Study of Trainee Teachers and Their Lecturers’ Perceptions of Synergistic and Contradictory Factors, and How These Shaped Learning and Teaching in the University Activity System

The study was aimed at finding out trainee-teachers and their lecturers’ perceptions of what happens in the university activity system, synergistic and contradictory factors inherent, and how the factors shaped learning and teaching. The study was guided by socio-cultural theories and used activity theory and reflective practice. Informed by qualitative methodology the study used interview, document analysis and bio-data questionnaire. Data analysis used a priori codes from research questions, activity theory, and interview protocol. In the university activity system trainee teachers, the subjects of interest, were learning theory expressed as teacher knowledge. Trainee teachers were supported by three groups of lecturers whose different specialisms was fodder for a potential synergy of collaboration. Contradictory factors shaped learning e.g. motives contradicting objects of learning to teach; the teacher education programme was officially concurrent and yet educationally consecutive because of lack of exploration of concurrent learning; the contextual factors existing when study was conducted limited teaching and learning to general pedagogy as opposed to specialist pedagogical content knowledge. Synergistic and contradictory factors tended to attenuate learning because of lack of agentic action on the part of stakeholders - trainee teachers and lecturers. The study recommends finding innovative ways of using scarce resources to produce high quality teachers.