Prof Veronica McKay speaking about the successes and challenges of CEDU in context

The College of Education (CEDU) has been in existence for just over a year now. In a meeting called with the Staff of CEDUin the Senate Hall on 7 May 2013, the Principal and Vice Chancellor of Unisa, Prof MS Makhanya, said the successes are being noticed. The meeting began with a word of welcome by Prof Veronica McKay who began with a presentation entitled“The successes and challenges of CEDU in context”. Her presentation began with a reference to some of the systemic needs for teacher development as identified in the “Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development”by the Departments of Higher and Basic Education. She mentioned that the College of Education would need to work towards,in particular, strengthening foundation phase teaching including Grade R, teachers with specialisations in Mathematics and Science, the African languages and English as a second language amongst others.

She referred to the 2013 enrolment statistics of the College stating that a large proportion of the CEDU’s students are from Kwa-Zulu Natal and Gauteng and the majority of CEDU’s students are 20 – 29 years old. She also pointed out that Data from the SACMEQ tests (and a range of other local and international assessments) show that teachers require more training in the content of their subjects. In this context it is evident that the University needs to take cognisance of that reality and needs to provide opportunities to bridge the gap for teachers who wish to improve their skills. The Programme Qualification Mix (PQM) renewal process within the College of Education is linked to this endeavour.

Prof McKay also shared that many development initiatives are taking place within the College of Education. Twenty two staff members are being groomed for their NRF rating applications and 37 staff members are participating in the Brown Bag Series to assist them with Doctoral degrees. An ODL research group has been established and various regional workshops have been presented to give guidance to the Master’s and Doctoral students enrolled in the college.  However she pointed out that college is struggling with a shortage of supervisors.

She referred to the 27-funded community engagement projects as being “engaged research” projects that will impact on schools and communities and which will also feed into curricular formulation and result in a number of publications. In particular, she mentioned the Teacher Centre project funded by the Department of Higher Education aimed to give CEDU and other practicing teachers access to ICT facilities and communities of practice. The college is implementing this project with the DBE and will be functioning in 45 of the DBE’s 112 teachers’ centres in Africa which gives the university access to 65 teacher centres now accessible to CEDU. These centres will enable CEDU to assist and engage with our students. While large numbers of staff were involved in funded community engagement projects she pointed out that staff needed to take advantage of the external grants available for research.

Prof MS Makhanya, Principal & Vice Chancellor of Unisa addresses the colleagues at the College of Education

In his address to CEDU, Prof MS Makhanya said there are no shortcuts and that Unisa students need to meet the requirements before they can graduate hence there is a need to pay attention to issues of quality. He also stressed that the university have committed to a digital future as the number of students applying with the university have increased which leaves the university no other option but to do things differently. Appropriate investments are being made by the university to build the infrastructure of the university so that they are able to deliver optimally but that quality relied on everyone in the university to work harder and smarter to be able to give the students the kind of teaching that they require. It cannot be achieved by only a few hardworking people. As a university we are creating our own future.  We need to justify our funding from government. We can only be funded to the level of what we are delivering.  He pointed out that the College needs to impart the values of teaching and learning both through what we teach and by how we teach. We have to create teachers who are able to help and teach our young children.

Our students need a system which provides clear guidance as to what they need to study to become a certain kind of teacher, be that mathematics, science or geography teachers. A simplified PQM will assist CEDU with this.  With regard to research, Prof Makhanya pointed out that NRF ratings will also be rewarded with more privileges for NRF rated researchers as it confirms the academic’s scholarship. The university aims to attract NRF Chairs and this is linked directly to our areas of excellence.  He commended the new on-line placement for students needing to do teaching practice and stressed that this “work integrated practice” should also lead to teachers coming out of their training who are well equipped to excel in the classroom.

Prof RM Phakeng, Vice Principal: Academic & Research shares her thoughts on the potential residing within the CEDU staff

In her turn Prof MC Maré, Vice-Principal: Academic & Research stressed that high throughput must be matched by high quality. She outlined the importance of the new PQM serving the graduateness of teachers so that the College is able to supply the system with teachers of high quality.  Prof RM Phakeng, Vice-Principal: Research & Innovation also complimented the College on the achievements of the staff and emphasised the potential which CEDU has. She referred to the pockets of excellence and the “young bright sparks” who are emerging as talented researchers. The university will continue to grow and nurture the staff and it is only a matter of time and then the results will begin to show.

