Faculty of Education

Work-integrated learning
Workbook for TPED 176/7/8
Workbook

1
 ORIENTATION

Word of welcome!

Dear 1st year BEd-student teacher

A friendly welcome to all students from the Faculty of Education!

We believe that Teaching Practice will add value to the development of your professional identity
and lay the foundation for the skills you will need as a teacher. Teaching practice (TP) refers to the
time you will spend at schools gaining practical teaching experience. You will have one TP
module per year for the 4 years of your studies. Except for the first semester of your first year,
you will spend a predetermined number of weeks under the guidance of a mentor teacher in a
school during each semester. This will give you the opportunity to learn FROM practice and learn
IN practice.

TP modules are very different from academic modules! It is very important that you understand
this at the beginning of your first year. In academic modules you will be expected to submit a few
different assignments and you have the opportunity to make up marks if you missed a submission.
There are limited submissions for TP modules and there are no second opportunities. So, if you
do not successfully complete a TP module, you will have to repeat it during the next year.
It is also stipulated very clearly in the Faculty of Education Yearbook that you are not allowed to
register for more than one TP module per semester, so if you do not complete a TP module, you
will automatically extend your studies. It is therefore crucial to work hard on this module to ensure
that you complete it successfully.

It is essential that there are certain skills that you acquire before your first TP experience in a
classroom, and that is why you will not be going to schools during the first semester, but you will
be completing the Professional Orientation Program (POP). You will complete a school-
based placement in the second semester. You will also be expected to attend an excursion
(face-to-face or virtual) that will contribute to your final mark.

You will therefore have THREE SUBMISSIONS for this year module.

Submission 1: Professional Orientation Programme

Submission 2: School-based placement portfolio of evidence

Everything that you need to successfully complete this module is included in this workbook. It is
also a very good idea to consult the NWU Teaching Practice Manual that you will find on eFundi.

You will need the following textbook for all your Teaching Practice modules during the next four
years:

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 Botha, C.S (ed), Wolhuter, C, Vos, D. 2020.Towards Thriving, not just surviving: The
Journey from Pre-service to Beginner Teacher. Van Schaik, Cape Town.
During the first semester you will complete and submit POP. Do not wait until the very last
moment to start this large assignment! Your submission will be online via a Google Form. You will
not be able to submit on eFundi.

During the second semester (July – August 2023) you will be placed in a school for 20 consecutive
days. It is crucial that you familiarise yourself with the NWU rules for school placement. To
complete TEPD 176/7/8 successfully it is compulsory to be placed at a school and to complete
and submit a portfolio of evidence. The practicum experiences enable you, as a student teacher,
to expand and demonstrate the knowledge, skill, and disposition necessary to support the learning
of all learners. The school-based practicum presents a practical real-world teaching experience
in which you can apply effective teaching practices. This experience is carried out under the close
supervision of a team of Teaching Practice specialists. At the university you will work under the
supervision of the University Teaching Practice (TP) mentor from the Faculty of Education at the
North-West University. At the school, you will work under the supervision of the Trained School
Mentor and/or the School Mentor Teacher.

Follow the instructions in this workbook to ensure that you are ready and prepared for both POP
and your first school-based placement experience.

Good luck!

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CONTACT INFORMATION

FAQ link
Consult the following Frequently Asked Questions page before you send an email to ask for
assistance:
https://efundi.nwu.ac.za/portal/directtool/113b8ecc-7ebf-45f4-aabf-81c317da4b12/

Further contact information will be available on your TPED eFundi page.

COMMUNICATION CHANNELS
Communication platforms

eFundi
This is our PRIMARY means of communication. Please ensure that you visit your eFundi site at
least ONCE a day! This site contains all the important Teaching Practice information, including:
- The WIL manual
- All announcements
- Teaching practice assignment
- Resources

Email
The TPRAC team can communicate with you by sending a personal email, especially with regards
to placements or marks.
Should you wish to send an email with an inquiry, please ensure that you always indicate:
- Full name
- Student number
- Campus
- Contact or distance
- Phase
- Year group
- Module code
- If your inquiry is related to registration matters, include proof of registration.
Explain your problem in as much detail as possible so that you can be assisted quickly and
effectively.

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EXPLORING THE MODULE
Components of the TPED176/7/8 module:

Do the following Date of Weighting

completion/upload
First semester workbook 40%
Do the following Date of Weighting
completion/upload

Second semester workbook 50%

MC 10%

Take note that NO late submission will be accepted.

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EMBEDDED SIGNATURE ASSESSMENT
1
CLASSROOM MANAGEMENT

Do the following:

Develop your own personalised plan for managing the learner’s behaviour
in the classroom. Create a visual poster for your behaviour management
plan by following the outline steps below.

1. Write a clear and concise purpose statement of the importance of

classroom rules.
2. Establish a set of general rules that address common behavioural
expectations in the classroom. i.e., include descriptions of the rules.
3. Take a photograph of your poster and upload it.
4. Observe your mentor teacher and pay specific attention to the
manner in which they create an engaging learning environment in
their classroom. Also pay attention to the way in which they manage
behaviour.

After you have observed the teacher FOR AT LEAST A WEEK, complete
the learning environment form below in as much detail as possible.

