Postgraduate Certificate in Education in Senior and Further Education and Training Teaching
Course Details
next intake
Term 1
Applications Open
2 October 2023Applications Close
15 February 2024
duration
12 months full-time
accreditation
NQF 7, CHE, DHET
how to apply
Why take this course
SACAP’s Postgraduate Certificate in Education (PGCE) is an excellent way to enhance your undergraduate/postgraduate qualification with specialised vocational skills that equip you to make a positive impact on South Africa’s educational landscape.
SACAP’s PGCE was developed to improve teaching and learning practices by addressing existing teaching and learning gaps. The programme seeks to build teaching skills in the core subject specialisation area of Life Orientation, in both the Senior Phase and the Further Education Training Phase, as well as relevant knowledge and skills in Guidance and Counselling and Specialised Learner Support.
Students will learn how to draw on essential guidance and counselling skills, effectively mediate and facilitate teaching and learning – and apply teaching and learning practices that emphasise Life Orientation as an essential contributor to developing well-balanced learners who can respond appropriately to life’s responsibilities and opportunities. This postgraduate programme also includes a strong school-based Work Integrated Learning component, providing teaching experience in varied and disparate contexts of schooling in South Africa.
As a successful graduate, you will be well prepared for registration with the South African Council for Educators (SACE) and employment as a qualified educator offering Life Orientation, Guidance and Counselling and Specialised Learner Support.
Please Note that this is a postgraduate qualification which means you will need to have a minimum of a bachelor’s degree, or an equivalent qualification, with a Psychology major at NQF Level 7. (See further down full admissions requirements)
What you can expect
Over the duration of the programme you will:
- Obtain the core skills needed to ensure the delivery of high-quality education to learners from various socio-economic backgrounds.
- Acquire in-depth knowledge of the Life Orientation curriculum in both the Senior and Further Education and Training (FET) phases and develop Guidance, Counselling and Specialised Learner Support skills, equipping you to offer learning support, psycho-social support and transformative counselling to learners.
- Be able to integrate effective assessment strategies into pedagogical practices and thereby assist learners to identify and address their specific learning needs.
- Apply a range of productive pedagogies, catering for all learning styles, multiple intelligences and varying cognitive levels.
- Interpret and design lessons that allow learners to grasp the importance of the Life Orientation curriculum making sure that it meets the needs of all learners in an inclusive educational environment.
- Gain the confidence to take full responsibility and accountability for your work in a self-directed manner in unfamiliar and variable contexts.
- Develop an enhanced ability to effectively manage trauma and stress in any given work environment.
You will also develop:
- The ability to demonstrate integrated and detailed knowledge of foundations in education, including an understanding of and an ability to apply and evaluate the key terms, concepts, facts, principles, rules and theories of, but not limited to; philosophy, psychology, politics, economics, sociology and the history of education.
- The ability to reflect scholarly and critically, in theoretically informed ways. Plus the ability to use appropriate processes of information gathering for a given context or use, and to independently evaluate and manage the said information.
- Concrete experience within an appropriate, structured, supervised Work Integrated Learning component that is integrated into the programme and is formally assessed. Work Integrated Learning provides you with invaluable work experience in the field of education.
Course Highlights
Enhance your academic qualification with specialised vocational skills.
Contribute towards positively impacting SA’s educational landscape.
Become eligible for registration with the South African Council for Educators.
Who is this course for?
Do you:
- Want to drive change by offering lessons grounded in social emotional learning, provide Guidance, Counselling and Specialised Learner Support. Want to enhance your undergraduate/post graduate degree with a vocational programme.
- Want to build on your existing teaching skills and change or expand your subject specialisation to include Life Orientation.
Career Opportunities
Career Opportunities
- You will be eligible for registration as a teacher with SACE (South African Council of Educators), which is a prerequisite for employment in the education sector of South Africa.
- As a graduate, you will be equipped to teach in varying school contexts. Given the fast pace and social pressures of contemporary society, schools are increasingly acknowledging the need for specialist Life Orientation educators to help prepare learners psycho-socially to deal with life’s varied challenges.
- You will be a sought-after Life Orientation specialist with expert knowledge in Guidance, Counselling and Specialised Learner Support in a range of public and private schools as well as technical, vocational and educational training colleges.
- As a specialist in social emotional learning and development, you will also be an ideal candidate for NGOs (Non-Governmental Organisations) working within the education sector or with children in general.
- Given the nature of Life Orientation as a fundamental subject focusing on social emotional learning and development, you will be adept in human relations skills and inherently play a leadership role within the school, which will indirectly pave the way toward leadership positions within the school management team.
- As a trained Life Orientation educator, you will be eligible for senior positions in your subject specialisation at a district, provincial and national level, as well as in directorates within the education department such as Safer Schools, Learner Behaviour Management and Values Driven Education.
