Educator development programme

A teacher implementing her training Palabora Foundation realised early on that to improve standards of education in the long term, they would need to train teachers rather than learners. Therefore, although the Foundation does run programmes directly with learners, there is a great deal of emphasis on working with the educators.

Since the start of the programme in 1993, many hundreds of learning days have been attended by educators in the Phalaborwa education district. As a result, the Phalaborwa education district Grade 12 passes for the Namakgale and Lulekani circuit have improved significantly from 26.7% in 1999 to an all time high of 87.7% in 2005: this despite the decline experienced at provincial (69.3%) and at national level! Unfortunately, the rate in 2006 dropped slightly to 65.7% for our area; however, national and provincial declines (55.6%) were even steaper, showing that we are still maintaining a lead on the rest of the province and, indeed, South Africa.

What we do

The purpose of the Educator Development Programme is to ensure that schools have enough well-qualified educators and enough learner support materials to provide a conducive learning environment.

When the Foundation embarked on its Educator Development Programme in 1993, the majority of educators teaching Mathematics, Science and English were un- or under qualified according to national norms and standards. The Foundation has worked closely in partnership with the Limpopo Provincial Department of Education to upgrade educators’ qualifications and improve teaching methodologies, skills and content knowledge. This is achieved by educators attending courses in mathematics, physical science and other selected curriculum topics where educators experience difficulties in teaching.

More recently there has been a greater focus on Outcomes Based Education (OBE) and the Revised National Curriculum Statement. Courses have also focused on classroom organisation and management and the development of learning and teacher support materials. Courses are conducted at the Foundation’s two Education Centres in Namakgale and Lulekani and at the Mopani South East Further Education and Training College.

The Foundation assists the Department of Education with school support visits, the monitoring and assessment of common exams, continuous assessment and common task assessment.

Outcomes Based Education (OBE)

Foundation Phase training (grade R to 3)

The purpose of the Foundation Phase (Grades R – 3) Programme is to improve the quality of curriculum practice in the schools with more emphasis on improving the learning, teaching and assessment methodologies, to develop their content knowledge and skills to manage their classrooms. This is achieved through conducting training workshops and school support visits. During these school support visits the coordinator demonstrates and/or observes lessons in multi-graded, multi-level and overcrowded classrooms.

Each year the Foundation conducts workshops in the Foundation School Phase for around 500 educators. During school visits, formal lesson observations are conducted and there are demonstration lessons conducted by Foundation educator development staff. Over 500 educators and tens of thousands of learners benefit from these classroom support visits.

The baseline assessment study conducted in 2005 revealed that learners in grades 5 to 7 are performing at two to three levels below their expected level in Numeracy and Mathematics. The findings also revealed that educators spent time on implementation of the new curriculum methods at the expense of the learning area content. As a result of the findings, the educator development workshops in 2006 focused on the new curriculum methodology, with more emphasis on planning (learning programmes, work schedules and lesson plans), followed by school support visits.

Intermediate Phase training (grade 4 to 6)

The purpose of the Intermediate Phase training programme is to develop and support the mathematics and natural science educators to improve the quality of curriculum practice in their schools.

The Palabora Foundation staff worked closely with the local Department of Education officials to train teachers on the Revised National Curriculum Statements (RNCS), and a new approach to Outcomes Based Education (OBE) which was implemented in grades 4 to 6 during 2005. As a result of the urgency to implement this training more workshops were conducted and more teachers trained, following a request by the Department of Education to assist throughout the province with training.

This programme supports 105 maths and science educators from 35 schools. Educators who received support in 2006 can now plan lessons that are activity based and learner centred; this was achieved through lesson demonstrations in schools by the Intermediate Phase co-ordinator.

Senior Phase (grade 7 to 9)

The purpose of the Senior Phase training programme is to develop and support mathematics educators to improve the quality of curriculum practice in their schools.

The Foundation and the Department of Education train educators on the National Curriculum Statements (NCS), a new approach to Outcomes Based Education (OBE) which was implemented in 2006 for grade 7 classes.

In 2006, educator workshops focused on orientation and implementation of the NCS in grades 7 and 8. The workshop topics were: Theory and Policies, Classroom Practice, Learning Programmes and Curriculum Management. After attending the workshops, the educators were able to design their own work schedules and lesson plans. On certain days, representatives from the national Department of Education conducted quality assurance visits to ensure that the training was meeting departmental standards. The outcome was that the Foundation training was well above average and beneficial to educators.

The educator workshops are supported by school support visits. In 2006, the majority of the visits were spent supporting grade 7 and 8 educators to implement the NCS in the classroom. Other visits were spent assisting grade 9 educators with the transition from the 2005 curriculum to the Revised NCS and Common Task Assessment (CTA) guidelines.

Further Education & Training Phase (grade 10 to 12)

The Foundation has a partnership with PROTEC and other maths and science NGO’s to implement the government tender for educator development for the Mveledzandivho Project. This project is funded by BHP Billiton and managed by Joint Education Services. The Foundation is responsible for the mathematics component of the programme in 29 schools in the Mpumalanga, North West, KwaZulu-Natal and Limpopo Provinces.

The Department of Education implemented the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) in grade 10 as the entry level into the Further Education and Training (FET) Phase in 2006. Mathematical Literacy was introduced as a compulsory subject for all learners who are not taking Mathematics. The Foundation undertook to train educators in Mathematical Literacy. Mathematical Literacy aims at developing skills which will enable a learner to participate in and contribute to the world in the twenty first century – a world characterised by numbers, numerically based arguments and data represented in a large variety of ways.

An advocacy campaign was necessary and time was spent on motivational talks to the learners and support for educators. The advocacy campaign was followed by educators’ workshops in partnership with the Department of Education, focusing on the designing of Mathematical Literacy activities relevant to their school environment (content versus context). National Department of Education representatives were present for quality assurance at these training courses.