Changing minds : Training educators to use drama as an alternative method for life orientation teaching

[摘要] South Africa’s education system has undergone substantial changes in the lastten years. The shift to Inclusive Education attempts to provide all learners,regardless of their disability, learning difficulty, or disadvantage with access toeducation (Department of Education1, 2001). Curriculum 2005, in the context ofan Outcomes Based Education (OBE) philosophy was an attempt by theEducation Department to address the inadequate 'Bantu’ education of the past.OBE was intended to replace teacher-centred approaches by encouragingchildren to become actively involved in the learning process, to gain knowledgeas well as skills, and to think independently and creatively (DoE, 1998b). School'subjects’ of the past were changed to 'Learning Areas’ some undergoingdramatic shifts in content and teaching strategies. These new Learning Areasalso emerged with alternative assessment practices. Life Orientation (LO) is onesuch learning area. Many educators were suddenly required to teach these newLearning Areas, despite having little or no training in them. As a result manyeducators experienced frustration with the demands now placed upon them, andsome felt unable to teach effectively. This study used a qualitative actionresearchdesign to obtain an in-depth understanding of the educators’ capacitiesto change their teaching practices in their Life Orientation classrooms. Sixeducators in a public primary school setting participated in a series of workshopsaimed to introduce them to drama methods to be used in their Life Orientationteaching. The workshops were highly experiential in nature and were designedwith the specific personalities and needs of each educator in mind. The results ofthe research indicate that educators are highly responsive to training, providedthat they feel acknowledged as individuals and provided that the training buildsupon their current expertise rather than attempting to change their practicesaltogether. Another key finding from the training was the opportunity for theeducators to engage in the training as human beings with their own difficultiesand frustrations being openly acknowledged. Many of the educators experiencedthe workshops as therapeutic and reported that this made the training both usefuland personally fulfilling.

[发布机构] University of the Witwatersrand