CEDU staff members listen attentively

Dr Mpho Dichaba, Prof Howard Sercombe and Dr Bernice Hlagala

The government of the Republic of South Africa (the Presidency) has joined forces with the Commonwealth Youth Programme – Regional Centre for Africa, University of South Africa and National Youth Development Agency to fast track the professionalization of youth development practice by organising an International Conference on the Professionalization of Youth Work in South Africa. The first Commonwealth Conference on Education and Training of Youth Workers in South Africa took place from 18 – 20 March 2013. The President of South Africa, Jacob Zuma attended the opening of the conference and spoke to a nearly full to capacity ZK Matthews Great Hall on 18 March 2013. He said that according to the 2011 Census report, one-third of our nation is under the age of 13, which makes us a nation with a future. This is why we need to invest in our youth to ensure sustainable development. It is also why it is important to have accessible and affordable education for the youth.

The opening of the conference kicked off with an address by Prof Howard Sercombe, University of Strathclyde, who said that young people who are growing up into adults can’t learn to do that from their peers as their peers have similar problems. Across Europe similar initiatives are being taken towards reaching a common understanding and code of ethics to professionalise the youth worker. This is a profession that is coming of age and is not an optional extra, but has become an essential. He emphasised that young people are not the problem; they are alive and will adapt to the world that is given to them. They become something good as they walk alongside people in the process of their becoming. Youth work provides such guidance and it needs to be articulated. Universities play a role in this because their job is to develop their nation. The process needs the support of government since the resources can’t come from the young people and young people deserve to be developed.

President Jacob Zuma and Prof MS Makhanya (Principal & Vice Chancellor of Unisa) listen attentively to a keynote speaker at the Commonwealth Conference on Education and Training of Youth Workers

“53 % of our people are under the age of 15, and with high unemployment rates for young people who are under the ages of 35, business cannot be as usual,” said Dr Bernice Hlagala, the Presidency. In her speech she highlighted the current dire statistics. She emphasised the lack of employment opportunities for the graduates that come out of their teaching and training programmes. This necessitates the creation of a more structured, recognised and professional status for youth workers in support of the young. “It is important that as a collective we aim to establish education and training in the youth work sector.  Young people need to be trained and educated for their future to take shape,” said Prof Makhanya, the Vice Chancellor and Principal of the University of South Africa. The conference created awareness of youth work practice worldwide. It also advocated for continued support of and commitment to the process of youth work professionalization. Speakers shared national experiences, particularly on the journey towards professionalization, the status of youth work in terms of professional association, code of ethics and access to professional training in youth work. It emphasised the necessity to

• develop feasible strategies to fast track the professionalization process
• facilitate initiation and/or strengthen national associations for youth workers at regional and national levels
• initiate establishment and strengthening of youth work associations nationally, regionally and globally
• advocate for increased collaboration among youth workers, academics and researchers in youth work

There was consensus at the end of the conference that a platform should be provided for teaching youth work as development training. The following was recommended:

• Education can be used as a platform for youth development. So, educational institutions, especially universities, should take the lead.
• Non-governmental organisations should continue with their mandate of developing youth.
• Youth worker professionalization is of great value to economic growth, regardless of the theories that pose a challenge to the nature of its being professionalised, whether the approach is bottom-up or top-down.
• Professionalising youth work requires an assessment of the situation where the education/training provider and state join hands together to create a curriculum informed by the country’s economic needs. Life experience should also count, regardless of previous exposure to academic levels.
• A youth worker is a multidisciplinary/inter-professional person and the word “specialisation” should be understood as an area of focus. Youth specialisation is a journey that has many dimensions.
• Young people, who are to be the consumers of the standardised curriculum, need to be considered so that the youth professionalization process benefits the country where is implemented.
• Consultation should take place with people of the land and with institutions of learning so that the youth, as consumers of programmes, may be subjected to standardised programmes done by the accredited bodies of the region.
• Conditions should be improved by youth workers being creative, and opinions gathered from the youth on how they think they can contribute to their communities.
• Youth workers should intervene in the processes of how the youth are able to function properly.
• Youth workers have to learn to integrate different youth into programmes so that they can be identified and helped, and actively engaged in the work that helps our national development.
  

