**5.7 The teacher development curriculum**

The curriculum for teachers involved in the programme was related to the following realities in the South African education system of the time (Hartshorne, 1992; 1996):


Foster meaningful learning experiences between teacher and children, and among

Attend first to the development of effective listening and speaking skills, followed by

As Leigh (1995) has pointed out, it was in the introduction of a second curriculum, for teachers, that the radio learning programme took new steps in relation to previous literature and approaches used in IRI (e.g. Imhoof and Christensen, 1986; Olsson, 2004; USAID, 1990). The model of the programme involved providing teacher support and development, as an integral part of the radio learning programme's implementation. It thus targeted teachers

**TEACHER**

**TEACHER GUIDE**

**TEACHER DEVELOPMENT COORDINATOR**

**TIA OLSET/BBC**

**FORMATIVE EVALUATI ON**

**LEARNER**

**LEARNER SUPPORT MATERIAL**

> **EIA RADI O PROGRAMMES**

The curriculum for teachers involved in the programme was related to the following

realities in the South African education system of the time (Hartshorne, 1992; 1996):

Promote the understanding that learning can be fun

Build on the student's own experiences and practices

Expose children to multiple models of natural English

and their practices, as will be evident from Table Two below.

Table 2. The Radio Learning Project Instructional System

**5.7 The teacher development curriculum** 

Promote language for personal expression and academic success

Encourage creative and critical thinking

reading and writing skills.

**TSG's**

*OLSET Learner/Teacher Support Model*

**INSERVICING**

(daily practice) (face to face) (audio/video)

children

The South African Radio Learning Programme's teacher development curriculum was conceptualised as a response to these contextual conditions. It was based on a theory of implementation involving ongoing support for and interaction with teachers, due to awareness on the part of the project team that simply developing new materials and telling teachers about new methods were not usually sufficient to bring about desired changes in classroom practice. A holistic approach was thus needed, in terms of which explicit links would be forged between radio, teacher, child, print materials, teacher support systems and classroom practice (Leigh, Naidoo & Ramafoko, 1995).

To achieve this, teachers would need to become central to the process of development, through participation as partners in the radio lessons, through engagement in linking the content of the radio lessons with teaching in other areas of the curriculum, and through collaboration as equals in their professional development. A climate of collaboration and partnership would be what the OLSET teacher development curriculum would attempt to achieve (OLSET, 1995; Potter, Dube, Kenyon et al., 1995), through:


### **5.8 Using open learning principles as a basis for teacher development and support**

Robinson and Latchem (2003, 29) define open learning as:


Teacher Development Through Distance Education:

(Source: Potter, in Perraton, Robinson & Creed, 2007).

follows:

classroom."

teachers and their schools.

**2001** 

Contrasting Visions of Radio Learning in South African Primary Schools 67

The revised post 1994 curriculum has been characterized as designed on assumptions of multichannel learning (Anzalone, 1995; Dodds, 1995; Leigh, 1995; Leigh, Naidoo & Ramafoko, 1995). It is, however, also possible to describe the programme as providing support in both product and process terms (Naidoo & Potter, 1996; Potter, Naidoo & Kenyon, 1998), as

"The aim of OLSET's in-service training and support of teachers is not to replace or supplant the system of formal training for teachers provided by the state system. In contrast to more formal programmes whose aim is to certificate and provide accreditation for teachers, OLSET's aim is to provide an informal support system that meets the current needs of teachers and supplements what the state is able to provide. OLSET does not offer formal certification for teachers, preferring to work non-formally through contact and networking with teachers. The reason given for this preference is that schools in the apartheid era were a site for struggle, and an ideological battlefield. The perceived priority for post-apartheid education is to get pupils back into the classroom and teachers back to teaching. Within the structure of the national curriculum, the priority is also to create a climate in which teachers and learners take responsibility for creating a culture of learning in each school and in every

In the remainder of this chapter, evidence will be presented that this more broad-based vision of educational change provided the basis for the wide-spread acceptance of the programme by teachers, principals and educational officials over the period of its implementation up to the end of 2009. It will also be argued that one reason for the programme's wide-spread uptake was that the programme focused on providing tangible support to learners and teachers at school and classroom levels; another was that it focused on enabling teaching improvement in a context in which there have been demands on teachers to change their teaching practices and align their lesson planning and assessment practices with the outcomes-based national curriculum; a third reason was that the programme has applied open learning principles as the basis for its ongoing contact with

**6. A vision of educational change involving product and process:** 

**6.1 Funding and donor support 1995-2000: Issues of sustainability** 

**Implementing the radio learning programme blueprint over the period 1995-**

The initial three year development of the radio learning programme was made possible through a grant from USAID in 1991. This was provided for purposes of undertaking a pilot phase to assess receptivity and impact of Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI). The yearly grants were made with the aim of developing of the skills of the project team in content

examples of how outcomes-based lessons could be planned and applied.

