Critical Crossfield outcome 4 (cont.)

Quick update on the scenario featuring An Education Department, An Educator that seems to have lost her marbles or never had them in the first place, Parents of A Learner who pointed out the lack of marbles, Other Learners who don't know the difference between marbles and unmarbles.

Next Act:

The previous act has not concluded satisfactorily, and the conclusion will set the scene. The Department wants to hush the matter up. Like the parents thought they would. The parents are saying there are principles involved that affect education at its very core. The Department doesn't seem to be able to deal with such concepts, and would dearly love to "contain" the matter as a disagreement between individual parents and the poor misrepresented educator.

What will the next act bring? Will the parents and the learner who blew the whistle on the absence of marbles receive the apology demanded as minimum recompense to settle the matter? Probably not...so then what? Should the matter be exposed to a greater public for discussion? Should the Educator be sanctioned and how? Should the matter of the educator's past demonstration of lack of professional marbles be exposed, so dragging in previous schools who would probably love just to be let alone after the damage she caused there?

THIS SITUATION IS PIVOTAL TO THE QUALITY AND PRACTICES OF MAJOR PLAYERS IN SOUTH AFRICAN EDUCATION.  We would really like to concentrate on more constructive and entertaining issues but will have to see this one through!

Critical Crossfield Outcomes 4(b)

THE NEXT ACT

The scene: The Principal's Office
The department roars onto the scene, Deus ex machina style, apparently surprises the principal, and comes to investigate the matter in the form of a well-spoken and dignified female who appears to be recently married from her style of headdress.
The educator is interviewed. Other stakeholders are not to know what transpired in the interview, but the educator puts its best foot forward by praising the brilliance of the learner in question and most probably comes across as being confused and hurt by having her good intentions questioned. Always works, that one, and even the most seasoned employers fall for it.
The parents of the learner are asked to come and be present while the learner is interviewed. At the end of a lengthy discussion, the department's representative is cracking her knuckles with anxiety to conclude and contain the matter. As mentioned in setting the scene, the department does NOT need a scandal. Neither does the principal, or the school, as reputations will forever be tarnished. Pity they didn't think about that when the appointed the educator without checking references!

The department is overtly unwilling to discuss or investigate the Facebook element. It is "after hours". Whether it destroys the thinking ability of students in this case, or contains demonstrable instances of libel, threats and instigation of those, is of no interest to the department.

The department has to obtain the permission of parents in order to interview other learners involved. It doesn't want to interview them, as the investigation then becomes bigger and the threat of it becoming public grows exponentially. It babbles things like "protecting the child", keeping people in schools etc in order to try and calm the parents down. It doesn't take the victimisation seriously, as the child was not present when it happened and can only take it into account if other children are interviewed.

Hm. What are the parents to do? Be content with a slap on the wrist of the educator when SHE is the one who took the matter to a greater audience? And now the PARENTS are held responsible if it becomes public? Is this how the department thinks?

The parents decide on letting go in the interest of certain learners, and possible old acquaintances that they do not wish to embarrass. They demand a public apology to their daughter as the humiliation and victimisation were public and continue to be so through harassment on Facebook. The apology doesn't seem to be forthcoming, so watch out for the third Act!

Critical Crossfield Outcomes 4; Communicating Values 2

This post, and the following ones with the same heading, combine some of the things touched upon in previous ones, by painting a very real scenario and asking how CCFO 4: COLLECT, ANALYSE, ORGANISE AND CRITICALLY EVALUATE INFORMATION is served, or not, by this scenario.

Knowing the difference between right and wrong, between solid, useful and relevant information and what is conveniently known as crap, is a fundamental skill.

THE SCENARIO

Main character: An educator that has been expelled, in the natural if not legal sense of the word, from two previous workplaces for unprofessional misconduct towards learners. Instigating mistrust towards authorities and the system in both places, casting aspersions on the intentions and actions of those above her and posing as the only saviour of the poor, poor learners who are being exploited and limited by others seems to be, from information gathered so far, a favourite MO.

Other important characters:
1. The learner (now hounded by other learners, with veiled and illegal threats made against her in the school corridors)who first sounds the alarm to
2. Her mother, who happens to be more familiar with the education system, the Public Service Code of Conduct, and the dire need of the education department in question not to have more scandals thrown at them than most parents
3. The principal, let's call him Mr Expedience, very chuffed with himself for having received awards from the department in question and having hobnobbed with names that he drops like a man with no arms
4. The education department in question, that first acts in alarm and pleads for the issue not to be made public, but then seems to be dragging its heels on the level where its workload and the perceptions of the principal intersect.

