Training staff to provide support to learners – a Namibian experience

Namibia is a big country with a small population that is scattered across its vast open spaces. Within this context, delivering quality education to people who have varied education and training needs presents a unique set of challenges. For the past few years, the Namibian College of Open Learning (NAMCOL) has been grappling to find suitable responses to meet the needs of its learners. NAMCOL’s commitment to making the learning experience a success for learners prompted the institution to collaborate with the Department of Continuing and Distance Education at the University of Bath to put in place a programme of staff training and development. The training approaches and methods they have used over the past few years, their successes, and their disappointments provide a rich source of information and inspiration for those who might be facing similar challenges.

At the end of 1999, SAIDE conducted an evaluation of a capacity building project known as the NAMCOL-Bath Partnership Project, which was funded by the British Department for International Development (DfID). This Project ran for three years, from 1996 to 1999, and its aim was to strengthen NAMCOL by developing its staff and empowering them to deliver distance education programmes of an acceptable standard. A full report of this evaluation can be found on SAIDE’s website at http://www.saide.org.za/Namcol/contents.htm. In this article, Christine Randell discusses the way in which the NAMCOL-Bath Partnership set out to train staff to support learners.

About NAMCOL

NAMCOL is a parastatal that came into being with the proclamation of the NAMCOL Act on 25th September, 1997. The college became active on 1st April 1998 as a semi-autonomous organization. It grew out of a programme initiated in the early 1990s and located within the Directorate of Adult Continuing Education. NAMCOL is the largest educational institution in Namibia. In 1999, some 20,000 learners were registered, with approximately half studying by distance education and half studying in part-time, face-to-face classes (continuing education provision). Most students are registered for the secondary education programme, which includes the Grade 10 (JSC) and Grade 12 (IGCSE). Learners can also register for the Certificate in Education and Development (CED). In future, NAMCOL plans to offer a range of vocational and training courses. Visit the Southern African Global Distance Education Network website at: http://www.saide.org.za/worldbank/countries/namibia/namcol.htm for more information about NAMCOL.

Introduction

In this article, we examine in some detail the approach and methods that the Project used to train full-time staff who work at head office and in the regions, as well as part-time staff who interface with learners in some 80 centres. As a first step, it is necessary to sketch the context by identifying some key factors that had an impact on efforts to conduct the capacity building programme.

NAMCOL originated in a government department, and this has had a considerable continuing effect on learner support. Within the government department, there was a divide between the distance education and the face-to-face (continuing education) provision that NAMCOL offers. Distance education was organized centrally, while continuing education was organized regionally. Some difficulties in implementing improved learner support strategies stemmed from this initial division between regional control of continuing education and head office control of distance education. Linked to this are difficulties associated with part-time use of some 80 learning centres that are not under the direct control of NAMCOL. The Yetu-Yama centre situated in Katutura - which is also the site of NAMCOL’s Head Office - is the only learning centre that the institution controls directly.

The need to employ large numbers of part-time staff is also an important influence to consider. The centres in the regions are mainly located in schools, and are managed by part-time staff (usually senior teachers or principals), who employ teachers as part-time tutors. All in all, NAMCOL employs over 900 part-time staff in 80 centres. There are problems with recruitment of part-time staff (often they are inadequately qualified), as well as with monitoring (attendance, as well as quality of work). In addition, part-time tutors need training to handle NAMCOL learners in a programme where the time for teaching is far less than in the formal schools in which they teach during the day.

In the early days of NAMCOL, there were inadequate systems in place for handling assignments, materials distribution, and enrolments. One of the tasks of NAMCOL’s new management, assisted by inputs from the Project, was to devise appropriate systems to handle the large numbers of students spread out across the country.

