UNIVERSITY OF SOUTH AFRICA (UNISA)
College of Education
⋄
GEOGRAPHY TEACHING PRACTICE
PORTFOLIO
Assessment 5: Portfolio — 2026
⋄
Module Code: TMS3713
Assessment: Assessment 5: Portfolio
Year: 2026
Total Marks: 100
Student Name: Lerato Maseko
Student Number: 62148357
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for TMS3713
at the University of South Africa.
,UNISA | TMS3713 Geography Teaching Practice Portfolio
Question 1: Reflection on the Teaching Practice School
Task 1 asks for a description of the school, the learner population, the working relationships with the
mentor and learners, a memorable lesson, and a judgement on the chosen career path.
Teaching practice places a student teacher in a real classroom where theory is tested against
practice, and Schön (1983) argues that professionals learn through reflecting on that experi-
ence. The sections below record what the practice school looked like and what it taught me.
1.A The school, its location and grades taught
Please provide a description of the school where you conducted your teaching practice. Include its
location and specify the grade levels you taught.
My teaching practice took place at Lebone Secondary School, a co-educational public sec-
ondary school in Soshanguve, Gauteng. Classified as a Quintile 3 school, it serves roughly
1 150 learners, taught by about 38 educators. English is the language of learning and teaching,
although most learners speak Sepedi and Setswana at home.
The school grounds include a library, a computer room with 20 working computers, a science
laboratory, 28 classrooms and two sports fields. Geography was taught in a dedicated Geog-
raphy room, and the available resources were textbooks, atlases, wall maps, a data projector
and class sets of topographic maps. I taught Geography to Grade 10 and Grade 11 classes,
each with about 42 learners. This placed me in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase,
which is governed by the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Geography
(DBE, 2011).
1.B Diversity of backgrounds and learning abilities
To what extent did the learner population demonstrate diversity concerning backgrounds and learn-
ing abilities?
The diversity in my classes was considerable, and it shaped almost every planning decision.
Socio-economically, some learners travelled long distances on foot or by scholar transport and
arrived without breakfast, while others had cell phones and access to data at home. This dif-
ference showed in homework: learners with data could research case studies, while others
depended entirely on the textbook and the notes I wrote on the board.
Page 1 of 17
, UNISA | TMS3713 Geography Teaching Practice Portfolio
Linguistically, English was a second or third language for many learners. A concept such as
“erosion” or “watershed” could be understood perfectly in the home language and still be missed
in the lesson because of the vocabulary barrier. I responded by writing key terms on the board
with a translation or a sketch, and by allowing learners to discuss in their home language in
groups before answering in English.
Learning abilities also varied. In every class, a few learners read and interpreted topographic
maps quickly, while others struggled with spatial skills such as scale, contour lines and grid ref-
erences. One learner, Thandi, read slowly and needed glasses she could not yet afford, so I
printed enlarged map extracts for her. Education White Paper 6 requires schools to recognise
that all learners can learn and to reduce barriers to learning (Department of Education, 2001).
In practice, I applied Vygotsky’s (1978) zone of proximal development by pairing stronger and
weaker learners for mapwork and giving extension questions to those who finished early. The
diversity was a challenge, but it was also a resource, because learners from different areas
brought different examples of landscapes, climate and settlement into the discussion.
1.C Relationship with the geography mentor and learners
Could you please elucidate your relationship with your Geography mentor and the learners? Kindly
include examples.
My relationship with my mentor, Mrs Khumalo, was professional and open. At the start, the
mentor observed my lessons and wrote down specific comments instead of general praise. Af-
ter one early lesson on climate and weather, the mentor pointed out that I spoke to the board
while drawing a diagram and lost the back row. From the next lesson, I faced the class, drew in
sections and checked understanding between sections. The mentor also shared lesson plans,
past test papers and the school’s moderation process, and allowed me to take over the class
gradually. This gradual release of responsibility, which Shulman (1987) describes as the growth
of pedagogical content knowledge, gave me time to reflect and improve.
With the learners, I aimed for respect that was firm and friendly. I learned their names within
the first two weeks, greeted them at the door and used their local knowledge, for example
by asking learners from Block F to describe the nearest river or settlement. One learner who
rarely spoke began to contribute after I asked her to explain the shape of the local landscape
to the class. Discipline was not always smooth. When learners tested me early on, I responded
with calm, consistent consequences and not with raised-voice confrontation, and over time
Page 2 of 17
College of Education
⋄
GEOGRAPHY TEACHING PRACTICE
PORTFOLIO
Assessment 5: Portfolio — 2026
⋄
Module Code: TMS3713
Assessment: Assessment 5: Portfolio
Year: 2026
Total Marks: 100
Student Name: Lerato Maseko
Student Number: 62148357
Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for TMS3713
at the University of South Africa.
