by Sherri Le Mottee, EISA

1.     Structures and Institutions available in SA to support educator development
a)     In-service

A number of NGOs are working to support the development of skills, knowledge, values and attitudes regarding the growth and consolidation of a culture of democracy, human rights and peace within the formal school sector. 

Statutory Bodies in South Africa (determined by our Constitution (Ch 9) ) who are responsible in some ways for HR education in society and some of their interventions have been developed specifically for educators working in schools amongst these are the South African Human Rights Commission and the Gender Commission.  Some government departments have also done some work on educating the public around issues of human rights and democracy for example, the Department of Justice in collaboration with the Department of Constitutional Development. 

In addition, the National Education Department has taken the development of democracy and the associated values seriously and has put in place a department (Race and Values Directorate) which has the mandate to work with office and classroom based educators in order to build a more democratic and rights based culture in South African Society.  Initiatives undertaken by this department include a programme focused specifically on HRE in the school curriculum.  It offers educators a collection of resources developed within SA specifically for human rights and democracy education and links a two day workshop programme for teachers to empower them to make use of these materials in the classroom to the South African national curriculum statements which draw on a cross curricula infusion, integration model. 

A programme has also been introduced in collaboration with academic institutions and NGOs doing educator development related to HRE.  Educators attend a programme which runs over the period of two years.  The programme is developed by the service providers offering both an academic and a practical focus.  Students are drawn from within schools and offices of the Department of Education.  They attend lectures and workshops after hours and during school holidays.  A certificate is awarded at the end of the two year part time programme thus offering educators the opportunity to move to a different level within the department.

Education Unions have also played a role in furthering HRE in schools.  Materials have been developed and published in union newspapers, workshops offered and issues related to human rights fore grounded on conference and meeting agendas. 

Although there has been an extensive attempt to network these interventions and programmes many of them are disconnected from each other and so the impact is often localized to the areas in which the programme is being implemented.  

b)     Pre-service

In order to teach within a school in South Africa, educators need to complete a four year qualification at an academic institution.   Most of these qualifications would include a component on HRE although in some instances this might be quite cursory.  There are also institutions offering specific courses on HRE within undergraduate and postgraduate programmes.

2.     Which institutions are responsible for ensuring the quality and effectiveness in your country of these programmes?
a)      Many of the programmes offered are informal and there are thus no formal quality control body working with these institutions. There is however a move in SA towards accreditation of all training institutions via the South African Qualifications Framework which would mean that all programmes offered would eventually be subject to checks and balances if provided by and accredited service provider.

b)     Within the formal education sector, universities and academic institutions are accredited by the South African Qualifications Authority – their programmes would thus have to comply with standards determined nationally. 

In addition, there are Norms and Standards set for all educators in South Africa.  This document includes standards related to HRE.  Academic institutions would be required to use this document as a guideline for educator development.

A further ‘control’ is that all educators teaching (or applying for government teaching posts) should be registered with the professional educators body called SACE.  This body keeps a register of all teachers working in the country and their qualifications.

3.     Which institutions are responsible for policies in your country?

As above

4.     What studies or evaluations have been completed in your country?

a)    & b) I do not know of any studies that focus specifically on these issues.  We have however had a number of studies conducted on issues related to democratization and rights based practices at school based level which have influenced programming for educator development both at a pre-service and an in-service level.  Some of these include:

·        Racism, ‘Racial Integration’ and Desegregation in South African Public Secondary Schools – A Report on a Study by the South African Human Rights Commission

·        Values, Education and Democracy – Report of the working Group on Values in Education

·        Education for Democracy:  Report on Research Conducted with Teachers and Learners in Gauteng – The Teacher Trust and Clacherty and Associates

·        Numerous Journal Articles in publications and newspapers such as The Educators Voice (newspaper of the teacher union SADTU), Education Monitor (journal published by Wits Education and Policy Unit), also publications of the Centre for Education and Policy Development

·        Report of the working group on the National Curriculum Statement and the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights, Values and Inclusivity

5.     What effective practices exist in your country for pre-service and in-service teach training/professional development?