Building the capacity of full-time staff, such as the Area and Regional Coordinators, the Distance Education Coordinators and staff in the registry office, entailed developing their understanding of learner support as an educational rather than merely a bureaucratic job. Hence, the Project was expected to:

• Support staff to develop an integrated and holistic learner support strategy;

• Help staff to devise appropriate systems to handle the needs of the many students spread out across the country;

• Help full-time staff to train and monitor part-time staff in the employ of NAMCOL;

• Develop in full-time staff an understanding that their work is educational rather than being merely an administrative, bureaucratic job.

Conducting any type of meaningful training is always a challenge, even in a relatively stable organizational environment. Organizing training activities during the ‘organizational tornado’ of changes that took place during NAMCOL’s transition to autonomy was a daunting task. It is largely due to the flexibility, continuous review, and ongoing consultation with NAMCOL staff that it was possible to facilitate relevant training responses as specific needs and requirements were identified.

Training and development activities to equip staff to deliver learner support were designed as part of an integrated staff development programme made up of several components, each linked to the others and working in concert to achieve maximum effect. The methods of support to NAMCOL staff included1:

• An in-country Technical Adviser whose role it was to work closely with employees of NAMCOL to develop their skills and competencies in a variety of distance and continuing education techniques.

• A series of in-country workshops and consultancies to develop specific areas of knowledge and expertise and to enable staff to participate by cascading this knowledge to colleagues within NAMCOL and to staff in the regions.

• Places for selected NAMCOL staff on modules of the University of Bath’s School of Education Advanced Modular Programme, leading to the qualifications of Advanced Certificate, Advanced Diploma, or MA in Education. In addition, staff would be able to participate in modules of this programme on an INSET basis.

• Out-of-country placement opportunities for selected members of staff, to enable them to observe current and groundbreaking practices at other institutions within Southern Africa.

We confine ourselves to some reflection on two methods that learner support staff found particularly useful, and we also present some issues that NAMCOL staff encountered while training part-time staff.

In-country workshops/consultancies

The programme of workshops/consultancies worked particularly well because it was possible to offer diverse inputs covering a broad spectrum of areas within a relatively short time. Inputs could be timed to coincide with the emerging needs of staff, and by using different consultants from England and Southern Africa it was also possible to expose staff to a broad range of expertise. Regularity of inputs helped to create a climate of learning.

Participation in various workshops assisted learner support staff to develop broader insights into distance education and to acquire necessary management skills. More focused training took place through workshops that covered specific learner support issues. The 1997 workshop on management systems helped staff to start thinking about processes and systems.

The workshop run by facilitators from UNISA’s Adult Basic Education and Training Institute assisted the staff to see the need for an understanding of adult learning. Another result of this workshop was that staff appreciated the need for assistance in training heads of centres and tutors.

This led to a workshop in which the basis for the Learner Support Guide was established. This guide, and to a lesser extent its companion, the Tutor Markers’ Guide, provide stand-alone materials which regional and central learner support staff can use as a basis for training part-time staff. Further work on process review and assessment systems, as well as the overall model of learner support, was carried out in the final learner support workshop in June 1999. Further work on face-to-face training was scheduled for a Training Skills workshop in October 1999.

Staff perceived systematic implementation of workshops throughout the three-year period to have contributed significantly to learning new skills and improving their work practices. They identified the following factors as those that helped to create an enabling learning environment:

• Whether or not the timing of workshops coincided with the immediate needs of staff. The greater the congruence, the bigger the impact recorded by people.

• Direct work relevance made the transfer to real work situations easier.

• Workshops that were followed up by immediate on-the-job practice resulted in consolidation of skills.

• Handouts and supporting materials which, according to one person, remain an information bank or backup for reference purposes, when one needs to refresh one’s mind on a specific issue.

• Workshops that resulted in tangible products, such as the Learner Support Guide.

• Workshops that introduced new approaches and practices and that were not refresher courses of existing knowledge.

• Having a global view of the system helped people to understand their own role and place within the system.

• Dedicated and uninterrupted learning time during workshops.

• Workshops where more direction and guidance was given rather than expecting participants to draw exclusively on their own experience.

