Botswana Change Projects
In Botswana, all the Change Projects sought to implement SDG 4 in alignment to the Botswana’s Revised National Policy on Education of 1994, which is the overarching policy on which all other policies and programmes are anchored.
The Change Projects are aimed at showcasing ESD at the institutional level to effect change that would contribute to educational quality improvement and enhance the achievement of SDG 4 and other SDGs.
Change Projects focus on curricula innovations and institutional community engagement. They address Botswana’s policies, plans and strategies (Botswana’s Vision 2036, National Development Plan 11 (NDP 11), Education and Training Sector Strategic Plan (ETSSP 2015-2020), the National Human Resources Development Strategy and Outcome Based Education (OBE)). These policies place emphasis on quality education, universal access to education, equitable quality education and lifelong learning, which is a clear indication of their relevance to SDG 4-Education 2030.
In all the Change Projects there are plans for scaling for impact in the whole institution and community.
Change Project: Improved use of used oil for soap making: A practical learning project
Albertinah Phiri, Molepolole College of Education (Secondary Education focus)
Phiri has identified a problem at Molepolole College of Education. There is used oil from the College kitchen that is meant to be collected every Wednesday, but this is not done. “The place is dirty, and the used oil pollutes the environment”. Phiri noted that the oil could be used for other purposes, for example making soap.
Phiri’s project plan was to invite community women to the college to demonstrate soap making. Her community of practice in the project included students and Science and Arts lecturers. Phiri met with some old ladies in the village of Molepolole to demonstrate soap making, including some ingredients like wooden charcoal for cosmetic therapy.
Thereafter, Phiri intended to assess significant learning and the integration of cultural knowledge and Science in the project through soap making with her students. She further planned to assess whether the problem of waste oil would be solved through this Change Project. Phiri hopes the Change Project will also improve community engagement, especially with unemployed youths in the village.
“We do not have to think about anything that is far in order to do a Change Project”
Change Project: Empowering the college community with business skills through a Business Clinic
Botho Thobega, Gaborone Technical College (GTC) (TVET focus)
Thobega identified that the GTC community has gaps in practical entrepreneurship skills, office skills, accounting skills and personal & professional development skills which impedes efficiency and delivery in the workplace. She then sought to equip GTC community with skills aligned to the knowledge-based economy required in industry – a departure from a resource-based economy that characterizes Botswana.
Thobega planned to start her Change Project with a group that she is able to influence – the GTC student community. Thobega envisions empowering GTC community with business education skills through creating a strong, well-coordinated community of practice. She started her Change Project by lobbying for a business clinic centre and implementing workshops, the first of which was a minute-taking workshop. The workshop was successful and yielded some positive results as the GTC Curriculum Committee adopted the template and the style that was used at the minute taking workshop to be used as a college style.
Thobega also hopes to initiate a business market day and mobilise other GTC departments and other stakeholders to participate in a Business Market Day where students will be engaged in different activities e.g. event management, entrepreneurial skills, budgeting and environmental education.
She also intends for the Business Clinic to continuously run the different workshops for the college community to address existing/arising needs and gaps and to develop a Facebook page.
“I will be able to change the face of the institution by the Change Project that I will have. A business market day can also attract students and people from outside the institution.”
Change Project: Empowering Tlokweng village community with soap making skills
Cannie Seleka, Tlokweng College of Education (Primary Education focus)
Seleka decided to focus on the SDG 4 in her Change Project and address a lack of ESD policy and awareness in her college. Originally, Seleka was concerned with student teachers who go on to teaching practice with very little knowledge of the Breakthrough to Setswana methods and approaches.
Seleka’s initial Change Project plan was to implement micro-teaching, peer teaching, and workshops for teachers. However, upon engagement with her community of practice, which included members of the Student Representative Council (SRC) and her colleagues, they decided to reflect on the potential to equip students with soap-making skills that were practised by village women of Tlokweng in the past.
The project was triggered by improper disposal of used cooking oil from the college kitchen which Seleka identified could be used for soap making to bring culture and life experiences into learning.
Seleka engaged the College Laboratory Technician to do the initial experiments for soap making by using oil and some chemicals in the laboratory.
“Whenever I teach my subject I try to infuse ESD so that students can become more aware of their actions”
Change Project: Community Service-Learning for improving relevance TVET
Gomolemo Morapedi Kilano, Francistown College of Technical and Vocational Education (TVET focus)
Kilano planned to use transformative learning approaches (community service-learning approach) to enhance the quality of teaching and learning at Francistown College of Technical and Vocational Education (FCTVE). Kilano selected one module where students could do a community service learning project, where they started by doing a needs analysis to establish an environmental problem in the community.
