Purple Tod Consulting

Teaching students with diverse ability levels and needs

• On average in South Africa, 29% of teachers work in classes with at least 10% of students with special needs (i.e. those for whom a special learning need has been formally identified because they are mentally, physically, or emotionally disadvantaged), which is not significantly different from the average of OECD countries and economies participating in TALIS (27%).
• In South Africa, 76% of teachers were trained to teach in mixed-ability settings as part of their formal teacher education or training, while 67% of teachers on average felt prepared to teach in such settings when they finished their studies.
• Furthermore, although 34% of teachers on average participated in professional development activities including teaching students with special needs in the 12 months prior to the survey, training in teaching special needs students is the professional development topic with the highest percentage of teachers reporting a high need for it – 39% in South Africa (compared to 22% across the OECD).
• On average in South Africa, 53% of school principals report that delivery of quality instruction in their school is hindered by a shortage of teachers with competence in teaching students with special needs (compared to 32% across the OECD).

Teaching in multicultural or multilingual settings

• On average in South Africa, 62% of teachers work in classes with at least 10% of students whose first language is different from the language of instruction, which is the highest share across OECD countries and economies participating in TALIS (18%).
• In South Africa, 75% of teachers were trained to teach in a multicultural or multilingual setting as part of their formal teacher education or training, while 67% of teachers on average felt prepared to teach in such settings when they finished their studies.
• Furthermore, although 54% of teachers on average participated in professional development activities including teaching in a multicultural or multilingual setting in the 12 months prior to the survey, training in teaching in a multicultural or multilingual setting is the second professional development topic with the highest percentage of teachers reporting a high need for it – 20% in South Africa (compared to 15% across the OECD).
• However, on average in South Africa, 81% of teachers feel they can cope with the challenges of a multicultural classroom “quite a bit” or “a lot” in teaching a culturally diverse class (compared to 67% across the OECD).