Blended learning as an approach to foster self-directed learning in teacher professional development programmes

Trends in research on teacher development in recent years have shown a shift away from merely studying what teachers learn to how they learn, how they improve their learning, and how they transform their skills and knowledge into practice so as to offer their own learners an improved educational experience. Although blended learning has been proposed as a means to enhance student learning and engagement, little research has been done on blended learning teacher development programmes, especially in the context of teachers of German Second Additional Language (SAL) in South Africa. This article aims to shift the focus from general setting in higher education institutions to teacher professional development programmes for teachers of German SAL by proposing blended learning as a mediator to foster self-directed learning in teacher professional development programmes. After examining existing definitions and models on blended learning, a synthesis of models, which could be adjusted to the South African teaching context, is proposed. The new model offers certain opportunities to foster the characteristics of self-directed learners, which are highlighted in this article. Suggestions are made on how this model could be utilised in and adapted to the context of teacher professional development for teachers of German SAL in order to foster the characteristics of self-directed learning rather than merely imparting subject knowledge to teachers.