This year (2010) South Africa declared Outcome Based Education a complete failure. We even went as far as declaring that OBE failed us, here’s how:
Outcome Based Education in based on Contructivist Learning Theories (which loosely imply that learners construct their own learning pathway through experiences). The idea with OBE is to concentrate on OUTput and not INput; in other words, you simply don’t lecture to students and expect them to acquire knowledge, but create experiences that help them generate knowledge. A simple example: you don’t give a lecture on “how to make tea” you create scenarios of “making tea” with learners afforded the opportunities to “make tea” in various ways in order to generate a sense of what it is to make tea. As you can see OBE lends itself well to skills-based subjects. This is not to suggest that OBE does not work with knowledge-based subjects, it certainly does; it only means learners have to experiment with testing, and creating theories.
OBE demands that our Teachers are creative in how they present lessons. They have to get in touch with their 007 selves in planning how they a) present lessons, and b) ensure learning. This means Teachers have to think about all possibilities of questions and see how to guide all learners towards constructing own knowledge, without actually forcing them to do so. OBE is not overt. It is implicit knowledge: We know because we do – we don’t know because we hear. Knowledge is generated, not acquired. This means that teachers cannot give up on learners who have yet to come to an understanding of new knowledge, they have only to think of new ways to facilitate the learning process. The beauty of OBE is that learners are measured against themselves and not the “average” class performance. So a learner can take as long as s/he needs to to come to an understanding of knowledge.
So, if we go back to our very simple example of “tea making” a Teachers has to provide: kettles, crockery, teacups, teabags, tea leaves, milk, and sugars in order to get a simple lesson going. If the Teachers is to provide a more holistic learning environment, s/he would have to include the experience of tea-making traditions from the largest tea-producing cultures around the world from Japan to Uganda. Given that a large proportion of our schools do not have basic access to water and electricity (and textbooks are delivered half-way through the year), how is our dear Teachers expected to ensure the OUTcome of basic “tea-making techniques”
Can we declare with confidence that we have done all we could to ensure that our teachers have a basic access to a variety of learning tools?
Writer / Tebogo Serobatse Photograohy: Negrita Bonita
What was the problem with the system that was used before OBE? was it failing? or was it one of those things the goverment had to change -- just becos?
Ok I understand this rational, Thank You.
Maning OBE could have worked only if teachers and schools where fully equiped. At the same time OBE in theory is a good working concept if it has infunstructure support, though one has to deal with the countries "ideologies" first (The idea of being spoon fed - I saw this a lot back in 'college').
Generally there is no hunger to seek knowledge, this is rooted from "home". In which is a communication flaw from the mediocre ANC goverment after '94. Hopes it will get better!
The best gift an about to be educated person can get is the love of acquiring the education. At the root of "studying" lies a threat (either you do that or you won't go to the next grade); while at the root of reading (for self not an exam) lies will, love, and interest.
Regardless of how great our teachers (and well resourced) might be, the education is sort of useless if the uneducated doesn't really enjoy acquiring education, let alone value it.
There's only so much a farmer (educator) can do; if he grows the best grass (education), but the cows (students) don't have an interest filling their tummies (minds) with grass — the grass is, though valuable, useless.
What we had before @George didn't allow learners to generate knowledge. It implied that we learn by simply studying theoretical knowledge.
I don't know @Mokokoma about an inherent thirst for knowledge. In college, "yes" you have to be accountable for your own learning.
But I don't think it comes "built-in" into all of us. How much of a choice do we have in Basic Education at Primary School level?
How many Primary School learners can we say are willing participants in their own learning?
PS. I like the idea of grazing as a metaphor for learning though