Post-graduate Teachers’ STEM Education Experiences and the Development of their 21st Century Skills: A Case Study of Two Higher Education Institutions in South Africa and Mauritius
Ronicka Mudaly 
, Bongani P. Ndlovu , Tamirirofa Chirikure , Doras Sibanda , Merventharan Perumal Moodley , Fawzia Bibi Narod & Vickren Narrainsawmy
Issue: Vol.6 No.4 Issue SASE Special Issue Article 6 pp.71 – 87
DOI: https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2025646 | Published online 23rd May, 2025
© 2025 The Author(s). This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
Developing strong 21st century skills is crucial for teachers, and exploring how Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) education experiences can contribute to this development in teacher education holds significant value. The purpose of this research was to explore how STEM education experiences foster the development of 21st century skills in post-graduate teachers within the context of the Global South. Methodologically, it followed an exploratory case study with a sample of 53 postgraduate students who were purposively selected from one university in South Africa and one higher education institution in Mauritius. The first set of data was generated using a semi-structured questionnaire. To corroborate the questionnaire data, a sample of 5 postgraduate teachers was interviewed, forming the second data set. Findings from this study revealed that the “ways of thinking” were the 21st century skills that were most enhanced by the STEM experience. This is compared with other 21st century skills sets like living in the world, ways of working, and tools for working, which were developed to a lesser extent. Data from the interviews confirmed that postgraduate teachers find the ways of thinking, due to their experiences with STEM, to be the most enhanced 21st century skill. The findings in this paper have implications for teacher development, especially in STEM education. It recommends that teacher education programs in the Global South leverage the potential of STEM education experiences to equip teachers with the necessary 21st century skills for effectively preparing future generations for the challenges and opportunities they will encounter.
Keywords: Communication and Collaboration, Metacognitive Awareness, STEM Education, Twenty-First Century Skills
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Ronicka Mudaly is an associate professor in the Science and Technology Education Cluster at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. A quest for a science and mathematics education which is socially just inform her pedagogy. Her current interests include research approaches from a Southern Theoretical lens, indigenizing education, environmental education, and gender studies. She is a member of several research associations (SAERA, SAARMSTE, SASO) which focus on science and mathematics education and has in excess of 34 accredited publications in books and journals. Visit https://soe.ukzn.ac.za/staff-profile/science-and-technology-education/ronicka-mudaly/.
Bongani Ndlovu is a Lecturer in Science and Technology Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, specializing in chemistry education. He holds a PhD in Chemistry Education and is an active member of SAERA, ESERA, and SAARMSTE. His research interests primarily focus on professional teacher development, specifically exploring the relationship between topic-specific pedagogical content knowledge (TSPCK) and teacher-related science content knowledge (TerSCK). He has published few articles and one book chapter around professional development of pre-service teachers.
Tamirirofa Chirikure is a lecturer in science education at the University of Botswana. He is invested in inclusive science education which guides his teaching. He is an affiliate of SAARMSTE, Zimbabwe Research Network (ZRN), and Teacher Education Network (TEN). His research interests include inclusive STEM education, practical work in science, and approaches to learning. Visit https://scholar.google.com/citations?user=7nWcT-gAAAAJ&hl=en
Doras Sibanda is a Senior Lecturer at the School of Education at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. She completed her PhD in Chemistry Education at the same university and is an active member of the Science and Technology Cluster, the Representative Community Engagement, and organizations such as SAARMSTE and ESERA. Her skills and expertise encompass Science Teaching, Teacher Training, Pedagogy, Education, Teaching and Learning, Learning Sciences, Science Education, Heat Transfer, Curriculum Development, and Professional Development. Dr. Sibanda’s teaching focus is on Science Education, and her research interests include Chemistry Education, Mentoring Science Teachers, Inquiry-Based Science Teaching, Pedagogical Content Knowledge, and Creativity in Africa. She is also passionate about STEM Education, Teacher Development, and Curriculum Decolonization.
Merventharan Perumal Moodley is a lecturer in the Science and Technology Education cluster at the University of KwaZulu-Natal. He specialises in Technology Education at all levels of the Schools curriculum. His research and teaching interests include, Mechanical Technology systems, Engineering Graphics and Design, assessment and visualisation. He is involved with Umalusi at an external level ensuring national standards for examinations and professional development of pre-service teachers at the university.
Fawzia Bibi Narod, Associate Professor, is presently the Head of the department of Science Education at the Mauritius Institute of Education, where she has more than 20 years’ experience in teacher education, curriculum development and educational research. In addition to teaching and coordination of courses and programmes, she is actively engaged in research in education and development of curriculum and curriculum materials. She has been actively engaged in several research projects in Education as Principal Investigator or as member of the research team. She has also regularly presented research papers in international conferences (both face-to-face and virtual) and has published a large number of research papers and book chapters in peer-reviewed journals and internationally edited books. Her research interests include STEM Education, Chemistry Education, Science Education Mechanistic Reasoning and Online / Remote Teaching. Dr Narod has also supervised several PhD and MA research students for the University of Brighton (UK) and University of KwaZulu Natal (South Africa) and has recently engaged in MPhil supervision at the MIE. Dr Narod has also contributed to the SAARMSTE Research School for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education as Facilitator.
Vickren Narrainsawmy is a lecturer in the Science Education Department at the Mauritius Institute of Education. He holds an MSc in Organic Chemistry and a Master of Education, M.Ed. degree. Besides teacher education and development of curriculum and curriculum materials at the primary and secondary levels, with a particular focus on science education, chemistry education, and climate change education, he is actively engaged in educational research. His research interests include mechanistic reasoning, inquiry learning, remote teaching, and STEM education.
Mudaly,Ronicka, Bongani P. Ndlovu, Tamirirofa Chirikure, Doras Sibanda, Merventharan Perumal Moodley, Fawzia Bibi Narod and Vickren Narrainsawmy. “Post-graduate Teachers’ STEM Education Experiences and the Development of their 21st Century Skills: A Case Study of Two Higher Education Institutions in South Africa and Mauritius,” E-Journal of Humanities, Arts and Social Sciences 6, no.4 (2025): 71 – 87. https://doi.org/10.38159/ehass.2025646
© 2025 The Author(s). Published and Maintained by Noyam Journals. This is an open access article under the CCBY license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/).
