Research into bilingual and multilingual initial teacher education models being implemented across selected HEIs in South Africa

Background and objective

The Initial Teacher Education (ITE) Donor Group – a collective of philanthropic funders – commissioned the Nelson Mandela Institute (NMI) and Nova Economics to conduct a high-level study of the bi- and multilingual models being implemented in ITE programmes at five higher education institutions (HEIs) in South Africa. The Group’s interest follows evidence of the benefits of and the roll-out of Mother Tongue-based Bilingual Education (MTbBE) as part of the Department of Basic Education’s 2023-2030 strategy. This roll-out seeks to extend the use of African languages as languages of learning, teaching and assessment (LOLTAs).

The overall objective of the engagement was to provide the Donor Group with insights into current models, offering a deeper understanding that could inform a collective strategy and guide future support to education faculties in strengthening the design and implementation of bilingual and multilingual innovations.

Project scope

The study sought to assess and describe the different models of bi- and multilingual ITE being implemented across HEI education faculties within their ITE (i.e., Bachelor of Education degrees). Five HEIs were selected for analysis on the basis that their implementation models were sufficiently different to provide varied but valuable insights and learnings. These HEIs were the University of Fort Hare, North-West University, the University of Johannesburg, the University of Cape Town, and the University of KwaZulu-Natal.

The analysis focused on two key dimensions:

• Curriculum offering at the HEI as it relates to bilingual or multilingual innovations; and
• Human and technological resources required, and currently being employed for the implementation of the model.

Our approach

The approach employed by the team centred on two activities:

• Engaging education faculties and conducting semi-structured interviews with key academic staff to understand how they are preparing student teachers for MTbBE. A total of ten interviews across the selected education faculties were conducted and
• Reviewing relevant documentation (e.g., language policies, curriculum handbooks, and institutional reports) to gather complementary information and insights.

Outcomes of the engagement

The engagement resulted in the development and presentation of a consolidated report setting out key findings and a set of practical, forward-looking recommendations. The study provided the ITE Donor Group with a clearer picture of how bilingual and multilingual approaches are currently being conceptualised and implemented across selected education faculties, as well as the institutional conditions shaping these approaches.

Overall, the research highlighted that while most universities have made important progress in articulating commitments to multilingualism through policy, translating these commitments into consistent and sustained changes in ITE practice remains uneven. Where bilingual and multilingual innovations are being pursued, they often take the form of incremental or experimental approaches, typically driven by motivated individuals within faculties and shaped by existing resource, capacity and institutional constraints.

The study therefore framed bilingual and multilingual ITE not as a binary choice but rather as a continuum, along which faculties are positioned at different points. This framing enabled a more constructive discussion of feasible next steps, recognising both current limitations and opportunities for gradual progression.

Building on this, the report set out a set of recommendations directed at:

• The ITE Donor Group, focusing on actions that could help catalyse dialogue, coordination and experimentation across institutions, and support the testing and strengthening of promising practices; and
• Education faculties, outlining practical, context-appropriate steps that could be taken to incrementally strengthen bilingual and multilingual provision within existing programmes.

Taken together, the findings and recommendations provide a shared reference point for the Donor Group and participating HEIs to support more intentional, coordinated and sustainable movement along the continuum towards stronger bilingual and multilingual initial teacher education, aligned with national policy objectives and institutional realities