Dr Dean van der Merwe

Deputy Head of Department & Senior Lecturer
Name: Dean van der Merwe
Location: GNA 228, Robert Sobukwe Building Soweto Campus
Department of Childhood Education, Faculty of Education, Staff  Staff Members

Contact Details:
Tel: +27 11 559 5515

Email: deanvdm@uj.ac.za

About Dr Dean van der Merwe

Dean is a senior lecturer in the Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg. He has taught various modules in the Department of Childhood Education over the past six years. Before that, he taught at a primary school for two years. He started his academic career with a Bachelor’s degree in Foundation Phase Education, which he obtained from the University of Johannesburg in 2013. His postgraduate qualifications include a BEd Honours degree, a Master’s degree, and a PhD from the University of Johannesburg. His research interests include teacher education and development. He is particularly interested in how best pre-service teachers can be prepared for the profession.

Awards and recognition
Winner: University of Johannesburg 3 Minute Thesis (3MT) Competition (2021)
Winner: Vice Chancellor’s Most Promising Young Teacher Award (2022)

Recent publications

Mokwena, E., Van Der Merwe, D., & Ndabezitha, L. (2024). Teachers’ enactment of project-based learning within the Ecubed project in Grade Four Life Skills classrooms. The Independent Journal of Teaching and Learning, 19(2), 111-124. https://doi.org/10.17159/047cet45

Gravett S, Lang R and van der Merwe D (2022) Lesson design in preservice teacher education drawing on a science of learning perspective. In Gravett S and Petersen N (eds) Future-proofing teacher education. Voices from South Africa and beyond. London: Routledge, pp. 63-77.

Gravett S and van der Merwe, D (2023) Learning-centered lesson design and learning about teaching in a pre-service teacher education course. Cogent Education 10(1).

Gravett S, van der Merwe D, Ramsaroop R, Tshabalala P, Bremner C and Mello P. (2023). Mixed-reality simulation to support practice learning of preservice teachers. Education Sciences 13(10): 1062.

Masunga D and van der Merwe D (2023) English literature in the Grade R classroom: Exploring the implementation of the children’s literature curricula in selected ECD centres. Scrutiny2. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/18125441.2023.2283888

van der Merwe D (2022) Preparing pre-service teachers to guide and support learning in South African schools. South African Journal of Childhood Education 12(1): 1-10.

van der Merwe D (2018) Aspects of academic language proficiency of intermediate phase teacher education students. South African Journal of Childhood Education 8(1): 1 – 10.

van der Merwe D and Levinge-Lang R (2023) The lessons learnt from emergency remote teaching to strengthen a pre-service teacher education course on lesson design. Journal of University Teaching & Learning Practice 20(3).

Non-accredited publications

Van der Merwe D (2022) Lesson design for teaching through dialogue, drawing on the science of learning. In Gravett S (ed) Teaching for learning in a fast-changing world. Johannesburg: The University of Johannesburg, pp. 39-56.

Nel C, Gravett S and van der Merwe D (2023) Simulated teaching in an ODL environment. In Okeke CIO, Adu EO, Mncanca M and Ugwuanyi CS (eds) Managing the micro-teaching process in initial teacher training: A practical guide for teaching practice preparation. Pretoria: Van Schaik Publishers, pp. 197-207.