In the wings, but not at all unimportant:
1. Several educators and stakeholders in the school who strongly, but out of necessity anonymously (you don't want to piss the department off, because you have a job and have to feed your children and elderly parents), urge the mother on to take the case to the highest levels of the department, as they have very grave concerns about the ability or intention of the principal to run the school along the lines of what they perceive to be "right and wrong". These have been in education for very long and include parents of top past learners
2. Gum-chewing governing body members who until recently thought all coloured learners were Muslims
3. Facebook
4. Previous employers, who may still be battling after-shocks
5. Dominees. The misguided ones with personal issues.
6. The courts, who may or may not be approached for interdicts to force the principal to run his school on professional lines, with the interests of learners, and not educators, protected
7. The majority of parents, who leave education to the school and don't want to be bothered if they think their children may be victimised (as is demonstrably happening now), or if they are not directly involved

THE BATTLEFIELD
The minds of hundreds of learners who will, or will not, at the end of the play know what is professional behaviour expected (and legally enforceable) from public service educators. Who will, or will not, understand that they have been the victims of emotional brainwashing, and will or will not be able to discern between propaganda and facts.

THE QUESTION (or the one asked by THIS post):
Should churning out symbols to impress your superiors be a stronger motivation for a principal than producing emotionally intelligent, informed learners who can make choices and not act like lemmings? That question does not only apply to this scenario.

Watch this space for CCFO's 4(b)!

MOVING!

This blog is moving to Wordpress! It will stay up here for a while longer, but all new posts will be on fundamentalskills.wordpress.com.

Critical Cross-Field Outcomes 3

The CCFO's, to recap, serve as "generic outcomes that inform all teaching and learning" (SAQA). They are deemed critical for the development of the capacity for life-long learning, also according to SAQA. The third of the seven main CCFO's that MUST be included and assessed in all qualifications on the NQF is;

ORGANISE AND MANAGE ONESELF AND ONE'S ACTIVITIES RESPONSIBLY AND EFFECTIVELY

That is not a small outcome, and should perhaps be the first and most important instead of the third in line! It is applicable to all stages of life and would have different visible results at different ages. It does, however, imply having all applicable information and options at your disposable, and making your own decisions instead of being herded into options that you wouldn't have chosen if you HAD had all those options and choices.

Much is said on a daily basis, on Twitter and other platforms, about the state of South African education. It is not a pretty picture, granted, but much of the criticism is wrongly aimed at the SYSTEM, which is a good and solid one. Comments like "I see the system producing obedient slaves"; "the system kills creativity" and others which are no doubt based on seeing what comes out at the end of 12 years of schooling, abound.

But the current system, theoretically and on paper, does strive to instill good, useful skills and attitudes into learners, and does contain the possibility of producing healthy, independent thinkers in control of their destinies and the discernment to make the choices that will result in organising themselves responsibly and effectively. The subject of Life Orientation, for example, is aimed at exactly that. It is debatable whether it should be an examinable subject for school-leaving purposes, but perhaps ridicule of it should be shelved until the whole South African population is able to organise itself in such a way as to make the subject redundant.

Because the problem with South African education is NOT the system, but the cultural attitudes of many of its people. This goes across race lines, one hastens to add, before high horses are mounted and shrill protests well up.

South Africans of many backgrounds have an authority problem. We want authority, and we want someone to tell us what to do. And if things don't happen the way we want to, we want someone else to blame. The government, the system, apartheid, America... I call it the "De la Rey" syndrome, after the (in)famous Afrikaans song that gives voice to our yearning for a leader.

THAT is the main problem with education in South Africa today. Children are simply NOT taught at home that they are autonomous beings that must take responsibility for all their OWN actions, and therefore they are easily shaped by peer pressure and the mediocrity that the system currently produces, not because of itself, but because teachers and implementers themselves are victims of the De la Rey syndrome and because the workload and problems are just so much that it is easier to slip into familiar patterns than to go against the flow. Even the most creative and idealistic teachers get bogged down by the sheer crush of old attitudes that have not changed, and succumb to the paradigm of "we have to churn out mathematicians and scientists". That thinking in itself is a killer of creativity (and the subject of another blog), but the SYSTEM (in its purest form, as in that which is written down as its aims and motivations) is not the problem.

The sheep-mentality of the people is still just too overwhelming for a good system to kick in and produce the results it was conceived to do. It is too advanced, and therefore seems to be the culprit. We want others to organise our lives, and we want others to take responsibility. It may take two generations of Life Orientation for more autonomous thinking to kick in and start taking root, and for our current educational system to come into its own. If it is not thrown out completely because those in control succumb to the sheep-mentality.

