The initial part of the model was imported from Denmark which was published in a book
“Platform Philosophy, by Tue Freltoft and Jorgen Kay, published by AMU-International (1993).
The author writes about facilitators coming to college, meeting other colleagues with similar concerns and challenges from their schools to be trained by Danish experts. After the first part of training, they would go back to schools motivated and feeling empowered. The book shares the platform philosophy… The book shared the Danish experience in the training and sharing of PD skills using what they called the “Platform Philosophy”
Description of the whole process
For the particular area identified for training for example, Management, invitations are sent out to schools via District structures including Senior Education Managers (SEMs) as well as Union Representatives. This would ensure that programmes offered had the blessings of all structures concerned, including the Department of Education and teacher unions. Schools were to organise themselves such that duty loads of the identified participants were shared amongst existing staff.
This means that schools are fully informed of the expectations of this form of professional development.
On receipt of submitted names, management would go through the forms to do the first level of selection. Once the suitable candidates were identified, they would be called in for a short interview session after which they would be invited for training. Through this process, teachers become aware of the expectations from this training process.
Once the teachers have been selected the following activities unfold:
Danish experts conducted an intensive 5 –10 day workshop where participants would be exposed both to the theory as well as practical hands-on examples of how to apply some principles at school level, for example, Service Management, Team Building, Difficult Talks, Leadership Skills. This period was the most crucial pillar of the model, with participants being exposed for the first time to an environment totally unfamiliar to the way they were initially taught. Being a participatory model, they were constantly engaged in the form of questions asked directly to them like “What do you think?” “How would you handle this situation?”
“How do/did you feel?” These were common questions aimed at introducing a reflective mode of learning as against the common receptive mode of treating participants as empty vessels ready for knowledge to be poured into their minds. I want to believe that the purpose of this
approach for the Danes was to ensure that knowledge was internalised as well as contextualised. The emphasis on “you” was deliberately intended to force them to think and reflect on the subject, as well as encouraging them to feel free to express their own thoughts.
Participants had to go back to their schools for a period of two weeks, giving them space to reflect and possibly apply some of their acquired ideas.
After the two-week break, they had to come back for a two-day follow-up session where they would be exposed to facilitation skills, after a reflective exercise where they had to share their experiences of what worked, what did not work and why? The South African managers, assisted by the two seconded Danish managers based in South Africa who were supporting the 18-month pilot project, handled this process. It was at this stage that the model had to be adapted to fit the South African context. Given the variety of challenges trainers were exposed to, some of the areas had to be changed accordingly.
At this stage, they were divided into teams of 4-6. Each team had to consider aspects of race, gender, location and position. School principals had to work with both deputy principals and heads of department responsible for the various learning areas at school. This period presented its own management challenges, as some school principals felt that working together with deputy principals and especially heads of department, challenged their power base for they were used to a bureaucratic structure that allowed them the power and space to be isolated from other levels below theirs.
In these teams, they now had to identify topics linked to the theories they were exposed to in their initial training, but at the same time, they had to ensure that identified topics addressed current school-related issues and challenges as their case studies. They then had to research on these in preparation for their planning sessions.
They returned again to their schools for a week before they could come back for another set of follow-up sessions. The next follow-up sessions demanded that they now work in teams, planning and preparing for a workshop to be conducted by trainees, referred to as a Test Course. This was once more a unique approach but relating to one of the national outcomes aiming at producing citizens that can works together in teams.
This stage demanded that in their teams, trainees would come to the centre for planning, spending fourteen hours spread over five three-hour half-day sessions. Planning had to be extremely thorough with all team members contributing to the writing of the presentation
script, developed with the support of the South Africans in the absence of the initial Danish experts. This process had to have a mock-presentation session, with each individual showing the whole team exactly how her/his slot would be handled in the actual workshop.
At this point trainees would have bonded with their team members such that they would not be afraid to be critiqued by fellow members. It was at this stage where tensions of racial differences, position power, and inadequate training issues surfaced. Teachers who had never worked with other races were easily intimidated by the other races whom they considered to be “superior” based on the education they were exposed to prior the democratic dispensation.
All this is done in the presence of the managers who at all stages had to be physically present, to give the mentoring and coaching skills needed. Clear assessment guidelines would be discussed with the trainees in preparation for their workshop.
This stage is normally regarded as the highlight of the training course. Each trainee had to contribute to the process of inviting participants to their own workshop. They were encouraged to invite at least two teachers from their schools with the aim of expanding the acquired skills and philosophy within the same schools. From the beginning right to the end of the Test Course with trainees facilitating, the managers, as part of the initial training team, would be sitting, observing and assessing the process without interruption or interjection. Initially with the project funds permitting, Danish Experts would come in to evaluate and support this process.
