| Title | Chapter 3: Teaching within the confines of the law: A 21st-century skill? |
|---|---|
| DOI | https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2025.BK458.03 |
| Landing page | https://books.aosis.co.za/index.php/ob/catalog/book/458 |
| License | https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/ |
| Copyright | Elize Küng, Magda Kloppers & Rhelda Krügel. Licensee: AOSIS (Pty) Ltd. The moral rights of the editors and authors have been asserted. |
| Publisher | AOSIS |
| Published on | 2025-12-11 |
| Long abstract | Much has been written about the need for 21st-century teachers to focus on aspects such as critical thinking, technological changes, problem-solving and leadership. However, a review of the relevant literature on 21st-century skills reveals a lack of emphasis on preparing pre-service and beginner teachers for the disciplinary, societal and emotional challenges they will encounter as they start their careers. Academic literature and reports in printed and social media make it abundantly clear that there is a need to change our teaching methods. Equally important are the constant and dynamic changes in the teaching environment. Beginning teachers today confront discipline, societal and emotional challenges that their counterparts from 20 years ago could not even fathom. In the South African education context, the situation is further complicated by our history, significant socio-economic disparities and the varying conditions of schools across different percentiles. Now more than ever, it is essential for teachers to be empowered to achieve their personal and national education goals within a legal framework that regulates the rights and responsibilities of all parties involved. This framework is crucial to ensuring that schools become havens where optimal teaching and learning can occur. Based on the aforementioned points, the authors of this chapter believe that while the 21st-century skills discussed are crucial, it is equally important for South African beginner teachers to have a sound understanding of human rights, common law and other relevant legal principles when entering the teaching profession. Therefore, this chapter aims to explore the importance of empowering beginner teachers to address the dilemmas they may encounter within the confines of the law. |
| Print length | 22 pages |
| Language | English (Original) |
| Media | 1 illustration |
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Elize Küng is the Deputy Dean of Community Engagement and Stakeholder Relations in the Faculty of Education at NWU, South Africa. She has over 20 years of experience teaching at the primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Her research interests focus on the role of educators in creating and maintaining successful public schools in South Africa. She is a member of the Education and Human Rights in Diversity (Edu-HRight) Research Unit. She has a long-standing passion for community engagement and recognises the important responsibility educators have towards their communities. Over the years, she has participated in various community projects and non-profit organisations outside NWU. She has presented papers at both national and international conferences and has published in accredited journals. By combining her passion for the role of educators in ensuring successful public schooling with her commitment to fostering social responsiveness in future educators, her publication focus has shifted towards the development of socially responsive pre-service teachers.
Erika M Serfontein is an associate professor of Law at NWU, South Africa. She is the deputy director of the School for Professional Studies in Education at NWU and is an advocate of the High Court of South Africa. She earned her law degrees from the then Rand Afrikaans University (RAU) and the University of South Africa (Unisa). Additionally, she completed her MEd cum laude and her PhD at NWU under the supervision of the late Eldade Waal. Her research focuses on fundamental human rights, school governance, labour law and legal research, specifically the realisation of the rights to life and to a basic education. She is a member of the Edu-HRight Research Unit at NWU, which aims to establish itself as an internationally recognised leader in socially relevant research on social justice and human rights, as well as education in South Africa and Africa.