Our schools needa Creative Solution

South Africa has 12 million learners

420 000 teachers

25 000 schools

Two types of SA school

The Status Quo(Spaull, N. 2013)

• There have been some important successes including expanding access, equalizing  spending, and recently, workbooks and CAPS.

• We have two education systems not one. The quality of education in most South African schools is far too low - this cannot continue without social consequences.

• Equalizing resources has not equalized outcomes -there is a serious need for accountability.

• Most of South Africa performs worse than many poorer African countries - more resources is not a silver bullet.

• South Africa had the highest teacher absenteeism in 14 African countries.

• Widespread failure to get the basics right - large numbers of students (30%) are failing to acquire foundational numeracy and literacy skills

Results are an #EpicFail

(TIMSS 2003) tested grade 8 students in 50 countries in maths and science. Of 50 countries, including 6 African countries, South Africa came last…

(PIRLS 2006) tested Grade 4 and 5 children in 45 countries in reading literacy. Out 45 participating countries (including other middle income countries like Botswana and Morocco) South Africa came last…

In The Global Competitiveness Report 2013/14 assessed the quality of math and science education in 148 countries, , South Africa came last…

(http://bit.ly/16ttiYG)

Spaull, N. (2011). Primary School Performance in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa: A Comparative Analysis of SACMEQ III. SACMEQ Working Papers , 1-74.

  “The fundamental problem with the schooling system was

that most teachers had limited knowledge of their subjects

and knew only marginally more than what they had to teach their pupils.”

– report to the DOE by Nick Taylor (2012)

Now what?

How do we retrain the majority of the

420 000 teachers, how

soon and at what cost?

Education systems around the world are largely irrelevant for kids of a digital age.

Modern AV technology

How do we make the real magic happen?

Learning from Sal Khan

How to: Generate AV Content for the South African Public School Curriculum – QUICKLY!

“So you think you can teach?” “Tomorrow’s Teacher”

“Class Act SA”

Reality TV!

Contest on National TV for teachers and classes from schools across South Africa to show off their creativity.

Content creation in a hurry?Crowdsource

incentivise national collaborationIssue a challenge, make it a reality TV contest, do it with prizes!

Example from the US

What will this do?

Stimulate rapid creativity and innovation in education.

Highlight new and exciting teaching methods.

Make local curriculum relevant and meaningful.

Celebrate innovative teachers.

Build a resource of online teaching video material

Encourage the use of highly visual, multisensory multimedia tech in the classroom.

Increase morale and enthusiasm in the teaching profession.

The best teachers and schools shine –The other schools and teachers benefit!

A vote of confidence

“With regards to your attached reality show concept, I do see it working and actually

becoming a hit! The underlying subject

matter is not only current but also relevant and will certainly not labor much to find an audience and a large following.”

Richard Arabome

Executive Producer/Post Supervisor

BoilerRoom Studios PTY Ltd

Let’s get this show on the road!ose time has come?et@gmail.com

Lights, camera, action!

Let’s get this show on the road…