(DfID, 2004; Hunter, Nonyongo and Smith, 1998; Leigh, Naidoo & Ramafoko, 1995; Ntshoe, 2000; Potter, 1994a; 1994b; Potter& Silva 2002; Silva, 2008), both in introducing pupils to English through a series of engaging and fun activities involving stories, music, songs, and interactive language applications, as well as in providing teachers with

In implementing the curriculum from 1994 to the present, the South African Radio Learning Programme's curriculum has been based on a number of the above features, as follows:


In implementing the curriculum from 1994 to the present, the South African Radio Learning Programme's curriculum has been based on a number of the above features, as follows:

a. The aim of providing radio learning lessons (a distance education medium) provided the central thrust of the curriculum for both teachers and learners. The aim was to provide an organised educational activity so that learners could be supported to learn

b. It was envisaged that a framework would be provided for in-service training and support of teachers. The support provided would necessarily be intermittent, with the emphasis on teachers working to improve their practices. At times the process would evolve through discussion and reflection with the regional coordinator at classroom level, at times by workshops and teacher support group meetings, and at times through self evaluation as an integral part of the process of lesson planning and implementation. c. The aim of providing in-service training and support of teachers was not to replace or supplant the system of formal training for teachers provided by the state system. In contrast to more formal state programmes whose aim was to certificate and provide accreditation for teachers, the South African Radio Learning Programme's aim was to provide an informal support system that met current needs of teachers. The aim in this

was to supplement what the state education system was able to provide.

pupils back into the classroom and teachers back to teaching.

the process.

d. The South African Radio Learning Programme did not aim to offer formal certification for teachers, preferring to work non-formally through supportive contact and networking with teachers. The reason given by the programme director for this preference was that schools in the apartheid era were a site for struggle, and an ideological battlefield. The perceived priority for post-apartheid education was to get

e. Within the structure of the national curriculum, the priority was to create a climate in which teachers and learners took responsibility for creating a culture of learning in each school and in every classroom. Initially, the project team's vision of curriculum was as a framework of radio lessons aimed at developing content knowledge (based on a oneway process involving transmission of knowledge from script-writer to child). Post 1994, the vision of the project team broadened. The aim post 1994 was to provide a framework for teaching and learning English that involved the teacher as an integral part of

f. The broader vision of providing a curriculum for both teachers and learners was stated as a dual focus of the programme's work post 1994 (OLSET, 1995). For teachers, the curriculum was based on an agenda of ongoing contact and school-based support that was tangible and practical, as part of a wider project involving sharing ideas on what it meant to teach well. For learners, the curriculum was based on an agenda of low-cost and affordable

h. The radio lessons thus formed a framework for learner and teacher development. Each lesson had specific aims and was designed to be compatible with the tenets of outcomesbased education. The lessons were found to be useful to teachers on a number of levels

learning experiences that were structured and focused yet at the same time fun. g. The aim was to work as far as possible within the spirit and philosophy of the state curriculum as it applied in the foundation or junior primary phase of education. What was provided on the curricular level was tangible support for teachers in the form of a structured, well-planned, sequenced and carefully graded language programme, which

introduced English to pupils whose mother tongues varied greatly.

better, and teachers be supported to teach better.

(DfID, 2004; Hunter, Nonyongo and Smith, 1998; Leigh, Naidoo & Ramafoko, 1995; Ntshoe, 2000; Potter, 1994a; 1994b; Potter& Silva 2002; Silva, 2008), both in introducing pupils to English through a series of engaging and fun activities involving stories, music, songs, and interactive language applications, as well as in providing teachers with examples of how outcomes-based lessons could be planned and applied.

The revised post 1994 curriculum has been characterized as designed on assumptions of multichannel learning (Anzalone, 1995; Dodds, 1995; Leigh, 1995; Leigh, Naidoo & Ramafoko, 1995). It is, however, also possible to describe the programme as providing support in both product and process terms (Naidoo & Potter, 1996; Potter, Naidoo & Kenyon, 1998), as follows:

"The aim of OLSET's in-service training and support of teachers is not to replace or supplant the system of formal training for teachers provided by the state system. In contrast to more formal programmes whose aim is to certificate and provide accreditation for teachers, OLSET's aim is to provide an informal support system that meets the current needs of teachers and supplements what the state is able to provide. OLSET does not offer formal certification for teachers, preferring to work non-formally through contact and networking with teachers. The reason given for this preference is that schools in the apartheid era were a site for struggle, and an ideological battlefield. The perceived priority for post-apartheid education is to get pupils back into the classroom and teachers back to teaching. Within the structure of the national curriculum, the priority is also to create a climate in which teachers and learners take responsibility for creating a culture of learning in each school and in every classroom."

