Teaching Practice at the National Teacher Training College in Lesotho (CIE, 2001, 49 p.): Chapter 4: The Structure and Organisation of Teaching Practice at the NTTC: 4.6 Orientation

Teaching Practice at the National Teacher Training College in Lesotho (CIE, 2001, 49 p.)

Chapter 4: The Structure and Organisation of Teaching Practice at the NTTC

		4.1 Introduction
		4.2 Descriptive Overview
		4.3 Teaching Practice Preparation (TPP)
		4.4 College/Schools TP arrangements
		4.5 Placement
		4.6 Orientation
		4.7 Teaching Practice Assessment

4.6 Orientation

Having selected the schools that they would like to go to, and having completed their TPP, student teachers are given an orientation to teaching practice. Ntho (1998:69), in commenting about the NTTC orientation writes 'one other significant observation is that student teachers' orientation to teaching practice is a “contrived collegiality” yet in principle the session has to be an open and democratic endeavor which should encourage all participants to communicate their perceptions and expectations'. She established that teaching practice orientation is characterized by a one-sided presentation, whereby the administration spells out the College requirements/expectations while student teachers have to listen to what is being communicated to them, instead of providing them with an opportunity to share their expectations of the process. The tendency to focus on administrative matters seems to be consistent even today. An analysis of the TP orientation seminar shows that in 1999, orientation for teaching practice focused only on introducing the students to the various teaching practice forms. This way, the College assumes it has given prospective teachers an orientation to the teaching practice, but in fact this is limited to certain bureaucratic elements.