Access through sharing materials

1
Access through sharing materials

• Lessons of experience from the implementation of
  a national upgrading programme the NPDE
• Tessa Welch
• 24 January 2005

2
The National Professional Diploma in Education
(NPDE)

• A 240 credit national programme for Foundation,
  Intermediate and Senior Phase teachers
• Distance education delivery
• Delivered in all provinces by 17 providers
• 300 to 2 200 students per provider
• Enrolling over 11 000 teachers in the first
  cohort.
• Point of the qualification
• Access to qualified teacher status
• Access to the new qualifications framework.

3
Materials for NPDE modules 36 modules x 120
hours NLH per module 10 hrs per hr learning time
for mats dev. 43 200 hrs 5400 days 30.8 full
time staff for a year!!
Fundamental 3 modules all students Communication and literacy modules Numeracy module
Core 9 modules all students Teaching and learning Assessment Classroom management School and profession Integrated assessment
Elective (3 x 8 modules)
Foundation 55 students Intermediate 35 students Senior Phase 10 students
Literacy Numeracy Life skills Language Maths Life orientation Social studies Natural sciences Technology E.M.S. Arts and culture Language Maths Life orientation Social studies Natural sciences Technology E.M.S. Arts and culture
4
Variable response to constraints on materials
development

• Some outsourced materials development.
• Some used outside expertise to build capacity of
  own staff.
• Some assumed their staff could develop materials
  without assistance.
• One proactive risk-taking institution started own
  materials development process at least a year
  before programme approved.
• Eight providers went with own existing materials
  - with variable degrees of adaptation.
• Two providers got all their materials from other
  sources and adapted them.
• Nine providers found about half the materials
  from other sources, and used the first year of
  delivery to develop materials for the second
  year.

5
Findings and conclusion from materials evaluation

• Findings
• 5/9 providers had average to good materials.
• 1/9 had materials good for workshops, but not for
  independent learning.
• 3/9 had materials of such poor quality that it
  was recommended that they should scrap or
  radically revise them.
• Numbers of teachers affected by these 3
  providers 2149 in first cohort.
• Conclusion
• Over 2 000 of the 11 000 teachers would find it
  well nigh impossible to learn anything meaningful
  from the materials/course.

6
Improving access to learning materials in teacher
education

• Recognise that quality materials development
  requires
• Materials development capacity and skills
• Professional development in both materials
  development and course design
• Upfront financing
• Sufficient lead time
• Planning to ensure that considerable costs of
  high quality materials can be recovered over
  time.
• Develop strategies for discovering and then
  sharing high quality materials across providers,
  especially in large scale national programmes.

7
Ways of sharing materials across providers

• A range of existing good materials relevant to
  the programme is identified, described and made
  known to providers.
• If necessary, material for national core modules
  is commissioned.
• Providers select from and adapt this material
  (own course design and assessment).
• Standard protocols for sharing/ purchasing
  materials are developed.
• Where gaps exist, providers develop own material.
  
• Not all providers offer all learning areas, but
  students can access different learning areas from
  different providers.