South Africa has adopted a holistic approach to issues related to HRE in education.  Whilst our Constitution promises certain rights and established a framework within which these rights should be realized – education policy has been aligned with the Constitution and it is thus regarded as the responsibility of all educators to be educators for human rights.  This notion is developed through a range of education policy from the South African Schools Act through to the Revised National Curriculum Statements.  Many organizations, academic institutions and the National Education Department have programmes in place to address the need for educator development in this area.  However, there are still some rather daunting challenges faced in South Africa relate which relate to the implementation of these policies within the school environment.  Many educators do not see the need for them or are threatened by a rights based approach believing that it disempowers them and breaks down the culture of learning and teaching in schools.  In addition previously disadvantaged schools and educators struggle to overcome basic issues related to providing quality education for all (enough classrooms, teacher pupil ratios, poverty and adequate resources) and so do not necessarily even get to engage with the broader issues of what is in the curriculum or using human rights aligned methodologies.  Also see question 1 a) and b). 

6.     What ways have institutions in your country used to monitor the effectiveness of HRE teacher training?

a)     Within the informal sector there are no real checks and balances with regard to the quality of training.  However with one of the main stakeholders in the arena of in-service educator development there probably is some measure which is not formally or clearly articulated.

b)     Nothing has been done to my knowledge which is specific to HRE in schools.  However there are registered Unit Standards on the Qualifications Framework which relate to HRE, these standards will be included in educator development programmes within formal institutions who are accredited providers and so the idea is that a particular standard is maintained.  (this is of course not necessarily so)

7.     What strengths exist in your country for including human rights education into pre and in-service educator development?

This question is already answered in part by responses to other questions in this report – however in a nutshell, the focus on Human Rights in South African legislation carried through into school related Legislation and Policy.  The emphasis placed on HRE by the National Education Department, Statutory bodies and civil society organizations working in the sector.  South Africa also has a good education infrastructure where effective educator development programmes are offered by academic institutions.  There is also a loose network of organizations who meet to discuss and share progress with regard to HRE practices.  The course being delivered part time on behalf of the Department of Education by NGOs and academic institutions has a monitoring body who call regular meetings with all service providers to consider strengths and weaknesses of the programme. 

8.     What weaknesses exist in our country for pre-and in-service educator development?

Lack of coordination and common vision/understanding between service providers (sometimes competition between service providers). 

9.     What opportunities are there in your country for educator development?

Already addressed in the responses to other questions.

10.           What are the threats/obstacles that exist in your country for human rights education in pre-and-in-service teacher development?

There is a lack of commitment and common understanding of what HRE is and why it is important within the whole school environment.  As mentioned earlier many educators have a negative perception of human rights and perceive it as a threat to themselves this often results in polarized relationships between learners and educators in the classroom (‘us’ and ‘them’). 

Although putting HRE into the school curriculum in such a focused and holistic way is a victory for organizations in this country who lobbied for it – there is also the potential that this undermine HRE and that it ends up diluted without a specific home or with anybody who is specifically responsible for its implementation.  (all becomes a bit fuzzy)

Despite fore grounding issues of HRE in the curriculum and within other education policy there other pressing issues related to quality education in South Africa that need to be addressed – many educators (particularly in-service) are suffering from workshop-fatigue and are so overwhelmed by all the changes they have to deal with that HRE is just another on and probably not the most pressing.

Material challenges facing schools with regard to resources, adequate buildings, poverty, HIV and AIDS and so on are not always seen as part of a rights based approach to education and thus not regarded as an important aspect of HRE and thus educator development.  Many educators believe that in the face of the inequalities and challenges they still face, teaching about Human Rights is a luxury for which they have little time.

Johannesburg
9 May 2005