Pretoria - The scars of the past and the legacy of apartheid education still run deep and they are felt by pupils and witnessed by teachers in some sectors of society every day.
The National Professional Teachers’ Association of South Africa (Naptosa) has now set out to address this.
The newly launched professional development institute (PDI), the training and leadership strengthening wing of Naptosa, has set, among its goals, reversing this legacy and freeing children from its grips.
Explaining the concept behind the formation of the PDI this week, Naptosa president Basil Manuel said: “It is about creating a professional who knows how to deal with children. We want to create growth and have proud professionals who will be protective of their professional space.”
The programme has made an impact in some provinces, with no less than 6 000 having been trained.
Manuel said there would be questions on the “short courses” offered by the programme.
“We know short courses have limited impact, but in the right setting and used in the right way the impact could be huge,” he said.
Their model, he said, concentrated on training people to train other people. He said they had borrowed from a Chinese proverb on teaching people how to fish instead of giving them fish.
Manuel said the PDI resonated with change and addressed the cycle of poverty. ”It will affect the quality of our education and quality of learning,” he said, adding it would affect the quality of teaching and the students.
“The PDI was not dreamt up by one person, it is the dream of Naptosa, and Naptosa never fails.”
Basic Education Minister Angie Motshekga lauded the launch of the institute and said Naptosa had continuously contributed to development.
She said the reality found in classrooms across the country was sad. “It breaks my heart that there are Grade 4 learners who cannot write their names.”
She said South Africa continued to grapple with formidable challenges associated with the quality of teaching, saying the quality of the education system relied on teachers to deliver quality education.
She said community members, parents and teachers had roles to play in creating quality education needed for the country. “But the most important ingredient of all is professional development.”
Motshekga said the Naptosa institute would raise the levels of teacher morale and skills development while boosting the movement for professionalisation of the noble calling – teaching.
“We like to see teachers being excited about learning on a life-long basis, being on time, teaching and improving the quality of learning in their schools. You’ve brought us closer to this goal,” she said.
The minister encouraged teachers to soldier on, saying while they had climbed a hill in establishing the PDI, there would be many more hills to climb before they achieved their goal.
what is naptosa’s pdi?
The Professional Development Institute aims to give teachers a renewed understanding of themselves and a renewed confidence in their teaching vocation through sustained professional learning.
In line with this commitment to the professional development of all teachers, it intends to provide ongoing and long-term support in focus areas such including:
* Curriculum mastery
* Assist teachers to become autonomous lifelong students.
* Assisting teachers to build and participate in communities of professional teaching practice.
* Enabling teachers to provide quality teaching and learning in their classrooms.
Some areas of focus are:
* Foundation phase.
* Home language.
* First additional language.
* Foundation phase maths.
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