Teachers for the 21st Century in Zimbabwe - The Case For Professional Teacher Ethics in Colleges of Teacher Education.

Abstract

This paper examines ways of enhancing the quality of teachers as Zimbabwe gears itself for the new millenium. Teachers, in this paper, shall include college lecturers and principals and education officers in the ministries of both Education, Sport & Culture and Higher Education, for it is assumed that these are promotional offices from being clasroom teachers. It shall be argued that the teacher for the 21 st century should not only be qualified and competent but should also have hunhu. A case for Professional Teacher Ethics, informed by hunhu, to be included in teacher preparation programmes in institutions of teacher education shall be advanced as a way to improve the quality of the teacher produced. It shall be the contention of the paper that what Zimbabwe needs in the new millenium is not only a teacher who is competent but one who, in addition to competence, has hunhu. By hunhu we mean "humaneness, characterised by respectfulness, politeness" and sociality (Ramose, 1999:50).