vuma evaluation report 2017...

Vula Mathematics Academy

Evaluation Report

By Dr Sharon Grussendorff

This evaluation was made possible through the generous support of the Anglo American Chairman’s Fund.

Vula Mathematics Academy Evaluation Report 2017

Table of Contents

Acknowledgements ......................................................................................................... 3

Acronyms ........................................................................................................................ 3

Introduction .................................................................................................................... 4

The context ..................................................................................................................... 4

The Vula Mathematics Project ......................................................................................... 5 Range of activities .................................................................................................................... 6

Background to the evaluation .......................................................................................... 7 Aims of the evaluation ............................................................................................................. 7 Evaluation methodology ........................................................................................................... 7 About the evaluator ................................................................................................................. 8

Findings ........................................................................................................................... 8 Structure and reach of VuMA ................................................................................................... 8

On-‐site academy ......................................................................................................................... 8 School based mentoring and support component .................................................................... 12

The Vula Lodge ....................................................................................................................... 13 Impact of the VuMA programme on teachers ......................................................................... 15

Observation of lessons by VuMA teachers ................................................................................ 15 Interviews with VuMA teachers: ............................................................................................... 17 Profiles of selected VuMA teachers .......................................................................................... 19 Thematic analysis of the teacher profiles ................................................................................. 27 Factors that prevent VuMA teachers from excelling ................................................................ 28

Impact of the VuMA programme on learners .......................................................................... 28 Impact on learners’ perception of Mathematics ....................................................................... 29 Impact on learner performance ................................................................................................ 33

Broader perspectives on the VuMA programme ............................................................. 35 The Hiltonian Society NPC ...................................................................................................... 35 The Vula donors ..................................................................................................................... 37 Officials from the Department of Basic Education ................................................................... 38 The Vula management ............................................................................................................ 41

Recommendations for the way forward .......................................................................... 41 Possible future scenarios ........................................................................................................ 41 Additional recommendations ................................................................................................. 44

Concluding comments .................................................................................................... 46

Appendix 1: Mathematics questionnaire for learners ..................................................... 47

Appendix 2: Mentor reports based on school visits ......................................................... 48


Acknowledgements

The evaluator wishes to express gratitude to the following people:

• Ms Ann McLoughlin for making the visits to schools possible, and for administering questionnaires to VuMA teachers and learners.

• Mr Phila Mnyandu, Senior Education Specialist for Mathematics for the uMgungundlovu District, for on-‐going support and advice, and for administering questionnaires to non-‐VuMA learners.

• Ms Sue Southwood for always warmly welcoming the visits to the VuMA sessions, and for sharing your experiences and reflections.

• Mr Lloyd Smuts for your support of the evaluation, for sharing your insights, and for your hospitality and delicious range of Vula biscuits.

• The officials from the Department of Basic Education, namely Dr Hintsa Mhlane, Mr Irshad Motala, and Mr Phila Mnyandu, for availing yourselves for discussions about the work of Vula.

• The teachers who welcomed the visits to their classrooms, and who completed questionnaires and availed themselves for interviews.

• The trustees of the Frank Jackson Foundation for contributing your perspective to the evaluation, and for the foundation’s on-‐going support of the Vula Mathematics Academy.

• The board of the Hiltonian Society NPC, in particular Ms Dale ten Hope, the chair of the Community Projects sub-‐committee, for valuable discussions, and for the Society’s on-‐going contribution to the work and vision of the Vula Programme.

Acronyms

The following acronyms are used in this report: VuMA Vula Mathematics Academy DBE Department of Basic Education KZN KwaZulu-‐Natal MST Mathematics, Science and Technology ICT Information and Communication Technologies


Introduction

In response to the on-‐going need for quality black African Mathematics teachers in South Africa, Hilton College started the Vula Mathematics Project in 2007. The project targets Mathematics teachers in under-‐resourced schools in the KwaZulu-‐Natal province, with a particular focus on the uMgungundlovu district, as well as provincial subject advisers. In 2014 the Vula Mathematics Academy (VuMA) was initiated, which is an eleven week on-‐site in-‐service training course for Mathematics teachers from rural and township schools. The Vula Programme at Hilton College also has a component that offers Physical Science support for teachers and learners. This evaluation will specifically focus on the process and impact of the Vula Mathematics Academy.

The context

Although South Africa has been a fully democratic society for more than 23 years, there remain enormous inequalities in the provision of education, and the majority of black South Africans in particular find it difficult to access quality education at all levels of the education system. The resulting performance of black learners is especially weak in Mathematics: the 2016 national matriculation results show that, of the 33 511 students who scored more than 60% for maths, only 1 700 (5%) were black African students. Given that black Africans make up 80.7% of the South African population1, this percentage of quality passes is extremely low. Equal Education, a movement that works to address social injustice in education, has commented that closer attention needs to be paid to inequality and historical legacies and their impact2. According to their 2016 annual report, “despite efforts to improve the system, class and race-‐linked inequalities persist. … unequal educational opportunities remain among the greatest obstacles to equality, dignity and freedom in South Africa.” A large contributing factor to the underperformance in Mathematics is the low number of qualified teachers in rural and peri-‐urban schools. The 2007 set of teacher assessments done by SACMEQ (Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality) showed that only 32% of Grade 6 Mathematics teachers in South Africa had the required subject knowledge in Mathematics,

1 Statistics South Africa Report, Mid-‐year Population Estimates 2016 2 https://equaleducation.org.za/

Scene from a typical township school in South Africa


compared with considerably higher percentages in other countries such as Kenya (90%), Zimbabwe (76%) and Swaziland (55%)3. Another study done with a sample of 253 matric Mathematics teachers from KwaZulu-‐Natal found that their average mark for a past matric Mathematics examination paper was just 57%4.

The Vula Mathematics Project

The Vula Programme at Hilton College began in 2001 as the Hiltonian Society NPC’s educational outreach service provider to under-‐resourced schools and disadvantaged communities. The programme seeks to use up-‐to-‐date technologies, innovative teaching methods and experienced facilitators to upgrade the teaching and learning of high school Mathematics and Physical Science. The Vula Mathematics Project aims to improve the competence and confidence of mathematics teachers in under-‐resourced schools, and to improve their enthusiasm for and ability to teach the subject. Initially the project mainly provided support in the form of bi-‐weekly teacher workshops held in various districts. However, it became clear to the project staff that the teachers would benefit from more intensive training than is able to be achieved in the standard workshop format. This led to the vision of running a more intensive on-‐site course that allows teachers to be immersed in a Mathematics-‐rich environment for a sustained period of time. Hence the Vula Mathematics Academy (VuMA) was started in 2014.

3 van der Berg, S; Spaull, N; Wills, G; Gustafsson, M and Kotzé, J (2016). Identifying Binding Constraints in education -‐ Synthesis report for the Programme to support Pro-‐poor Policy development (PSPPD) 4 Bansilal, S; Brijlall, D; Mkhwanazi, T (2014). An exploration of the common content knowledge of high school mathematics teachers, Perspectives in Education, Vol. 32, Issue 1.


Range of activities

In addition to the two VuMA intakes each year, the Vula Mathematics Project continues to support a wider range of stakeholders, including learners, student teachers, teachers and subject advisers. The calendar below shows the Vula Mathematics activities that took place during the 2017 calendar year.

VuMA1 Term 1 VuMA2 Term 2 Mini VuMA1 and 2 Term 3 Each course is for two weeks, and includes 12 Grade 8 and 9 teachers from King Cetshwayo district Laptop Project Every term Two days every term during exams/tests – 13 FET teachers – from Bergville and Pholela GET Subject Advisors Terms 3 and 4 Three days each – beginning of the term – 20 to 25 advisers from all KZN districts Bergville Olympiad Term 2

One Saturday training, one Saturday Olympiad – about 100 learners

Bergville Grade 11s July holiday and September holiday Three days each – 12 top learners from Olympiad Bergville Grade 12s April holiday and during term 3 Three days each – last year’s 12 top learners from Olympiad Easter holiday course Four days before or after Easter 50 FET teachers from King Cetshwayo and Zululand July holiday course Four days at beginning of holiday Same 50 FET teachers from King Cetshwayo and Zululand Saturday workshops Two per term 150 Grade 12 learners from Pholela (Materials etc from Vula, presented by Laptop teachers) DUT workshops Two days in term 4 40 3rd and 4th year DUT students Protec workshop Two days residential in mid-‐year for 30 learners from Protec


Background to the evaluation

Aims of the evaluation

This evaluation aims to describe the background and nature of the work done by the Vula Mathematics Project, with a particular focus on the VuMA initiative, and to explore the impact of this work on the quality of teaching and learning in the associated schools, and on the learner performance in the matric Mathematics examination. The report will also address the question of possible shifts in the project moving into the next stage of its implementation.

Evaluation methodology

Quantitative and qualitative methods were used in this evaluation. A range of project participants was consulted during the project evaluation. These are summarized in the table below:

Table 1: Participants in the evaluation

Type of participant Number of participants

Hilton College board member 1 Vula manager 1 Vula Mathematics staff members 2 Chairman of the Frank Jackson Foundation (project donors)

1

Officials from the Department of Basic Education 3 Subject advisers 5 Teachers who have attended VuMA 20 Learners 354

The evaluation methodology involved a varied use of instruments and practices. The methods of the evaluation included:

• questionnaires,

• individual interviews,

• direct observations of the VuMA workshops,

• review of project materials and reports,

• direct observations of lessons conducted by past VuMA participants,

• analysis of 2016 matric exam results of quintile 1, 2 and 3 schools in the district.