Kilano divided the students according to the various projects they undertook. Kilano had the students provide a detailed plan for the implementation of their projects. Tools that guided needs analysis were developed. The accounts group ran a workshop with the Mahudiri Primary School fund-raising committee, to equip the committee with basic accounting skills. The hair dressing group conducted a workshop on health and safety for Francistown salon and hair dressing entrepreneurs, while the tourism group have made consultation with Gerald Estates Village Development committee to map out ways in which the recreational park can be maintained. Finally, the Agricultural Economics group have made consultation with some stakeholders including the Francistown City Council Employees to establish ways in which waste can be used as part of the economic generating activities.
Kilano and her department have compiled schedules for supervising the projects. Kilano engaged students in developing self-evaluation tools and the students are expected to self-evaluate by evaluating the whole project and making recommendations for improvement in the future. Kilano’s department adopted the significant learning assessment tool to grade the students on their projects. This grade will constitute a certain percentage to the final module mark. Tools for self-evaluation and assessment of significant learning have been adapted and standardized by the department. All evidence collected is to be submitted in a portfolio for a chosen module.
“I now teach with an open mind, including ecological aspects in my teaching. FCTVE was in the process of infusing community service learning as part of the teaching approaches; this training has come at the right time.”
Change Project: Practical skills development for primary school teachers and pupils
Taswika Kanasi – Serowe College of Education (ECE focus)
Kanasi noticed that teachers in training have a lack of practical skills to use available resources for teaching. There are however many locally available recyclable materials which are not utilised and which are polluting the environment. Moreover, there are no policies for the integration of ESD at the College.
Kanasi’s innovative plan is to construct musical instruments, puppets and other teaching resources using recycled materials. Kanasi, together with her community of practice, involved students in making musical instruments, toys and masks and engaged local elderly people to appreciate and gain indigenous knowledge in materials development. The instruments will be used in lessons.
Through being involved in this project, student teachers have become aware of ESD issues and have become more creative, enhancing the social environment of learning through dance, story telling, news telling, drama, role playing, singing, miming, and creating picture news reports.
Kanasi plans to work with students to create artefacts with children in reception classes during their teaching practice in schools in the village. Kanasi would like to see this project expand to other departments.
“The approach to teaching music will be improved by integrating environmental issues. This information [from CAP-ESD] will be included as the institution crafts its strategic plan for the year.”
Change Project: Learning modern technology skills in a computer clinic
Maemo Champi, Oodi College of Applied Arts and Technology (TVET focus)
Champi identified that a lack of computer maintenance slows down both the delivery of programmes as well as the learning process, and that this needs addressing. Champi aims to set up a computer clinic lab where students can clean viruses, replace computer parts, and trouble shoot.
Champi hopes that this project will allow him to assess learners’ 21st century competences. Champi hopes to re-use computer parts and extend the project to other nearby colleges and schools.
“Being involved in SST has improved the institutional ability to support learning”
Change Project: Community service learning for improving the relevance of TVET
Gomolemo Morapedi-Kilano, Francistown College of Technical and Vocational Education (FCTVE)
The challenge facing the CoP was that the programmes taught at FCTVE neither fully addressed the 21st Century skills required by its students nor the ESD challenge. One of the ways that this was evident was in a lack of organised community service learning opportunities for the student teachers as explained by Morepedi-Kilano, “FCTVE was in the process of infusing community service learning as part of the teaching approaches; this [SST] training has come at the right time.” In addition to this, the CoP set out to review the policies of RNPE 94, Vision 2036, ETSSP and NDPII.
The mechanism to address this ESD challenge decided upon by the CoP was to deliberately include community service learning into one course module. The students were divided into four groups and each group had a unique focus. The groups were the account group, the hairdressing group, the tourism group and the agricultural economics group. Each group conducted a preliminary needs analysis which include ESD needs; and to do this a needs analysis tool was designed which was fit for purpose. The accounts group ran a workshop with the Mahudiri Primary School fund-raising committee to equip the committee with basic accounting skills. The hair dressing group conducted a workshop on health and safety for Francistown salon and hair dressing entrepreneurs, while the tourism group consulted with the Gerald Estates Village Development committee to map out ways in which the recreational park could be maintained. Finally, the Agricultural Economics group consulted with a few stakeholders including the Francistown City Council Employees to establish ways in which waste could be used as economic generating activities. In addition to the development of the needs assessment tool, the CoP developed a self-evaluation tool for the students as well as an assessment tool which was linked to the students’ Portfolio of Evidence. The assessment tool was adapted and standardised for use by the whole department. The community engagement and the transformative methods for teaching, learning and assessment were cited by the CoP as two of the most valuable aspects of the SST Programme. Morepedi-Kilano testified that “I now teach with an open mind, including ecological aspects to be included in my teaching.”
Change Project: A Practical Learning Project: Utilising used oil to make soap
Albertinah Phiri, Molepolole College of Education (MCE)
The ESD challenge identified by the CoP was the observation that used cooking oil from the College kitchen was not disposed of weekly which resulted in a dirty and polluted environment. The solution to this problem was to seek help from the Molepopole local community elders on how to convert the waste oil to soap.
