VVOB and FSDOE organized a 3-day workshop on numbers and operation for subject advisors Foundation Phase and Intermediate Phase (maths) in Free State. Two experienced Belgian facilitators travelled to South Africa to support this learning event. Unfortunately, the workshop was ended prematurely as a result of union action.
The workshop was a follow up on a previous workshop on numbers and operations for subject advisors in Free State, which was organized in February 2015. As in 2015, the main focus of the workshop was on identifying “learning lines” and connections between mathematic topics. The metaphor of a hippo is used to illustrate that mistakes at the ‘surface’ often indicate that learners lack understanding of underlying concepts. Additionally, mathematical games were introduced. These low-cost activities are an excellent way to get learners engaged, have them practice basic number concepts and operations and teach them cooperation and logical thinking. Moreover, games are suitable tools for cooperation.
The workshop started with an input session from Mrs Marleen Duerloo, former pedagogical advisor for the educational guidance services in Flanders. As the responsible person for the Flemish diagnostic tests for the largest school network, she has a particular keen eye for assessment. The second input session was from Mr Jeroen Van Hijfte. Jeroen is a lecturer at the university college VIVES, where he teaches maths pedagogy and ICT didactics. Both Jeroen and Marleen are also authors of maths textbooks for primary learners.
After these input sessions, participants would engage in a lesson study cycle. Such a cycle consists of collaborative lesson development, peer feedback, try outs and revision of the lesson plans.
However, near the end of the input sessions (lunch, Day 1), the workshop had to be discontinued as a result of union action. It is regrettable that subject advisors could not engage in professional development that would have benefitted themselves, teachers and learners in the province. Moreover the input of the two experienced visiting facilitators would have been valuable and cannot be repeated due to time and financial constraints (cost implications are considerable). VVOB is looking forward to work together with all stakeholders on the improvement of the quality of education for all learners in Free State province.