(Source: Potter, in Perraton, Robinson & Creed, 2007).

In the remainder of this chapter, evidence will be presented that this more broad-based vision of educational change provided the basis for the wide-spread acceptance of the programme by teachers, principals and educational officials over the period of its implementation up to the end of 2009. It will also be argued that one reason for the programme's wide-spread uptake was that the programme focused on providing tangible support to learners and teachers at school and classroom levels; another was that it focused on enabling teaching improvement in a context in which there have been demands on teachers to change their teaching practices and align their lesson planning and assessment practices with the outcomes-based national curriculum; a third reason was that the programme has applied open learning principles as the basis for its ongoing contact with teachers and their schools.

#### **6. A vision of educational change involving product and process: Implementing the radio learning programme blueprint over the period 1995- 2001**

#### **6.1 Funding and donor support 1995-2000: Issues of sustainability**

The initial three year development of the radio learning programme was made possible through a grant from USAID in 1991. This was provided for purposes of undertaking a pilot phase to assess receptivity and impact of Interactive Radio Instruction (IRI). The yearly grants were made with the aim of developing of the skills of the project team in content

Teacher Development Through Distance Education:

consultants involved, on the basis of goodwill.

demands of the Outcomes Based curriculum.

reaching the end of their life.

**6.3 Sustainability over the period 1998 and 1999** 

growing demand for the radio learning programme countywide.

Contrasting Visions of Radio Learning in South African Primary Schools 69

ensuring the ongoing evaluation process central to content development and training. The project evaluation continued, albeit on a reduced scale, in the absence of resources. The internal evaluation function was performed on an ongoing basis through the interest of the

Thus, despite generous support from the international community, project sustainability remained tenuous over the period from 1995 to the end of 2000. There were also tensions in implementation which characterized OLSET's work during the five year period of Norwegian support. Increased numbers implied constrained financial resources. This, in turn, meant reduced external implementation. At the same time, there was a need for internal reorganization, as well as content and materials revision consistent with the

Essentially, the programme was in the difficult situation of attempting to meet increasing demand with insufficient resources. In a climate of rapidly increasing numbers, the support provided was in many cases insufficient. In many areas, the programme staff were able to provide only a modicum of support to schools, and the programme was constrained to something of a 'holding pattern' rather than fully fledged expansion in keeping with a

The numbers of participating schools and teachers reached a ceiling in 1998. Once this ceiling was reached, the situation became increasingly difficult during 1999, especially as the programme's materials posters, readers and workbooks had a limited life, and were

Implementation constraints thus had a severe impact on the ability of the project team to deliver support to the schools, as the growth in numbers had exceeded the financial resources and capacity of the programme. Despite these difficulties, classroom-based evaluation indicated that the programme still had wide-spread support among the teachers (Brand, 1998; Chippendall, 1998; Graham, 1998), while analysis of pretest/posttest data indicated that learners in schools in which the programme was implemented continued to

The tension between demand and resources, however, had inevitable effects on individual team members (de Reuck, 1999; Hoosen, 1999). Increasingly during the year 2000, there was a climate of financial insecurity in the programme. As international donor funding is normally provided for a fixed period, there was clarity that Norwegian funding could not be renewed, and attendant uncertainty as to whether the programme's management would be able to secure the financial support from additional donors necessary to continue its work. At the end of the year 2000, the hiatus in funding reached a critical point. As the Norwegian grant period came to an end, contracts could not be renewed, and several core members of

It was evident over the year 2000 that the radio learning programme's financial position had reached the point where its sustainability was in question. On the one hand, there was

make greater gains than those in matched comparison schools (Jacobson, 2001).

the project team sought security of employment elsewhere in the private sector.

**6.4 Sustainability over the period 2000 and 2001** 

development, materials production, teacher training, and independent formative and summative evaluations. Capacity to reach large numbers of schools and teachers was, however, limited by funding, which was an ongoing constraint.

The 1996 termination of USAID support for radio learning in South Africa negatively impacted the programme's organizational capacity through staff turnover. As Creekmore (2010) suggests, this tension was perhaps inevitable, given the nature of projects as temporary organisations (Turner & Muller, 2003) linked to donor practices of periodic reassessment and prioritization of country strategy and attendant programme support.

After the USAID grant came to an end in 1996, the programme was fortunate in obtaining a grant from the Norwegian Embassy, which provided assistance to the programme through the NORAD basic education support programme. The budget was a generous one and linked to the scale that the programme was operating at the time. It provided for a degree of restaffing, as well as a modest expansion of radio learning programme services to schools.