About the evaluator

This evaluation research was undertaken by Dr Sharon Grussendorff. Dr Grussendorff has a PhD in Physics and a Higher Diploma in Education, and lectured at the University of KwaZulu-‐Natal for ten years. She has since worked as a consultant in the area of science education development and research, for the past 15 years. In particular she has worked on an on-‐going basis with Umalusi (Council for Quality Assurance in General and Further Education and Training) in project management and research into the South African national curriculum and examinations. She has also been the Physics author of the new NASCA qualification (National Senior Certificate for Adults), and is involved in the on-‐going development of support materials for this course, in association with the DHET (Department of Higher Education and Training). In addition, she has designed and facilitated various Physical Science teacher development initiatives, in collaboration with JET Education Services, Gauteng Department of Education, Pearson Education, SciBono, Mindset Learn, the Eastern Cape Department of Education, and the Valley Trust. She has authored Physical Science textbooks and study guides with Shuter & Shooter publishers, and has collaborated in numerous science communication products with Jive Media Africa. She has been involved in previous evaluations of the Vula Programme, and has also participated in a range of other project evaluations.

Findings

Structure and reach of VuMA

The Vula Mathematics Academy (VuMA) consists of two key components: teachers are first selected to participate in an intensive, on-‐site Mathematics academy located at Hilton College, and once they have completed the academy they receive on-‐going school-‐based mentoring and support. Each of these components is discussed below.

On-‐site academy

The on-‐site VuMA course is designed as an intensive in-‐service training course for Mathematics teachers from rural and township schools. The duration of the course is eleven weeks, during which time the teachers attend daily sessions in a dedicated facility at Hilton College. The teachers are accommodated on-‐site in the Vula Lodge. Each of the teachers is given a laptop, which is theirs to use during the course, and on successful completion of the course they are awarded the laptop for future use in their teaching. For the duration of the course, the teachers are replaced by student teachers from the Indumiso campus of the Durban University of Technology (DUT), to prevent disruption in the Mathematics teaching at the schools.


The VuMA project staff members have worked in close collaboration with the KwaZulu-‐Natal DBE, and have had the support of the department throughout the development and running of the academy. These partnerships have been important in ensuring the stability and long-‐term sustainability of the project. The selection of teachers for the academy is done by Mr Phila Mnyandu, the Senior Education Specialist for Mathematics for the uMgungundlovu District. The criteria that he uses are that teachers should show enthusiasm, commitment and potential for growth. Initially teachers were chosen from the uMgungundlovu District, but more recently some teachers have been selected from the Pinetown District. Eight cohorts of teachers have successfully completed the VuMA course since 2014, with two cohorts running consecutively during the first two terms of each year. To date, 104 teachers have been trained by the academy. Of these, eight are no longer teaching Mathematics, for various reasons including moving into a different profession, promotion to school principal (one of the teachers) and Mathematics subject adviser (two of the teachers), and the death of one of the teachers. Four of the teachers have received appointments at some of the more resourced schools in the province, which is an acknowledgement of their increased skill at teaching Mathematics, since these are sought-‐after positions.

Graduates from the VuMA3 cohort with the Mathematics facilitators

The on-‐site component is mainly designed and run by Sue Southwood, with assistance from Ann McLoughlin. The approach taken is to create a stimulating, participatory and intellectually challenging learning environment. This not only encourages enthusiasm in the participants, but it also develops clearer thinking and a greater depth of understanding of the Mathematics concepts, as well as building the teachers’ confidence in using a range of teaching strategies in their own classrooms. One of teachers commented: “It shows us where we have taken things

Mr Phila Mnyandu


for granted, we learn to question our assumptions and to think clearly.” Many of the teachers reported an increased passion for teaching as a result of the VuMA course. Another teacher commented: “I can’t wait to get back to my school to try these ideas in my own lessons.” The approach also makes use of physical models as a way of introducing abstract Mathematical concepts. This is very important in a context where learners have had limited access to visual and physical stimuli. A similar educational approach is used in the broader work of the Vula Mathematics project, and hence is reaching a wider range of beneficiaries, including teachers from further afield and the provincial subject advisers.

The VuMA course includes a strong focus on the integration of technology into Mathematics teaching. Teachers are trained in a variety of relevant software packages, such as Geometer’s Sketchpad and Autograph, and also in the use of Word, Excel and PowerPoint as teaching aids. Because each of the teachers has been provided with a laptop as part of the course, they are able to practise these skills in order to develop their confidence with the technology. During the course, teachers are shown how to create their own notes and worksheets using various word processing and diagram manipulation skills. Sue has designed a wide range of worksheets which she encourages them to adapt for their own classrooms. This has a very beneficial developmental impact on the teachers, since it gives them a set of reliable resources to use in their teaching, as well as equipping them with the skills necessary to start developing their own set of materials and assessments. In an interview Sue commented: “What I’m doing more

Teachers developing Mathematical patterns using blocks


of is showing them how to adapt my materials, so they are going away with more confidence that they can do things for themselves, not just rely on the textbook or pre-‐done materials.” The teachers are also provided with Internet access during their time at VuMA to encourage them to access a wider range of educational resources.

VuMA teacher using her laptop

The course also requires a high level of professionalism and active engagement from the teachers. The sessions start punctually, and the facilitators act as role models of dedication and commitment. In an interview, Ann McLoughlin commented: “We expect a lot of them, and the more you expect of people the more you will get. There have been no issues with punctuality or absenteeism, as they know they are getting something worthwhile. They have been taught about professionalism, and other life lessons; they are not just learning maths.” The VuMA facilitators are extremely experienced, passionate and skilled Mathematics teachers, which is a vital component of the course in ensuring the depth and quality of the educational experience. They are also respectful and approachable, and this allows the teachers to acknowledge where they need assistance without fearing that they will be intimidated or ridiculed. Some of the teachers’ comments about the facilitators are given below:

• “They are calm and explain everything very clearly.”

• “The facilitators are absolutely wonderful, always keen to share brilliant ideas with us.”

• “What a wonderful team VuMA has. I am so grateful to be part of VuMA and to meet such informed and humble people.”


• “They are so good and I wish God could keep them a little longer because they are doing a wonderful job. I learned a lot from them.”

• “They are amazing facilitators, we have learnt a lot from them and that will make us different from what we were when we first arrived.”

One of the comments sent to Ann by a teacher who had been back teaching in his own school for a while was: “I just feel I am enjoying teaching since the day I went out from that door...even now it is exam time, I just feel relieved by setting tasks and exams........a big thanks again”.

School based mentoring and support component

An important aspect of VuMA is the school-‐based support offered to the teachers once they have left the academy. This takes the form of one visit per term to each of the teachers from the four most recent VuMA cohorts, where the mentor observes a lesson and offers feedback and guidance. If the school has not provided the necessary equipment, namely a data projector and white board, the mentor also meets with the school management to encourage their support of the teacher. From 2014 to 2017, the school mentoring visits have been done by Ann McLoughlin. After observing a lesson, she has a brief discussion with the teacher, and completes a report which is sent to the teacher. Examples of mentor reports can be seen in Appendix 2. What is important in these reports, as can be seen from the examples provided, is that Ann provides positive and encouraging comments, as well as giving constructive criticism where she has noticed any issues with content or approach. These criticisms are couched in a sensitive manner to allow the teacher to receive them without resistance or defensiveness. The mentoring relationship is greatly appreciated by the teachers. As part of the evaluation process, the evaluator accompanied Ann on some of the visits. It was observed that all of the teachers that were visited during the evaluation welcomed Ann with a warm hug, and there was no evidence that they felt imposed on or intimidated by her. They were eager to display their teaching skills, and welcomed her feedback afterwards. With Ann retiring at the end of 2017, many of the teachers expressed great sadness, since they have built a trusting relationship with her. Some of the comments made by teachers about Ann as their mentor are given below:

• “Ann has the heart of an angel. She socialises with learners perfectly.”

The VuMA mentor visiting a teacher


• “I am truly happy having met someone as sweet, kind and knowledgeable as yourself. You have been a blessing to me personally and to all those whose lives you have touched.”

• “I wish there was more I could do, just to say thank you! I really appreciate all that you have done and promise that all that I have learned from you will form a huge part of my development and journey as an educator, your legacy will live on through me and all of us at Vula. We will never forget you Ann.”

• “What an encouraging feedback Ann, thank you so for such a lovely and informative feedback. I'm loving each and every word you're saying.”

The mentoring role not only needs an incumbent who is an excellent Mathematics teacher, and who can develop a trusting, supportive relationship with teachers, but also requires a great deal of patience and tenacity. The following are some of the challenges of this role:

• At times it has been difficult to ensure that the appointments with teachers are kept, as these are sometimes cancelled at short notice due to interruptions to the school programmes by various factors such as funerals and union strikes.

• The remoteness of the schools means that they are difficult to find, and may be inaccessible in bad weather.

• On arrival at the school, the planned lesson does not always take place due to last-‐minute timetable changes or lack of electricity.

The Vula Lodge

A development which has enhanced the ability of the Vula Programme to assist teachers and subject advisers has been the building of the residential facility, namely the Vula Lodge, which was officially opened in June 2016. This is a dedicated facility that enables participants to stay on the Hilton College grounds for the duration of their courses. This creates a stable living base that supports their growth in professionalism, allowing for better attendance and punctuality since the participants do not have the complications of transport arrangements and house-‐hold pressures to deal with. Staying together in one lodge also creates a greater sense of group cohesion and collegial support, and allows the teachers to discuss their ideas after hours. As a result, the teachers have been forming strong networks among themselves, such as


developing groups on social media that share ideas and strategies, and where they encourage one another. For example, one of the teachers sent around a photograph of the work that he had done on sketchpad. The following are the responses from VuMA colleagues:

To which he replied:

Another teacher sent out the following request for assistance to his colleagues:

“Hi guys Please provide leadership for W 3.4. Detailed explanation not just the answer.”

Another impact of the Vula Lodge is that it allows past VuMA teachers to organise their own weekend workshops. One such workshop took place in 2017 with the VuMA 7 cohort. The weekend was arranged purely on the initiative of the teachers, and they ran the workshop sessions themselves. This kind of initiative is a very positive indicator of the increased confidence and motivation that the teachers have as a result of their time at VuMA, and of the potential for their on-‐going development through networking and mutual support that does not rely on the input of Vula staff. Sue Southwood commented: “I have been encouraged by the way they interact with one another at the Vula Lodge and teach each other – there is a lot of sideways growth.”