  Presentation of conference outcomes

All in all, more clarity was gained on how to chart the way forward for incorporating professional youth workers into our society. A brave move was made towards implementing all the plans, with a code of ethics to be proclaimed, financial structures implemented, procedures to be developed, education, training and skill development programmes and accreditation to be put in place – action is what is needed now.

One of the lighter moments as the audience reacted to Prof Helene Gelderblom

Just imagine young kids having access to an on-line teenage tutor to help them with their homework problems? The purpose of one of Prof Helene Gelderblom’s research projects is to do a pilot to set up exactly that for grade 2 and 3 children and grade 9 and 10 teenagers. Prof Gelderblom says that the “The aim of this project is to investigate social networking as a platform for a cross-age tutoring system and then to implement and test such a tutoring system in a restricted environment before preparing it for more general deployment. In the envisaged system, teenage tutors will provide after school learning support to lower grade learners who do not have access to such support. Support will be focused on early mathematics and reading skills.”Currently the levels of proficiency in mathematics and reading skills of the average child in South Africa are desperately low. It is well known that sorting out of mathematics and literacy problems during early years of education will reduce the problem of high levels of failure and dropout in later grades. There also is very little access to support for these young children.

Prof Marietha Nieman

South Africa experiences huge shortage in good teachers especially those who can teach in their African mother tongue. Moreover, older experienced teachers are shy of using technology and the last thing this country needs is for them to also leave the profession because they have become frustrated with technology. Teenagers tend to spend large amounts of their time socialising by means of tools such as BBM, Facebook and YouTube.Young children are naturally drawn to technology and would be keen to communicate by means of technology with older children about their school work. The tools to provide solutions for this need should be developed urgently, despite general lack of access to broadband which will only be available to most South Africans in 2020.

A cooperative design approach will be followed in Prof Geldenblom’s research project. Just how the system will be implementedand with which tools, will to a large extent be determined by the children who participate. To avoid wrong learning taking place, the tutors will be chosen and monitored very carefully. The following three principles will guide the project: use what is regarded as a problem to create a solution, turn a big problem into a problem that is small enough to find a solution and when designing tools for children, do it in collaboration with children.

Dr Chobela Semuli

Prof Gelderblom has various M&D research ideas which she would like to develop and thus she invited the Colleagues in the College of Education to please join her in exploring the options. Some of the research topics for Master’s and PhD research which she proposes are:

• A survey of available technologies that could potentially be used to build a cross-age tutoring platform.
• Safety and security issues in an educational social network system aimed at young children.
• Development of a social network tool for use in a cross-age tutoring system for primary school children (design and development).
• Online social networks as a platform for school level cross-age tutoring (literature study).
• Effect of cross-age tutoring via social networks on teenagers’ identity development.
• Developmental gains through cooperative design of social networking tools.
• Life relevant learning for teenagers through online cross-age tutoring.
• Using social networking technology in lower grade mathematics and literacy education (a case study).
• Cooperative inquiry (a South African case study).
• The effect of cross-age tutoring via social networks on lower grade children’s performance in mathematics.
• The effect of cross-age tutoring via social networks on lower grade children’s literacy.
• Collaborative use of mobile devices by lower grade learners in a cross- age tutoring situation.

She also mentioned opportunities in the ABET environment with doing eye tracking research as well.

Mr Jan Mentz from the School of Computing reacts to the presentation	Prof Marietha Nieman responds to the very interesting presentation with many opportunities for M&D reseach for our students
Prof Helene Gelderblom was thanked by Prof Marietha Nieman for her inspiring and interesting presentation	Mark van Heerden was asking for more information about the eyetracking techniques as reseach tool

Prof KP Dzvimbo presents his welcoming address to SAERA conference delegates

During the first SAERA Conference held from 27 -30 January 2013 at Bela Bela, new ground was broken with the establishment of the South African Education Research Association (SAERA). Prof KP Dzvimbo opened the conference. On the first evening the EASA medal was awarded to Prof Eleanor Lemmer for her excellent research contributions to the field of Education over the past 26 years at Unisa. Professor Lemmer thanked Unisa in her acceptance speech and said: “Unisa has given me many opportunities to develop as an academic. Beside financial support, I value most highly the freedom to follow my own research interests unhindered; a richly endowed library; and as research professor working at home, the gift of solitude which I require to practise my craft in my own idiosyncratic way. For the full speech, click here.

