Wither Pre-service Teacher Education in Zimbabwe? Object Lessons from Teacher Education Systems in the United Kingdom, United States and South Africa

Abstract

After pragmatically tinkering with quantity-oriented models of teacher education since early 1980s, Zimbabwe now seems to be faced with quality challenges, necessitating change of policy direction. In recent years, disquiet has been voiced about the declining quality of school education, a trend widely attributed to the low quality of teachers. This has put teacher education provision in Zimbabwe in the spotlight of critical and in some instances derisive scrutiny. Under such circumstances, one would reasonably expect teacher education policy-makers to be diligently seized with change efforts. However, teacher education policy-makers seem to be dithering indecisively in relation to suggesting new directions for teacher education in Zimbabwe. This paper attempts to break the deafening silence in the teacher education policy community by suggesting some objects lessons for the teacher education system in Zimbabwe on the basis of insights derived from analyzing teacher education systems in the United Kingdom, United States and South Africa.