VuMA7 teachers having maths discussions late into the night at Vula Lodge


The extent of peer leadership and peer-‐facilitated education and support which the residential facility encourages is highly significant. One of the teachers commented on the lodge: “We get very spoilt here – brilliant teaching, lots of support, plenty of help and very good food. Because we are staying here we can chat with colleagues in the evening and go over anything we find difficult. We are also making some good friends.”

The lounge of the Vula Lodge

Impact of the VuMA programme on teachers

The discussion of the impact of the project on teachers will be done under three main headings:

• Observation of lessons by VuMA teachers

• Interviews with VuMA teachers

• Profiles of selected VuMA teachers

Observation of lessons by VuMA teachers

School visits were conducted to various teachers who have completed the VuMA programme, in order to assess the impact of VuMA on their teaching of Mathematics. The following general observations were made:

• The teachers that were visited all showed confidence in integrating technology into their Mathematics teaching, and the technology was used appropriately to enhance the teaching.


• Diagrams and other visual tools were used effectively to illustrate concepts.

• The questions asked by the teachers during the lessons were meaningful, requiring thoughtful responses, rather than the usual chanted answers or completion of the teachers’ sentences that are typically the mode of questioning in many South African schools.

• The learners were interested throughout the lessons, and participated actively.

• The teachers appeared confident in the subject matter they were presenting.

• The teachers did not only use the notes and presentations that they had received from VuMA, but some prepared their own notes on topics that had not been covered during the academy, and the quality of these notes was impressive in layout and content.

• Learners’ Mathematics workbooks were well organised, and their written exercises were clearly structured, with evidence of regular homework tasks, with feedback from the teachers.

• The teachers showed a high level of dedication and professionalism. Based on her own observations of the lessons, Ann McLoughlin made the comment: “Children are inside the maths classes, unlike in other subjects, and they are focused and quiet. Teachers say that they have learnt a lot about self-‐discipline.”

From these observations, it can be concluded that participation in the VuMA programme has resulted in a distinct improvement in the quality of Mathematics teaching that is taking place in the schools.


Interviews with VuMA teachers:

Interviews were conducted with 20 VuMA teachers to get a sense of their views on the course. All of the teachers consulted were extremely positive about their experience of their time at VuMA. Some of the key areas of growth that they highlighted were:

• learning to integrate technology into their teaching in a way that supports meaningful learning, visualisation and understanding of difficult concepts,

• confidence with Mathematics educational software as well as increased mastery of word processing, spreadsheet and presentation software,

• increased confidence in their subject knowledge,

• greater skill and confidence at teaching Mathematics, especially the areas that learners usually struggle with,

• increased passion for teaching,

• strategies for engaging learners’ interest and keeping their attention throughout the lesson,

• a new ability to approach a topic from a number of different perspectives,

• strategies to develop creative thinking in their learners, and

• increased willingness to network with colleagues to share ideas and strategies.

Some of the comments made by the teachers are shown below:

• “VuMA has opened up a whole new approach to teaching for me. I had no idea you could use computers for teaching Mathematics. Sue changed my life. She played a big role in my life, now I am confident in what I do.”

• “VuMA is the best program for teachers, it helps us to gain more confidence, to share knowledge with other teachers.”

• “If all maths teachers in our schools will come to this project our matric results in our schools will be good.“


• “I've gained a lot and I'm proud of it now.”

• “The programme is absolutely amazing. The programme is very good and we are benefitting a lot from it.”

• “Keep up the good work of helping teachers teach using other dimensions.”

• “Big up to Vula Mathematics Project, I have never imagined neither thought that I would be good with technology.”

• “I can't wait to try these ideas.”

• “I can't wait for the third term to teach.”

• “I would like to thank all Vula supporters for helping us as educators, especially those from rural areas because we don't have resources out there.”

• “Being able to teach Mathematics using technology will definitely improve my teaching strategy, it makes teaching and learning easy and interesting as learners can make meaningful observations during the lesson.”

• “I have no doubt in my mind that I can teach anywhere without any fear.”

• “Long live VuMA, your work is more than amazing!”

When the teachers were asked what barriers they face when trying to implement what they have learnt on returning to their schools, the main area that they commented on was the lack of support that some of them receive from the school management. Some have not been given the equipment that they need, namely a white board and data projector. Others mentioned that their colleagues sometimes express jealousy at their special treatment, or a misunderstanding that their time away was merely a “holiday”. Most of the teachers, however, have received the support that they have needed and are able to integrate technology into their teaching. According to the VuMA mentor, she has observed 79 of the teachers using technology during their lessons. She further commented that all of the teachers are applying the skills that they learnt at VuMA in their teaching, even if they are unable to use technology.


Profiles of selected VuMA teachers

Five teachers were selected for extended profiles, based on their excellent performance as Mathematics teachers subsequent to their time in VuMA. The selection was done with the valuable input of the VuMA classroom mentor, Ann McLoughlin. Mr Bhekani Zulu

“I tend to be delighted when seeing other people develop as a result of my contribution.” This quote seems to capture the spirit of Mr Bhekani Zulu, who is clearly passionate about making a difference through education. Bhekani was born on the 9th of November, 1980, and was raised by his mother as a single parent. His primary school education took place at a deep rural school in Empangeni, where he had to walk about 6 – 8 km from home to school and back each day. Multiple family conflicts meant that he had to relocate to Durban, where he completed his high school education at Clairwood Technical High School. He was one of the few Zulu-‐speaking students at this school, and found the move to the predominantly English-‐speaking context challenging. Adding to his difficulty at this stage was his living arrangement, where he stayed in the homes of people who weren’t his family. As a result he had to repeat his final year of schooling and enrol in a bridging programme before proceeding into tertiary education. He obtained a National Professional Diploma in Education from the University of Natal, which was later followed by an Advanced Certificate in Education majoring in FET Mathematics, through University of South Africa. Bhekani showed great initiative in his early teaching years. He began teaching as an unqualified teacher while completing his studies, and during this time he approached two teachers who were known for their excellence, requesting them to be his mentors. “Indeed that helped me so much,” he recalls, but he continued to feel restricted by various limiting factors, including a poor culture of learning in the schools in which he taught. He also mentions that his lack of knowledge of technology as a teaching tool was a limiting factor for him, in spite of having access to the necessary equipment and a dedicated Maths classroom. Bhekani was selected to participate in the VuMA programme in 2015 as part of the VuMA 3 cohort. He laughingly recalls: “I’ve always had a computer but it was only good for movies, music, photos and games but VuMA changed my perspective.” He explains how VuMA taught him how to integrate technology and Mathematics effectively. He found that, instead of wasting so much time cleaning and writing on the chalk board, he could instead use the time more productively with notes that


were saved on his laptop. His content knowledge improved through the programme, as he recalls: “I remember how she changed misconceptions and understanding of geometry.” He also discovered how to engage the learners much more in his lessons: “I thought teaching had to have a serious mood but VuMA made me realise that you can be in a classroom, doing Mathematics while having fun. My learners couldn’t wait to be in my maths classes as they were also actively participating which is one of the skills Sue imparted to me. What used to be my lesson turned to be our lessons.” He adds that he learnt professionalism and discipline while at VuMA, and is better able to manage his time and remain focused for longer periods of time. A few months after completing the VuMA course he was promoted to the position of Mathematics Subject Advisor in the uMgungundlovu District. Here he was able to share the skills he had learned from VuMA more broadly, as he is frequently called on to run materials development workshops at district and provincial level. He attributes his success at this level to the skills that he learnt from VuMA. “I did not know I had so much potential until I went to the forum with other maths advisers. I did something I thought was simple but they said it was so profound that I started taking the lead with everything happening there. I am now running workshops in other districts. I am investing things in other people that started in this room right here (referring to the Vula Mathematics room).” He ends the interview by saying: “I anticipated to equip my learners only at school level without realising that I’m getting extensive training in order to expand to diverse environments. I’m generally grateful to the Vula Team for their understanding and selfless inputs.” Mr Sandile Sikhosana

Mr Sandile Sikhosana is a very recent participant in the VuMA programme, as part of the VuMA 7 cohort in 2017. It is therefore surprising to witness how confidently he uses technology and engages his learners during the lesson observation, particularly in light of his admission that he had no prior skills in using technology in his teaching: “I knew how to use the computer, but I never knew how to apply it in my lessons.” Sandile’s background story is one of an on-‐going struggle with dire poverty. Although he passed matric in 2002 with merit, his poor family circumstances meant that he had no idea of what to do after matric, since his family was not able to support his further studies. “In 2003 and 2004 I was working as a taxi door operator. I had to support my family financially, helping my sister and my young brothers to finish school.” In 2005 he was accepted into the Science Foundation Programme (SFP), to gain access to study a BSc degree. However, due to


the family’s on-‐going financial struggles, he did very poorly in his first year of his BSc and dropped out of university. Nevertheless, in 2007 Sandile was hired to teach Mathematics in one of his neighbouring schools in Impendle on the basis of his matric and SFP results. He recalls, “I managed to support my family until the end of contract in December 2007, and was back to hunger struggle again.” He continued to teach in short-‐term contracts, until eventually in 2009 he was employed in an on-‐going contract in his present school. “I have produced many successful learners in my school, and in my cluster, who had achieved distinctions in Mathematics, and this stands as proof of my ability.” In 2009 he was elected as a Cluster Coordinator for Mathematics for Impendle Cluster Schools, and in 2012, he was appointed as Mathematics Lead Teacher, where he assisted poor-‐performing schools. He is still in the process of completing his National Diploma in Education. Sandile expresses great appreciation for the skills that he has gained from VuMA in applying technology in his teaching: “Technology is everywhere, entwined in almost every part of our lives. It affects how we shop, socialize, connect, play, and most importantly learn. Applying technology in my lessons helps me to prepare my learners for the real world environment.” He adds that he not only learnt about technology during his time at VuMA, but also how to introduce topics meaningfully, present his lessons more clearly, and have better discipline and time management in his classes. He also mentions having become more confident in presenting his lessons, in his use of English, and in his mastery of the mathematical concepts. “I gained a lot of confidence, I can now teach the chapters I was scared to teach before. Now I can teach the whole curriculum, where I used to hide from some topics.”