• Enough time during workshops to grapple with the issues properly. As someone commented, we do many things in a short time.

• Use of regional facilitators to provide contextual reality.

Flexibility, responsiveness to emerging needs, dialogue between partners, and ongoing analysis and refinement were part of an evolutionary process that resulted in training workshop/consultancies that became much more focused and geared towards practical outcomes. NAMCOL staff liked this format because it proved to be very effective in linking workshop learning with the actual work situation.

There were also constraints that had to be handled. Exposure to too much training in a short time can lead to ‘training fatigue’, which becomes a deterrent to learning. There was certainly an indication that staff had reached saturation point, especially towards the end of 1998 and the middle of 1999. Some staff members attended most training events. They had to travel long distances in order to attend sessions, which were mainly held in Windhoek and its environs. Some people viewed workshops as being ‘disruptive’ at times, especially when immediate job demands clashed with the timing of Project inputs. Such conflicting priorities were often resolved in favour of the job.

Lack of follow-through by many staff, in order to consolidate learning after the workshops, was problematic. Several reasons were identified: heavy workload; an ongoing stream of training events; and lack of reflective work behaviour on the part of many staff. Some individuals developed as reflective practitioners, but many colleagues still view participation in workshops as discrete events. After workshops, they file away and forget about documentation. Someone felt that there should be structured mechanisms in place so that people cannot shelve away ideas and skills that they have learned during a workshop.

Out-of-country placements

Visiting other institutions to observe and learn new approaches and methods of doing things proved to be an extremely valuable learning experience for two learner support staff. At the beginning of 1999, the chief Registry Officer visited UNISA’s ABET Institute, while the Head of the Yetu Yama Centre visited BOCODOL (Botswana College of Distance and Open Learning) and the Department of Vocational Education and Training in Botswana. Each visit lasted two weeks and resulted in some immediate benefits for the candidates and for NAMCOL.

The Chief Registry Officer said that the experience of ‘seeing things with your own eyes’ and actually doing helped him to understand ‘how it is done’. He now feels more mature and confident, because he can talk from experience. His involvement in areas other than his own helped him to get an insight into the whole process of delivering learning materials and handling assignments. He now has an idea of how the different parts work together and influence each other.

Upon his return to NAMCOL, the Registry Officer immediately started improving the handling of assignments by designing new assignment covers, introducing A4 envelopes for return of assignments, and including a printout of learners’ names with assignment-marking bundles handed to tutor markers. He also introduced plastic wrapping to make the dispatch of learning materials more efficient. An important insight he gained was that the existing database was unsuitable. This prompted him to acquire a useful database that would be able to provide NAMCOL with the kind of information it needs. The Head of the Yetu Yama centre organized a range of activities designed to get optimum use of the centre. An important activity was to set up a computer training programme.

Factors such as realistic expectations, timing and duration of the placement, an appropriate programme of activities, and support for candidates when they return affect the impact of placement-type learning opportunities.

The reports that candidates were required to write and submit on their return pushed them to document their learning, thus encouraging a more reflective learning approach. The Technical Adviser provided candidates with support in planning their reports, which comprised the following parts: planned outcomes, programme of activities, detailed comments on the activities, unplanned outcomes of the visit, evaluation, recommendations, and a follow-up action plan. One person added samples of documents used by the host institution. The Chief Registry Officer decided to buy a camera to capture his experience in the different departments pictorially, so that he could share his experience more effectively with colleagues.

The biggest difficulty that the Technical Adviser experienced in organizing the placements was that she had to rely on verbal agreements with the people in the host institution to design a suitable programme of activities for the candidates. She only discovered after an agreement had already been reached with one institution that they charged a daily fee for their hosting service. With hindsight, she believes it would be more beneficial and cost effective for the staff developer to visit the intended institution for a few days, get a guided tour, and then draw up a programme tailored to the needs of the institution.

