Support for Educators: The launching of the Dialogue Programme

On the 19th May, 2000, the Joint Enrichment Programme (JEP) in partnership with OTIS officially launched the Dialogue Programme. The main aim of this programme is to support and equip in-service educators and trainers of educators with coping skills and learner-centred teaching methods. Ephraim Siluma reports on the proceedings.

Conceptualization and Aim

Speaking at the launching of the programme at Makwe College of Education in Mogwase, Mr Neville Naidoo, Director of JEP, said that the Dialogue Programme had been borne out of the realization that schools were engulfed by serious problems constituting barriers to effective teaching and learning.

He said that the Dialogue Programme, which was started by JEP in 1996/97 and has been expanded into a national programme in 1998/99, had been developed to help educators and education officials to deal with various challenges that they confront in their endeavour to make the education system functional.

JEP identified a number of problems that necessitated the conceptualization and development of a national programme to support and help teachers. These include:

• Lack of basic learning skills amongst learners;

• Haphazard and chaotic school environments;

• Poor communication between teachers and learners;

• Educators’ lack of adequate confidence, information, and skills to change from old styles of teaching and old methods of classroom control;

• Fears about the capacity of educators to interpret OBE in an active way;

• Educators feeling intimidated by OBE and resisting implementation; and

• Educators lacking the skills to deal with increasing numbers of students who have emotional problems.

• The Dialogue Programme aims to help educators by:

• Developing their understanding of the learning process and what that means for their classroom practice;

• Equipping educators with coping skills and learner-centred teaching methods;

• Enabling educators to understand and practise the OBE approach;

• Enabling educators to make the paradigm shift required for teaching the new curriculum and developing a generation of competent, capable students who are able to communicate, analyse, and synthesize information, work cooperatively, and engage in their learning.

Mode of Operation

The Dialogue Programme offers in-service training to teachers at intermediate phase, senior phase, and further education and training level. It contains the following modules:

• Understanding the problems that learners face and how these impact on learning;

• Coping with difficult students;

• Basic counselling and listening skills;

• Creating low cost teaching aids;

• Class practice that makes for effective learning; and

• Examining the learning process.

Since the role of many teacher training colleges has had to be redefined and many of these aim to move into in-service teacher development, the Dialogue Programme first targeted college lecturers. The understanding was that these lecturers would then cascade whatever they had learnt to educators in various phases of the education system. At the launch of the programme, it was reported that 25 educators in seven colleges in the North West had already undergone the training.

Two lecturers who were also Dialogue Programme facilitators at Makwe and Hebron Colleges of Education briefed delegates about progress they had made in their respective colleges with regard to cascading the programme. Mr Modisakeng of Mankwe said that, when the programme was first started, those involved were sceptical about the potential success and sustainability of the programme. He indicated, however, that a number of workshops addressing classroom issues had already been run for teachers from middle schools, and that feedback received from the workshops was very positive.

The facilitator from Hebron College of Education said that the programme was introduced in their college in October 1998 and that the college management adopted a strategy through which the Dialogue Programme was going to be implemented in phases. Phase One, comprising the training of college lecturers, had been completed. Phase Two involved cascading the learning to earmarked primary schools, with college lecturers working in two teams. According to the facilitator, although teachers at first misunderstood the term Dialogue, they had come to realize that the programme aimed to encourage the development of an educator-learner relationship. It has made them aware of the problems of youth and how to deal with those problems. The programme has also helped to familiarize teachers with new teaching methods. In Phase Three of their implementation plan, they will extend the number of schools to cover intermediate and senior phases.

Departmental Approval

The launching of this important teacher support and development programme was attended by between 50 and 100 college lecturers, department officials, and representatives of OTIS, the funders of the Dialogue Programme. The MEC for Education in North West, Mr ZP Tolo, had also been invited but could not attend. In his speech, read by Mr O.G Madoda, a member of the Education Standing Committee in the North West legislature, the MEC maintained that government had sought partnerships with various organizations to ensure the betterment of the education system.

The launch was also graced by the presence of the Makwe College Choir, which tirelessly rendered sweet melodies. The Aids awareness drama performed by college students and the observation of a moment of silence for those living with Aids, served as a reminder that Aids is one of the main barriers to learning that government, its officials, educators, students, learners and all other interes-ted parties will have to continuously grapple with.

Conclusion

It was indeed a pleasure to witness the launching of the Dialogue Programme, which aims to support teachers not only in implementing outcomes-based education (OBE), but also in dealing with the emotional problems that learners bring to class. Teachers have often complained about the lack of adequate support to enable them to implement the curriculum and principles of OBE.

In the same manner, the emphasis that the Dialogue Programme places on helping teachers to understand and deal with emotional problems of learners needs to be commended. It is important that teachers possess skills to handle traumatized and emotionally stressed learners before they are lost to the streets of the big cities.