EDUCBLOG

Today is  World Teachers' Day.   This is a day where the role of teachers is celebrated internationally.   The theme for 2011 is "Teachers for Gender Equality". 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Send your teacher an e-card. 

 

 

 

 

 

Spotted on bizcommunity.   Prefix Technologies is offering all schools its bulk email software, pMailer,  for free.     This is part of their Tech for Schools programme.    To nominate a school,  go on to the pMailer website. 

Competition details for the 2011 Nkosi Albert Luthuli Young Historians’ Award have been announced.     

The Award,  open to all learners from Grade 8 to Grade 11,  is a national oral history project organised by the Department of Education in partnership with South African History Online.

Details and guidelines are available from the South African History Online website.

Learners will be required to research and prepare a presentation or a documentary film or video on one of the following topics:

(i) The changing heritage landscape of South Africa: Learners could investigate the history behind a heritage site and its significance to the history of the village/region/town. They could focus on burial sites, monuments, statues and how local people interpret these sites.

(ii) Alternatively, learners could interrogate/ investigate two heritage sites in one town/city; one representing the period before 1994 and the other representing national unity and reconciliation in post 1994 democratic South Africa.

• Learners could also investigate an undeclared heritage site and submit a portfolio that could in turn be sent to the South African Heritage Resources Agency (SAHRA).
• Unsung heroes and heroines: The role of ordinary men/ women in democracy, change and development. Learners should focus on those men/ women who were never publicly acknowledged. Learners could choose a period either before or after 1994.
• The history of traditional leadership in my area:  Most rural communities live under the administration of traditional leadership. The institution of traditional leadership in democratic South Africa continues to play an important role in local economic, social and cultural development. Learners could research the history of traditional leadership in a local area and its importance to local development.
• The history of my school: The learner is expected to interview members of the community who were involved in the establishment of the school. They could also interview former students of the school and establish how the school is linked to local history;
• The significant places of worship: Learners could interview the members/ leaders of faith based organisations and investigate the history behind a spiritual space of worship. This space could be a mountain, river, building or open field;
• The refugees in South Africa:  South Africa has attracted many people from different parts of the world, especially after the introduction of democracy in 1994. The majority of these refugees left their countries in search of a better life and others are victims of political persecution in their own countries. Learners could investigate the plight of refugees in South Africa and make recommendations on how to treat refugees in a country that promotes a human rights culture. Learners are expected to interview refugees as well as locals.
• The history of transport: Transport systems are an important part of the country’s social and economic development. South Africa has experienced transport change and development over a period of time. For example, learners could interview parents/ grandparents who used the railway system during the 20th century and also investigate how the local economy was linked to the railways. The railway, for example, was also a major employer in the previous century and they could also interview former employees of the railways. Learner projects could also cover the deserted railway stations/settlements/ donkey carts communities. Learners could also investigate the introduction of bus and taxi services in their local areas.
• The history of sport/ cultural group: Sport/ cultural clubs contributed to the shaping of many people’s characters. For example, each town/ village has soccer, cricket, tennis and netball clubs, choir or social club. Learners could interview older members of the teams and establish how those clubs or teams were formed and how they shaped the lives of many people in the community.
• The history of the liberation struggle in South Africa. For example, learners could chronicle the historiography of the liberation struggle, tracing it back to early colonial conquests, the formation of the South African Native National Congress and subsequent political parties that played a role in the liberation struggle. Learners may also elect to focus on the role of the trade union movement in the liberation struggle. Further, the role played by traditional chiefs and some of the homeland statesmen could also be interrogated.

An offer spotted on bizcommunity.com.  Registered South African schools, from pre-primary to primary and secondary institutions, all qualify for the free pMailer Education Project package, which allows schools to send newsletters to parents and alumni. Its parent company, Prefix Technologies, has donated millions of email credits to the project, which allows 6000 free email credits per month. In addition, schools will be able to send SMSs at a discounted flat rate, regardless of how many credits they need. Schools can create professional looking emails by using simple tools and a special collection of email templates, which include newsletters, announcements, reminders, invitations and sport updates. To register for the project, go to www.pmailer.co.za/page/education-project.

The 2010 Global Education Conference will be held November 15 - 19, 2010, online and free. Sessions will be held in multiple time zones and multiple languages over the five days.  

The conference is a collaborative and world-wide community effort to significantly increase opportunities for globally-connecting education activities and initiatives.  

There is no formal registration required for the conference, as all the sessions will be open and public, broadcast live using the Elluminate platform, and available in recorded formats afterwards.  Links to watch the sessions will be posted a few days before the conference begins, in the "Sessions" and "Schedule" pages, and recording links will be listed soon thereafter.  To verify that your computer system is configured correctly to access Elluminate, please run the self-test here.  

There are a number of tracks -  Teacher Track, Student Track, Curriculum Track, Policy & Leadership Track, Global Issues Track and Learning 2.0.

The Twitter account is http://www.twitter.com/globaledcon.  The hash tag #globaled10. 

 Here's a great reading campaign from Scholastic publishers that our educators can use: 

 "Read Every Day. Lead a Better Life. is a global literacy campaign launched as part of Scholastic's 90th anniversary celebration that underscores the importance of reading to better prepare children who will need strong literacy skills to survive and succeed in the 21st century. Scholastic is asking EVERYONE, our partners, publishers, educators, business leaders, nonprofits, parents, caregivers and students - to work together to bring reading and deeper understanding to all children around the globe. The Reading Bill of Rights, the foundation of the campaign, includes eight 'beliefs' that affirm every child's right to read and what that means in the 21st century... from access to books and great stories to the ability to analyze, interpret and understand information in the digital agee"

There is also an opportunity to be part of a live webcast featuring singer, Taylor Swift, on Wednesday 27th October. 

