EMPOWERING TEACHERS IS A BREAKTHROUGH TO EMPOWER THE NATION:
THE ROLE OF TEACHERS' WORKSHOPS AT DELTA
Environmental education, like several other disciplines, such as science education, is concerned with a change in the approach to teaching from a mere conveying of factual information, understanding and knowledge, to a concern for the total personal skills development of each pupil in school through active participation and involvement in teaching and learning in a holistic and interdisciplinary style.
Teachers have a central role in improving educational standards which will cope directly with technological and scientific developments in South Africa. Teachers need to be empowered with information, knowledge and skills so that they will be in a position to use the environmental resources (both natural and man-made) to support effective literacy programmes in schools. Teachers need to teach with a practical, hands-on, holistic and environmental emphasis and this will help students and the community to be pro-active in improving their immediate environments.
Delta Environmental Centre has been in the forefront of Teacher Development and Training Programmes for a number of years and the response from teachers attending these courses is positive and rewarding and they are making a major difference in teaching and learning in schools.
Teachers' Workshops are held at Delta in an attempt to spread environmental awareness as widely as possible, and to stimulate excellent and creative teaching, especially to those with limited education resources. Interest in environmental issues is growing rapidly and many people, teachers in particular, have expressed the urgent need to have as many relevant and specific teachers' workshops as possible.
Effective, innovative, in-service training is provided for teachers and student-teachers so that environmental awareness reaches an ever-increasing number of children.
Workshops are held regularly with the aim of exposing teachers to methodologies, techniques and strategies which will foster an ethic of environmental awareness in school i.e. to provide innovative and creative teaching techniques with the limited resources available at most schools, especially in rural areas. (Cross-curricular and syllabus-related content is covered). Delta Environmental Centre aims to satisfy this need for large sections of our community. The direct benefit is productive teaching, based on skills development, and encourages the wise use of all resources (natural, man-made and human).
The environment on its own does not determine significant experiences! They are the result of selection and interpretation based on the teacher's perceptions of reality and significance. (Taken form The Outdoor Classroom, by Frank Opie.)
Teachers' Environmental Education Workshops are held regularly for teachers and student-teachers at tertiary institutions like colleges of education and universities in the Gauteng region. It is also possible to run workshops in other regions if funds are available.
OBJECTIVES OF TEACHER TRAINING AND DEVELOPMENT
- to empower teachers to use the environment and make a meaningful contribution to society and to contribute to the overall social construction and development by means of a better educated populace.
- to introduce teachers to innovative and creative teaching techniques (hands-on and holistic approach) which are the basis of co-operative learning.
- to help teachers share good ideas and effective classroom practices and experiences for effective teaching and learning. Workshops programmes are based on a practical and investigative strategy. Teachers are usually given some "research" work to do, e.g. to identify environmental problems in their schools and the community they serve.
- to train teachers in their task of applying their knowledge, understanding and skills to seeking solutions to the environmental problems they are likely to face in their own daily lives.
The methods used by Delta's Education Officers in presenting workshops help teachers and student-teachers to develop a set of skills that can be broadly applied and that can help them better understand both current and future socio-environmental and economic development in our country.
"A society which seeks to empower its teachers will in fact be empowering itself, but a society which neglects the empowerment of its teachers, will simply be weakening itself." - Speech at Delta Environmental Centre in 1994 by Mary Metcalfe, Gauteng MEC for Education.
When we educate and empower teachers, we improve the chances for children in schools to be better educated. Without skilled teachers it is difficult to lay a solid educational foundation for all young South Africans. The RDP can become an on-going successful socio-economic programme if teacher training and skills development programmes are considered important in the teaching fraternity.
Resource material e.g. files, note-pads, pens, stickers, videos etc. from the sponsor could be made available to participants to emphasize the link between the two parties. Personal attendance at workshops and interaction with the teachers, on the part of the sponsor, is always welcomed. All notification/correspondence/press releases and reports bear the sponsor's name. Media coverage, where appropriate, can be arranged.
EVALUATION AND ASSESSMENT OF DELTA'S TEACHER TRAINING ON ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION
Delta has an Extension Service under the leadership of an Extension. Through this service, teacher training workshops on environmental education are offered to the teacher communities of Soweto, Alexandra, Tembisa, Kathorus and Pretoria. Use is made of existing community centres where possible in order to make these programmes accessible to a broader group of people.
Delta aims, through these courses, to create awareness through action-based environmental education, thus equipping teachers with the knowledge and skills necessary to promote teaching and learning in schools.
As part of the evaluation and assessment of our teachers' workshops, Delta's Extension Service visits schools to find out what improvement teachers have actioned and implemented in relation to the specific objectives of a particular workshop.
Teachers are given a specific workshop task for implementation in their schools and report-backs are presented in the next workshop at Delta. It is interesting to see teachers making models, toys, teaching aids and other educational resources from easily available and recyclable materials to support teaching and learning in schools.
There are a lot of exciting environmental and conservation projects in schools as part of the "schools' auditing programme". Teachers who attend workshops are encouraged to implement sustainable environmental projects that could easily be defined within the government's Reconstruction and Development Projects. These projects include recycling activities, gardening/peace gardens, park developments, water testing, creating models and teaching aids from recyclable materials, environmental drama, speech and art competitions. These activities will contribute to the RDP in terms of social upliftment, through for example, informal job creation and improvement in the local communities' quality of life.
Mazda Wildlife Fund has donated a Mazda 1.6 Midge to Delta Environmental Centre and this will enable us in terms of our Extension services which is part of the assessment and evaluation process of our education programmes.
A variety of recycling programmes on Teacher Training will be presented to teachers and student-teachers from tertiary institutions.