The implications for educational practice of pedagogical versus andragogical orientations of teacher educators in Botswana

Abstract

This research investigated the educational orientation of teacher educators in colleges of education in Botswana whether pedagogic or andragogic, and how they influence their educational practice. The methods of investigation were, a literature study of belief systems, andragogy and pedagogy as well as the nature of educational orientation, a survey of the educational orientation of teacher educators in Botswana using a structured Educational Orientation Questionnaire (EOQ) adopted from Hadley (Quam, 1998) and a semi-structured group interview to a stratified random sample of student teachers at two of the colleges of education. The results showed that most teacher educators in colleges of education in Botswana had a pedagogical rather than an andragogical orientation. They predominantly use educator-centred rather student-centred teaching methods.