Teacher Learning in a Community of Practice: A Case Study of ...

frame models for projecting future needs. It was also commissioned to conduct an
evaluation of all teacher education institutions and programmes in relation to their
capacity to provide in-service and pre-service teacher education. The audit revealed the
existence ofa diverse collection ofcolleges of education, with unique qualifications and
curricula. There were approximately 150 public institutions providing teacher education
to approximately 200 000 students. By 2000, these numbers had decreased to 82 public
institutions providing teacher education to 110 000 students (Parker 2002).
In 1997, the Higher Education Act made all teacher education part ofthe higher
education system. This shift changed colleges ofeducation from being a provincial
competence to a national competence, which resulted in the "radical transformation of
teacher education.. 0 " (Parker 2002:5). This transfoimation took place when complex
macro-economic policy was being advocated by the national government. In fact, during
the period 1997 - 1999, a stringent fiscal framework was envisioned within the context of
the Growth Employment and Redistribution (GEAR) strategy, a strategy that has since
been 'abandoned' by the South African government.
The state had to deal with the tension ofexercising tight control over expenditure, and at
the same time ensuring the redress ofpast inequalities and the provision ofbasic public
services (including education) to the most disadvantaged people. While such moves were
embraced fairly quickly by national competences such as the Ministry ofFinance, the
Reserve Bank and the Department of State Expenditure, provincial competences were
much slower to react and as a result, by the end of 1999, "limited progress had been made
in these areas" (Parker 2002:3). In his analysis ofthe policy rationale for the
reconfiguration of teacher education in South Africa, Sayed (2004) is ofthe view that
policies since 1994 "0.0 are a betrayal ofthe ideals and goals that underpinned the anti­
apartheid struggle", and suggests that "... previously radical ideas and commitments have
been diluted and modified under the weight ofpragmatic concerns" (Sayed 2004:250).
He warns that privilege has been maintained and equity has been compromised. In
theorising this change, he describes it as 'loss ofinnocence' and as a 'necessary cost
saving' where the emphasis in teacher education is on efficiency, central control and
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