The Voices of Untrained Teachers of Solomon Islands
摘要
This chapter aims to investigate the learnings of 73 untrained teachers from Solomon Islands who answered an open-ended question. Employing convenience sampling and a phenomenological study, this chapter collected untrained teachers’ learning experiences as untrained teachers. Qualitative in nature and framed on the notion of tacit knowledge, an inductive analysis was conducted to arrive at findings. This study found that through positive interaction with teaching colleagues, their pupils, the school, and community, they learned and improved on the manner in which they teach, assess, and manage their classes. They also learned to plan yearly and in their daily lessons and continually develop professionally by working well with staff and the community, being punctual, and taking responsibilities, including extracurricular activities. This has implications for teacher education in that untrained teachers went into teaching with existing knowledge, developed tacit knowledge on the job, and will enter teacher training with substantial practical knowledge that should be built upon. There still needs to be investment in the training of untrained teachers as key elements to the success of school systems, but it also needs to be realized that these untrained teachers bring with them a lot of tacit knowledge and skills that can be developed further. With all participants in this study from rural Solomon Islands, having them certified and with increased confidence to participate in their village schools to continue to nurture young people for the future is critical.