Sandile’s confidence grew to such an extent that he was able to teach his fellow VuMA colleagues during their time in the programme, and on a subsequent

Sandile Sikhosana runs an exam revision session with his learners


weekend workshop that they themselves organised at the Vula Lodge. He smilingly recalls how their enthusiastic Mathematics discussions lasted late into the night. Ms Bongile Duma Ms Bongile Duma (Bongi) describes her approach to life with this phrase: “I can say the difficulties I faced pushed me to become what I am today, and to be able to uplift my family.” This is an apt summary of the journey that she has taken to overcome the struggles of her past. Bongi recalls the difficulties she experienced as a high school student:

I was living very far away from school, it was 9km that I walked to school every day. Then another thing that was very painful in Grade 11, was that my mother was very ill, to the extent that they moved her from our home to live in Johannesburg where she was being cared for. I became the caregiver in my family, so it was vey hard for me, but I knew I had to pass the matric to be able to help my siblings and uplift the standard of living in the home. Looking at the high school I was in, it was in a rural area, with no resources like the township or town schools. I was just coping because I knew what I was looking for. Life was so difficult, but through that life, it pushed me to become what I am today.

After matriculating in 1990, Bongi applied for various jobs, but was unsuccessful. She remained at home, unemployed, for two years. In 1993 she was approached by the principal of a nearby school, asking her to teach Mathematics. “That was the greatest opportunity I had because I collected a salary, which enabled me to begin to study through the college of education. Then my life started.” After receiving her diploma she was officially employed as a full time teacher from 1996, and was thus able to help her siblings to study at tertiary institutions. “We were educated through my efforts. My father didn't pay anything for our education.” Bongi quickly showed her value as a teacher and was appointed as the Head of Department (HOD) for Mathematics, but when her husband was transferred from Bergville to Pietermaritzburg in 2014 she had to take a lower teaching position. However, she has worked her way up again, and was appointed HOD of her new school in 2017. Bongi met Sue in 2007, when she began participating in the Vula workshops that were held twice a month in Bergville. “Those workshops helped me a lot because we obtained different strategies from Sue and different methods to make maths enjoyable in class.” In 2015 she became a participant in the VuMA 3 cohort. She


comments on how useful she found the programme. Where she had previously known how to use the computer as a “type-‐writer”, through VuMA she was introduced to the use of computers in Mathematics teaching. Because of the skills that she gained from her time with VuMA, she describes how she is now able to continually teach herself new skills and grow her own capacity as a Mathematics teacher. “We are learning more while we are using it, because they encouraged us to keep practising so that we know better. I am always learning new things when I am using the software programs.” In her reports on the lessons that she observed during the mentor visits, Ann commented on Bongi’s performance: “Your class was responsive and you questioned well. You responded well when the class corrected your slip of the tongue, and it definitely showed that they were listening to you and that they understood! Your worksheet was beautifully clear and neat! Learners were on task throughout.” The full report of the mentor visit can be seen in Appendix 2.

Bongi with her VuMA mentor Ann McLoughlin

When asked about the impact on her learners, Bongi responds: “Learners concentrate for longer, right through the lesson, and they enjoy the lesson.” The pass rate of her Mathematics students is steadily improving, and she is hopeful that the Grade 11 class that she is currently teaching, and who she will accompany into matric, will yield 8 distinctions for Mathematics. She has also successfully run a Mathematics competition with the Grade 8 and 9 learners in the school, using money from her own pocket to fund the prizes. She concludes the interview by proudly saying: “The teacher from a deep rural area who can now teach in any part of South Africa. I am very proud of the knowledge I have gained from Vula and VuMA, so I don't have fear for any problem in maths. I am confident in any aspect of the syllabus -‐ even if wake me in the middle of the night, you can ask me any question – I will tell you!”


Mr Mqondisi Zulu

Mr Mqondisi Zulu tells the following delightful story about how he came to learn of the VuMA programme:

“The weekend, 09-‐11 September 2016. The place, Garden Court, The Marine Parade, Durban. I was invited by the Pinetown District as a top teacher to attend a material development workshop. In these workshop, subject advisers and their top teacher from all the 12 district in KZN were to compile a Mathematics document for grade 12 high flyers revision, which would be held at different camps across the province. The uMgungundlovu and Pinetown district were grouped together to develop questions on functions. For me this was a challenging task because I had no idea how we would draw graphs of functions using a computer. To our rescue, comes a couple guys (top teachers) from the uMgungundlovu District with Mr Bheki Zulu as well Sifiso Mtambo from Pinetown, they took over! I was relieved! I observe with pleasure and amazement; these colleagues did everything with confident. They drew all the graphs with all the creativity you can ever imagine. Wonderfully! And I was like where on earth these people come from! When it comes to presentation they were the first to raise their hands to present, beautiful! Wow! So I was intrigued and overwhelmed. I could see that these teachers know their story. They are competent and confident at the same time. While Sifiso was busy drawing the graphs I was next to him and I observed something, hundreds and hundreds of folders in his computer were written VuMA. Eventually I asked him what these VuMA all about? He just looked at me and open most of these folders and I was like so much great work! He then started briefing about VuMA project. I was 100% captivated and in my whole body and mind which I could attend this wonderfully project.” As is evident from this description, Mqondisi enjoys creative writing, and is a published poet. In addition to that, he is an extremely dedicated, gifted teacher, in spite of the difficult experience he had at high school. “In this school, no physics or maths teachers stayed for very long – they would come and go because of the rural environment. The maths teacher would be absent for a few months at a time. I worked with my friend, we taught each other, and each got an A.” For somebody from a deep rural, disadvantaged educational background, Mqondisi’s passion and flair for teaching is an inspiration. “I love teaching so much. I try to give my all to them. I am trying my best to create a conducive environment. I am hoping for many A’s next year.”


Observation of Mqondisi’s lesson was a pleasure. His learners were captivated and actively engaged throughout the lesson. The Vula Mathematics mentor, Ann McLoughlin, commented in her report on him: “Your class is responsive and they knew exactly what was going on. You have a quiet, confident manner and your class obviously respects you. There was no waste of time at all -‐ you just got on with it. This is a big class, and you have perfect control -‐ your learners were all immediately on task.” Mqondisi’s lesson presentations were well designed, and the questions were of a high standard. Ann further commented in her report: “Your slides are amazingly professional -‐ I thought you must have downloaded them from a textbook! Wow! The more the lesson wore on, the more impressed I was with the quality of your slides. They are the most professional I've seen in all the schools I've visited. I could definitely not compete with you.” (The full report by Ann on Mqondisi’s teaching can be seen in Appendix 2) Mqondisi was very confident in using technology in his teaching. When asked how he developed such confidence, he attributes it all to VuMA. “Before my time with VuMA, I had a laptop but I didn't use it for anything except music.” He describes how he now uses technology not only for PowerPoint presentations during his classes, but to do research about Mathematics teaching, and to find additional materials, which enables him to set questions of a higher standard. He describes what he has gained from VuMA: “In VuMA you look at strategies and teaching methodology. You learn how to teach, how to organise your time, how to have a work ethic and a positive mindset, it’s so much more than just technology. You also learn about hands-‐on things, like the models we got at VuMA to explain shapes and concepts. Letting learners do this for themselves they understand, rather than just seeing it in a book. VuMA is investing in us, not for us but for the learners for many years to come.” He ends the interview with a big grin on his face: “I am loving it. A boy from deep rural Nongoma is flying, I am flying!”

Mr Mqondisi Zulu encouraging his learners with sweets


Mr Mlondi Ngcobo

Mr Mlondi Ngcobo is very proud of the excellence in Mathematics teaching that he has been able to achieve since his time in VuMA. “My wife laughs when we are at UKZN (the local university) because of the love that is shown by learners that I have taught after VuMA. She even says it is like these learners see an angel from the above due to a lot of stories that they tell me about their Maths at university. Some of them even get bursaries to further their studies.” Mlondi’s childhood home had no regular income, and so he often had to walk the hour-‐long journey to school on an empty stomach. He recalls that he would frequently find the Mathematics teacher missing for a number of days a week, and so had had to teach himself using books from the school library. After he completed his schooling he was not able to study at university for lack of funding, so his mother managed to borrow money to send him to an FET college instead, where he completed an N6 in electrical engineering. He was then able to fund himself to study toward a teaching qualification through correspondence. His early years of Mathematics teaching were a challenge, since has learners found Mathematics to be a very difficult subject. However, he recalls that his time at VuMA changed all that, since his ability to teach the subject meaningfully has greatly improved. “That was a big turnaround for me, where we were taught different skills of teaching maths and where I was introduced on how to teach learners using technology. Sue and Ann -‐ wow! They were so creative and brilliant, they managed to assist us within a short period of time in such a way that when we were there we were so eager to go back in our schools to demonstrate the skills that were taught to us.” He has noticed how much more his learners are enjoying Mathematics since his time at the academy. “VuMA project increased my confidence on teaching maths, and my learners are now enjoying maths. Even neighbouring schools’ learners come to my school during holidays to witness the amazing maths lessons that are taught.” He proudly goes on to say, “I have produced some quality maths results in such a way that every learner is very keen to be taught by me.” When asked what his learners would say about him, he responds: “What my learners would say is to

Mlondi as a proud graduate


thank the VuMA project for giving their maths teacher an opportunity to develop more content knowledge and skills which also assist them to love this subject.”

Some of Mlondi's learners enjoying a Mathematics lesson

In acknowledgement of his excellent teaching ability, Mlondi has been promoted to the position of HOD of Mathematics, and has also been approached to run Saturday classes with the Tutorial Project at the local university.

Thematic analysis of the teacher profiles

There are some common themes that can be traced from the teacher profiles:

• Access to education: All of the teachers have experienced poor educational provision at some stage during their school studies, and four of the five have had difficulty in accessing tertiary education. The teachers had to draw on their own resources and intrinsic motivation to overcome the multiple factors that diminished their access to tertiary education.

