)
- Bachelor of Education Foundation Phase (Grades R-3)
- Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education: Teaching and Learning (PGDip HE T&L)
- Postgraduate Diploma in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (PGDip TVET)
- Programmes in Adult Education
- BEd (Hons)
- Master of Education (MEd)
- PhD
Professor Rajendran Govender
Dean: Faculty of Education
The field of educational psychology is concerned with the study of learning in educational settings, the effectiveness of educational interventions, the psychology of teaching and of the school as a social institution.
The Department of Educational Studies teaches courses in the social, political and historical foundations of education. We draw on a rich theoretical understanding of education, mindful of its implications for teaching practice in the South African context.
The Language Education Department is a fast-growing department that is integral to the faculty’s teaching, research and community engagement endeavours. Regarding teaching, the department offers some 50 courses across four undergraduate and postgraduate programmes, aimed at producing language teachers who are competent in English, Afrikaans and/or isiXhosa, and who are at home in multilingual classes.
IsiXhosa is South Africa’s second most popular mother tongue, spoken as a first language by 8.2 million South Africans. Despite the popularity of the language, there is limited expertise in the teaching of early literacy (reading and writing) in isiXhosa (and other African languages) in Teacher Education in South Africa.
The Science Learning Centre for Africa (SLCA), is an outreach programme of the School of Science and Mathematics Education (SSME). It is physically located in the Goldfields Resource Centre on the West Campus of the University of the Western Cape. It services the outreach functions of the SSME within the Faculty of Education of the University of the Western Cape.
The Institute for Post-School Studies (IPSS) was established in the Faculty of Education in 2013. This was in line with the UWC Institutional Operating Plan and with the Faculty of Education decision to build a niche research area in the area of post-school studies.
The School of Science and Mathematics Education (SSME) is committed to the development of a critical mass of quality professionals in the fields of science and mathematics education. Given its mission, it was necessary to ensure that all activities in the SSME are governed by a philosophy of quality and excellence.