At the end of each day’s deliberations, the team got together with the mentors responsible for evaluation for the reflective session or “post-mortem” Each trainee would be given a turn to respond to the two questions:
“How did you feel as you presented/facilitated your slot?”
“What went right and what went wrong?”
Questions of this nature were meant to encourage teachers to be reflective practitioners, a concept they were not familiar with. In their response, they were encouraged to give honest answers as the main objective of this stage was development in a non-threatening environment. All members of the team were to give an honest response with the aim of doing a better job next time and aiming for excellence. Aspects emerging from this part were seen to be addressing the gaps experienced by all trainees in their initial training. Even those who had a better-enriched curriculum, like Indian and coloured teachers, still had an opportunity to learn from working with other races, and something they had never done before. OBE, as the
core of this training process, was a new curriculum, simultaneously challenging all teachers regardless of race, gender or position. Personally I felt that this approach encapsulated the UBUNTU concept, which says we need one another; “for me to succeed, I need you.” It covers the whole training process, as follows:
U…..Unravel who you are through connection
Unpack the concepts within specific policies and theories B……Bond “in your groups” with the whole group
Build on who you are and what knowledge you bring to the group.
U….Understand, contextualises and internalise the concept(s) your own way “what do you think?” “What does it mean to you?”
N……Network with the other members in the group who will have Computer Skills, people skills, leadership skills, so that topics for our workshops can be shared according to what we can each bring to the workshop.
T…..Team up well, accommodating and tolerating one another (race, gender, union affiliation, position, levels of knowledge). We are
different but equal on this platform, therefore we co-facilitate using our different strengths.
U…… Un-bundle how you felt
Reflect and evaluate the usefulness of the exposure both at personal and professional level on yourself/ trainers/facilitators/
materials used (relevance, quality, theories and your colleagues).
The opportunities from sustained professional development within this model are endless. It promotes agency more than content. The process is emphasised rather that the output. The participation of all stakeholders, including the Department of Education, the teacher unions, the schools, the colleagues from the schools and the school management, presents a process of professional development that is shared and accepted. These qualities of the Ikhwezi peer- driven model of teacher development suggest a successful and innovative model for professional development. The challenges are not in the conception of the model but rather in the school context where these trained teachers (facilitators) are expected to promote and sustain a climate of on-going teacher professional development that is shared within the school context.
7.4 SECTION B: THE FACILITATORS EXPERIENCE OF THE MODEL
This section explores the opportunities and challenges of the Ikhwezi peer-driven model as experienced by the teachers. The data for this analysis has been obtained through the questionnaires, interviews and journals of the teachers. The data source is available in Appendix ****. A synopsis is presented here to support the assertions made about the challenges and opportunities of this model.
7.4.1 EMERGING THEMES
This section will cover themes as they emerged from the various instruments used to collect data. In discussing these, I will be highlighting how the facilitators experienced the peer- driven model.
7.4.2 PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT
Professional development as covered and explained by various authors in chapter two can mean different things to different people. Although development usually connotes internally guided rather than externally compulsory changes, professional development is considered to be the result of a learning process which is directed at acquiring a coherent whole of the practical and theoretical knowledge, insight, attitude and repertory that teachers need for curriculum delivery (Vonk, 1991). In this study I argue for the peer- driven model of professional development with teachers exposed to a platform that allowed them to learn, develop and grow together regardless of race, gender, position, qualification and union affiliation. Stated below, are some of the comments lifted from some of the research tools used.
To my amazement I was introduced to training, which was learner-centred. We had to learn to share ideas. Everyone had to contribute. No matter (what) little information you bring about it was accepted. For the first time I was not afraid to be criticised, as long as it was a constructive criticism. It was a hands-on training and intensive, because were to be Teacher Trainers (Facilitators).
………
At a class level: my teaching has become better and better. At first I used to teach English, but now I develop learners holistically. My teaching approach is continually improving.
Of importance from these expressions is the fact that these facilitators found the model to be useful as it allowed them space to grow and are now able to reflect on their classroom practice.
7.4.3 PERSONAL DEVELOPEMNT
Personal development as one of the themes that emerged from the data seemed to come up more frequently from the data collected. Professional learning is normally based on continuous reflection on one’s experience within a given context. Personal development as experienced by trainers in this model cannot be said to have taken place in isolation, but within the context of peer learning. (Fullan, 1991, p. 315) This is evident from the following comments:
As an individual I have learnt to teach in a manner that respects the dignity and rights of all persons without prejudice as to race, religious beliefs, colour, sex, physical characteristics, age and place of origin.
………...……….