Training part-time staff – the challenges and lessons learned

It is obvious that an effective learner support system in NAMCOL is very dependent on the competence of part-time staff. NAMCOL employs three different groups of part-time staff: tutor markers, who are based in and around Windhoek and whose task it is to mark and comment on all the assignments; tutors, who are based in the centres and are expected to offer appropriate support to learners attending face-to-face classes; and Heads of Centres, whose responsibility is to manage teaching that takes place at the centres. All of these people are first and foremost employed as full time teachers, and thus do their NAMCOL work in their ‘spare time’.

From the outset, the Project envisaged using a cascade model of training. There was an optimistic expectation that full-time staff would receive necessary training through the various Project inputs and would then transfer relevant information, knowledge, and skills to part-time staff. For example, Area Coordinators were expected to train Heads of Centres, who in turn would be responsible for training tutors. It soon became apparent that this simply did not work as planned. There were just too many obstacles that prevented this perceived ‘easy’ transfer of skills in the regions.

Changing the behaviour of tutors to adopt different learning and teaching strategies for their part-time learners demands much more intensive development than was planned. Some area coordinators and heads of centres were not necessarily suitable as facilitators and often organized very boring and uninspiring training sessions. Part-time people who have two demanding jobs are usually overworked and thus not necessarily motivated to participate in training sessions, which they perceive to be a ‘waste of time’.

Even at Head Office, where distance education coordinators are responsible for training tutor markers, and where there was no intermediate part-time person in the chain of skills transfer, training was far from satisfactory. Tutor markers experienced the training as being repetitive and, by implication, boring and not very helpful in providing them with necessary skills to mark and comment on assignments. Many felt that they did not learn anything new after having attended a training session.

When it became clear that part-time staff training was not working according to plan, the learner support team decided to develop self-access learning materials that could be used in tandem with training sessions. The result was the Learner Support Guide, which was developed by staff with the assistance of the Technical Adviser. This is a self-instructional guide that was distributed in the regions at the beginning of 1999. A similar manual was developed for tutor markers, called the Tutor Marker’s Handbook. People are generally very proud of these materials, and are convinced that they definitely help to improve the training.

In practice, the effort to remedy the ineffectiveness of cascade training by using materials-based training has not yet proved successful. Part of the problem with this could be that materials are centrally developed, and regional staff do not feel the same sense of commitment to using them as does the team that developed them.

Another factor that emerged is that people do not know how to use the materials. A culture of learning from materials needs to be developed, and it appears that this has not happened in the regions. There is also no clear understanding of who takes responsibility for facilitating and monitoring materials use. Unless these problems are managed, valuable training resources and opportunities will be wasted.

The cascade model of training may not have worked with part-time staff in the regions, but at Head Office some successes were gained with full-time staff. Factors that enabled successful transfer of knowledge and skills are:

• Sustained interaction between the mentor and the trainee in a time-frame not shorter than two weeks;

• On-the-job learning;

• Commitment on the part of the trainee to follow through with and do what has been learned;

• Continuous reinforcement of acquired skills;

• Support that encourages independence and gradually nudges people to become self motivated to continue learning and improving.

The cascade model rests on very optimistic assumptions about the skills and commitment of participants in the training intervention. The experience of many full time staff at NAMCOL has shown that the model can work under circumstances that make it possible to offer sustained and intensive training and support. Creating an environment of appropriate support in the regions remains a challenge for NAMCOL and other institutions in Namibia.

Conclusion

Approaches and methods of training staff are only as good as the positive impact they have on the learners. They are the ones on the outer edge of the training who should also be ‘getting wet’. The capacity building initiative at NAMCOL succeeded in improving learner support processes such as distribution of learning materials and assignment-handling. Training tutors in far-flung areas of the country remains the most difficult and challenging aspect of this work.

Notes

1NAMCOL-Bath Partnership Inception Report, Centre for Continuing Education, University of Bath, November 1996.