Prof Bob Lindgard

Various keynote speeches were delivered during the conference. On Monday 27 Jan, a keynote address was presented by Prof Bob Lingard from Queensland University, Australia on the National Educational Research Organisations: the Promotion of Education(al) Research in a Globalising World. This address sketched the path which the Australian equivalent of SAERE followed since its inception in 1976, giving good insights to help focus the South African activities in this regard.

Prof Crain Soudien (UCT), Prof Catherine Odora-Hoppers (Unisa) and Prof Joe Muller (UCT)

Another keynote on day two, by Prof Joel Samoff from Stanford University in the USA, was centred on Unasked Questions Remain Unanswered: Addressing Learning for All. The keynote speaker on day three was Prof R Govinda from New Delhi, India which dealt with Exclusion and inequality in Indian School Education. On the last afternoon a keynote panel consisting of Prof C Soudien from UCT, Prof Odora Hoppers from UNISA and Prof J Muller also from UCT discussed the Curriculum, Knowledge and the South African educational moment.

During the conference a new over-arching organisation of SAERA was officially established and formally constituted at 12:54 on Tuesday, 29 January 2013. Prof Louis van Niekerk from Unisa/Nadeosa presided over the election process. The following members of the general meeting were nominated and seconded and accepted the nomination: Prof SM Motala (affiliations, UJ), Prof Aslam Fataar (US, SACHES, EASA, Kenton), Prof Maureen Robinson (Wits, Kenton), 4 Prof F. Eldrie Gouws (Unisa, EASA), Dr Ari Naidoo (Private), Prof Vusi Mncube (Unisa, SASE), Prof Gamse Wimke (Wits, Emisa, SAAMSTE), Prof Lesley Wood (NWU, EASA), Prof Volker Wedekind (UKZN, Kenton, SACHES), Prof Nazir Carrim (Wits), Prof Charl Wolhuter (NWU, SACHES), Prof Wayne Hugo (UKZN, Kenton) and Dr QK Semuli (Unisa, EASA). Prof SM Motala was nominated, supported and accepted to be interim President.

With thanks to Tony Mays (conference report) and Esta de Jager (photos) for their input to this article.

Prof Eldrie Gouws thanks Prof Bob Lingard for his interesting keynote address	Prof Petro Marais congratulates Prof Eleanor Lemmer on her EASA Gold Medal Award
Dr N Naidu getting to know a new CEDU colleague, Prof MD Magano	Prof Nazir Carrim, Dr Veli Gasa and Dr Prem Heeralal enjoying the drumming workshop
Conference delegates back: Prof Elza Venter, Prof Gherda Ferreira, Dr Johan Swanepoel and Prof Anne-Mari Dicker and in the front, Reda Davin, Dr Elize du Plessis and Prof Dalena Vogel showing of their various hats during one of the evening functions	Prof R Govenda from NEUPA, New Delhi, India
CEDU colleague, Dr MZ Ramorola sang an opera item at the formal function	Young musicians playing at the formal function

Executive Dean of CEDU, Prof KP Dzvimbo

As 2012 draws to a close, I would like to wish you a festive season filled with love, goodwill and peace. May you and your family experience a well deserved rest and travel safely. Looking back on 2012, the College of Education (CEDU) has achieved a great deal. The first highlight was the birth and consolidation of the new College.  The second was the restructuring and allocation of staff to ten new departments. A discipline based approach was followed to structure the way the College operates. The efforts at reforming the curriculum, otherwise called the Professional Qualifications Mix (PQM), are progressing well. This change is necessary so that we can meet the needs of South African schools through the education of a professional teacher who has been exposed to their subject content, pedagogical content and has knowledge of our classroom contexts in South Africa.

Excellent efforts have been made by everyone in the College to improve the research output and productivity so that we can make the curriculum reform and teaching relevant. Another highlight was the establishment of the Office of Research and Graduate Studies which has succeeded in streamlining the way in which we manage the education and supervision of our M&D students. Our community engagement project, with a focus on five hundred schools in five provinces, is a response to the clarion call from our government to assist with underperforming schools. Our academic citizenship activities are many, with involvement not only at Unisa, but also geared to assist our sister institutions in the region and in eastern and western parts of Africa.

