On 5 and 6 December 2016 a wide range of education stakeholders gathered in Pretoria to discuss teacher development in general and professional learning communities in particular. The colloquium was organised by DBE with support of VVOB. The Deputy-Minister of Education, Mr Mohamed Enver Surty and the Ambassador of the Kingdom of Belgium, Mr Cooreman, addressed the audience.
The Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development (ISPFTED) in South Africa 2011-2025 outlines a new, well-coordinated CPD system for educators. Central to the new system is the provision of accessible opportunities for practising teachers, both individually and collectively via their participation in Professional Learning Communities (PLCs, activity 3.3.). PLCs are communities that provide the setting and necessary support for groups of classroom teachers, school managers and subject advisors to participate collectively in determining their own developmental trajectories, and to set up activities that will drive their development. PLCs can play an important role in the induction of novice teachers, helping them to familiarize themselves with daily school practice.
Since 2014, the DBE has taken a number of initiatives to promote PLCs. In 2014 a national colloquium on PLCs was organized with all stakeholders. Discussions during this colloquium resulted in the publication of an operational PLC guideline. This guideline sets out the philosophy of PLCs, clarifies the roles of various stakeholders and provides some practical advice how to start with a PLC. The guideline was widely distributed across the education system during advocacy sessions in eight provinces (361 participants in total). Five day trainings were organized for education officials in eight provinces (1127 participants in total).
The Colloquium of 2016 gave space to sharing research findings on effective teacher development practices, and its impact on learning outcomes, and PLCs. It looked at the progress made in the last years. The fact that the most recent TIMSS (Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study) and SACMEQ (Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality) results for South Africa indicate improved learning results, shows that interventions are making a difference. However, it needs to be investigated what are the interventions that are really making a difference.
Delegates went into commissions which explored aspects of teacher development, collected good practices and formulated recommendations for a well-coordinated, effective teacher development system. The commissions agreed that effective professional development takes place at regular intervals and provides educators with opportunities for experimentation, reflection and implementation. It is well coordinated across different levels and sections/departments.
They discussed how the support from national, provincial and district level to the schools can be improved. How can we make sure that there are a number of well-functioning PLCs in each school? How can Teacher Development address individual, institutional and systemic needs? How can we link teacher development to existing systems like IQMS, SASAMS and the SACE CPTD Management System? How can we remove some of the practical constraints that make that PLCs are not yet a familiar sight in many schools? How can we remove some systemic constraints, such as silo thinking, reporting procedures and templates … that indirectly negatively influence truthful implementation of PLCs and effective teacher development? How can we best evaluate the impact of teacher development on learning outcomes in South Africa?
This is not where it stops: a report with clear recommendations and implementation schedule will be sent to all participants for their inputs and the updated version will be presented at a national meeting (the TDCM Lekgotla) end of January, after which it will be presented to higher management. The resulting version will be presented to all relevant structures at DBE, PEDs, districts and schools and also to Unions, relevant NGOs and private providers.
And again, this is not where it ends: the report/recommendations will be taken into account by DBE to develop guideline documents collaboratively by DBE, SACE, SETA, PEDs, unions and partners on professional development to provide further support at school, district, provincial and national level (to be completed by June, 2017).
More pictures can be found here.
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