,UNISA | TMS3713 Geography Teaching Practice Portfolio
Question 1: Reflection on the Teaching Practice School
Task 1 asks for a description of the school, the learner population, the working relationships with the
mentor and learners, a memorable lesson, and a judgement on the chosen career path.
Teaching practice places a student teacher in a real classroom where theory is tested against
practice, and Schön (1983) argues that professionals learn through reflecting on that experi-
ence. The sections below record what the practice school looked like and what it taught me.
1.A The school, its location and grades taught
Please provide a description of the school where you conducted your teaching practice. Include its
location and specify the grade levels you taught.
My teaching practice took place at Lebone Secondary School, a co-educational public sec-
ondary school in Soshanguve, Gauteng. Classified as a Quintile 3 school, it serves roughly
1 150 learners, taught by about 38 educators. English is the language of learning and teaching,
although most learners speak Sepedi and Setswana at home.
The school grounds include a library, a computer room with 20 working computers, a science
laboratory, 28 classrooms and two sports fields. Geography was taught in a dedicated Geog-
raphy room, and the available resources were textbooks, atlases, wall maps, a data projector
and class sets of topographic maps. I taught Geography to Grade 10 and Grade 11 classes,
each with about 42 learners. This placed me in the Further Education and Training (FET) phase,
which is governed by the Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS) for Geography
(DBE, 2011).
1.B Diversity of backgrounds and learning abilities
To what extent did the learner population demonstrate diversity concerning backgrounds and learn-
ing abilities?
The diversity in my classes was considerable, and it shaped almost every planning decision.
Socio-economically, some learners travelled long distances on foot or by scholar transport and
arrived without breakfast, while others had cell phones and access to data at home. This dif-
ference showed in homework: learners with data could research case studies, while others
depended entirely on the textbook and the notes I wrote on the board.
Page 1 of 17
, UNISA | TMS3713 Geography Teaching Practice Portfolio
Linguistically, English was a second or third language for many learners. A concept such as
“erosion” or “watershed” could be understood perfectly in the home language and still be missed
in the lesson because of the vocabulary barrier. I responded by writing key terms on the board
with a translation or a sketch, and by allowing learners to discuss in their home language in
groups before answering in English.
Learning abilities also varied. In every class, a few learners read and interpreted topographic
maps quickly, while others struggled with spatial skills such as scale, contour lines and grid ref-
erences. One learner, Thandi, read slowly and needed glasses she could not yet afford, so I
printed enlarged map extracts for her. Education White Paper 6 requires schools to recognise
that all learners can learn and to reduce barriers to learning (Department of Education, 2001).
In practice, I applied Vygotsky’s (1978) zone of proximal development by pairing stronger and
weaker learners for mapwork and giving extension questions to those who finished early. The
diversity was a challenge, but it was also a resource, because learners from different areas
brought different examples of landscapes, climate and settlement into the discussion.
1.C Relationship with the geography mentor and learners
Could you please elucidate your relationship with your Geography mentor and the learners? Kindly
include examples.
My relationship with my mentor, Mrs Khumalo, was professional and open. At the start, the
mentor observed my lessons and wrote down specific comments instead of general praise. Af-
ter one early lesson on climate and weather, the mentor pointed out that I spoke to the board
while drawing a diagram and lost the back row. From the next lesson, I faced the class, drew in
sections and checked understanding between sections. The mentor also shared lesson plans,
past test papers and the school’s moderation process, and allowed me to take over the class
gradually. This gradual release of responsibility, which Shulman (1987) describes as the growth
of pedagogical content knowledge, gave me time to reflect and improve.
With the learners, I aimed for respect that was firm and friendly. I learned their names within
the first two weeks, greeted them at the door and used their local knowledge, for example
by asking learners from Block F to describe the nearest river or settlement. One learner who
rarely spoke began to contribute after I asked her to explain the shape of the local landscape
to the class. Discipline was not always smooth. When learners tested me early on, I responded
with calm, consistent consequences and not with raised-voice confrontation, and over time
Page 2 of 17