An increased number of academics have attended local and international conferences where they have presented various papers based on applied and basic research in line with the multi-, intra- and trans-disciplinary approaches to the study of Education. Finally, we are progressing well with the realisation of our vision to re-imagine the teaching, learning, study and research of education as a discipline so that we can continue to contribute to the education of a professional teacher, policy maker and educational practitioner in general in South Africa, on the continent and beyond.

Lastly, I wish to thank all staff members of the College of Education and our colleagues in the greater Unisa, who each, in their own way, have worked hard towards achieving the highlights of 2012.  May God bless all of you.
The Executive Dean of CEDU, Prof KP Dzvimbo

Prof Vusi Mncube and Prof Clive Harber

The violence in our schools can go hand in hand with our children being frustrated by their schooling circumstances. Too many of our schools are dysfunctional; badly run, with neglected buildings and fenceless school grounds, with too few means of protecting the learners from external violence promoted and perpetrated by gangsters and drug dealers coming from the surrounding areas. Teachers are too often not in their classes to teach and reported cases of bullying tend to be ignored which equates to violence by omission. Dominant, violent notions of masculinity can mean that learners are not necessarily presented with alternative, healthier models of masculinity in our schools. These were some of the findings in the Dynamics of Violence in Schools Report which was tabled by Prof Vusi Mncube (CoD of Educational Management and Leadership) and Prof Clive Harber (Honorary Professor of Unisa and Emeritus Professor of the University of Birmingham) on 25 October 2012. Prof Harber has carried out extensive studies of violence in schools during his career. He says that, in the light of the findings of this research, a well-organised and professional school could do much to reduce violence. Prof Vusi Mncube started the morning’s proceedings by greeting and thanking all the various role players for their contributions to the “Violence in Schools” research project. 

Prof Vusi Mncube shares how and where the research was done

South African newspapers regularly carry stories of violent behaviour in our schools, the latest being a killing in an inner-city Pretoria school for something as trivial as a pencil. In relation to the study carried out by Unisa, 55% of learners responded to a questionnaire that they had been victims of violence in schools. The South African Council for Educators (SACE) has recently reported that they are presently investigating 525 cases of unprofessional behaviour among school staff over a six month period, ranging from fraud and theft, to corporal punishment and absenteeism. Run-down school spaces and unprofessional staff also exude a message of “We don’t care” and that learners are not valued, while schools that “add value” are treasured by their community. Good schools have a sense of purpose where learners and staff feel that they are worth protecting with a proper fences and locks to keep those inside their grounds safe. In such schools learners are less likely to collaborate with external violent influences such as gangs.

The background to the project is a concern with South Africa as both a violent and unequal society.  The Centre for the Study of Violence and Reconciliation was contracted by the South African government in 2007 to carry out a study on the nature of crime and violence in South Africa. The study concluded that the country is exposed to high levels of violence as a result of different factors, including the high levels of inequality, poverty, unemployment, social exclusion and marginalisation. Despite our generally improved economic conditions, South Africa has the dubious honour of being the most unequal countries in the world. In reply to a parliamentary question which expressed concern that South Africa’s Gini coefficient (the way of measuring economic inequality in societies) was the world’s worst, the President of South Africa acknowledged that the benefits of economic growth at present “go disproportionately to the richest ten percent of households.” To do this in-depth study, four schools were identified in each of six South African provinces. The researchers studied these four schools in each province by means of questionnaires and interviews conducted with principals, teachers, students, security personnel and members of the governing bodies. 

