This is Part 2 of a series of blog posts on School Culture, written by Prof Kathija Yassim (UJ) in collaboration with principals from the Sandbox Schools. The posts will reflect on insights emerging from a set of visual participatory research workshops held as part of the School Culture intervention in the Sandbox project. You … Continue reading Leading a Culture of Learning Series: A New Leader’s Experience
Leading a Culture of Learning Series: (Re)Defining a Culture of Learning for a Constantly Changing World
This is Part 1 of a series of blog posts on School Culture, to be written by Prof Kathija Yassim (UJ) in collaboration with principals from the Sandbox Schools. The posts will reflect on insights emerging from a set of visual participatory research workshops held as part of the School Culture intervention in the Sandbox … Continue reading Leading a Culture of Learning Series: (Re)Defining a Culture of Learning for a Constantly Changing World
Insights and Questions from a Robotics and Coding pilot
This is Part 2 of a two-part article on a Robotics & Coding pilot. You can read Part 1 here. What did we find? After supporting CRSP dsgn to conduct a two-year pilot of their low-cost robotics and coding toolkit, we gained some of the following insights and identified questions for further exploration: The CRSP … Continue reading Insights and Questions from a Robotics and Coding pilot
Exploring Competencies for a Changing World through Robotics and Coding
This is Part 1 of a two-part article. You can read Part 2 here. Why the big buzz around Robotics & Coding? Beyond the hype, what is the educational value of introducing robotics & coding to schools, and how can this be done in a typical public school context? These are some of the questions … Continue reading Exploring Competencies for a Changing World through Robotics and Coding
Learning through Play at Home – Lockdown Activities
It seems that almost the entire world is on lockdown at the moment, which includes the suspension of formal schooling in over 180 countries. As a result, parents and caregivers around the world have found themselves in the unexpected role of ‘teacher’ – often with little to no previous experience. While this situation is indeed … Continue reading Learning through Play at Home – Lockdown Activities
Education in a VUCA world – Challenges of Covid-19
We often speak of the “VUCA” world we live in – Volatile, Uncertain, Complex, and Ambiguous. In the past few weeks, however, we’ve gotten a real experience of what this means and how it can impact education. The rapid spread of the Coronavirus across the world and the drastic measures being taken to slow down … Continue reading Education in a VUCA world – Challenges of Covid-19
Design-based Research and the Sandbox Project
This is Part 2 of a series of articles exploring the role of Design-based Research in the Sandbox Project. You can read Part 1 here. Some Challenges and Tensions Because of its commitment to trying to understand what happens in complex learning environments, Design-based Research (DBR) has to balance some tensions and trade-offs in its … Continue reading Design-based Research and the Sandbox Project
Design-based Research: What is it, and Why are we using it?
This is Part 1 of a series of articles about Design-based Research in the Sandbox Project. You can read Part 2 here. Action research, Quasi-experimental research, Ethnographic study… There are many different types of research used in education, each with their own history and terminology – it can sometimes seem quite overwhelming! Throughout the long … Continue reading Design-based Research: What is it, and Why are we using it?
Ready, Set, Go! Sandbox 2020 Kickoff
The year has begun, and the Sandbox Project has hit the ground running! After a year of design, advocacy, and on-the-ground engagement with the pilot schools, this weekend marked a milestone for the project with the launch of our first structured intervention. The Competency-based Learning Programme (CLP) is one of a suite of interventions to … Continue reading Ready, Set, Go! Sandbox 2020 Kickoff
Reflection: Lessons in Change – Part 2
This is Part 2 of the article on Lessons in Change. You can read Part 1 here. What are teachers’ experiences of teaching? South African teachers deal with a lot on a daily basis. As many of our Sandbox teachers have said, they are not only expected to teach, but to be parents, psychologists, and … Continue reading Reflection: Lessons in Change – Part 2
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