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Tutorial Letter 102/0/2023: Teaching Practice Placement Information & Forms
Tutorial Letter 102/0/2023: Teaching Practice Placement Information & Forms
Tutorial Letter 102/0/2023: Teaching Practice Placement Information & Forms
TPS3703
Year module
Department of Curriculum & Instructional
Studies
IMPORTANT INFORMATION
Please register on MYUNISA, activate your MYLIFE e-mail account and ensure
that you have regular access to the MYUNISA module website and your group
website.
This tutorial letter contains important information about your:
• Teaching practical module
• Specific teaching practice placement matters
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TPS3703/102/0/2023
CONTENTS
Page
1 INTRODUCTION .......................................................................................................................... 3
2 PURPOSE .................................................................................................................................... 3
3 CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION ........................................................................................... 3
4 CONTACT DETAILS .................................................................................................................... 3
5 PRACTICAL WORK AND WORK-INTERGRATED LEARNING .................................................. 5
6 GUIDELINES- PLACEMENT OF STUDENT TEACHERS AT SCHOOL ...................................... 5
7 TEACHING PRACTICE QUALITY ASSURANCE ...................................................................... 13
8 SACE REGISTRATION BY STUDENT TEACHERS .................................................................. 13
9 GUIDELINES FOR TEACHING PRACTICE MODULES ............................................................ 14
10 ANNEXURE A- GUIDELINES FOR THE SCHOOL & STUDENT TEACHER ............................. 14
11 LETTER TO THE SCHOOL PRINCIPAL .................................................................................... 17
12 INDEMNITY FORM ..................................................................................................................... 19
13 ATTENDANCE REGISTER OF STUDENT TEACHER AT SCHOOL ......................................... 21
14 FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ........................................................................................ 22
15 UNIVERSITY CONTACTS AND IMPORTANT INFORMATION ................................................. 23
16 IN CLOSING ............................................................................................................................... 24
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1 INTRODUCTION
Dear Student
We are pleased to welcome you to the teaching practice office. The Teaching Practice is your
professional development and an integral component of the Initial Teacher Education (ITE)
Programme. This ITE programme is an accredited requirement of Teacher Education as
mandated by the Minimum Requirements for Teacher Education Qualifications (MRTEQ).
This tutorial letter contains essential guidelines for your teaching practice period. Consult the
guidelines prior to and during your school teaching practice period. We have also included some
general and administrative information in this tutorial letter.
2 PURPOSE
• To provide guidelines for all teaching practice students before, during and after completing
teaching practice at your selected school.
• To ensure a positive practical teaching experience for all students registered for teaching
practice modules.
3 CURRICULUM TRANSFORMATION
Unisa has implemented a transformation charter, in terms of which the university has placed
curriculum transformation high on the teaching and learning agenda. Curriculum transformation
includes student-centred scholarship, the pedagogical renewal of teaching and assessment
practices, the scholarship of teaching and learning, and the infusion of African epistemologies and
philosophies. All of these will be phased in at both programme and module levels, and as a result
of this you will notice a marked change in the teaching and learning strategy implemented by
Unisa, together with how the content is conceptualised in your modules. We encourage you to
embrace these changes during your studies at Unisa in a responsive way within the framework of
transformation.
4 CONTACT DETAILS
4.1 Lecturer(s)
For your lecturers’ contact details kindly refer to Tutorial Letter 101 which contains the portfolios
(assignments/workbooks) that you need to complete. The name and contact details of the primary lecturer
of this module is provided on MyUnisa as well.
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NB: You are encouraged to activate your MyLife email address and ensure you have regular access
to the MyUnisa and all Teaching Practice announcements. You will receive your placement
confirmation letter through your MyLife email address. Kindly send your responses, concerns and related
teaching practice placement enquiries to your relevant workstation / country email addresses below.
Please always include the student number in all correspondence.
PLEASE NOTE:
ALL enquiries regarding your placement and other TP Admin related matters should be directed to the
Teaching Practice Office. Please do not contact the TPO with queries related to assignments,
workbook/portfolio, and content of the module and/or submission of your assignments; for these matters
contact your module lecturers. Similarly, do not contact your lecturer(s) about school placement and/or TP
admin related queries. Nonetheless, as this mode of learning is unfamiliar to many of our students, UNISA
provides support in many ways.