Prof Clive Harber encourages with the good news coming out of the research as there is much that can be done to fix the violence problems

The good news says Prof Harber, is that because many of the problems of violence originate within schools, something can be done about the predicament of violence in our schools. Schools are not necessarily helpless victims of a wider violent society. Educational authorities at all levels as well as some principals and teachers need to face the truth that they themselves can do much about the problems that they find themselves in. Security needs to be placed high on their agenda, teachers need to be taught why corporal punishment doesn’t work and they must be helped to deal with cases of bullying effectively. Schools must become more democratic in line with government policy with learners voices also being heard. Masculinity as a social construct needs to be looked at and our society must learn how to talk about issues in a more democratic manner. We need to address our problems and work together more co-operatively to find amicable ways of living together. The integration of different cultures and races takes effort and we should address what it is that causes the violence. Teachers must be equipped and able to handle controversial subjects in discussions. Values play a big role in this, especially procedural values (on how a discussion process is managed) which learners must experience and use in order to make them their own. Only by discussing personal values and convincing learners in their hearts and minds, will any change come about. Learners must see for themselves that violent behaviour is bad for them. They must be given alternatives and be motivated to change their own behaviour in class, teachers should present and discuss alternative better choices which can be made.

Everyone who attended the tabling of the Violence in schools research report

Many teachers complain that parents and communities don’t support them but would it not be more effective for them to ask themselves “What am I doing to change my own circumstances?”. Teachers need to take responsibility for their own role and capacity to change their schools. Some of them should also look at the hypocrisy of saying one thing, but doing the opposite with a “Do as I say – not as I do” behaviour pattern of their own. Teachers must teach in a professional manner to create a culture of learning in their schools so that the community will value and want to help protect their own schools. They also need to be open to democratic discussion, because better behaviour comes about and is driven from the inside.

Prof Linda Theron before the start of her presentation

On 2 September, Prof Linda Theron from North-West University (Faculty of Humanities, Vaal Triangle Campus; Optentia Research focus area) shared her insight into resilience-related research to members of the College of Education. This research focuses on understanding why, and how, South African youth are resilient, despite the great odds so many of them face. The field of research is not new as the first study that gave birth to this area of research, dates back to the 1970’s when research was first done on families where one of the parents was schizophrenic. The researchers expected to find that the children of these parents would be struggling more than their peers to thrive and survive. To their surprise they found a subset of children from these homes who were doing very well. Other studies that were done in Hawaii around that time showed a similar a-typical group of children. The studies on these extra-ordinary children that followed led to the start of resilience related research.

Prof Theron emphasized that in order to study resilience, researchers needed to identify participants who had faced severe hardship without mal-adjusting. Severe hardship could mean many things, including that participants had grown up under conditions set in a context of significant threat; had faced psychosocial hardship such as chronic poverty, or endured trauma such as man-made terror attacks for example the 9-11 attacks on the twin towers, or faced biological risk, such as being born prematurely or with a disability. The conditions must be distinguished as being much more than the normal stress conditions that people are generally exposed to in their lives. Such conditions of adversity typically predict maladjustment or negative development. Resilient people encounter significant stress in their lives, but nevertheless, show unexpected positive development or adaptation.

Dr N Naidu welcoming and introducing Prof Theron

Prof Linda Theron has been doing research in South Africa to understand how South Africans’ resilience processes might differ from those reported in the Western literature and how these processes are shaped by what is indigenous to our context. In 2012, Theron, Theron and Malindi worked with elders from communities in the rural Eastern Free State to understand Basotho young people’s resilience. This research led them to argue that positive adaptation meant that these young people:

• have active support systems
• are value driven
• show acceptance
• make good educational progress
• are dreamers
• have developed a resilient personality

The above differs from Western explanations in that African resilience is more person-, or nuclear family-focused. It was once believed that invincible individuals had a certain temperament, were taught skills and had good genes and yet the reality was that people don’t always grow up to become resilient people, despite these intrinsic strengths. For this reason, resilience researchers’ focus less on what is in the individual and more on how social ecologies in which people are embedded, can support positive adjustment.

Prof Theron listening to a question from the audience

In Theron’s research here in SA a distinct Afri-centric pathway to resilience is emerging which is built on a culture of interdependence with a strong family and community attachment. The SA children grew up in a culture where they are expected to “be an example and to live up to these expectations”. They for instance had grandparents who told stories of times which were worse than those they are going through themselves which prepared them for their own difficult circumstances. It also helped them to cope as others had done before them. Black families also have a norm that if the children become successful; they take care of their families and give back. This also built motivation within the family, because once the first one has graduated, the others had to follow which in itself was motivational. These families also take care of each other and no-one has anything for themselves which instills selflessness, that is, “it’s not about you, it’s about us.” As one of the respondents (whose names have been changed) said: “So we made a vow – if I make it I will not forget you, I will take you with me … my mother instilled that: divided you guys are going to fall, but if you can unite, you can break through this thing” (Aaron).