 

The 2010 Global Education Conference will be held November 15-19, 2010, online and free. Sessions will be held in multiple time zones and multiple languages over the five days. Global Education Conference is now accepting proposals for presentations.

The conference is a collaborative and world-wide community effort to significantly increase opportunities for globally-connecting education activities and initiatives. All sessions will be held in the Elluminate platform, will be broadcast live, and will be available in recorded formats afterwards.

There is no formal registration required for the conference, as all the sessions will be open and public. 2010 Global Education Conference strands are set to include:

• Teachers – professional development, training, etc.
• Students – student-led initiatives, exchange programs, service learning, etc.
• Pedagogy – curriculum, digital citizenship, assessment, etc.
• Policy and Leadership – exemplary schools, ICT infrastructure, government initiatives, etc.
• Change – peace and social justice, equity, etc.

OECD have released the latest Education at a Glance.   

New material in this edition includes:

• indicators on school choice and the parent voice in education;
• an indicator on the long-term economic impact of improved learning outcomes;
• an indicator benchmarking labour costs by educational levels across OECD countries;
• a review of trends in educational attainment;
• an update on the human and financial resources invested in education;
• an indicator comparing salaries of teachers to earnings of workers with tertiary education;
• a review of adult participation in education and training.

The UCT community has access to the fulltext courtesy of UCT Libraries.   Follow this link and scroll down to "How to Obtain this Publication" and click on "Download this publication."

International Literacy Day is celebrated on 8th September, highlighting worldwide literacy needs.   

 

 

 

 

 

Spotted on the Best Colleges Online blog, links to "100 Excellent Online Lectures for Educators".

The links are arranged in seven categories including Learning and Teaching Styles, Improvement, Open and Shared Education, and Technology.  

Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga announced plans  to phase out OBE and replace it with "Schooling 2025".

Some snippets from her media announcement:-

*    We have reduced the number of projects for learners and have done away with the need for portfolio files of learner assessments. We have also discontinued the common tasks for assessment (CTAs) for grade nine learners with effect from January 2010. Provinces have already informed their schools about the form of assessment that will replace CTAs in 2010.

*  The new curriculum and assessment policy statements will repackage the existing curriculum into the general aims of the South African curriculum, the specific aims of each subject, clearly delineated topics to be covered per term and the required number and type of assessments, also per term.

*   From 2011, learning areas and programmes will be called subjects across the curriculum from grade R to 12   .... reduce the number of learning areas in the intermediate phase from eight to six. That means that in grades four to six, technology will be combined with science; arts and culture will be combined with life orientation and economic and management sciences will be taught only from grade seven.

 * We will start phasing in the curriculum and assessment policy statements in the foundation phase in 2011. We will phase in other grades in 2012 so that we can make the necessary preparations.

*  has developed a plan for the development of the work books for grades one to six in order to ensure the development, piloting, printing and distribution of learner workbooks early in 2011.

* from 2011, the language chosen by the learner as a language of learning and teaching shall be taught as a subject, or as a first additional language, from grade one and not from grade two, as is currently the case.

BuaNews Online reports on the new curriculum and the workbooks to be rolled out to 20 000 schools. 

Here's a link to the response from the Western Cape MEC for Education, Donald Grant.

And links to online newspaper coverage of the move thus far:-

TimesLive reports that the new system recognises that the most South African children have no access to the Internet or to well-stocked libraries.

<snip> 

Reluctant to call OBE an abject failure, Motshekga conceded that, though the system was launched "with the best of intentions", it had major flaws, including:

• A weak and superficial curriculum that was "unrealistic" and lacking in "specific objectives";
• The assumption that pupils had access to research facilities such as telephones, the Internet, libraries and newspapers; and
• It being open to a wide variety of interpretations, and teachers had no clarity about what was required of them.

 Elsewhere in the paper, is a report on the response from Graeme Bloch who welcomed the proposed Schooling 2025 system but issued a warning:  "The minister can announce until she's blue in the face in Pretoria, but the provinces have to deliver."  

IOL reports on the changes to the system and on the response from the unions.

The Africa Education Watch Report  (from Transparency International) presents an overview of accountability and transparency in primary education management in Ghana, Madagascar, Morocco, Niger, Senegal, Sierra Leone and Uganda. The primary areas the report looks at are the financial systems, financial information (available to parents and others), participation (by parents and others) and corrupt practices.

 

 

The public hearings into the challenges in access to and delivery of quality education in South Africa have begun.    Here is a summary as well as links to the documents handed out at the first meeting (from Parliamentary Monitoring Group).

283 submissions have been received.  

Public Hearings Day 2 

Public Hearings Day 3

(Watch this posting for updates from PMG)

 

 

The Sociology of Education Research Network  "aims at enhancing cooperation between sociologists of education in Europe". Entry to the site is by registration only. There is a discussion forum and news and events information.

(from Intute.ac.uk)

Google are inviting South African children and teenagers (4 - 17) to design their own interpretation of the Google homepage logo, a "Google doodle."     This is around the theme "I love football".

The winning doodle will be featured on http://www.google.co.za for 24 hours during June 2010, and will be entered in the worldwide Doodle 4 Google - I love football contest. 

Here are the full details (including the official rules.)