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UNISA is in partnership with VODACOM and the Department of Basic Education to establish Teacher
Centres (TC’s) in various locations across South Africa. This is to enable you (as a UNISA student) to have
free access to computers and Internet. This access enables you to conduct the following related activities:
• Access Internet
• Registration
• Access MyUnisa
• Access Online courses (e.g. BPT1501)
• Participate in Discussion Forums
• Read announcements that have
been made on MyUnisa
• Online submission of assignments
• Provides any information you will require to prepare for your teaching practice lessons
PLEASE NOTE: Any other activities outside of the above mentioned, will be for your own cost e.g. printing,
photocopying etc. To find the location of the Teacher Centre nearest to you, please visit:
www.unisa.ac.za/TC
The teaching practice period takes place from February to September. To enable this process to proceed
smoothly and speedily, your attention is drawn to the following sections.
There are two options that can be followed for practical placement purposes:
NB: Students who encounter challenges when completing the online placement form must contact the
relevant workstation/ provincial / country as indicated on the Teaching Practice Office contact list for
advice.
III. I am doing teaching practical outside South African borders, can I also use this
Function?
No, please use the Alternative Online Placement - DSAR25/27 form process to complete the
preferred school placement details
teaching practice
➢ Search and select the fields required using the dropdown filter arrow
➢ Enter/ type in the First few letters of the preferred school
➢ Press the Display button to show list of schools, then select the relevant and correct school as seen
on the above screen.
➢ The following screenshot will open showing the student placement guidelines as shown below
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➢ Please read carefully and understand the instructions provided in the above placement guidelines
➢ Press the Request Confirmation of Placement button to send the request for school placement to
the school principal
➢ When done, you will see the placement message as displayed on the screenshot below
➢ This means that you have successfully requested the schools’ agreement to host you for the
practical.
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➢ When all the fields are filled, press the Save button.
➢ The following screen will open confirming that the student placement details are successfully
captured
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How long will it take for the Office to finalise the placement
Please allow the Office 21 days to process, verify and finalise your placement
VII. Will I get a notification when TPO has finalized my Placement?
Yes, you will be notified by an SMS and receive an email on your MyLife account confirming your
placement at the school
VIII. Will students be allowed to change or edit their school placement information after it has
been finalized by the TPO?
After you have received your placement confirmation letter from the TPO, the system will not allow
the student to edit or change school placement details. The system will be locked.
However, to effect a change at this stage, students should send an email to the TPO and indicate
that their school placement has been finalized but they are requesting to edit or change the
placement details. The Office will therefore reply with an email indicating that the system is unlocked,
and students will now be allowed to edit or change school placement information.
➢ Follow all the instructions in Step 1 to request a new token number from the school and thereafter
follow all the instructions in Step 3 to finalize the editing or changing of school placement.
2. If you are a TP Student who will be doing teaching practice outside the South African
borders (SADC & International countries) and cannot access the online self-placement tool
on MyUNISA. Please use the following link https://forms.office.com/r/EzFD8TdkG9 to capture
your school placement details.
Refer to the following guidelines in filling out the form. This online form has replaced the paper
DSAR25/27 form.
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STEP 1: To use this process, you will be required to print/ cut out the following documents
and attach them as shown in the next steps:
➢ Letter to the principal in Tutorial letter 102 for the principal signature and school stamp.
➢ Indemnity form- signed
STEP 2: Click on the link or copy the link and paste it on the web browser to access the
form, the following screenshot will open. https://forms.office.com/r/EzFD8TdkG9
STEP 5: Click the submit button for the office to receive your form.
STEP 6: The office will receive the form, capture placement details and sends
confirmation letter.
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7.1 You are required to adhere to the stipulated duration of your practical teaching. In addition, you are
expected to adhere to the rules and regulations as stipulated by the school during your school
experience. Furthermore, ensure that you complete your Portfolio/Assignments/Workbooks
accordingly and submit them as per scheduled dates.
7.2 During a disruptive period like Covid-19, for example students on B.ED level 3, 4 and PGCE will be
prioritized and visited by a supervisor
7.3 After receiving your placement confirmation letter, it is also your responsibility to contact the
supervisor if the supervisor has not contacted you.
7.4 International student support/ supervisor (information will be communicated to all international
students regarding supervision and support the university will provide).
Apply for police clearance before completing the form. Furthermore, please be informed that registration
with SACE is conducted ONLINE. This requires the original letter you received from UNISA confirming your
registration. That letter contains UNISA LETTERHEADS. Kindly request the letter from registration if you
do not have one. Please note that, you will only receive the letter after your initial payment of all your
registered courses. You also need to have a certified copy of your ID and your academic record to submit
upon registration.