• Technology as a teaching tool: Although the teachers may have known how to use computers before their time in VuMA, for example to play music or movies, they had no prior experience of integrating technology into their Mathematics teaching. The teachers are displaying competence and confidence in using technology to enhance their Mathematics lessons.

• Increased enthusiasm: The teachers all commented about how much more interesting and engaging their lessons are as a result of the use of technology.

• Increased dedication: The teachers all display a passion for teaching Mathematics, often doing more than is expected of them by their schools (such as running Mathematics competitions, planning extra lessons for their learners, or running workshops for learners from other schools etc.)


• Increased confidence: The teachers all mentioned that their confidence as Mathematics teachers improved as a result of their time in VuMA, both in the presentation of their lessons, and in their content knowledge.

Of course, not all of the teachers who have been through VuMA are excelling to the extent that these teachers are, but the programme is clearly offering substantial support for Mathematics teachers that enables them to become confident, engaging and skilled teachers, if they have the self-‐motivation and the support from their own school to follow this through in their teaching.

Factors that prevent VuMA teachers from excelling

Not all teachers reach the same level of excellence in their teaching after their time in VuMA. In discussion with the VuMA mentor, the following were mentioned as possible reasons for this:

• Some of the teachers do not receive the support that they need from their school governing bodies or principals. Without the supporting equipment, namely a white board and data projector, they find it very difficult to implement what they have learnt, and therefore quickly become demotivated.

• Those that do not have a dedicated Mathematics room in which they can teach find that it takes a lot of time for them to set up the equipment before each Mathematics lesson, which detracts from their ability to effectively integrate technology into their lessons.

• Although careful consideration goes into the selection of teachers for the programme by Mr Phila Mnyandu, it is impossible to ensure that all those who are selected have the self-‐motivation or ability to be good Mathematics teachers. Hence some do not have the intrinsic motivation or aptitude to put the tools that they have been equipped with into practice.

One of the challenges that remains for VuMA is the question of how to encourage the schools to offer the right kind of support to teachers after their time in the academy, to ensure that teachers are given the best opportunity to implement what they have learnt in the classroom. Without this support, some of the investment that has been made in the teachers may be lost.

Impact of the VuMA programme on learners

The impact of the programme on learners will be explored in two aspects: the impact on learners’ perceptions of Mathematics, and the impact on their performance in the national examination.


Impact on learners’ perception of Mathematics

A questionnaire was administered that attempted to probe learners’ perception of Mathematics. In order to generate a baseline set of data for purposes of comparison, a similar questionnaire was administered in schools where teachers have been selected to participate in VuMA, but have not yet been through the course. In the questionnaire, learners were asked to respond to the following questions, on a scale of 1 to 4:

• How much do you enjoy Mathematics? (represented on the graph below as “Enjoyment of Mathematics”)

• How difficult is Mathematics for you? (represented on the graph below as “Manageability of Mathematics”)

• How do you rate your Mathematics teacher? (represented on the graph below as “Rating of Mathematics teacher”)

To avoid language confusion the questions were expressed in both English and isiZulu, and the meaning of each of the 4-‐scale rating criteria was explained. The full questionnaire can be seen in Appendix 1. The learners’ ratings were aggregated, such that a number could be found that represents the overall learner response (on a scale with a maximum of 4). The results of this questionnaire are shown in Graph 1 below.

2.35 2.49

2.82 2.84 2.84

3.74

2.00 2.20 2.40 2.60 2.80 3.00 3.20 3.40 3.60 3.80 4.00

Enjoyment of Mathemaocs

Manageability of Mathemaocs

Raong of Mathemaocs teacher

Graph 1: Average of learner responses regarding Mathema[cs

non-‐VuMA

VuMA

Poster on a VuMA classroom wall


Discussion on enjoyment of Mathematics

This graph shows that learners in classes with VuMA teachers perceive Mathematics to be more enjoyable than learners in non-‐VuMA classes (with a rating score of 2.84 compared with 2.35 respectively). A breakdown of the percentage of learners who responded to each criterion is shown in Graph 2 below.

Notably there is a higher percentage of learners with VuMA teachers who indicate that they enjoy Mathematics a lot (14%) than non-‐VuMA learners (10%). Where 12% of non-‐VuMA learners responded that they do not enjoy Mathematics, no VuMA learners fall into this category. This implies that VuMA teachers are able to present the Mathematics in such a way that it is more enjoyable for learners. Discussion on manageability of Mathematics

Graph 1 shows that learners in classes with VuMA teachers perceive Mathematics to be more manageable (less difficult) than learners in non-‐VuMA classes, with a rating score of 2.84 compared with 2.49 respectively. A breakdown of the percentage of learners who responded to each criterion is shown in Graph 3 below.

12% 0%

52%

30%

26%

55%

10% 14%

0% 10% 20% 30% 40% 50% 60% 70% 80% 90% 100%

non-‐VuMA VuMA

Graph 2: Enjoyment of Mathema[cs

4 = I enjoy it a lot

3 = I enjoy it most of the ome

2 = I enjoy it a liqle bit

1 = I do not enjoy it

12% 2%

30%

13%

57%

84%

2% 1%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

non-‐VuMA VuMA

Graph 3: Manageability of Mathema[cs

4 =It is never difficult for me

3 = It is difficult some of the ome

2 = It is difficult most of the ome

1 = It is always very difficult for me


The vast majority of learners with VuMA teachers experience Mathematics to only be difficult some of the time (84%), with 13% finding it difficult most of the time, and 2% finding it very difficult. In comparison, 57% of learners with non-‐VuMA teachers experience Mathematics to only be difficult some of the time, with 30% finding it difficult most of the time, and 12% finding it very difficult. This suggests that VuMA teachers are able to teach the Mathematics in such a way that learners find it more accessible, and less difficult, than teachers who have not been through the VuMA course. Discussion on teacher ratings

Graph 1 shows that learners in classes with VuMA teachers rate their Mathematics teachers much more highly than do non-‐VuMA learners, with a rating score of 3.74 compared with 2.82 respectively. A breakdown of the percentage of learners who responded to each criterion is shown in Graph 4 below.

The vast majority of learners with VuMA teachers rate their teacher at the highest category of excellence (80%), compared with only 26% of non-‐VuMA learners. Also notable is the fact that no VuMA learners rate their teacher as “not a good teacher”, compared with 9% of non-‐VuMA learners. Clearly the learners have a much more positive experience of Mathematics teachers who have been through the VuMA programme than learners whose teachers have not had this opportunity.

9%

26%

6%

38%

13%

26%

80%

0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

100%

non-‐VuMA VuMA

Graph 4: Ra[ng of Mathema[cs teacher

4 =He/she is an excellent teacher

3 = He/she is a good teacher most of the ome 2 = He/she is someomes a good teacher 1 = He/she is not a good teacher


The following are some of the comments made by learners about their VuMA teachers:

• “I think he is a magician. He give us classwork we find it difficult but he does it in a few minutes and example it and it just becomes simple. He make sure every learner pass if you don’t understand you can go ask him anything. I’d say we blessed to have a teacher like him he brings back hope in our maths results plus always compliment us.”

• “He is determined and he always teach, he tries his best. He is so passionate about Math, he always motivate us and encourages us. He have taught us a lot and he have a good heart!! He knows a lot about UBUNTU!!!”

• “She work very hard. She even work on Saturday so we can understand lot of thing we don’t understand in class.”

• “My teacher has already done a lot. It up to me now to improve my result is to practise.”

• “She is excellent it’s just me that needs to work harder.”

• “She has done everything in her power to help me improve my maths. It is all in my hands now, to study and practice maths.”

• “He tries his level best to simplify things.”

• “He is an inspirational person and quite an open teacher to talk to.”

• “He makes maths work very easy.”

• “Our Maths teacher always motivates us to become better in Maths and in all our subjects.”

• “He makes learning an enjoyable thing to do.”

• “He is a brilliant teacher because since he has taught me I’ve improved a lot in my Maths. In each and every lesson he always tries to give his best to his students and to get out the best out of every student. He is also dedicated to his work.”

• “He makes maths an exciting subject. He also motivates us to achieve very high marks.”

In her comments on learners’ perception of Mathematics, Ann McLoughlin said: “Learners are very impressed with the changes in the VuMA teachers – they are more energised, they involve the learners more than they did, and there is more learner participation. Before it was more just the chanting, and that happens far less now. The confidence in learners is also impressive – they are very happy to write on the board with me in the room.”


It is clear that learners have a very positive experience of Mathematics as a result of the VuMA intervention with their teachers, and are growing in confidence and passion for the subject. This will hopefully have a knock-‐on effect into other areas of their schooling experience, since according to Ann, “the thing that happens is that the success in maths boils over into other subjects, as learners’ self esteem and motivation is at a higher level.”

Impact on learner performance

The learner results were analysed for the 2016 final Mathematics examination in order to gauge the impact of the VuMA intervention on their performance. It should be borne in mind that the KwaZulu-‐Natal province has the second lowest learner performance in Mathematics of all of the eleven South African provinces, with a pass rate of only 37.9%, where the national pass rate is 51.1%. In order to compare the performance of VuMA schools with similar schools in the district, only the results of the quintile 1 to 3 schools were included in this analysis. The quintile system is used by the DBE to designate all government schools as one of five categories, with quintile 1 schools indicating the poorest institutions while quintile 5 designates the least poor public schools. The quintile to which a school was assigned was based on the rates of income, unemployment and illiteracy within the school’s catchment area. The following table shows the percentage of learners that achieved results in a range of mark-‐bands for VuMA and non-‐VuMA schools. Table 2: Learner performance in 2016 Mathematics matric examination

Not yet resulted

Poor performance (fail) Good performance (pass)

Achieved

0-‐9%

Achieved

10-‐19

%

Achieved

0-‐29%

Achieved

30-‐10

0%

Achieved

40-‐10

0%

Achieved

60-‐10

0%

Achieved

80-‐10

0%

non-‐VuMA schools 26.5% 21.5% 25.1% 66.1% 33.9% 17.7% 4.0% 0.3%

VuMA schools 8.8% 10.6% 23.2% 56.5% 43.5% 24.0% 6.6% 1.5%


These results are depicted in Graph 5 below.

