DTDC staff start analysing PLC data
On 26 and 27 May the managers and programme coordinators of the 5 District Teacher Development Centres (DTDCs) in Free State took part in a hands-on training on Monitoring and Evaluation (M&E) of Professional Learning Communities (PLCs). PLCs are put forward in the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development (ISPFTED, 2011) as a means for teachers and school managers to professionalise the teaching community. VVOB engaged the support from Benita Williams Evaluation Consultants to facilitate the workshop.
One of the roles of the DTDCs in supporting PLCs in their district is to collect, process and analyse PLC monitoring tools, which they receive from education officials in the district. The reports are submitted to the provincial department and used for reporting on the National Strategy for Learner Attainment to the national Department of Basic Education. Apart from complying with reporting tasks, – and most importantly – DTDC officials learned how they can use this information provided by teachers to strengthen district support to PLCs. The skills applied during the training are applicable to process any data related to teacher development DTDCs need to report on. PLCs were used as a means for making the activities hands-on.
Training activities included
- the development of a theory of change for PLCs (What are we trying to achieve?)
- data quality control (Are the tools completed accurately? Do the data make sense?)
- data capturing (How to enter data in MS Excel?)
- data analysis (How to use pivot tables for quantitative data? How to identify themes for qualitative data?)
- data interpretation (How to interpret the findings and write a narrative?)
DTDC officials need to understand what data mean if they want to learn from it. This is especially challenging for qualitative data. The activity on identifying themes to analyse qualitative data on PLCs was an eye opener for participants. They indicated that this process will help them understand what really happens in PLCs. It will assist them in exploring how DTDCs can take up their role to support existing PLCs.
A follow-up workshop is planned for end July. In the meantime, participants are tasked to collect, capture, analyse and report on PLC monitoring tools. Prizes are awarded to the DTDC that collects the most monitoring tools, the DTDC that submits the best report and to the DTDC that was the most creative in analysing the data. Data analysis can be fun!
These workshops are part of an ongoing evaluation on the status of PLCs in Lejweleputswa. The objective of the study is to identify interesting practices and formulate recommendations to improve the functionality of, support to and reporting on PLCs.
