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.
Thursday, 14 February 2013
Wednesday, 6 February 2013
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.
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.
Tuesday, 5 February 2013
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.
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.
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