You, therefore, need to visit the SACE website for registration: https://www.sace.org.za or registration
https://www.sace.org.za/pages/registration-requirements# Registration is only completed online. You will be
required to acquire police clearance to attach to your application. Normally, police clearance takes time.
However, there is a quicker way of receiving police clearance and your certificate within 24 - 48hrs. For
your police clearance, please contact or e-mail Mr Moolman at bender@afiswitch.com or call at 012 679
2936 or 083 415 3821 for further guidance.
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The principal is required to allocate the student teacher to an experienced teacher to serve as a mentor to
student. The selected mentor teacher must understand the nature, and importance of this venture.
• stimulates a culture of learning among the learners, the culture of teaching and education among
teachers; this has the ability to influence the student teacher
• supervises the student teacher’s involvement in teaching, education and training and the teacher’s
involvement in the student teacher’s activities
• serves as a link between the student teacher, the school and the university and ensures that the
necessary forms are completed properly and forwarded to the university. The principal will therefore
receive documents to be completed by the school and returned to UNISA at the completion of the
students’ TP. The principal will receive the following documents:
• contacts the teaching practice coordinator directly, if there are any uncertainties or any queries
concerning the student’s teaching practice activities.
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A MENTOR
We expect the student teacher to experience all aspects of school life whether positive or negative. This
period should have a lasting effect on him/her. We trust that the student teacher will be moulded positively
with a professional outlook on teaching. The student teacher is expected to:
• become involved in all curricula and school activities and learn as much as possible to gain
experience.
• upon observing the mentor teacher, student teachers are encouraged to take on responsibilities for
the class and work closely with the mentor teacher in all curricula, classroom and school activities.
• complete and submit the following assignments: that concentrate on the following matters:
o the presentation of various lessons
o the use of media/ resources
o the written or recorded exposition of the lessons
o addressing barriers to learning
o monitoring and marking the learners’ written work
o oral communication
o classroom assessment
o conflict management and resolution
o discipline/code of conduct/vision and mission of the school
• develop a critical and reflective attitude towards the school, teaching and education
• see the connection between his/her teaching practice and theoretical studies in his/her degree or
postgraduate certificate courses
• establish good working relations with mentors and the rest of the staff members at the school
• be at the school during the full period as prescribed in the teaching practice module guidelines
• start the school day with all the teachers and leave when they leave at the end of the school day
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• Teaching should always occur under the supervision of a qualified teacher (Mentor) allocated by the
school. The student is also required to participate in all school-related activities for the full duration
of the Teaching Practice period;
• Schools are not obligated to pay/remunerate the student teacher for the services rendered during
the teaching practicals;
• The student may not change schools after the placement has been finalised without the approval of
the Teaching Practice Office;
• The student should report to the school daily for the full duration of the Teaching Practice period;
• The student must refrain from using a cell phone during class time.
• The student must avoid eating bubble gum in class or on school grounds.
• Student may not be excuse themselves for private engagements during school time and/or teaching
practice period. In the case of illness or any other official matter, the school and the Teaching
Practice Office should be notified immediately. A medical certificate must be submitted upon return
to the school in case of illness;
• Should the student be absent from the Teaching Practice programme for any reason whatsoever,
s/he will be required to make up for the lost time;
• Should the student require permission to write examinations, arrangements with the school and the
TPO should be made well in advance. The student is also required to supply the principal with an
official examination timetable;
• The student should always adhere to the safety regulations of the school.
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This letter serves as a request for your school to host UNISA students during their teaching practice period.
According to policy, all B.Ed., PGCE and Diploma students should be allowed an opportunity to integrate
the theory they learn in their modules with actual classroom practice in schools. This authentic form of
experience is imperative in their professional journey of becoming teachers. As a result, student teachers
are expected to immerse themselves fully in the culture of the school by following all internal school
processes, procedures and policies.
We, therefore, ask you to support student teachers placed at your school by ensuring that they get the
appropriate guidance and support from the teachers and mentor teachers allocated to them.
Yours in service
Dr HR Maapola - Thobejane
Acting Manager: Teaching Practice Office
Principal’s Signature
School Stamp
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12 INDEMNITY FORM
Please note that all students in teaching practice are required to sign the standard Unisa indemnity form below. For
the purposes of this form, teaching practice is considered a “field trip”. A copy of the completed indemnity must be
submitted to the school principal and another copy must be kept by the student.