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LEARNING ENVIRONMENT FORM
Elements to Indicators Comments/notes
observe

Respectful • Respectful talk, active listening and turn-taking

interactions
• Acknowledgement of learners’ backgrounds and lives outside the
classroom

• Body language indicative of warmth and care shown by teacher and

learners

• Physical proximity.
• Clear standards of conduct, possibly posted and possibly referred to
during a lesson
Managing
• Teacher’s awareness of learners’ conduct and preventive action when
learner
needed by the teacher
behaviour
• Absence of misbehaviour

• Reinforcement of positive behaviour

Managing • Smooth functioning of all routines, with little or no loss of

classroom instructional time

procedures
• Learners playing an important role in carrying out the routines and
handling of materials and supplies

• Learners know what to do and where to move

• Pleasant, inviting atmosphere

• Safe environment and accessibility for all learners

• Furniture arrangement suitable for the learning activities

• Use of physical resources, including computer technology, by both

Organising
the teacher and the learners
physical space
• Rules, routines and procedures are posted in a manner that is easy
to see

• Instructional areas of the classroom have clear, visual boundaries for

the learners

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What to Include in Your Portfolio of Evidence

-One page of your responses and the photograph of your poster.

-The completed table exploring the learning environment

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EMBEDDED SIGNATURE ASSESSMENT
2
Lesson Design and Preparation
Do the following
• In order to present lessons that are tailored to the needs of all learners,
teachers need to know their learners. Construct a classroom and
learner profile of the learners in the class where you are placed for
teaching practice. Ask your mentor teacher to provide you with
information you cannot complete on your own.

CLASSROOM PROFILE
Focus Description
Grade

Medium of instruction

Teacher’s home language

Home language of the

majority of learners
Other languages spoken
in the classroom.
(Write down and state the
number of learners who
speak each of the
additional languages you
have identified)

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 School Other
Walk Taxi Car
Mode of transportation by transport (specify)
number of learners

Condition of the Desks/tables

classroom

Chairs

Technological resources

Computer

(Complete the detail for

each aspect.) Storage space
(Note that you may take
pictures to add to your
portfolio as supporting Teacher resources
evidence. You MUST
NOT include pictures of
learners). Learner resources (stationery)

Walls and what learning material are on the walls

Chalk Board

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Does the class have
classroom rules and a
specific code of conduct

Is this different from the

code of conduct of the
school

Type of in-school support

available to learners

Technology available in
the classroom

Are there books available

for learners to use in the
classroom

Are textbooks kept in

class or can learners take
textbooks home

“Homework” Daily Often Rarely Never

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(Comment on whether
learners take tasks home
to complete.)
Add any other relevant
information with
supporting evidence.
PROFILE OF LEARNERS IN THE CLASSROOM
Focus Description
Number of learners by Gender Female Male
gender Number
Type of Auditory
Learners with barriers to Sight Other
Barrier (Hearing)
learning

Lives with No. of learners

Both parents
Mother only
Family profile
Father only
Siblings only
Grandparent/s only
Activity
Extracurricular activities in
No. of
which learners are involved.
learners
Activity
No. of
learners
Overall strengths of
learners in class
(Identify what most learners
are good at doing, for
example completing tasks

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on time, love story time, can
respond to questions, etc.)
Overall weaknesses of
learners in class
(Identify what most learners
are struggling with in class,
for example, following
instructions, discipline,
completing puzzles, working
independently, etc.)

• During each lesson, take notes about the way your mentor
teacher gives and corrects homework (Use the table below).
• Discuss with your mentor teacher any questions you may have
about the various decisions taken about setting homework and
giving feedback on it.
• Does this approach produce interesting and
valuable results? How will these findings influence
your future teaching?

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Homework Time spent Is the task How does Is the class Next lesson:
preparing relevant to the attentive Observe the form
learners the teacher while the of feedback
for HW. learners' prepare teacher sets (oral/written;
personal the the HW? Are whole
and learners they class/individual
language for the interested? etc.)
learning task?
needs?
1.

2.

3.

4.

What to include in your Portfolio of Evidence

• The table on the classroom profile.
• The table on the learner profile.
• Your homework observation table.
• A one page summary on what you have learnt about setting homework.

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 EMBEDDED SIGNATURE
ASSESSMENT 3
Instruction
Do the following
• Co-plan with your mentor teacher OR on your own (the mentor
teacher will inform you) for three consecutive lessons (i.e., for the
subject or subjects that you are placed for – see CAPS/ATP
sequence for assistance). Your mentor teacher should not allow
you to teach three full days on your own. Please note that the idea
is that you get experience to plan for teaching a particular subject
on consecutive days, for example: if you planned a maths lesson
on Monday, you should follow up with the planning for the next
maths on Tuesday and if possible, Wednesday so that you can
learn to adapt, adjust and revise as necessary based on how the
learners were responding, engaging and comprehending what was
being taught.
• Write a critical reflection on your co-planning OR your planning
alone, and how you experienced it; what worked well, what didn’t,
etc.

What to Include in your Portfolio of Evidence

• The three lesson plans
• A critical reflection on your teaching experience and what you
learnt from teaching for consecutive days.

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