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28 May 2024 | Story Anthony Mthembu | Photo Jon Vincent
Ibali
Educators, academics, and policymakers in attendance at the Ibali Education Stakeholders Forum.

The Centre for Development Support (CDS) at the University of the Free State (UFS), in collaboration with Ibali, hosted the Ibali Education Stakeholders Forum on 10 May 2024 at the Centenary Complex on the UFS Bloemfontein Campus. 

According to Prof Faith Mkwananzi, Associate Professor at the CDS, the event, an initiative of the Ibali Project, aimed to ‘’inform and disseminate project findings to individuals with an interest in educational exclusion and inclusion. It also served as a forum for stakeholders to share insights on the matter. “ The forum was well attended by educators, school leaders, academics, and policymakers from the Free State. Additionally, the event saw representation from Ibali, including Dr Alison Buckler, Deputy Director of the Centre for the Study of Global Development (CSGD) at The Open University.

A platform for engagement

Discussions at the forum focused on creating inclusive learning environments for learners and students within the province and beyond. Stakeholders had the opportunity to discuss the challenges they face in fostering inclusive learning spaces through panel discussions and presentations. ’’The involvement of stakeholders and presentation of diverse perspectives contributed to a robust engagement, indicating that individuals and organisations are motivated to support an inclusive and sustainable education system at every level in South Africa,’’ said Prof Mkwananzi.

The Ibali initiative

Dr Buckler explained that Ibali is a network of researchers, practitioners, and educators interested in how storytelling can support different understandings around complex issues in education and development. One of Ibali’s projects, funded by the United Kingdom Arts and Humanities Research Council (AHRC), explores what inclusion and exclusion look like within education in countries like Nigeria, South Africa, and the United Kingdom.

Insights from the engagement

Dr Buckler highlighted several insights from the forum. She noted that inclusive practice can manifest in various ways. ‘’People talked about mixing groups of students in lectures, creating a supportive community for their deaf sibling, mainstream schools inviting children from ‘special schools’ for play sessions, and so on,’’ she said. Moreover, she emphasised that a key takeaway is that “underpinning hugely diverse examples of inclusive practice are a fairly small number of key principles around empathy, communication, ubuntu, and seeing someone as whole instead of defining people by certain characteristics that align with inclusion policies.”

As the engagement session concluded, both Prof Mkwananzi and Dr Buckler expressed hope that stakeholders could learn from one another’s experiences, fostering a more inclusive educational environment.  

News Archive

Teacher professionalism and status under Commonwealth radar
2010-03-26

 
From the left are: Ms Simone De Cormarmond, Chairperson: Commonwealth Foundation; Prof. Jonathan Jansen, Rector and Vice-Chancellor, University of the Free State (UFS); Mr Samuel Isaacs, CEO: SAQA; and Dr Carol Anne Spreen, Lecturer at the University of Maryland, USA).
Photo: Ian van Straaten


International delegates attending the 5th Annual Commonwealth Teacher Research Symposium held at the University of the Free State (UFS) in Bloemfontein this week unanimously agreed that more research still had to be done on issues of recognition, registration and standards affecting teachers and teaching across Commonwealth countries.

This two-day gathering of researchers, officials and representatives of regional international organisations and higher education institutions agreed that issues of teacher migration, the professionalism of teachers, teacher preparation and the use of teaching standards, as well as the comparability and recognition of teacher qualifications should be further researched.

The delegates agreed on the following based on the research and data that were presented and shared with all the participants:

Teacher migration is recognised as an increasing global phenomenon that requires ongoing research in the Commonwealth.
Recognising that inequalities and differences within and across Commonwealth countries exist, and considering that fair and ethical treatment in the international recruitment of teachers is an important cornerstone of the Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol.

Teacher training, the recognition of teacher qualifications, the professional registration of teachers and the development of professional teacher standards should be actively encouraged through ongoing pan-Commonwealth research.

An increased acknowledgement of the role of the professionalisation of teachers through an improved understanding of teacher qualifications and standards.
There should be a specific research focus on teacher preparation and the use of teaching standards.

An increased comparability and recognition of teacher qualifications across Commonwealth countries should be actively encouraged.
Advocacy of teachers’ rights, effective protection of the vulnerable teacher, and appropriate strategies should be promoted to uplift the status of teachers and teaching as a profession.

The Commonwealth Teacher Recruitment Protocol, amongst other things, aims to balance the rights of teachers to migrate internationally against the need to protect the integrity of national education systems, and to prevent the exploitation of the scarce human resources of poor countries.

Delivering his keynote address at the symposium, the Rector and Vice-Chancellor of the UFS, Prof. Jonathan Jansen, decried the quality of professional qualifications in South Africa.

“We have become very good at manufacturing outcomes. We actually have become very good at giving an impression of having achieved particular outcomes without having achieved them at all,” he said.
“So what does it mean to talk about outcomes in an unequal country with unequal resources? What does it mean to talk about qualifications when we do not trust the outcomes?”

He suggested that the teaching profession should be subjected to a peer review mechanism and that the practice of setting minimum standards should be dealt away with because it results in minimum outcomes.

Dr Carol Anne Spreen, lecturer at the University of Maryland in the USA, proposed that countries should improve the quality of their own teachers instead of importing teachers from other countries.

The research symposium was organised by the Commonwealth Secretariat and hosted by the South African Qualifications Authority (SAQA) and the UFS.

Media Release
Issued by: Mangaliso Radebe
Assistant Director: Media Liaison
Tel: 051 401 2828
Cell: 078 460 3320
E-mail: radebemt@ufs.ac.za  
26 March 2010

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