The 4IR has become an overarching framework within which education systems, including teacher education, are operating. Contingent upon the ideology of neo-liberalism, the 4IR seeks to transform societies in ways which respond to the relentless developments in technology, the Internet and digital capacities which, by design and intent, are purposed at increasing both productivity and the associated quality while at the same time reducing human intervention in the same processes. In teacher education, how we teach and train student teachers will be substantially influenced by the imperatives of the 4IR. There are multiple unresolved questions as the 4IR takes centre stage. For example, what will it mean for teaching and learning in schools that have severe technological and digital deficits; for teachers and students who have minimal technological literacies; for delivering high-quality teaching and learning; for transforming both the content and pedagogies of teacher education and, above all, for delivering socially just educational experiences for all our learners, regardless of class, race, and privilege. The discourse of the 4IR is contemporary and requires multiple perspectives to explore what it means in different contexts and settings, the understandings it engenders in people, what it implies across a wide range of educational decision-making levels, and that its fundamental assumptions cohere with national and societal assumptions about equality, equity and social justice. Multiple methodological approaches were utilised in the interrogation of the idea of the 4IR in teacher education in South Africa, including theoretical, empirical, and small-scale case studies, amongst others. The data these approaches provide are equally valued based on the purposes for which they have been derived.

This is an open access book. The 2023 Focus Conference will focus on Goal Four (Quality Education) of the United Nations (UN) Sustainable Development Goals (SGD). Goal Four is seized with providing “equal access for all women and men to affordable and quality technical, vocational and tertiary education including university.” Quality education, in this context, means the ability to function, provide and derive value in society. The theme of the conference is therefore coined as “The Role of Higher Education in the Attainment of Sustainable Quality Education.” Through this theme, the conference will provide a space for participants to share practical knowledge, experiences, and possible solutions to the myriad of problems that confront the higher education sector. Universities are often thought of as ivory towers far removed from the realities that confront global societies. To compound this, higher education is increasingly being questioned for its relevance in providing practical and innovative solutions to existing societal problems. Such questions often navigate around the relevance of the academic programmes being offered, curriculum, the capacity of staff, employability of graduates, and generally the ability of these institutions to understand why they exist. Indeed, higher education’s role in creating a sustainable future will presumably take on greater importance as the world continues to become increasingly globalised and interdependent.

This book relates to the experiences and initiatives of teacher education institutions in the Southern Africa region to empower teachers to cope with teaching and learning in the digital age. The book covers the impacts of digital technologies on the teaching and learning process. Online and blended learning, digital pedagogies, the design of curricula and learning experiences to address the learning needs and profile of learners are considered in this book. Furthermore, the way in which pre- and in-service teachers learn about alternative modes of assessment will also be considered. In this regard, innovative concepts such as renewable and situated assessments, multimodal assessments, digital storytelling and e-portfolios, amongst others, were explored.

The idea of this book emerged from the Education Deans Forum (EDF) meeting held in Johannesburg in 2018. The forum discussed the twin issues of the 4IR and Decolonisation and how these were likely to impact the future development of Higher Education in South Africa. Essentially, this book provides scholarly analyses of a range of possible impacts of the two discourses. On one hand, the discourses are discussed as representing convergences and divergences in relation to their epistemological, ontological, axiological and methodological assumptions. On the other, they are portrayed as competing for dominance in the contemporary and future discourses in Higher Education. As a scholarly compilation of high-end research, the book is a must-read resource for academics generally and those in teacher education disciplines particularly. Issues of the automation of academic workspaces, impact of digital divides, the opportunities and constraints of the technologisation of curricula, pedagogies, teaching and learning and the intractable challenges of remote modalities of university instruction are dealt with by some of the leading thinkers in the South African academies.

This book explores the plethora of social-justice issues facing teacher education and development in Africa. Using both theoretical and empirical perspectives, it considers the need for teacher education to be transformational and address conventional pedagogy as well as the rights and duties of all citizens. The edited volume focuses on a wide range of relevant aspects, such as decolonisation, economic models, environmental concerns, as well as multilingual and multicultural aspects of education. Evidence-based chapters cover strategies used to support preservice and in-service teachers on how best to tackle issues of social justice through induction activities, pedagogy and discipline content, involving local communities, and the role of technology, including the use of open educational resources. The principles underlying these strategies are being used in the COVID-19 pandemic and will be equally relevant in the post-COVID-19 world. This book will be of great interest for academics, researchers and postgraduate students in the fields of teacher education, African education, educational policy, international education and comparative education.

This unique book compares anthropogenic challenges in science and technology teacher education between the northern and southern contexts of Sweden and South Africa, respectively. Presenting the results of a three-year research collaboration between science and technology teacher education researchers from South Africa and Sweden, the book explores theoretical perspectives and pedagogical experiences in response to challenges in the Anthropocene. It discusses research-informed practice in teacher education to address sustainable development. Chapters in the book collectively investigate the influence of current environmental and societal changes on the education of teachers, answering the question of how science and technology teacher education can adjust to current changes in the world and prepare new teachers for work in their future profession. Touching on issues such as climate change, global warming and pandemic diseases, the book uses a comparative approach and explores opportunities and possibilities for fulfilling the goals of science and technology education for sustainable development. The book offers recommendations and opportunities to implement sustainability issues and develop sustainable teaching strategies. It will be a key reading for researchers, academics and post-graduate students in the fields of teacher education, science and technology education, sustainability education and comparative education.

This book presents a variety of perspectives on teacher education for a fast-changing world. It deepens the discourse on teacher education and specifically considers teacher education in light of the technological advancements of the Fourth Industrial Revolution as well as education in times of uncertainty. Drawing on examples from South Africa and showcasing international authors, the book offers a nuanced evaluation of how teacher education might adapt for the future. It explores the tension between the perennial in education and the unpredictability of the future and asks the question of how teacher education can contend with these tensions and how teachers can prepare for unexpected circumstances. Chapters draw on the science of learning and foreground lessons learned from the abrupt move of teacher education online due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The book invokes these themes to reimagine and strengthen teacher education for the future, presenting reports on research, case studies, and theoretical stances. Future-Proofing Teacher Education explores what is relevant in teacher education in the 21st century and will be a key reading for researchers, academics, and post-graduate students of teacher education, technology in education, and digital education.

This book critically examines the role of governments in promoting parity during and in post-pandemic education. This comes from the realisation that the pandemic has deepened the crisis by depleting the meagre resources that African countries might have devoted to ‘normative educational practices’ where those on the margins would have been pushed further behind while the privileged would have been further initiated into the cultural and capital flows of private schools and historically research-intensive institutions of higher learning. This has far-reaching implications for the education of underprivileged citizens, and education, particularly modes and modalities of delivery, has to be reimagined to subvert the challenges wrought by the pandemic. This book significantly bridges the gap between the pre-and post-COVID-19 pandemic pedagogical practices and the erstwhile modalities that have been resilient over time. The book focuses on ways to stave off pedagogical challenges that face countries as the global pandemic makes its mark.