Processes in Congruence to Emancipate Teachers: Technology Education and Action Research

Abstract

The driving forces behind Technology Education (TE) are teachers themselves. Technology Education across Africa is a key part of improving human resource development. TE offers a variety of benefits for the African continent. These benefits include improving education and knowledge sharing, as well as increasing exposure to innovation in order to improve the living conditions of the continent's residents. If teachers are not equipped to teach TE as a process, the African continent will continue to show unacceptable results unless radical interventions are implemented. It is against this background that action research (AR) comes handy to emancipate TE teachers of five sampled schools from Mk1 Circuit in Limpopo Province of South Africa. AR was used as a means for radical interventions and it was implemented in South African schools. Some of the notable problems that contribute to the education crisis in South Africa are unqualified or underqualified teachers, large numbers of learners from disadvantaged backgrounds, inadequate delivery of infrastructure, incompetent teaching and poor learner results. The AR cycles and spirals activities of observing, planning, acting and reflecting manage to professionally develop TE teachers from low self-esteem of teaching TE to a remarkable increased TE didactic and pedagogic knowledge levels. The study was underpinned by Nash's Equilibrium Theory (NET) and guided by developmental action paradigm (DAP). Reflective questionnaires, non-participative observation and interviews were used to collect data. Action research with technology teachers manages to close the technology pedagogic content knowledge gap.