The Perspective informing our Vision
The overarching perspective informing the vision of Ukuqonda is that learning should provide for sense making, promotion of conceptual understanding and the development of valuable knowhow and strategic skills. This “formative education” vision is in stark contrast with the prevailing view of schooling as an industry to produce marks that can be used as evidence of achievement by learners, teachers, schools, education departments and government. Read More
The formative education vision induces the interpretation of curriculum content in terms of identifying significance and purpose of content, critical and key understanding, application of knowledge, and ways in which specific content can be utilised to develop general disciplinary practices, skills and habits.
Apart from the unfortunate situation that children are not adequately taught to read and write (primary school) and to articulate and read critically and extract information from text (high school), a major constraining factor in our education system (and hence the greatest factor inhibiting socio-economic development and movement towards equity) is the general belief among teachers, which they transfer to learners, that learners can only do what they are shown.
We observe many Mathematics teachers propagate this belief by never asking learners to perform any actions which they have not first demonstrated, and by assessing learners mainly in terms of whether the learner did as they were shown to do it.
Unless different beliefs are promoted, interventions may worsen things by strengthening the above.
Ukuqonda Approach
The Ukuqonda Institute follows a solution driven, four-pronged approach to impact on teaching and learning: Read More
- Direct engagement with selected learners outside normal school time, by means of Saturday classes, self-study programmes and vacation schools.
- Engagement with educators with the intention of benefiting all learners in the schools where they teach. This aim is to develop conceptual understanding and didactical skills for especially the threshold concepts within the different phases across the curriculum.
- Development and dissemination of high-quality learning materials. In collaboration with the Sasol-Inzalo Foundation and the Department of Basic Education (DBE), the Ukuqonda Institute has developed textbooks, workbooks and teacher manuals for Mathematics (Grade 4 to 9), Technology (Grade 7 to 9), Technical Mathematics (Grade 10) and Technical Science (Grade 10).
- Professional development through intensive in-service training and professional support of subject advisors and educators. (In 2014 and 2017 Ukuqonda provided intensive residential training to Grade 4 to 9 Mathematics and Grade 7 to 9 Technology subject advisors across all 9 provinces).
