Journal Entry 16: School Development Plan

Despite my best efforts to describe it, what I do is probably still elusive to many of my friends and family. What can I say? The categorization “Educational Consultant” is bound to inspire polite nods but not much clarity.

So now that I’ve walked you through a day-in-the­life-of, maybe it’s time to color in my work life a bit. I’m currently working with four primary schools, the Munwai and Vhangani schools are K-7, Mashaa is K-4 and Masia - across the street - is 5-7. I have about 40 teachers and 1250 students in all. It’s a lot. Splitting my time between them is challenging.

Last year when I arrived I spent about 2 months tracking down teachers; I was able to interview 39 out of 40. From these interviews I synthesized the data and prioritized the challenges at the schools.

I created a school assessment from these interviews and prioritized the challenges each school faced. Over time, ideas on how to address the challenges percolated; I wouldn’t think, “Oh, I need to solve x, y and z,” instead solutions just sort of bubbled up.

When talking to one of my principals about my ideas, it became apparent I needed to put them down in writing. So… here then is my School Development Plan (SDP). You may want to review the school summary I posted a few months back to understand the challenges the SDP is addressing.

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Introduction
At the end of the 2005 school year, a school assessment was conducted in the Mashaa, Masia, Munwai and Vhangani cluster of schools. From this assessment, the following School Development Plan (SDP) was created.
The SDP consists of three phases, each with a different focus:
Phase 1: improve the education in the classroom
Phase 2: increase parental and community involvement
Phase 3: increase school resources

Here, then, is the proposed 3-phased SDP for the Mashaa, Masia, Munwai and Vhangani cluster of schools.

Phase 1: Education
The first phase of the SDP requires the school to look at itself to improve its core function, educating learners. In order to achieve this, teacher’s skills need to be updated in two crucial areas: teaching methodology and classroom management.

Teaching Methodology: Teacher training in the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS) will be the basis for improving teaching methods. While all aspects of RNCS are important, particular emphasis will be placed on the creation of lesson plans and the utilization of continuous assessment (CASS) in the classroom.
After presenting the basic components of RNCS, I will make myself available to teachers, individually or in small groups, to help them create lesson plans and implement CASS in their classrooms.
Further workshops may be given in the following areas to increase teacher’s knowledge:
· IQMS
· HIV/AIDS
· Strategies for teaching Math
· Strategies for teaching English

Classroom Management: Teaching methodology and classroom management techniques are closely linked. In an RNCS/OBE based classroom, learners should be more engaged in the educational process as teachers move away from the wrote education of the past.
Therefore, after RNCS training, an Alternatives to Corporal Punishment workshop will be presented which complements teacher’s new teaching style. Unlike corporal punishment, these updated techniques are positive rather than negative, and therefore do not use punishment as the basis for maintaining order.
This workshop series will most likely be presented in conjunction with other PCVs.

Phase 2: Increased Parental & Community Involvement
Half of all learning takes place outside of school. If parents and the community are not partners in their children’s education, a schools ability to educate is crippled. This second phase, then, looks for ways to increase parental and community involvement in the school and in their child’s education.
There are two primary components to achieve this in the SDP. The first is to create “Parents As Partners”, and the second is to develop community-based programs to continue learner’s education outside of school.

Parents As Partners: Parents must come to see themselves as partners in the educational process, or else a school cannot fully educate learners. The more they fulfill their role as a partner, the better education their child will receive.
The basis for developing this relationship will be the school clearly stating its expectations of the parents. While a committee of teachers should be formed to outline these expectations, some examples are as follows. A final list can be presented to parents at a school meeting:
· Parents will ensure their learner is well fed at home so he or she can be attentive during school
· Parents will ensure their learner comes to school on time
· Parents will build a relationship with their child’s teacher
· Parents will come to school when asked

Parents can also help their child do well by:
· Asking their learner, “How was school?”
· Asking their learner, “Do you have homework?”
· Ensuring their learner does their homework (looks at their learner’s homework)
· Help’s the learner with their homework
· Reads to their learner

Community-Based Learning Programs: From this last expectation, we should note that there would be those parents who cannot read to their child. To help such learners, and to increase the general standard of education within the community, community-based learning programs would be setup. These could be formed in conjunction with high school students who would volunteer their time after schools to read to learners or help them with homework.
Such a program would be a large initiative and would need the support of the schools, community and parents.

Before moving onto the third phase, we should note that if the first phase is not implemented successfully, the second phase will not be sustainable. Increased parental and community involvement can only be sustained if teachers are succeeding in their classroom.

Phase 3: Resources
Just as the second phase is dependent upon the first, this third phase is largely dependent upon the previous two. While we may begin to search for necessary resources at any time (for instance, improved water systems), if a school is not succeeding to educate learners, increased resources will not improve the learning environment of the school.
However, if the previous two phases are accomplished and it can be shown that the resources will be managed properly, there is no reason not to pursue increased resources for the school. In order to pursue such resources, a resource committee would need to be formed.

Resource Committees: The resource committee would assess and prioritize resources for that particular school. An individual teacher, or driver, would take ownership of that resource and collect information to obtain it. Then resources could be pursued individually or collectively.

Working With The Schools
It is important to highlight that as a Peace Corps Volunteer, I can only bring about change by working with the schools. If the school expects me to effect change, this SDP, and any attempt to bring change, will fail. The more a school is a partner in this process, the more I will be able to help you.
In order to successfully partner with each other, as your Peace Corps Volunteer I should clearly state my expectations of you. Then, here are Mashudu’s expectations of my schools:


Mashudu’s Expectations of Schools:

· Purpose: We keep in mind the primary purpose towards which we are both working: improving our children’s quality of education. Our actions and decisions should be aligned behind this common goal.
· Communication: The schools must communicate with me effectively. If the school’s schedule changes which in turn affects my schedule, the school will call or otherwise contact me as soon as possible. Similarly, the school should expect the same from me; if my schedule changes I will let the school know.
· Priority: Of all the Peace Corps Volunteers, I am the only one working with four schools; all others have three or less. For this reason, and to make myself most useful, I will work with the schools that make me a priority. This means communicating with me effectively, school management and teachers making time for my workshops, and otherwise being a partner in implementing this SDP and any other actions we choose to take.


This SDP should be discussed by the management structures of each school. I look forward to hearing your feedback and helping your school as best I can over the next two years.



School Name: __________________________________________________



Principal: x_____________________________________________________



SGB: x________________________________________________________



Mashudu: x_____________________________________________________