One of the other respondents said he had been taught that “if I expect people to do good things for me, then I should do good things for them, and in return they will do good things for me”. He also emphasized that “when you are humble, most things come your way, but if you’re rude everything will just overtake you” (Tsepo).

Another factor that comes through is that these individuals were also role models for their younger siblings, as Nomvula said: “I regard them as my motivators because every time I think of them, I think of their future, and I keep going. I don’t want them to suffer. I think it comes with the African culture- whenever the mom is not there- obviously mostly in African cultures as dad’s are not there – the big sister must be there.”

Dr Hermien Olivier did the word of thanks and presented a small token of our appreciation

These resilient youngsters were also raised by strict (grand) parents who expected everyone to help with the chores and if they didn’t, they suffered the consequences. Another characteristic was that they also had a spiritual grounding where they could speak to their divinity and find consolation there. Even though a parent had passed on, their spirit and how they had known them to be, was still a source of inspiration and guidance to those who were still alive.

There is much to be learnt from the African ways and Prof Theron argued for “an Afri-centric mindfulness in the research that we conduct, the theories that we generate and teach, and the professional practice we engage in as educators and educational psychologists.”

Audience waiting before the presentation

Prof Linda Theron surrounded by all who attended her presentation

Prof Alan Rogerson, Prof KP Dzvimbo, Prof MW Maila, Prof EL Yacoubi, Dr VJ Pitsoe and Prof X Chen

The International Conference on Teaching Practice in Education (ICTPED) is an international refereed conference dedicated to the advancement of scholarship in teaching practice in African higher education. The conference took place at St George Hotel from the 6-8 of August 2012 under the theme Towards a globally inclusive teaching practice model in an ODL and E-learning Context.

During the opening the Executive Dean of the College of Education welcomed delegates from all walks of life. He urged them to come up with innovative ways to do teaching practice in order to produce professional teachers who will teach more proficiently in the classrooms to improve the state of education in the country. About 140 delegates from South African and other African universities attended the conference.

Conference delegates braved the coldest day of winter 2012, it even snowed!

One of the keynote speakers Dr Alan Rogerson, founder and coordinator of the Mathematics Education into the Future Project gave a keynote address with a focus on e-learning in Education. Narrating on how to best use a detailed model for highly interactive e-learning he said “Can we imagine a time in the not too distant future where a teacher in an e-learning school, living in Europe, opens up his laptop or mobile phone and receives email work from several students enrolled in the same class, but who live in New Zealand, the USA and Holland. He assesses their work and replies to each student – while all of their messages and all of his replies go immediately to all members of the class all over the world so they can all see what the others are doing and thinking” He concluded that UNISA with its extensive experience in distance education is an important stakeholder in the e-learning environment.

Prof MW Maila and Mrs Mary Atieno Agumba Ooko who shared her experience with how teaching practise works in Kenya

The chairperson of the organizing committee and CEDU’s Head of Teaching Practice Unit Prof MW Maila said “The conference was a resounding success. For the first time we managed to have leading academics on this continent and from other parts of the world, all converge under one roof to discuss how we can best do teaching practice as an important aspect of teacher education”.

ICTPED conference was well attended

Conference delegates listening attentively

Story submitted by Achieve Ubisi

Prof MS Makhanya (Unisa, Principal and Vice Chancellor)

The College of Education was very honoured that Prof MS Makhanya  (Unisa, Principal and Vice Chancellor) graced the launch of the College’s Mentorship programme with his presence. In her welcoming address Mrs F Patel from Unisa Human Resources said: “Prof Dzvimbo is passionate about the good that comes out of a mentorship programme”.She also stressed that not everyone can be a good mentor but that most people find that it works well. Mentors say the experience changed their thinking. The mentees often are more successful in getting their articles published, as they are better prepared when they submit. The experience can cement a friendship where both parties feel it adds value to them. Unisa is fortunate in that top management supports such mentorship programmes in the university.

