As part of developing and promoting a knowledge management agenda in the system, the NECT has initiated 3 learning case studies. The first case study, produced in 2013, focuses on the national examination system and how it has showed improvement over the last 20 years. Whilst it highlights replication learning for public school improvement, the research identified ways in which the examination system itself can be further improved or preserved. The second case study focuses on learning and demonstrating the successes, innovations and challenges of the district steering committees (DSCs) structure with a view of determining whether it can serve as a replicable model for other districts nationally. The third seeks to publicly share the lessons from the school referral system which was piloted in Bela-Bela, Waterberg with 3 government departments as well as universities and NGOs. The case seeks to demonstrate the pilot as an innovation that can be replicated nationally and to strengthen the implementation of the Policy on Screening, Identification, Assessment and Support (SIAS).
The EdHub is a dedicated innovation unit within the NECT with an explicit mandate for promoting innovation in education. It is called to design and drive innovation for 21st century education, so that it can impact, at scale, the basic education system in South Africa and ultimately improve education outcomes and quality of life for all.
The EdHub’s flagship project is the Sandbox Schools Project. The Sandbox Project is an ambitious multi-year initiative that involves setting up a ‘laboratory’ for trialling approaches to 21st century education in South African public schools. The vision of the Sandbox is to test teaching and learning practices aimed at developing competencies for a changing world, within the context of a ‘typical’ public school, in order to gather substantial evidence on which practices and models are best suited to the South African schooling system. The intention of Sandbox Project is to boldly explore and drive the transformation agenda in education, and it is specifically designed to assist the sector to respond to the demands of this changing world. As the pilot progresses, the evidence collected will be made available to the Department of Basic Education and sector stakeholders.
The following objectives guide the work of the project and contribute towards achieving this vision:
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What it IS about… |
What it’s NOT about… |
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Experimenting with well-researched competency-based teaching & learning practices |
Introducing technology and hoping for the best |
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Working with the current curriculum |
Overhauling the current curriculum |
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Building on foundational skills, while emphasising competencies for a changing world |
Solely focused on ‘21st Century skills’ |
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Teachers playing a new role, with confidence and enthusiasm |
Teachers no longer necessary |
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A way of thinking, across subjects and learning areas |
Located within a specific subject |
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Simple, actionable implementation |
Burdensome, complicated implementation |
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Collaboration, co-creation and dialogue |
Isolated design and implementation |
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Interventions spanning the entire school ecosystem |
Interventions limited to curriculum | |
To date, eleven schools have been selected to serve as initial pilot sites for the Sandbox. With support from the district, circuits, school leaders and educators, we will collaboratively transform these schools into ecosystems of 21st century learning over time.
© 2019 National Education Collaboration Trust
