Learning about feeding your family, and no snakes [Star, The (South Africa)]
(Star, The (South Africa) Via Acquire Media NewsEdge) THE FAMILY of one
of the pupils at Phuti Ragophala's school in Mankweng, outside
Polokwane, live in a shack and, she was appalled to hear, they often
find snakes in their living area.
The 56-year-old principal of Pula Madibogo Primary has decided to develop a learning programme for her pupils, aimed at researching and putting into practice ways of building affordable informal housing that will keep reptiles out.
It's that kind of innovative approach to education that saw Ragophala qualify as a Microsoft Expert Educator, and won her a trip to Barcelona last week to attend the Microsoft in Education Global Forum.
The forum brings together teachers from around the world who have been recognised for the way they use technology, and their passion for teaching, to enrich the lives of their pupils.
While in Barcelona, Ragophala was given the opportunity to showcase her current project, Planting Seeds, Changing Lives. The project involves teaching children, mostly from very poor families, the basics of agriculture, nutrition and food technology.
It's not just a classroom exercise - the school has a permaculture vegetable garden that Ragophala describes as "a forest of food".
That's where what is learnt gets put into practice, and the outcome - apart from the 21st century skills of collaboration, communication, knowledge-building, critical thinking, global awareness and civic literacy, problem-solving and creativity that the children are learning - is putting enough nutritious food on the tables of the largely destitute community the school serves.
"We have close to 1 300 pupils, in a building consisting of 21 classrooms, and a pupil to teacher ratio of 60 to one," Ragophala explains.
"And many of the children are orphans living in child-headed households, so we have no choice but to make the educational programme part of the solution to the problems in our community." The "expert educator" designation forms part of Microsoft's Partners in Learning programme, a global initiative aimed at empowering young people by enriching their learning experience, with the help of technology.
Angela Schaerer, the academic programme manager of the project for Microsoft South Africa, explains that any teacher can apply to be an expert educator.
"The requirement is that they must have designed and implemented a meaningful project, with a technology component to it, and it must have made an impact," she says.
Schaerer explains that Ragaphola will have learned about the programme via the Partners in Learning Website which has set up a community of practice for teachers who are being innovative.
"Through it, we are hoping to spread the message and to get teachers to communicate and help each other," she says.
Microsoft provides training for teachers, and assists with the provision of software and educational materials for teachers.
"Phuti's project has made a big impact on her community, and she has shown amazing ingenuity in using the limited technological resources at her disposal to make it a meaningful learning experience for her pupils." There is only one computer at Pula Madibogo Primary - the principal's laptop - but Ragophala has shown the children how to use mobile phones and social media to connect with a wider community and to research the topics they are covering.
In the process, the children have been encouraging others in the community to supplement their diets, implementing the practices they have learnt at school.
She has also shown an ability to collaborate and form partnerships - the NGO Food and Trees for Africa has helped with the technical aspects of growing vegetables, while the food technology department of the nearby University of the North provides input on dietary and nutritional issues.
"We are hoping that through this project, some of the pupils will be inspired to study food science or agriculture so that they can make a difference in their communities one day," Ragophala says.
"At the very least, we will have taught them some good ways to grow vegetables and use them effectively as a source of food. Those are valuable skills that they can take with them throughout their lives." Ragophala describes the trip to Barcelona as a dream come true. "I've never flown on an airplane, or been overseas before, and for me, the most amazing thing was to learn that teachers all over the world are facing similar challenges to ours. I learnt so much that I will be putting into practice." When she gets back to rural Limpopo, the first thing she will be applying her mind to is working with the children - with the help of Microsoft - to figure out how they can build shacks that keep snakes out.
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