The true meaning of a teacher-researcher in a 'VUCA' world.

 

By Mathebula Heaven 

The need and relevance of teacher-researcher within the current social, economic and political context of high youth unemployment. 

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The world we are living in has changed drastically, this is due to advances in technology, social, economic and political storm. These rapid changes can be better understood with the ‘VUCA’ concept. As such, South Africa fits into this idea like a glove. The third letter of VUCA, for instance, stands for complexity and managing a nation with a 32.7% unemployment rate and a 61% rate for young unemployment (Statistics, 2022). Watch this Video to learn more about VUCA and its impact on future jobs.

Dlamini (2020), define youth unemployment as a collection of young people from a variety of backgrounds who are eager and able to work but are unable to do so or find the kind of work for which they are qualified. Basically, youth unemployment occurs when economically active persons are unable to find jobs although they may be willing to work. This current affair calls for the need and relevance of a teacher researcher in the South African educational context.

A teacher-researcher is a pedagogical practitioner who intentionally and methodically conducts inquiry with the aim of acquiring insight into teaching and learning. 

Teachers carry out research to become more reflective practitioners, to be the agent of change in the classroom or school and to also improve the lives of learners. For example, they observe what works and what does not work and take action based on their assumptions about what will make learning more pleasurable and beneficial for all students in the classroom. Teacher researchers are cognizant of quickly changing technical developments and employment options for students in the next years. As a result, via experiential and inquiry-based learning, they will provide learners with the 21st century skills necessary in the industry. Follow the link to learn more about teacher as researchers.

The covid-19 outbreak was not only a public health issue, but it also had an impact on our economy, resulting in large income losses and an increase in unemployment (Rashid et al. 2020). It also led to schools, colleges and universities closure hence teaching and learning relied solely on eLearning during the pandemic. Consequently, teachers who had access to connectivity and digital technologies were able to adopt more online elements in teaching. Therefore, good instructors are also competent researchers; otherwise, they would not be good teachers. Teacher-researchers are of paramount importance because they analyze the needs of learners or learning context and adjust their actions to best meet their learners’ needs after thorough reflection and consideration.  They seek to generate new understanding about teaching and learning in order to improve classroom practice.

Analysis of the South African youth unemployment and educational context.

The problem of youth unemployment in South Africa is acute. Although unskilled people struggle to secure jobs, graduate unemployment (from TVET colleges and universities) is also on the increase owing to lack of experience, skills mismatch and lack of career orientation in schools among other things. South Africa is plagued by an array of skills shortages. Report shows that there are severe skill shortages in the finance, IT, medical and health sectors, the field of marketing, business management, engineering. etc. (Daniels, 2007). These skills include but are not limited to technical architecture, software development, database, administration, and business analysis. The absence of these skills generally leads to empty vacancies thereby escalating unemployment rate.   Georgia is one of the developing countries that offer relevant TVET. The Georgian students are taught skills such as welding, crane operation and industrial operation. Read more on this link to find out how such skills helps in securing employment. 

Much of the discussion appears to concentrate around people's future employment and employability as we face a world in which the meaning and value of labor begin to alter. Because of the fast integration of technology into our lives, there is worry that some occupations, particularly those that do not need specialized skills, may be replaced by emerging technologies. As such, there is obviously some validity in Lyndon B Johnson's remark that "the underlying reality is that technology eliminates jobs, not work" (Verwey, 2019). For example, the 4IR brings us advanced robotics, artificial intelligence (AI), machine learning and so forth which poise the growth of skills gaps across all industries. Consequently, this necessitates a shift in the type of skills and competencies one should possess to be competitive in the 21^st century job market. 

The introduction of digitization will create a lot of job opportunities for highly skilled graduates who can adapt quickly to technology change, as a result unskilled individuals will lose their jobs (Leopold, 2016). In a nutshell, the rate of unemployment in South Africa can decrease if the graduate conversion rate is improved as it is estimated that by 2030, there will be a demand of an additional 1.7 million employees with higher education in S.A (Magwentshu et al. 2019).  Follow the link to learn more about the future of work.  

What might be the necessary shifts/changes for teacher agency? 

Since the demand for skills like programing, coding, problem solving, and creative thinking has intensified, teachers' activities in the school might change to reflect the needs of the learners. As such, to enact the curriculum, teachers will have to undergo training (workshops) to gain technological literacy as part of their professional development. Tertiary institutions may need to connect their skill sets with industry demands, which may be accomplished through partnership between companies and higher education institutions. By providing financial support to young people who are interested in starting their own businesses, policymakers (teachers) can encourage self-employment and entrepreneurship. Additionally, teachers may have to encourage learners to pursue science careers for high employment opportunities as employers believe that such people are more competent. The exponential growth in youth unemployment rate may also be a wakeup call for educators to invest their time in career guidance. Such initiative can help eradicate youth unemployment.

REFERENCES

Daniels, R., 2007. Skills shortages in South Africa: A literature review.

Dlamini, Z.F.S., 2020. An exploration of the youth unemployment challenge within the Umgungundlovu District Municipality (Doctoral dissertation).

Magwentshu, N., Rajagopaul, A., Chui, M. and Singh, A., 2019. The future of work in South Africa: Digitisation, productivity and job creation. South Africa: McKinsey & Company.

Leopold, T.A., Ratcheva, V. and Zahidi, S., 2016, January. The future of jobs: employment, skills, and workforce strategies for the Fourth Industrial Revolution. World Economic Forum.

Rashid, S. and Yadav, S.S., 2020. Impact of Covid-19 pandemic on higher education and research. Indian Journal of Human Development, 14(2), pp.340-343.

Statistics, N.I., 2022. Quarterly Labour Force Survey, October-December, 2014.

Verwey, S., 2019. Fourth industrial revolution-beyond competencies. University of Johannesburg, Unpublished paper.