| Title | Chapter 10: Soft skills for English language teachers to thrive in a VUCA world |
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| DOI | https://doi.org/10.4102/aosis.2025.BK458.010 |
| 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 | English language education, English teachers and English teacher training programmes play a pivotal role in South African education by preparing teachers to address the challenges of a 21st-century, post-coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), multilingual context. Given these complex variables, the main question remains: What should teachers know and be able to do to effectively teach in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world? Although much research has been conducted since the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic on the importance of soft skills for the survival and success of teachers in the 21st-century VUCA world, the specific soft skills needed to tackle the challenges associated with volatility, uncertainty, complexity and ambiguity in a multilingual context have not been adequately addressed. This chapter discusses a framework for identifying and effectively developing soft skills among English language teachers in South Africa. It includes a literature review of current research on soft skills for teachers and is supported by data from a qualitative study on the perceived requirements of newly qualified English teachers, as reported by experienced in-service English Heads of Department in the Senior and Further Education and Training Phases. |
| Print length | 21 pages |
| Language | English (Original) |
| Media | 1 illustration |
| 1 table | |
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Janet Kruger is a lecturer and the deputy subject leader for English in the Faculty of Education at NWU, South Africa. Her work focuses on the teaching and learning of English, as well as the training of English teachers in both the Senior and Further Education and Training (FET) Phases within the context of 21st-century South Africa. She believes that modelling is the most effective way to train future teachers, equipping them not only with the knowledge and skills needed to thrive in a volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous (VUCA) world but also demonstrating that they can truly make a difference in the future of education.
Kotie Kaiser is an associate professor and the director of the School of Language Education at NWU, South Africa. Her work specifically focuses on teaching and learning English as a second language within the multilingual context of 21st-century South Africa. She believes that by instilling a passion for teaching and a culture of care in the training of future language teachers, and by equipping them with the necessary knowledge and skills to teach effectively and remain lifelong learners in a VUCA world, we can reach the next generation in ways we have yet to imagine.