Morton Andersen: I was one of the first cohorts of thirty school-based teachers trained by the Education Professionals from the Danish Education Ministry. This initial training, for me, was a life-affirming of my identity, building my-self-esteem, helped me shape my identity of myself (both personally and professionally). In short, due to the legacy of apartheid, my previously non-existent or restricted world-view of teaching and learning grew in leaps and bounds. From my limited vantage point at the time, this type of teacher development represented real empowerment, and a major paradigm shift. Key, firstly, in the shift, for me meant that I came to the realisation that I am important and unique.
Mangaliso: I’m not clear on the agency aspect. I'm clear on the growth aspect because I see growth in the model itself. I’m driven by the fact that I need to be capacitated enough in a particular way that would help my peers to then also grow. How that growth takes place is individualistic. It could never be the path that I followed. Whether that is something that will be parallel for them or is something that will be incidental for them or something that will be mimicry, or whatever it is, I cannot say how that happens for them.
Of note from these comments is the impact of the damage done by the previous education system that these participants seem to be reacting to. The model challenged the aspect of human rights and human dignity for participants to want to teach in a manner that addresses issues of respect and personal identities. As teachers, they now had confidence in affirming their images both as individuals and professionals with an added social responsibility: to respect human dignity. I view this as one of the most significant factors of the Ikhwezi model which coincided with the democratic policies teachers were introduced to in South Africa. It was a model that exposed teachers, for the first time, to an approach that said: You have the right to be yourself regardless of gender or race. Learners taught by teachers with this paradigm would certainly provide the right material for the young democracy that is South Africa.
7.4.4 TEAM TEACHING
Team teaching as part of professional development has its significance in teachers supporting one another by sharing and enhancing professional expertise. It is also one of the crucial aspects of the peer-driven model, in that most teachers within the South African context have never been exposed to this collaborative method, given the huge challenges of teacher-pupil ratio.
Remedy Zimu: At school where I am educating, I am able to work with colleagues as a team by implementing the skills that I have acquired from Ikhwezi Having three library science facilitators at our school is indeed an advantage because we share the same ideals, which are:
to improve the literacy skills at our school. Attending and conducting the course led to my reviving the library at my school.
From this comment, one cannot assume that true team teaching took place, but teachers were certainly able to work together in sharing professional knowledge as against delivering curriculum at classroom level. However, the exposure they had did contribute to them making a mind shift from operating in silos to working and interacting with other colleagues. This idea of working together within a school was made possible because all three teachers were trained within the Ikhwezi model and share similar backgrounds. This team spirit can be greatly enhanced if all teachers with a school community buys into teamwork as promoted by the Ikhwezi model.
Team teaching to the South African teachers was still an unfamiliar concept at the time of the project implementation. The ushering in of Curriculum 2005 (OBE) with its integrated approach, meant that teachers as trainers within this model had to change their teaching patterns. Admittedly in a number of schools, due to the current teacher-pupil ratio and high numbers, team teaching is still an ideal practice. What is important though is the fact that Ikhwezi was exposing teachers to a model where they were to practically experience the value, benefits, challenges and disadvantages of team teaching. Exposure of this nature would put teachers in a better position for them to understand what was to happen or not happen when they put their learners into groups as they delivered OBE. The exposure to teams during their training would hopefully have helped Ikhwezi-trained facilitators to understand the group dynamics that needed to be adhered to.
This would hopefully help them create an enabling learning classroom environment as against empty “noisy OBE classes” with learners bundled into groups with no clear guidelines in the absence of the full understanding of group dynamics.
7.4.5 CONFIDENCE IN INTERPRETING POLICIES
Confidence in curriculum delivery cannot be overemphasized as part of professional development.
At a school level: almost every teacher in my school has been to ICCE workshops on a number of occasions and that has benefited the school in terms of teaching and learning processes as well as in the implementation of the new transformational policies.
………
In our school we have started using the RNCS documents. It was very easy to adapt in usage of these documents as we have mastered the usage of policy documents from workshops and training workshops at Ikhwezi College. I have shared all the knowledge I gained at the college with my colleagues. Sometimes I do encounter some problems when introducing some new information on OBE. There are conservatives who don’t like it or who are not prepared to change. It is very hard when that person is in a higher position or is a friend of a superior and the most influential to him.
But because of management skills we learned from the college some of the problems are solved automatically.
………..
My involvement at Ikhwezi has had a positive impact especially with the newly introduced OBE policy. I have been able to interpret and apply OBE policy with great ease using the skills and tools gained through my involvement from 1997 to date. I was able to tackle the national designed policy and practised it in my classroom. The hands-on approach of the Ikhwezi methods empowered me to tackle or