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UOA030681 Winter 2003 12/15/03 2:29 PM Page 1 the orange the UNIVERSITY OF ALBERTA | FACULTY OF EDUCATION THEORAN E PEEL & ENJOY FALL & WINTER EDITION YEAR g VOL ISSUE E2003 E06 E01 Education. Rethought. KEEPING ALUMNI CURRENT The Power Songof Sol Sigurdson in South Africa www.education.ualberta.ca Saving Aboriginal Languages | Champion Curler Marcel Rocque Also in this issue: Reunion Days 2003 | Answering the Call | Cultures of Acceptance Canada Research Chair | Judy Lupart | Living Poetically UOA030681 Winter 2003 12/15/03 2:29 PM Page 2 PEEL & ENJOY The Canada-South Africa E01 Teacher Development Project BY GORDON MCINTOSH ISSUE U of A Faculty of Education was then the President of South Africa, and alumni and staff are playing key Prime Minister Jean Chrétien launched the project. Since April 1994, when free g E06 THE CANADA-SOUTH leadership roles in a six-million elections finally ended the apartheid era, AFRICA TEACHER South Africa has been building a new VOL dollar in-service teacher DEVELOPMENT PROJECT system of public education to replace the PAGE 2 development initiative in South racially divided and unequal provisions for Africa funded by the Canadian education that had been inherited from the past. The Canada-South Africa Teacher THE POWER OF SONG: International Development SOL SIGURDSON IN Development Project was to be a means of SOUTH AFRICA Agency (CIDA) and spear-headed supporting the development of the new PAGE 4 E2003 in Alberta by Alberta Learning. education system. YEAR Fred Burghardt represents Alberta Learning SAVING ABORIGINAL Sue Lynch, ‘66 BEd, ‘69 MEd, ‘75 PhD, as the Project Manager in Alberta for the LANGUAGES formerly the Assistant Deputy Minister, Basic project. “The primary objective [of Nelson ORANPAGE E 6 Learning Division of Alberta Learning and Mandela’s new government],” Fred said in now on the staff of the Faculty of a recent conversation, “was to redress the MARCEL ROCQUE: Education, Fred Burghardt, ‘92 MEd, who inequities of the past and to build a truly A CHAMPION ON THE ICE recently retired as the Director of Teacher democratic and equitable education system AND IN THE CLASSROOM Development and Certification for Alberta that would benefit all South African PAGE 8 THE Learning, and Terry Carson, ‘74 MEd, ‘84 students and all of South African society.” PhD, Chair of the Department of Secondary Terry Carson represents the University of REUNION DAYS Education at the Alberta on the project PAGE 10 U of A, were FALL & WINTER EDITION members of the management team. 1999 inception Under the leadership of ANSWERING THE CALL mission that Sue Lynch, and TO BE A TEACHER – launched the together with the Deans KAREN MARTINOVIC of Education of the PAGE 12 project. Universities of Calgary Discussions and Lethbridge, Terry ANNA KIROVA: between Nelson and Fred worked with CREATING CULTURES Mandela, who South African educators OF ACCEPTANCE IN SCHOOLS PAGE 14 JUDY LUPART: CANADA RESEARCH CHAIR IN SPECIAL EDUCATION PAGE 16 the orange THE HEART OF PEDAGOGY: RUMINATIONS ON LIVING POETICALLY PAGE 18 CONTACT US INFORMATION PAGE 19 www.education.ualberta.ca KEEPING ALUMNI CURRENT UOA030681 Winter 2003 12/15/03 2:29 PM Page 3 THE ORANGE | FALL & WINTER 2003 E03 PAGE to create the overall design for the Canada- dialogue and a shared commitment to learn from the Alberta experience with in- South Africa Teacher democratic education.” service teacher development. Could the Development Project provide them with experienced There are four separate components within Project — a educators to lead a teacher development the Canada-South Africa Teacher five-year program in Free State in the subject areas Development Project: project work in each cooperative of three provinces — Free State, Gauteng, of mathematics, physical sciences, and project (2000 and Mpumalanga — and another with the biological sciences? to 2005). For national Ministry of Education. the project to Back in Alberta, a call went out for succeed, the The Free State project, involving teachers applications from educators who had the program from Botshabelo, a black settlement with experience and expertise needed for the designers disadvantaged schools not far from teacher development program in Free State. had to find Bloemfontein, is of special interest to us Three were selected: David Geelan, an ways to support the South African because this is the project in which Sol assistant professor in physical sciences vision for public education — to assist in education from the U of A’s Department of redressing the inequities of the past through Secondary Education, and two professors the development of classroom teachers. “ We are learning to emeriti from the same department — Wallie Disadvantaged regions of the country would work as partners with Samiroden, ‘66 BEd, whose field is biological be the major focus in the project work. sciences education, and Sol Sigurdson ongoing dialogue ... ” whose field is mathematics education. Their Educators from two countries with entirely Terry