TEACH DESIGN TECHNOLOGY IN SOUTH AFRICA AND MAKE A DIFFERENCE TO THE
CHILDREN
Design Technology has always been an
important part of development and learning for children in the United
Kingdom. It enables children to become free thinking, creative and helps
children to actively use their imagination. Design Technology, in other
aspects, also enables children to break away from the usual text book
rituals which dominate so many classes in Africa.
This teaching
programme is located in
the town of Knysna in the Cape
Province, on the Indian Ocean coast and within easy reach of the beautiful capital city of Cape
Town (see photo at bottom of page).
The seaside resort of Plettenberg Bay is about 20-30 mins away
from Knysna. Both places are extremely beautiful and are favourite
holiday resorts for South Africans.
The schools you'll work in are mainly for the poorer
sections of the local community - your help and support are appreciated
by everyone, but mostly by the children! You don't need any
qualifications to do this project.
Walk around the streets
anywhere in Africa, but especially in the townships, and you'll be overwhelmed
by the creative talent in the communities. From the Craftsmen who make cooking
pots from discarded oil drums on the road side, to souvenirs. If you look at the
shanty houses, you’ll be impressed by the initiative used in putting them
together.
Design Technology
was introduced into the school curriculum in South Africa back in 2000. It has
proven to be extremely popular amongst the children. The problem is that many of
the poorer township schools know little about the subject and are in desperate
need for people with design experience to come to their schools, bringing with
them their own ideas and hopefully help to nurture a new generation of design
thinkers in South Africa.
You will probably be based at two schools
- Percy Mdala and Knysna High School. Knysna High has similar standards
to those in Western countries and you will work alongside the teachers at the school.
Working here is a good opportunity to gain a feel for the
subject and at the same time you will find the school extremely keen to learn as
much as possible about Design Technology as it is in
the UK or your home country.
For the second part of the placement you will spend your time
at the secondary school, Percy Mdala.Percy Mdala is a
Black Xhosa Township School. It is a lot poorer than Knysna high and lacks many
of the facilities and resources. Although you will have plenty of help and
support at the school, you will have to be a lot more independent and use
your own initiative and many of your ideas. Hopefully
you will be able transmit some ideas from Knysna High
to Percy Mdala.
This is an excellent placement for anyone studying or has
good knowledge of Design Technology. By helping the children have a greater
knowledge of the subject, you will find that the teachers will be extremely
grateful for the support and knowledge as, for them,
this is a subject the schools are still learning about.
About the Schools:
The schools are mainly for the poorer
African and Coloured children in the local community. General facilities at the schools are somewhat limited although two of the schools have computer facilities and one school in particular would appreciate the help of volunteers with computer
experience!
Average class size is between 15 and 40. Standards
are generally very high, but in most of the schools we work with, materials and
resources may be scarce; however, working conditions are very good. The
enthusiasm of the students and colleagues more than
makes up for any hardships they may experience.
On your
first day of teaching you will be taken to one of the schools that we help and
introduced to the Principal, the teaching staff and pupils. You will be made
very welcome by all!
Your key
immediate contact will be the School Principal who may deal with your specific
programme personally. He or she will have been fully briefed by our staff but
will want to discuss your programme with you before any final decisions are
made. Some principals may also wish to discuss with you the possibility
of using any of your other interests or skills which
may be fun or useful for the children, and here your degree subject might well
be helpful and any interests, from hiking and wildlife to football, chess and
Western music, may be of great interest.
The Principal and/or relevant teachers at the school will liase with you about
your teaching assignments. South Africans generally are very friendly,
approachable and helpful and they will be delighted in your interest and your
enthusiasm.
You may find while
teaching that you will also be asked to help with English, especially with the
poorer schools. You will normally be asked to stand up in front of a class and
teach conversational English - you are not expected to be an expert on grammar
or literature. The important thing is to help people speak English. You may also
be asked to help with other subjects but this is optional and it is only if you
feel confident. What you are out there for, most importantly, is to help with
Design.
If you are asked to help
with teaching English, the Teaching Suggestions Booklet which we provide
you with has ideas for teaching English and will also help structuring lessons
in other subjects. Video facilities are available in some schools and audio
equipment is quite commonplace.
