Lecturers' perspectives of professional occupational competence: an exploratory case study at selected TVET colleges in Gauteng

Abstract

The primary objective of this study was to explore lecturers’ perspectives of professional occupational competence at selected TVET colleges in the Gauteng Province. The professionalisation of TVET college lecturers is central to the transformation and empowerment of the lives of students and society at large. Central to the idea of the professionalisation of lecturers is their training and development to equip them with the necessary professional occupational competences to ensure that they continue to provide enrolled students with quality education. This study adopted a qualitative approach. A purposive sampling technique was used to select the 15 participants. Data saturation was used to determine the sample size. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews with the lecturers employed across five selected TVET colleges in the Gauteng Province. Thematic analysis was used to analyse the data collected. The findings of this study show that although TVET lecturers have confidence in their own teaching abilities, they have inadequate levels of professional occupational competences, and they are not thriving in their work environment. The study recommends that to improve professionalism in the sector, pre-service lecturer training qualifications and continuing professional development programmes must focus on teaching professional occupational competences as a matter of priority. This study only explored the perspectives of TVET lecturers; no other personnel’s perspectives were explored.