This graph shows that learners from VuMA schools perform less poorly than their counterparts from equivalent non-‐VuMA schools. In particular, where 21.5% of learners in non-‐VuMA schools perform extremely poorly (achieving only 0 to 9% in Mathematics), the percentage of VuMA learners in this similar category is less than half of this percentage, at 10.6%. Where 26.5% of non-‐VuMA candidates are designated “Not Yet Resulted” (due to various irregularities such as learners not arriving for exams, and errors with submission of School-‐Based Assessment marks), this percentage for VuMA schools is much lower (only 8.8%), which shows a greater level of organisation in the Mathematics departments of these schools. The pass rate (which is a final mark of 30% and above) for VuMA schools is 43.5%, compared with 33.9% for non-‐VuMA schools, and the percentage of quality passes (with performance above 60%) is 6.6% for VuMA schools, compared with 4.0% for non-‐VuMA schools. Also significant is the fact that VuMA schools are managing to achieve distinctions in Mathematics (1.5% of learners), compared with 0.3% from non-‐VuMA schools. Given that nationally the percentage of learners who achieve a distinction is 3%, this is a good achievement for schools falling into this band. The fact that these schools are clearly achieving better results than their equivalent counterparts is significant in a context that has multiple systemic barriers to performance.

26.5%

21.5%

25.1%

66.1%

33.9%

17.7%

4.0%

0.3%

8.8%

10.6%

23.2%

56.5%

43.5%

24.0%

6.6%

1.5%

0.0%

10.0%

20.0%

30.0%

40.0%

50.0%

60.0%

70.0%

Achieved

0-‐9%

Achieved

10-‐19%

Achieved

0-‐29%

Achieved

30-‐100%

Achieved

40-‐100%

Achieved

60-‐100%

Achieved

80-‐100%

Not Yet Resulted

Poor performance (fail) Good performance (pass)

Graph 5: Compara[ve performance of quin[le 1 to 3 schools

non-‐VuMA schools

VuMA schools


Broader perspectives on the VuMA programme

One of the strengths of the Vula Programme is the wide range of on-‐going support that it receives from, amongst others, the board of the Hiltonian Society NPC, the Department of Basic Education and the project funders. It was therefore decided to include the perspectives of these supporters on the work of VuMA and in exploring the way forward for the programme.

The Hiltonian Society NPC

The Community Projects sub-‐committee of The Hiltonian Society NPC sets as its overall goal “to firmly establish and maintain social equity/social responsibility as a meaningful and relevant core value at Hilton College”. The Vula Programme is one of the components of this sub-‐committee. As such the future sustainability of the Vula Programme is high on its list of priorities. In the 2016 strategic plan the following medium to long term goals were set:

1. Long-‐term financial stability and sustainability 2. Expansion of provincial foot print 3. Additional academic focus areas 4. Additional residential facilities and working spaces 5. Greater collaboration with the Global Citizenship activities of Hilton College 6. Effective succession planning to replace present Vula staff members when

they retire An interview was conducted with Ms Dale ten Hope, the chair of the Community Projects sub-‐committee. In this interview she emphasized the commitment of the


Hiltonian Society NPC to sustainable social development. “At Hilton we want to remain relevant, sustainable, and part of the bigger picture of social development in the country. We see social equity development as a fundamental.” She went on to say that the Vula Project has the full support of the society board. She proudly commented on the project’s impact that she has witnessed: “Seeing the teachers and the difference it makes, you realise that it really touches people's lives. That’s what it's about, making a difference in people's lives, not just talking about it, but doing it, and seeing somebody's life improved and changed. It's about, from a practical point of view, doing something and giving back in a real way.” The VuMA teachers have been included in the staff professional development programme of Hilton College, which has not only been beneficial for these teachers, but also for the Hilton College staff who have had the opportunity to network with the VuMA participants, and to gain insight into the issues and challenges that they face. In commenting on the possible ways forward for the Vula Programme, Ms ten Hope mentioned the possibilities of expansion of the current delivery of the academy to a greater number of teachers, and to include other subjects, such as Physical Science and Accounting. She also mentioned the need to identify appropriate replacement staff where current staff members may be retiring in the future. This would require a greater commitment from Hilton College of dedicated space within the school buildings, and creative explorations of shared space in the existing facilities, such as afternoon use of the school science laboratories. She emphasized the need for the outreach work to be visible to the Hilton College learners, to develop their sensitivity to the need for social development, and to encourage their participation in these initiatives. She also mentioned the possible involvement of Hilton College teachers in various aspects of the outreach programme on a voluntary basis. Ms ten Hope commented on the shift brought about by the Vula Lodge in expanding the possible reach of the project. “The availability of on-‐site accommodation changes who we can work with, as we can bring in people from further afield.” She mentioned the possibility of the building of a second lodge if funding becomes available, to allow for wider possibilities. She emphasized the importance of the Vula Programme maintaining its independence in decision making, having a direct line of reporting to the board, rather than having to report through the headmaster of Hilton College, in order to ensure the on-‐going operational integrity of Vula.


The Vula donors

Mr David Tennant, Chairman of the Frank Jackson Foundation, was interviewed as a representative of the trustees of the foundation. The Frank Jackson Foundation has been a consistent financial supporter of the Vula Mathematics project for many years, and therefore has an important perspective to contribute. When asked why the foundation has funded the Vula project so consistently over the years, Mr Tennant commented: “We just thought this was a terrific project. There was clearly the need – we looked quite carefully at the statistics of matric pass marks, with the gradual lowering of the marks in these schools, and the teachers who needed much more support than they were getting. Usually after three years we stop funding a project, but this was a much bigger thing, and we have been very happy with it.” He expressed the foundation’s admiration for the dedication and quality of the work of the Vula staff, and their appreciation for the support given by Hilton College itself. When commenting on the VuMA initiative in particular, he mentioned how important the intensive immersion aspect of it is in producing a much more lasting impact than is able to be achieved during monthly or even weekly workshops. Reporting on his conversations with VuMA participants, he commented: “They were very clear that this was a complete game changer in terms of really getting on top of their subjects and how to put that across. It has been a really huge success. Vula were doing a great job before, but this enables them to make a much more lasting difference.” After the visit of the Frank Jackson Foundation trustees to South Africa during February 2017, Mr Tennant sent the following note to the Vula staff: “We are so full


of admiration for everything you do and we enjoyed our visit to Vula and VuMA enormously. What a splendid new building you are going to have for your teachers. I cannot tell you how much pleasure it gives us to see the investment we have made in Vula blossom and grow – and that is because we backed the right people.” When asked about the future of the project, Mr Tennant commented that the foundation is very keen on the expansion of VuMA in order to be able to include more teachers and hence have a wider impact. He encouraged the idea of a possible second lodge. A concern that he expressed is with the succession planning in terms of staff, since the success of the academy rests very heavily on the expertise and passion of the present facilitators, but he also expressed his faith in the Vula staff to be able to explore viable options for the future. “We have great faith in them to make the right decisions, and they have been good at keeping us well informed about how things are going, and sending through the project statistics.” In conclusion Mr Tennant commented: “This has been one of our most successful projects, we are very thrilled about that. In this regard we have absolute support right across the board from the trustees.”

Officials from the Department of Basic Education

Interviews were conducted with three officials from the Department of Basic Education in order to ascertain their perception of the VuMA programme, and to enquire about their views on the possible way forward for the programme. The officials consulted were Dr Hintsa Mhlane (Senior Manager: MST & ICT) , Mr Irshad Motala (Chief Education Specialist: MST & ICT), and Mr Phila Mnyandu (Senior Education Specialist for Mathematics).


In commenting on the impact of VuMA on the level of Mathematics education in the province, the officials were unanimous in their view that the course has had a very positive influence on the quality of teaching and learning of Mathematics in the uMgungundlovu district. Dr Mhlane commented: “The VuMA facilitators are highly experienced, and that increases the confidence of the teachers. It affords practicing teachers the opportunity to experience the curriculum from a learner’s perspective. The fact that the Vula program is integrated with IT is very significant. There is nothing else like this in the country in terms of continuing teacher professional development.” Mr Mnyandu highlighted the strength of the values that are imparted to the teachers through the course: “The commitment of the staff is important, they showed their commitment, and as a result the teachers abide by the same attitude – that makes it a success. The values you get out of this are very important, like respecting your work, and respecting everybody including yourself.” He further commented on the impact of VuMA on the confidence of the teachers: “When we meet in the province for materials development, the VuMA teachers are held in high esteem, they take the lead.” Mr Mnyandu drew attention to the increasingly positive reputation that Vula has developed among the school principals. “There is now competition amongst principals to send their teachers here. At first they didn't want anything to do with this, now they are so eager. News has spread, and I don't have to beg principals for a teacher.” Mr Motala made the following point about the model of the academy: “The real strength of this programme is the immersion of teachers into a Mathematics-‐rich environment. We have tended to atomise teacher training, making it intermittent, 2 days here and there, and so the training tends to be a bit fragmented. In the VuMA model what I saw was that, for three whole months, you eat, sleep and whatever else mathematics, and really get stuck into it. There is nothing peripheral or fleeting or brief about it, you have the time to get really immersed and involved in it.” He went on to make the following observations: “There is something very important that is going on there – the model, the length of time, the quality of the training, and the technology they are exposed to – they are doing real curriculum integration with ICT. This is actually happening here, they are not just talking about it.” In commenting on the reach of VuMA in the district, Mr Motala made the following points: “You might think that this program is small, ‘a drop in ocean’, but if you look at the number of schools in our district, with around 150 high schools per district, they have trained about 80 people in this district already – that is not miniscule. They have actually trained a significant proportion of the teachers.” He added that there could be a ripple effect in the schools, where a VuMA teacher takes other teachers from the school under their wing, offering guidance and suggestions of how technology could be used in their lessons.