RELEASE OF LIABILITY, WAIVER OF CLAIMS, ASSUMPTION OF RISKS AND INDEMNITY AGREEMENT
DISCLAIMER CLAUSE
I agree that the University of South Africa, its agents, officers, directors, employees, volunteers, and
representatives (hereafter referred to as “UNISA”), are not responsible for any death, illness, injury, loss or damage of any
kind sustained by any person or student while I am participating in the field trip and all related activities, caused in any
manner.
DESCRIPTION OF RISKS
I acknowledge that I am aware of the possible risks, dangers and hazards associated with participating in the field trip and all
related activities of the trip, including the possible risk of severe or fatal injury to others or myself. These risks include, but are not
limited to:
TRAVEL: the risks associated with travel and all related activities including transport by public or private motor vehicle,
buses, aircraft and so forth,
WEATHER: any injury, illness, death, loss or damage resulting from exposure to weather elements;
PHYSICAL: physical injuries such as muscular injuries, bruises, scrapes, cuts, sprains, dislocations, broken bones, and head,
facial or dental injuries which might result from an accidental injury; illness resulting from food poisoning or parasites: and the
possibilities of physical confrontations whether caused by myself or some other person or persons which result in injuries
and/or death.
I accept and assume all such risks, dangers and hazards and the possibility of personal injury, death, permanent disability,
damage to property or losses as a result thereof.
1. TO WAIVE ANY AND ALL CLAIMS that I have or may have against UNISA, and their members, officers, employees,
students, agents and independent contractors as a result of my participation in the field trip and all related activities;
2. TO RELEASE UNISA from any and all liability from any loss, damage, injury or expense that I may suffer, or that my
next of kin may suffer as a result of my participation in the field trip and all related activities due to any cause;
3. TO INDEMNIFY AND HOLD HARMLESS UNISA from any and all liability for any damage including consequential
damages to the property of UNISA, or personal injury to, any third party, resulting from my participation in the field trip
and all related activities;
4. IN ENTERING INTO THIS AGREEMENT, I am not relying on any oral or written representations or statements made by
UNISA other than what is outlined in this agreement.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
I ACKNOWLEDGE THAT I HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND THIS AGREEMENT, I have executed this agreement
voluntarily, and that this agreement is binding on my heirs, executors, administrators, representatives and myself.
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The Teaching Practice Office (TPO) might request a copy of the school attendance register to confirm or verify student
school placement information. Therefore, the office would like to advise all the TP students to always have a copy of
the school attendance register ready and make it available as and when required.
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The following are questions frequently asked by students who are registered for teaching
practice modules:
• I will be relocating to China (or anywhere in the world, outside the borders of South Africa); may I do
my teaching practice there?
No, you need to do teaching practice in your country of registration.
• What should I do if I want to transfer my teaching practice module to the following year?
Teaching practice must be completed in the year of registration. Students may cancel their
teaching practice modules through Student Admissions and Registrations.
• Who should I contact if I experience problems with the academic content (e.g. Assignment 50) of my
teaching practice module?
Direct all enquiries related to the academic content of your teaching practice module to the
relevant lecturer. Refer to Tutorial Letter 101 for contact details.
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• Who do I contact to find out if Unisa has received my teaching practice assignment/ Portfolio(s)?
You must keep track of your assignments/ Portfolios via MyUnisa. You may also contact the
Assignment Section (Refer to Tutorial Letter 101 for contact details). Please do not contact
your Lecturer or the Teaching Practice Office.
• Who must I contact if I did not receive my study material/ tutorial letters?
You must contact Despatch Department, e-mail address despatch@unisa.ac.za
DESPATCH
Study material: Despatch@unisa.ac.za
FINANCE DEPARTMENT
• Allocation of fees: SUSDEPID@unisa.ac.za
• NSFAS: DSF-NSFAS@unisa.ac.za
• Student fees: finan@unisa.ac.za
BANK DETAILS
• Bank Name: FNB (First National Bank)
• Account Name: UNISA Students Deposits
• Account number: Select Unisa on the list of pre-approved Public Beneficiaries
• Reference: Student Number, Space, 5400374721 (Study Fees Allocation Number)
You can also visit http://www.unisa.ac.za/paymentinfo for additional methods of payment as well as the
refund application process.
OTHER COLLEGES
• College of Accounting Sciences: CASenquiries@unisa.ac.za
• College of Agriculture and Environmental Sciences: CAESenquiries@unisa.ac.za
• College of Economic and Management Sciences: CEMSenquiries@unisa.ac.za
• College of Human Sciences: CHS@unisa.ac.za
• College of Law: jus@unisa.ac.za
• College of Science, Engineering and Technology: cset@unisa.ac.za
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The Teaching Practice Office wishes you all the best in your studies.
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