You will most likely
teach in more than one school. Most of the schools are State schools, both
secondary and primary. You will generally be asked to help out with any age
groups. You are, in fact, very likely to be in popular demand everywhere - in
and out of the classroom.
You will have weekends free and this will also allow some time for travelling
and sight seeing.
You do not require any qualifications to do a teaching
placement in South Africa.
"I'm
absolutely loving South Africa. Knysna is much bigger and much more lively than
I ever imagined, and the schools are much more friendly and receptive than I
dreamed possible. I couldn't have asked for more support or a more beautiful
place to live in." Gill Taylor, teaching in Knysna
Claire Baker taught at Sunridge Primary in Knysna, and this is how she
describes a typical day on her project (but please note that this is only one
school and that work in other schools may vary):"A typical day on a
teaching placement in Knsyna, SA., starts at around 7.00
am. After my first week it was established that in a house shared with 3 other
girls, the earlier you get up, the more likely it is you will get in the shower!At 8am we are picked up by Stan,
who drove us to and from school every day.
Within the school the volunteers do different
things in different year groups, from children aged around 6 to children aged 14
and it is up to you whether you wish to take a whole class (of around 45
children) on your own, or to work in the class with the teacher as more of an
assistant, or to take small groups of children. I chose to take groups of
children to work on the computers.
Lessons run from 8.15 in 45-minute
lessons up till 2.00 pm with
2 breaks in between.
Break: every break we have a group of
children who come to see us, some are practicing dances and songs for a
performance two of the volunteers have organised, some are playing on the
computers, others just come for a big hug from all of the volunteers. Expect to
get hugs from just about every child you pass.
Volunteers have 3 breaks,
really, as there is a dedicated reading lesson lasting
around 20 minutes during which we are free to eat our lunch early
(by 11am we were usually very hungry).There is a tuck shop but taking your own food is recommended as the
sweets and crisps on sale are not very nutritious – or tasty!
12.00 is lunch
break: the children are provided with a peanut butter sandwich. 12.45 to 2.00pm:
lessons continue until 2.00
pm but school often closes early for staff meetings and training.
When I left school [at the
end of the day, 2.00 p.m.] it was always through a huge crowd of children
all giving us huge hugs. The children are all very loving and you get hundreds
of hugs each day!
Volunteer Rachel Ley getting a hug
SUNRIDGE SCHOOL
(mural painted by one of Travellers' volunteers)
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS 2008 IN SOUTH AFRICA:
Dates for the 2008 school terms (semesters) are given below.
1st Term 11 January to
20 March
2nd Term 14 April to
27 June
3rd Term 16 July to 21 September
4th Term 1 October to
30 November
Teaching is not available during
school holidays, so if you're planning to participate in a
placement, please take the above school term dates
into account when planning the timing of your project. On the other hand, if
a holiday falls during your proposed placement, you
could use this time to do any independent travelling
and sightseeing.
If you're a little unsure about the idea
of standing in front of a class and teaching, you can,
before you leave, enroll in a
1-day
intensive open teacher training course (optional) to help you teach if you
have no previous experience and would like to gain a little
teaching knowledge.
MINI PROJECTS AND ADDITIONAL INFORMATION
Nervous about going somewhere new?
Or about teaching?
Read Adrian Tate's description
of
his arrival
in South Africa
to teach Sports
EXTRA ACTIVITIES AVAILABLE
As an added
bonus to your project you will also have the opportunity
to provide help and support to the local community through the various
afternoon activities we have to offer. This is an excellent way to emmerse
yourself into the African culture, but most importantly to give a caring
hand to the local community. The activities could range from helping out at;
The local
orphanage - Make the afternoons fun and exciting for these lovely
children by playing games, helping them with home work and just being
there to give them the attention that they so crave.
The art centre for children - You could
make a great impact in their lives by helping them to express their
creative side and enjoying an afternoon full of art and crafts. This is
such an exciting opportunity for children, so why not be a part of it
too!
The soup
kitchen - Soup kitchens have been set up to provide a meal for
the poorer children in the community and often this will be the only
decent meal a child has during the day - any support given is greatly
appreciated by all.
After
school drama or sports - Take some time out after school to set up after
school sports or drama clubs, the children love it and it's a great way
to get to know them better in a relaxed and fun environment(If
you'd like to set up a drama or sports club, please let us know when you
apply so that we can arrange it with the school before you arrive.)