On the basis of his visit to the VuMA graduation, Mr Motala noted: “I saw real empowerment and capacitation. Most of all they were smiling and very happy! Something within them had been opened up and released, and their potential as a teacher can be realised.” Dr Mhlane commented on the strength of the collegial networking that takes place during the VuMA course: “It affords them the opportunity to share ideas and realise that the problems they experience in their classrooms are not unique. That takes away the anxiety and they are able to talk to other colleagues and get the support that they need.” Mr Motala mentioned that in future the course needs to be certified in some way to bring it in line with the departmental training protocols. “Now it has reached that stage, where they need to get it accredited. How utterly sad if, because of rules and regulations, something so worthwhile can’t survive in this ocean of regulations, with its choppy waters.” In commenting on the possible future expansion of the VuMA course, Mr Motala drew attention to the limiting factor of the number of DUT students who are available to replace the teachers for the duration of the course. Mr Mnyandu added to this the issue of students not wanting to be placed in deep rural schools, which are the schools most in need of this intervention. Mr Motala’s dream is to have a pool of supply teachers that can be drawn on to cover for existing teachers, to allow a greater flexibility in offering this immersion model of intervention. However, this is beyond the scope of the Vula project itself, but may be a point of discussion in future deliberations with the department. Mr Motala also cautioned against expanding the program too rapidly, for fear of loss of quality and cohesion in the training.


The Vula management

An interview was conducted with the manager of the Vula Programme, Mr Lloyd Smuts, in order to explore possible future scenarios for the Mathematics Academy. He outlined two possible scenarios, a cautious way forward and an idealistic way forward. The cautious way forward involves continuing with the VuMA structure as it currently stands, with two intakes of a maximum of 20 teachers, and continuing to focus narrowly on one or two districts. The idealistic way forward is for Vula to become a stand-‐alone in-‐service training institute that operates in close association with the Department of Basic Education, with more residential facilities, and increased dedicated teaching and work space, while continuing with the school follow-‐up component with dedicated mentors.

Recommendations for the way forward

Possible future scenarios

Drawing from the perspectives of the supporters, as well as the staff of the Vula Mathematics project, the following are possible future scenarios for the Vula Mathematics Academy, together with the pros and cons of each scenario:

1. Continue with the current model exactly as it stands, with two cohorts of around 16 teachers in each cohort, continuing with the school mentoring component to offer support and ensure follow-‐through in the classroom, and retain the focus on one or two districts.

PROS: • This approach is tried and tested, and is having good impact in the

schools in which it has been implemented.

• It is achievable using the current premises.

• The school mentoring visits are manageable as they are kept within a fairly contained geographical region.


CONS: • The reach is limited to around 32 teachers per year, which is small in

comparison to the need (with roughly 1800 high schools in the KZN province alone).

• Lack of formalisation or certification of the course leaves it vulnerable to be challenged by department officials or teacher unions.

2. Continue with the current model as described above, but ensure that the course is certified in some way.

PROS: • This would formalise the recognition of VuMA and ensure its alignment

with the protocols of the Department of Basic Education.

• It would protect VuMA to some extent from being challenged by department officials or teacher unions.

• The certification would provide additional motivation for the teachers. Practical assignments would be set as part of the course completion requirements which would encourage follow-‐through at school level. The implementation results may be used to monitor outcomes and impact of the project.

CONS: • There may be a loss of academic freedom and flexibility in selection of

the content and structure of the course.

• Accredited courses tend to be high in administrative requirements which can detract from the time invested in learning.

3. Build a second Vula Lodge to allow for an expanded offering to 32 teachers in each cohort

PROS: • This would increase the reach of the academy, to ensure that more

teachers are equipped with the skills and knowledge offered by VuMA.

CONS: • This may result in less opportunity for personal contact between the

facilitator and the teachers, unless additional staff are employed.

• More staff would be needed to do the school-‐based mentoring of the teachers to ensure that they receive the support that they need after the course.

• Any expansion may result in difficulty with getting the teachers replaced from a limited pool of DUT students.


4. Build a second Vula Lodge but use it to run the additional support activities throughout the year, and also to run the existing training for four VuMA cohorts per year, one in each term.

PROS: • This would increase the reach of the academy, to ensure that more

teachers are equipped with the skills and knowledge offered by VuMA.

CONS: • Additional staff would need to be employed to run the additional support

activities.

• More staff would be needed to do the school-‐based mentoring of the VuMA teachers to ensure that they receive the support that they need after the course.

5. Take steps towards running Vula as a stand-‐alone in-‐service training institute that operates in close association with the Department of Basic Education, with more residential facilities, and increased dedicated teaching and work space, while continuing with the school follow-‐up component with dedicated mentors. Expand the number of subjects to include, for example, Physical Science and Accounting.

PROS: • This would greatly increase the reach of Vula, to ensure that it has a

significant impact on the teaching and learning taking place in the whole KZN province.

CONS: • This would need a large injection of capital, and requires a greatly

increased residential, office and teaching space.

• A large number of suitably skilled and dedicated staff members would need to be recruited, which would be a challenge and may lead to a loss of quality of the training being offered.

• The school-‐based mentoring of the teachers would become logistically very difficult, due to the vast geographical expanse of schools in the province, as well as the remote location of many of the target schools.

• Management of the increased number of staff members would become more challenging, and there may be a loss of cohesion and adherence to the core vision (which is inevitable in any expansion of a programme of this nature).

The way forward could be developed as a permutation of some of these possible scenarios. Much depends on the availability of funding and the ability to recruit suitably skilled and dedicated staff members.


This evaluation favours expansion of the VuMA project, in order to impact a wider group of teachers. However, caution should be exercised in the process, and this expansion should not be done too rapidly, as this is likely to result in a dilution of the impact of the course. The depth and quality of the work should be held as forefront considerations in any future adaptations to the project.

Additional recommendations

The following additional recommendations are made to further strengthen the work of VuMA:

• The core teaching in the academy rests largely on Sue, who is an extremely skilled, passionate and experienced facilitator. She is also responsible for the selection of the material covered during the course. Although she has had support from Ms Ann McLoughlin, the mentoring role has grown to the extent that it requires a dedicated person, given the large number of VuMA teachers to be supported. An additional staff member is therefore needed to support the workshop preparation and facilitation, as well as the additional training offered by the Vula Mathematics programme, such as the workshops with GET teachers and subject advisers. This person needs to be carefully selected and trained to ensure continuity in the approach, and in the quality and depth of the teaching.

• An alternative possibility, which was recommended in the 2015 evaluation report5, is for staff to be brought in on a contract basis to undertake the broader aspects of the Vula Mathematics teaching components to allow the VuMA staff to focus their energy more exclusively on the work of VuMA. This would be particularly necessary if VuMA were to expand to include more cohorts in future years.

• One of the challenges that remains for VuMA is the question of how to encourage the schools to offer the right kind of support to teachers after they have left the academy, to ensure that teachers are given the best opportunity to implement what they have learnt in the classroom. Without this support, some of the investment that has been made in the teachers may be lost. A recommendation made in the 2015 evaluation is to require principals to make the necessary resources available before a teacher is allowed to participate in the academy. This recommendation is supported in the current evaluation.

• The mentoring role requires an incumbent who can develop a trusting, supportive relationship with teachers, and also demands a great deal of patience and tenacity. It is therefore important that the person fulfilling this role be able to meet this wide range of requirements. Possible models could also be explored to increase the reach of the mentoring component, for

5 Maher, M. (2015) Report on the Vula Mathematics Academy Initiative, University of Notre Dame, Australia


example to sub-‐contract regionally based mentors that are overseen by a senior Vula-‐based mentor.

• Where there is more than one VuMA teacher in a school, the teachers could be encouraged to fulfil a mentoring role with one another, or with other VuMA teachers from nearby schools. A lesson-‐observation template could be developed to guide their feedback to one another. Observing one another’s lessons could also give them ideas for their own teaching practice.

• The availability of the lodge for VuMA teachers to organise their own weekend workshops has great potential in encouraging their on-‐going mutual support and development. This has only happened on one occasion thus far. This kind of initiative could be more actively encouraged by sharing the stories of successful workshops with future cohorts.


Concluding comments

Based on the evidence gathered during this evaluation process, it is very clear that VuMA is having significant impact in providing quality, in-‐depth professional development for Mathematics teachers from under-‐resourced schools. This is resulting in improved learner performance, and a more positive perception of Mathematics as a subject. A key contributing factor to this success is the Vula Mathematics teaching staff who are experienced, dedicated and innovative in their approach, and who have an ability to inspire enthusiasm in the teachers as well as to develop their confidence with the content and teaching of Mathematics. The mentoring role is also crucially important in offering support to the teachers once they have left the academy, and in this way ensuring a transfer of the skills into the classroom context. All of the stakeholders consulted in this evaluation agreed that this is a remarkably successful and unique educational initiative, and that it should be continued and made available to more teachers. This recommendation is supported by this evaluation, with the caution that any growth be done with care to maintain the quality and depth of the intervention. Once again it has been a privilege to be a part of such an inspiring and impressive project that is having much-‐needed impact in a context that remains severely challenging for the majority of teachers and learners. The passion, enthusiasm and dedication of the staff is encouraging to witness. The project is not only impacting on the teachers who are direct beneficiaries, but is having a positive ripple effect on education throughout the KZN province.


Appendix 1: Mathematics questionnaire for learners

Please can you circle the number that reflects your experience of learning Mathematics. Uyacelwa ukuthi ujikeleze inombolo ekhombisa isipiliyoni sakho sokufunda iMathematika. How much do you enjoy Mathematics? Uthanda kangakanani iMathematika?

1 2 3 4

I do not enjoy it Angikujabuleli

I enjoy it a little bit Ngiyakujabulela kancane kancane

I enjoy it most of the time Ngiyakujabulela isikhathi esiningi

I enjoy it a lot Ngiyakujabulela

kakhulu

How difficult is Mathematics for you? Kunzima kangakanani iMathematika kuwe?

1 2 3 4

It is always very difficult for me Kuhlale kunzima kakhulu kimi

It is difficult most of the time

Kunzima kakhulu isikhathi

It is difficult some of the time

Kunzima isikhathi esithile

It is never difficult for me

Akukaze kube nzima kimi

How do you rate your Mathematics teacher? Ulinganisela kanjani uthisha wakho weMathematika?