Prof MS Makhanya addressed the CEDU mentees and mentors next. He reminded them that the young faces of today are the faces of the leaders of tomorrow. Mentorship is not a new concept to humanity and its roots go back a long way and can be traced to Homer’s Odyssey where Telemarchus is developed by his mentors. Everyone has examples and can name a handful of people who had a good impact on them. A mentor is a trusted, experienced person who in a mutually agreed arrangement, agrees to guide a less experienced person to help develop them. This kind of investment of one onto another builds sustainable development for their institutions and it is a very gratifying experience. The process leads to well rounded individuals in society and mentees can become more valuable to their organisation.

Prof KP Dzvimbo (Executive Dean, College of Education) and Prof C Meier (co-ordinator of the mentorship programme)

A mentor is not just an “ATM” that you can draw from, they can assist a mentee to learn to fly independently and achieve true growth. CEDU would like to see healthy collegial academic relationship which creates independence. It is a mutually agreed relationship where a mentee can trust their mentor and the mentor must feel comfortable with sharing their wisdom. It will also be a networking experience as mentees can also tap into mentor’s large networks through this process.

Prof Corinne Meier, who co-ordinates the mentorship programme in the College of Education, presented Prof Dzvimbo with a set of guidelines saved on CD. In her speech she likened the process as mirrored in the words of Benjamin Franklin “Tell me and I forget, teach me and I remember, involve me and I learn”. Prof Eleanor Lemmer and Dr Vivien Manyike have been in a mentorship relationship for some time now. They are an excellent example of a very successful partnership and what it can achieve. Prof C Meier challenged all mentor pairs to outdo them in the next few years. Prof VI McKay next presented the various mentorship pairs and handed them each a certificate to confirm their mentoring agreements.

Dr SL Naidu, Prof FJ Pretorius and Prof MM van Wyk	Prof Eleanor Lemmer and Dr Vivian Manyike
Mr BA Segoe, Prof VI McKay and Prof JM Dreyer	Dr A Dicker and Dr A van Schalkwyk
Attendees of the CEDU mentorship programme launch	Dr M Gumbo and Prof KP Dzvimbo

Celebrating at the Budget Vote Party: Minister of Basic Education: Angie Motshekga, Prof Veronica McKay: Deputy Dean of Education and the Director General Basic Education: Bobby Soobrayan

Prof McKay was personally thrilled to hear the Minister’s speech because she has been heading a team of Unisa academics (and academics from other Universities) responsible for developing the workbooks. The Minister referred to the workbooks as having an important role to play in addressing some of the curriculum problems facing our schools.  In her speech, the Minister identified four priority areas for delivery in 2012/13 namely; to make schools work, to make principals manage the curriculum, teachers to teach, and learners to read, write and count. The Minister mentioned the Department’s workbooks as one of the important strategies for achieving some of these goals.

School children having fun with the new school workbooks of the Department of Basic Education

The workbook project, Prof Veronica McKay explained, provides a lesson a day for teachers to use in their classes. They are intended to support teachers in under-resourced schools although research has shown that their initial uptake has been better in the higher quintile, better resourced schools.  Each child should receive between four and eight workbooks depending on the grade the child is in. The books are available in all eleven official home languages, in English as a First Additional Language and for Mathematics. The books were initially piloted in 2011. In this year, the Minister pointed out, that the Department provided the high-quality workbooks to six million learners. “The delivery was expanded in 2012” the Minister stated, “We are [now] providing 54 million books to learners, at no cost to the parent or learner. This is history in the making and we are very proud of this achievement.”

Minister Motshekga also referred to the Department’s commitment to inclusive education. The workbooks are all being adapted and are in the process of being embossed in Braille format for use by blind learners. Large print books are also being developed for the partially sighted.  Prof McKay says that her colleagues at Unisa have played a very significant role in adapting the workbooks for the blind.

The Minister acknowledged the challenges associated with delivering 54 million books in the correct quantities of books, in the correct languages to the correct grades. She pointed out that “We’re attending to concerns raised, including those thorny matters around packaging, delivery and quantities.”

Presently Prof McKay and her team are working with their colleagues in the Department of Basic Education to assist with the development of school resource packs and workbooks for Grade R learners as part of the Department’s strategy to improve learner performance in Grade 1 and beyond.  As the Minister states, this is history in the making, and a team of Unisa academics play an important role in ensuring it happens. 

See pages 3 and 4 in May month’s edition the Department of Basic Education’s newsletter, Pula for more information on the event.