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Unisa staff members involved in the workshop
Workshop participants with Unisa staff
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The workshop for representatives of independent schools in Nigeria hosted by Unisa in March this year proved to be such a success that the Nigerians requested that the same workshop be conducted on 22 and 23 October 2008 for another group of school managers in independent schools.
Both workshops covered topics such as managing change, instructional leadership, creating a positive teaching and learning environment, improving one’s school through action research, human rights in the classroom, self-management and problem-solving skills. The main aim was to equip delegates with knowledge and skills to improve the learning environment in Nigerian independent schools.
Mr Tope Toogun, Director of Accelerated Learning Systems in Nigeria, said he hoped that Unisa staff would visit Nigerian schools and also present workshops. Prof Trudie Steyn, Department of Further Teacher Education, in turn, concluded that the collaboration between Unisa and Nigeria is envisaged as a long-term engagement that will contribute to building a strong relationship between the two countries.
According to Prof Steyn, while feedback on the workshop praised the course content, participants would like to see longer sessions spread over more days. "The school managers say that they are now able to manage themselves better and are more able to address problems. They feel more confident in themselves and they have a different view of learners. One even said she believes that the skills they acquired in this workshop will pay off in about two to three years in their schools." Prof Steyn says that this is what she and her team tried to achieve --- to give the participants confidence to address managerial issues in their own context. |
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The following academics from the College of Human Sciences were involved in the workshop: Prof Trudie Steyn (Project manager), Prof August Kruger, Prof Gerrit Kamper, Dr Susanna Coetzee, Prof Eldridge van Niekerk, Prof Cecelia Jansen, Prof Renier Botha and Prof Andrew van Zyl. |
