Abstract:
This article provides insight into the
knowledge held by Zimbabwean
Ordinary Level beginner teachers who
teach Literature in English. An extant
of research output on ESL focuses
on curriculum, subject, learner, and
pedagogical content knowledge of
linguistic content, with limited, if any,
focus on knowledge of Literature in
English. To address this gap, this study
employed a qualitative single case study
design to gather data on the knowledge
held by four purposively selected
beginner teachers. In the context of this
study, beginner teachers were college
trained English teachers who had been
in the profession for less than four years.
The study was underpinned by social
constructivism and current literature on
experiential teacher knowledge. The study established as a novel
finding that beginner teachers held
attitudinal knowledge. Additionally, the
findings affirmed that beginner teachers’
knowledge was a multiple-sourced
construct that was fluid, idiosyncratic,
attitudinal, pragmatic, and contextual.
The study recommends that teacher
preparation institutions consider the
findings as basis for student teacher
training programmes that foster
connections between personal and
experiential sources of knowledge
construction.