Carson current commitment is for a series of three, different educational cultures and different two-week workshops this year for teachers. histories had to find ways to work together These workshops are likely to be repeated collaboratively. The South Africans had Sigurdson is involved. (See Sol’s article, next year with new groups of teachers. much experience with international aid “The Power of Song.”) It is a cooperative programs that weren’t all that they claimed effort of Alberta educators, with support to be. “They were initially skeptical about from the Free State department of collaboration. They’d heard all this talk education and the University of Free State. before. For us to become good partners, we had to come to an understanding of the The Free State project was designed in depth of their commitment to eliminating South Africa by South African educators inequity,” Terry Carson said. whose priorities are incorporated in the “It took us a long time to learn how one Project’s Annual Work Plan. “We worked actually collaborates,” Terry continued. as a true partnership in developing this “The South Africans are pleased with what plan,” Terry Carson said. we have achieved. They’ve told us that they had rarely experienced this before in Educators in the Free State wanted to working with international aid programs. improve teaching in the areas of science, There’s respect in our relationships. We are mathematics, and technology education – learning to work as partners with ongoing and they decided they had something to UOA030681 Winter 2003 12/15/03 2:29 PM Page 4 E04 THE ORANGE | FALL & WINTER 2003 PAGE In my retirement from the Faculty of Education, I have been involved in several teacher development projects in black communities in South Africa. South Africa is a fascinating country – geographically, bordered by the Indian, Antarctic, and Atlantic Oceans; historically, populated by successive migrations of people; politically, governed, until recently, by the great statesman, Nelson Mandela; socially, inhabited by blacks, whites and browns forming a Rainbow Nation; and, educationally, challenged with providing the black majority with opportunities to integrate Western educational practices into their accustomed ways of teaching. From my casual observation, the national policy of reconciliation (refusing to blame the white minority for past social and governmental practices) is an achievement of The Powerof Song SolSigurdson in South Africa enormous proportions, especially because population pressures have brought about rampant unemployment. All of this is framed by a severe HIV/AIDs epidemic. South Africa is an amazing country. As a Canadian mathematics educator, on a two-week assignment (with three such assignments in this phase of the project), I would need to keep a tight focus on the relatively minor goal of improving mathematics teaching in secondary schools. I am faced with 25 black mathematics teachers from the large black settlement of Botshabelo, poor but progressing. Having UOA030681 Winter 2003 12/15/03 2:29 PM Page 5 seen the face of their community, including I found these “foreign” teachers to be Although I’ve been singing all my life, the dusty roads and the shacks, and having engaging, charming and completely I have never participated in such singing. been informed of the 10% pass rate of their sincere. After one lively and contentious What a memorable way to end the week’s grade 12 mathematics students, plus trying thirty-minute discussion of problem solving, workshop – the power of song. to come to grips with the overwhelming I asked them to take five minutes to I spent the following week visiting the strangeness of their country, my first summarize the discussion in their notes. teachers in schools. I was received reaction was to admit defeat, go through I asked them to entitle their summary, especially warmly, invited to observe classes, and was pleased to see every teacher trying to implement the workshop “ ... having been informed of the 10% pass rate ideas. Judging how much is “learned” in a workshop is difficult but the enthusiasm of their grade 12 mathematics students, plus with which they were trying out the ideas trying to come to grips with the overwhelming leads me to believe that they had learned strangeness of their country, my first reaction more than the workshop content. They were approaching mathematics teaching was to admit defeat ...” Sol Sigurdson with spirit, showing me that they really cared about the process. In two grade nine classes, the students, at the teacher’s request, sang for me with the same “The Teaching of Problem Solving According the motions of the workshop, and then richness of sound that I’d heard from the to Sol.” They heartily appreciated this quietly go back to my familiar Canada. teachers the previous week. I felt that our biblical reference and its implied arrogance. relationship building had had an impact at How, indeed, could sharing my views with I asked them to put at the bottom: I (do/do both a professional and personal level.