1 2 3 4

He/She is not a good teacher

Akayena uthisha omuhle

He/She is sometimes a good teacher Ngezinye izikhathi

ungumfundisi omuhle

He/She is a good teacher most of the

time Ungumfundisi omuhle

isikhathi esiningi

He/She is an excellent teacher

Ungumfundisi omuhle kakhulu

What can your teacher do to help you improve your Mathematics marks? Yini uthisha wakho angayenza ukukusiza ukuba uthuthukise amanothi akho weMathematika?


Appendix 2: Mentor reports based on school visits

VULA PROGRAMME at HILTON COLLEGE

CENTRE FOR INNOVATION

Hilton College Private Bag 6001 Hilton 3245 KwaZulu-‐Natal

Telephone (033) 383 0100 Fax (033) 383 0163 NAME OF EDUCATOR: Mqondisi Zulu SCHOOL: Dick Ndlovu DATE: 4th August 2017 GRADE: 11 (36 learners) EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE: Data Projector, Whiteboard USE OF TECHNOLOGY: Excellent TOPIC: Trigonometry BRIEF REPORT: Your class is responsive and they knew exactly what was going on. You have a quiet, confident manner and your class obviously respects you. There was no waste of time at all -‐ you just got on with it. This is a big class, and you have perfect control -‐ your learners were all immediately on task. Your slides are amazingly professional -‐ I thought you must have downloaded them from a textbook! Wow! The more the lesson wore on, the more impressed I was with the quality of your slides. They are the most professional I've seen in all the schools I've visited. I could definitely not compete with you. It was great to see you wandering quietly around the class monitoring things. Your learners were very happy to ask you questions. I was very interested in your diagram for negative angles. I have never thought of doing that, and I can see its usefulness. In your classroom Maths is definitely NOT a spectator sport. Every learner was thoroughly engaged -‐ and I was delighted to see that once quicker learners were done, they were helping others. You have created a classroom environment of which any teacher would be very proud. I was so impressed, too, when I was wandering around the classroom, at how neat their workbooks were, and how systematically they were all working – again, all credit to you! Even when you left the classroom, the only discussion taking place was mathematical, and I loved the way your learners helped each other. Yours was the sort of lesson that did my soul a lot of good – keep it up. I hope I can come back soon!


VULA PROGRAMME at HILTON COLLEGE CENTRE FOR INNOVATION


Telephone (033) 383 0100 Fax (033) 383 0163 NAME OF EDUCATOR: Bongile Duma SCHOOL: Gobindlovu High DATE: 20th April 2015 GRADE: 11 (32 learners) EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE: Data Projector, chalk board USE OF TECHNOLOGY: Well used TOPIC: Circle geometry BRIEF REPORT: It is always a good idea to establish theorems via practical investigation first, and your approach showed a clear and logical development. You made sure that the learners were all on board by careful reference to previous work. You used the green board together with chalk to good effect, but we do need to try and source whiteboards. Teachers of your calibre deserve this! It was interesting that you use Sue’s technique of Week 1, 2 etc. I would suggest that you don't refer to theorems by their numbers, as this is not universal -‐ rather "the chord midpoint theorems". I enjoyed your illustration of the difference between congruency and similarity via tortoise shells and penguins – again, this would have been even more effective on a white board. You used GSP well to recap cases for congruency efficiently and quickly. Your class was responsive and you questioned well. You responded well when the class corrected your slip of the tongue, and it definitely showed that they were listening to you and that they understood! Your worksheet was beautifully clear and neat! Learners were on task throughout, and the fact that you allowed them to work in pairs meant that they could help each other -‐ 1 +1 > 2! A lot of good mathematical discussion took place. You moved around giving help where needed and it was clear that you are developing a good relationship with the class -‐ particularly given the fact that you've only been back a week. It is always a good idea to involve learners, but I would suggest that you ask them to talk while they are doing so -‐ you did do this afterwards. You have a good, clear, strong voice and use it to good effect. It was good to see that you chose a congruency example that could be proved in two different ways, and you made this clear to the learners. I was pleased to see that you hardly made use of the whole-‐class chant! Good variation between teacher-‐talk and learner-‐work! Your strategy for learning theorems was clearly thought out and will be useful. Are you aware of how often you say: "Are you with me?" This is a good thing to ask, but maybe change the words a bit so it doesn't become automatic and thus less meaningful. I thoroughly enjoyed this lesson, Bongi, and look forward to seeing you grow from strength to strength. You and Bafana will make a formidable team!




Telephone (033) 383 0100 Fax (033) 383 0163 NAME OF EDUCATOR: Nhlaka Sibiya SCHOOL: Ikusaselihle DATE: 1st August 2017 GRADE: 12 (30 learners) EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE: Data Projector, Whiteboard USE OF TECHNOLOGY: Very Good TOPIC: The Counting Principle BRIEF REPORT: This is a beautiful venue to teach in – I hope you will have a similar one soon. I do know that Mr Kwanini is very pro-‐active in this regard. I am pleased to see you are already developing your own material – you have only been back at your school for a sort while. This is very encouraging for us! I liked the way you used the five numbers to illustrate the counting principle. It was very effective. I was glad to see you addressing questions to individual learners rather than just relying on a whole-‐class response, and the learners were able to follow your explanation with ease. When you asked learners to come to the board and do a question, I was pleased to see you telling them to explain how it was done. I also liked the way you encouraged learners by asking them to “help you out”. The learners who came to the board knew what they were doing. This is a big class and you manage it well. The demonstration of learners being seated also worked well and definitely aroused the learners' attention, as well as helping them to understand. It was a pity the lesson was so short. I will be interested to watch you develop further! Thank you for having us.




Telephone (033) 383 0100 Fax (033) 383 0163 NAME OF EDUCATOR: Tomu Radebe SCHOOL: Msimude DATE: 31st July 2017 GRADE: 12 (30 learners) EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE: Data Projector, Whiteboard USE OF TECHNOLOGY: Very Good TOPIC: Financial Maths BRIEF REPORT: Our apologies for being late -‐ we got here as soon as we could. You have a responsive class and your explanations are clear and direct. You have a strong, clear voice and use it well to stress important points. Your PPT was clear and logically developed. I was delighted to see that you are developing your own materials -‐ we didn't do any financial Maths at VuMa! The way you free yourself to move around the class while you are teaching works so well -‐ you are in contact with your learners and you always have your finger on the pulse of what’s going on. You outlined the steps in the process clearly for the learners, and they were all on task. I was pleased to hear you warning your learners about leaving out steps. They obviously had a clear understanding of the topic. I was also pleased to see you using the Casio emulator -‐ it helps learners so much when they can move through the calculations with you. You ask searching questions and you give the learners opportunities to answer them. It was good to see you asking individual learners questions instead of waiting for a whole-‐class response, and ‘picking on’ particular learners, not just the ones who had their hands up. It was also good to see you getting the learners to work out the answers for themselves before you revealed the answers on your PPT. I liked the way that you developed a strategy for your learners -‐ getting them to write down all the data and seeing what the unknown was. You are an enthusiastic teacher, brisk, organized and in charge of your class -‐ dynamite comes in small packages. My financial Maths is not good, so I learnt a lot! I really enjoyed the lesson, and I was impressed with how much you were able to get through, keeping your learners with you. Thank you for having us.




Telephone (033) 383 0100 Fax (033) 383 0163 NAME OF EDUCATOR: Vusi Sokhela SCHOOL: Ikusaselihle DATE: 1st August 2017 GRADE: 11 (30 learners) EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE: Data Projector, Whiteboard USE OF TECHNOLOGY: Very Good TOPIC: Trigonometry BRIEF REPORT: I am sorry you didn't get the information about when we were going to arrive but I am pleased we managed to see you teach anyway! It was a pity about the noise outside!! Your class was very responsive and they seemed to be working with you well. You explained the concept if the co-‐ratio well. Using colour also helped to emphasise to the learners when they needed to change to the co-‐ratio. Also, the diagram you used was very useful. Just be careful, though -‐ the diagram you used was for (90 + Ѳ), not (90 -‐ Ѳ). You have a clear speaking voice and you use it well to stress important points. You ask good questions that make your learners think! I liked the way you explored the learners’ answers. I also enjoyed seeing the learners discuss and debate with each other. It was good to see you guiding learners towards discovering and correcting their own mistakes. I was even more pleased to see how you were happy to acknowledge your own mistake when the learners pointed it out -‐ it is great when they do this because it shows two really important things-‐ that they are attending carefully, and that they understand. Maybe you need to think about moving a little faster -‐ although you discussed valuable things with them, it took a long time to do one example. You show real enthusiasm for your subject, which, I am sure, gets transmitted to your learners. I loved your sincerity in what you were doing! Thank you for having us.




Telephone (033) 383 0100 Fax (033) 383 0163 NAME OF EDUCATOR: Gugu Sibisi SCHOOL: Ikusaselihle DATE: 1st August 2017 GRADE: 11 (30 learners) EQUIPMENT AVAILABLE: Data Projector, Whiteboard USE OF TECHNOLOGY: Very Good TOPIC: Trigonometry BRIEF REPORT: I am sorry you didn't get the message about our arrival time, but at least we did get to see you in the end. You move around the class well so it is easy for you to keep a handle on things. The girl doing a problem on the board was confident, which was good to see, BUT it took her too long! This was a pity, as it wasted some time and some learners started losing interest. It might be better to get the learners to come to the board and actually do the problem themselves (maybe choose carefully), and then get the class to point out if there is an error or not. Your PPT was good, and the notes at the side were helpful for learners. I am pleased to see you are developing your own materials. I didn't feel you achieved as much in this lesson as in the last one I saw. It was very slow-‐ moving. While it is a good idea to involve learners, maybe you shouldn't put them in the role of the teacher, as some learners don't react well to this, and it can become a bit of a circus (for ex ample when Zakes is involved), as well as being frustrating for some learners because it is taking too long! As I said earlier, I would suggest that you rather get the learner himself/herself to do the problem on the board while YOU guide them through it. Thank you for having us.

vuma evaluation report 2017...

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