- Having been exposed to the fundamentals of project management in both theory and practice, you will be eligible to work in any directorate within any government department that has projects or programmes that focus on the physical, social and emotional well-being of children.
- Major entities within the corporate sector are increasingly directing their Corporate Social Investments (CSI) towards youth development projects and with a qualification such as Life Orientation which focuses on the development of the youth you are ideally positioned to lead in such ventures.
Lists of classes /parts/modules
Postgraduate Certificate in Education in Senior Phase and Further Education and Training (FET) Teaching
- School-Based Work Integrated Learning (Part 1)
- Foundations in Education 1: History and Philosophy of Education (12)
- Subject Specific Methodology 1: Life Orientation (Senior Phase and Further Education and Training Phase) (20)
- Teacher and the Profession (8)
- Foundations in Education 2: Educational Psychology (10)
- Subject Specific Methodology 2: Physical Education (Senior Phase and Further Education and Training Phase) 20
- General Pedagogical Learning (8)
- Foundations in Education 3: Educational Management and Research (10)
- Learning Support Specialisation: Guidance and Counselling and Specialised Learning Support (20)
- School-Based Work Integrated Learning (Part 2) (32)
Additional information
British Accreditation Council (BAC)
SACAP is fully accredited by the British Accreditation Council (BAC) as an Independent Higher Education Institution
The BAC accreditation is a globally recognised hallmark of quality assurance, and achieving this accreditation demonstrates that we have met the high standards set by the BAC. This accreditation is validation of our commitment to excellence and our mission to provide our students with a world-class education that prepares them for success in their future careers.
Our students can be assured that their education provider has met a gold standard. To maintain BAC accreditation SACAP needs to continue to meet BAC’s standards. BAC ensure that colleges, universities and training providers provide high quality education and a great learning experience for students.
Admission requirements
Minimum Entrance Requirements:
Acceptance into this qualification is subject to a selection process that includes meeting the minimum entrance requirements, completion of the relevant application forms, and assessment of academic and non-academic aptitudes and competencies.
- A minimum of a bachelor’s degree or equivalent qualification with a psychology major at NQF Level 7. Applicants must have achieved a grade point average (GPA) of 60% and/or above in all psychology subjects undertaken in the final year (NQF 7/exit level) of study. OR
- Applicants 24 years of age and older who do not meet the above requirements should provide a portfolio of evidence demonstrating formal, informal, and non-formal knowledge, training, work experience, and/or learning in a cognate field of study equivalent to an NQF level 7 qualification to support admission into the programme on the basis of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
Please Note:
Students who do not have conversational competence in at least one of South Africa’s official languages over and above English and Afrikaans, will be required to complete a conversational language competency certificate in isiXhosa (Cape Town Campus) or isiZulu (Johannesburg Campus) before completing this qualification.
See SACAP’s full Admissions Policy here
Intake / Selection Process
- Applicants must have achieved a grade point average (GPA) of 60% and/or above in all psychology subjects undertaken in the final year (exit level) of study.
- Given that Life Orientation is an interdisciplinary subject that draws on, and integrates knowledge values, skills and processes embedded in various disciplines, such as Sociology, Philosophy, Psychology, Political Science, Human Movement Sciences, Labour Studies and Industrial Studies, it is recommended that the prospective student has taken a combination of at least two of these fields in their undergraduate degree.
- There is no interview process for this programme.
- Acceptance is subject to a selection process that includes: applicants meeting the minimum entrance requirements, completion of application forms and assessment of academic and non-academic aptitudes and competencies.
- If a student’s first language is not English, or if their previous education has been conducted in another language, they will be required to demonstrate proficiency in English by undertaking an English Literacy Skills Assessment (ELSA) as part of the application process to gauge competency, the results of which will be submitted to SACAP.
- Students who do not have a second language of conversational competence will be required to complete Language and Communication Skills in isiXhosa (CPT) or seSotho (JHB) (NQF 5, 14 credits).
- Applicants 24 years of age and older who do not meet the above requirements should provide a portfolio of evidence demonstrating formal, informal, and non-formal knowledge, training, work experience, and/or learning in a cognate field of study equivalent to an NQF level 7 qualification to support admission into the programme on the basis of Recognition of Prior Learning (RPL).
See SACAP’s full Admissions Policy here
How can I apply?
You will need these docs
1. Application form
2. Certified copy of your ID
3. Certified Highest Qualification
4. Proof of Application fee of R300.00
Apply Online here
Course details
- Duration: 12 months full-time
- Modules: 9
- Credits: 140
- Accreditation NQF 7, Accredited by the Council on Higher Education (CHE), Qualification registered by South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA), SACAP is a registered Private Higher Education Institution with the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET)
SACAP Fee Structure
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