Other
community projects - In the past volunteers have helped to paint the
outside of a crèche that was in desperate need of a lift, the crèche is
now looking very cheerful with brightly coloured walls. A jungle gym was
donated to this orphanage and volunteers also helped to put it together
for the crèche too!
You could be
part of these excellent and worthwhile projects so why not volunteer in
Knysna!
Accommodation and Living in South Africa
Knysna: You will
more than likely live in one of our
volunteer houses with other Travellers
volunteers. You will either have your own room or will share a room with one or
more other Travellers volunteers. It will depend on how many people are there at
the same time that you are. These are comfortable
houses with good facilities and
most have a beautiful view of Knysna Lagoon. Your
meals are all provided.
Plettenberg Bay: You will more than likely live in a house with
other Travellers volunteers. You will either have your own room or will share a
room with one or more other Travellers volunteers. It will depend on how many
people are there at the same time that you are. The house is
close to the beach with good facilities, including a barbecue in the lovely
garden. Your meals are prepared for you during the week, with
"cook-for-yourself" on one or two days during the week.
George: Here you have
the opportunity to live with a local family and truly immerse yourself in the
local culture. Many volunteers prefer this option because it enables them to
'become one of the family'. Most of our volunteers remain good friends with
their families long after they've returned home.
When accommodation is limited,
we occasionally place volunteers in a local Guest House
which is very comfortable and convenient for access into town.
** Please note that occasionally the houses that we use may change owing to
availability, so the facilities you can expect may change accordingly.
There are several good, inexpensive
steak houses (a 400g T-bone steak costs about £4.50 including all the
trimmings! - US $5.50) and lots of good Chinese, Italian and other ethnic restaurants. With local beer
costing only 50p and coca cola 30p a good night out is cheap
(at time of writing). With the current favourable exchange
rate of about 12 Rands (R12) to the pound, your
spending money goes a long way! (Prices and exchange rates
are current at time of writing, but please check rates regularly because they do
fluctuate.)
"Thank you so much for all the time and effort you have put into making this a
fantastic stay for us. We will never forget this experience!" Cat
Dunlop and Liz Lunn
To read about the extensiveSupport & Backup we provide in our countries,
please click here.
One of the volunteer houses in Knysna
Monkeys in the garden of one of
the volunteer houses in Knysna
Travel:
You have the option to arrange your
own flights or we can assist you with your flight arrangements. If you would
like us to do this for you, we will liaise with you regarding available flights
and dates to suit you. All arrangements for your flight bookings/payments will
be fulfilled by Murray Rogers Travel Ltd., ATOL No. 6856. (Read more about Murray Rogers Travel Ltd.)
Where possible, we arrange for two or more people to travel on the
same flight and we will let you have the names and telephone numbers of other
volunteers on your flight, so that you can chat to each other or even meet up
before leaving for your placement.
We can also arrange your flight
dates to give you additional time at the end of your project for travelling
around and sightseeing - this is a fascinating and wondrous country!
Where possible, all flights we
arrange for you have changeable return tickets because many of our volunteers
choose to extend their stay once they are in their destination country.
Changeable return tickets enable you to do so, within the limits of your visa
and the level of your air ticket, of course. If you choose to book your own
flights, you should endeavour to get a changeable ticket. We meet you at the
airport regardless of whether you make your own travel arrangements or not.
VISAS:. In countries where
visas or immigration documents are required, we'll send you all the necessary
forms and information and make the process very easy for you.
You will fly into the Airport in Johannesburg where,
time permitting, you will be
welcomed by Jan, our Travellers representative. She will ensure that your
transfer to a
flight taking you to George, near Cape Town, is smooth and hassle-free.
In George you will be met by our Manager, Bill
Fussel, or a member of his staff. Bill was born in England and
emigrated to South Africa many years ago, so he'll probably interrogate
you on English prices, latest UK weather - and Chelsea Football team!
PRICES:
To see the Prices of this project and all
our other projects in South Africa, please
click here
Prices
include
Food & accommodation while on your project,
unless otherwise stated,
2 T-shirts, if required
for your project
All support and backup
during your programme
Meeting you at the
nearest airport, where appropriate, but exclude international travel.
.
+44 01903 502595