Communicating VALUES: looking at ads (1)

McCAIN

The current McCain ad, on etv around 7p, news time (that is all that is watched in this enterprise/household), is primitive, iniquitous and completely out of touch with current South African and world issues. That COULD have come at the end of this commentary, but an explanation follows. For those who don't know the commercial: it depicts a middle-class black family where the mother tells the father: look here, they say here fresh fruit and veggies are the best for your family. This is followed by images of the father toiling and sweating with a spade etc, and then the virtues of frozen veggies are extolled and the impression created that they are at least as good as fresh ones. Think again, think McCain. One could add selected punctuation marks: Think again! THINK, McCain!

While one appreciates the need for low-budget commercials that people can identify with, McCain and their ad agency (which planet do these guys live on???) really insult their target audience with this effort. The ad communicates and encourages the following values:

1. Working with the soil is difficult and back-breaking
2. Producing fresh food yourself is difficult
3. Working with the soil and producing food is undesirable for people moving upwards
4. Consumerism is the way to go
5. Plastic packaging is desirable and to be striven for if you are not a poor fool living on the platteland somewhere
6. Freezing stuff, so contributing to electricity costs, is desirable and to be striven towards
7. All of the above, contributing to an excessive carbon footprint, is absolutely wonderful

In a country where agricultural issues, food production, food security and electricity consumption are pertinent, this ad sends all the wrong messages to people who may not have the analytical skills to know what they are being dished up. Pun intended. The message is irresponsible and the intention cynical. South African consumers deserve better.

One wonders how this commercial would fare in a developed and aware environment like the EU. Ad agencies would probably not even CONTEMPLATE producing something like that, as the high environmental awareness in the EU would not accept such shoddy thinking. MCain, and its ad agency locally should strive to rectify the stuff-up. Seeing that the product, at this stage, fulfills a certain need, they should be more respectful of and responsible towards their audience by perhaps depicting food production as the most noble activity there is, with McCain adding value, or whatever they think they're doing. Bringing in message of dealing with their plastic packaging responsibly, using freezing space efficiently, or any such aware behaviour will not hurt their product. It will also not hurt the budget, and will at least create the impression that they and their agency are not cynical rip-offs, unaware of pressing global issues.

About MONEYmental

Yesterday, after a long hard slog with many twists and tails and too many variants to even mention, we managed to publish the first of the MONEYmental series of video clips, in Zulu, on youtube. The second installment in Zulu should be ready early next week, after which we will relax the teeniest bit. The Afrikaans clips have all been prepared, but we may still change the presenter for greater inclusiveness.

MONEYmental was conceived as a very basic financial literacy and management intervention for children and teens - 8-15 - especially those with limited resources. It is meant to encourage discipline and focus when it comes to money, even with very little of it. It hopes to identify and develop sustainable principles that can be applied whenever money is encountered. These principles, when applied to small amounts, or even dreams of money, would then hopefully become entrenched and lead to success later on.

The first mini-series, aimed at the age group mentioned, will be followed by a series for rural women. The principles contained in that one will be adapted from existing projects in India and other parts of the world.

Of course, at FUNDAmental SKILLS one of the basic and non-negotiable principles is that of mother-tongue education. To reach where poverty is worst, and opportunities at a premium, starting financial literacy has to be in the languages of South Africa's poorest children. And they are everywhere, which is why the series will be translated and produced in as many languages as we can find willing language practitioners for.

The production of the series is not funded in any way except personal initiative and sacrifice. For the first two Zulu clips, Ntokozo paid, out of pure idealism, for her own flight from Durban to here. This followed an advertisement for language practitioners on Gumtree. There has been a lot of response, but as soon as people understand that reward will come only from monetisation, and that this will be divided equally between producers, translators and/or presenters, the enthusiasm wanes and even firm commitments are not met. People just don't appear for the recording sessions!

Willingness doesn't always mean expertise or experience, though, so the first clip may come across as slightly hesitant in presentation. The second one picks up speed, so keep on watching! We envisage a great career as presenter and voice artist for Ntokozo, who is already an accomplished translator and interpreter. There is more experience on the production side, although editing was also new. That is where the hold-up occurred: the clip was shot in November already, but the cameraman, who had to deal with extraneous noises and distractions too hilarious and unprofessional to go into, insisted on mastering editing on Avid Media Composer 5 before we could proceed. Needless to say, THAT monster programme has not been MASTERED yet, but subdued enough to produce a reasonable clip for the purposes.

Teachers or community workers who would like to use the clips as EMS tool, or aftercare activity, or any educational purpose, are welcome to access them at any time. We know that we cannot stop the videos from being downloaded, but of course watching them online is always preferable. And if anyone would like to contribute to translations or presentations - give us a call when you are in Cape Town and we will happily slip into production mode to accommodate you!