The CoP consisted of students, Art and Science lecturers with the intention that the change project would be student led. The first step the CoP took was to invite the women elders of surrounding communities to the College to demonstrate the science, art and craft of traditional soap making. These demonstrations also included other skills, for example, the use of wooden charcoal as a cosmetic therapy. As Albertinah Phiri stated, “We developed an understanding and common language and that sense of companionship that is community and college on waste handling. This helps a lot in science learning. The network is really a resource for further learning and communication.”
The next step the CoP took was the integration of the indigenous knowledge of soap making into the science curriculum which also meant that tangible and intangible heritage knowledge was embedded into student teachers’ education. Finally the CoP considered the reframing of student assessment to include the students’ abilities to incorporate indigenous knowledge into their teaching practices. The policy gap which the CoP addressed in their change project was the lack of ESD in secondary teacher education colleges which is exacerbated by policy uncertainty and a lack of monitoring. The CoPs future plans involve the continued improvement of relations with local communities; and potentially the provision of employment for unemployed youths in the surrounding villages. Significant value arising from the SST course for the participants was the awareness that there are ESD teaching opportunities on their doorstep; and the appreciation of working alongside colleagues in Namibia and Zimbabwe which the CoP viewed as an on-going and important practice.
Change Project: Empowering student teachers with practical skills in preparation for teaching practice.
Cannie Seleka, Tlokweng College of Education
The CoP was initially inspired to lead a change project which would improve the professionalism of student teachers as many of the students had negative attitudes towards the teaching profession; and to improve the knowledge of the Breakthrough to Setswana methods and approaches which is a mother tongue initiative commenced in Botswana in 1984. Midway through the project this idea had developed into improving the quality of student teachers’ transition from the college to the classroom. The intention was to include micro-teaching, peer teaching and workshops for teachers on Breakthrough to Setswana. However, after working with the revised topic for some time, a collaborative decision was made by the CoP to move to a project which would empower student teachers with practical skills. The decision was to turn to the practical skill of making soap. The perseverance and hard work of the CoP to find a suitable topic is commendable and illustrates that ESD is often not achieved in a single step but requires an on-going effort to achieve results.
The CoP consisted of members of the Student Representative Council and staff members. Seleka had long observed the unsafe disposal of cooking oil from the College kitchen. She proposed that the oil was turned into soap and hopefully also bring culture and life experiences into learning by including the Tlokweng community. The College Laboratory Technician was engaged to experiment with the chemistry of soap making from used oil. One of the insights which Seleka gained from the change project was that all stakeholders must be included in action research initiatives and that it is important to involve learners in policy decisions. Immediate value was attained from intra-college co-operation amongst colleagues and a new way of thinking about waste.
“Changing the procedure of teaching science from theory and lab based to embrace teaching methodologies that aim to solve community problems such as waste feels just good for me.” Seleka.
Change Project: Improving ICT Skills through the Establishment of a Computer Clinic
Maemo Champi, Oodi College of Applied Arts and Technology (TVET focus)
The ESD challenge which Champi identified was a learning one. He observed that the lack of computer maintenance at the College slowed down the delivery of programmes. The gap identified was that there is a lack of skills amongst educators and students to implement effective ESD.
The focus of this change project was hard won as Champi explored two other ideas before settling on the Computer Clinic. These were firstly, a creative arts project to address the lack of creative skills amongst primary school teachers; and the second idea was to apply the transformative learning cycle to integrate indigenous knowledge with a special focus on music and strengthening Setswana language teaching capacity of student teachers. The perseverance required to move through a number of options for a change project is not unusual when one is seeking innovative ways to teach sustainability knowledge and skills.
Champi plans to set up the Computer Clinic to clean ICT viruses, replace computer parts and trouble shoot. He hopes to repair and reuse computer parts and potentially extend this change project to nearby schools and colleges.
Change Project: Technical education for reducing greenhouse gas emissions
Setso Ntsuke, Botswana College of Engineering and Technology
This project had a TVET focus and made a contribution towards the Botswanan ESD agenda to advance the in-country policy and the SDG 2030 Goals 3-6. The CoP worked with students to develop a model vehicle emission device which keeps emissions in check to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from old cars. In addition to this the disposal of hazardous wastes was included in the change project. This project incubated skills, values and attitudes in students towards environmentally friendly engineering methods, for example, Educators moved away from teaching students to repair older cars towards teaching them to redesign old engines with lower emission ratings. A consequence of this change project was a collegiate effort to revise the engineering curriculum and the assessment criterion to include ESD principles, such as, demonstrations of engineering work which protects the environment and which is done as a conscious human act.
The methods which the CoP had in mind to achieve the change project were recounted as a focus on: C21st competencies, computerised engine management systems, handling and disposal of hazardous chemicals, indigenous stories, collaborations and complimentary work on environmental production, and finally, seeking out alternative methods and ways of environmental protection. The SST participants noted that all the SST materials provided were useful as they were all inter-related and complimentary. They also found the institutional co-operation meaningful. Setso Ntsuke summed the value of this change project in these words,
The process of developing a Change Project has helped me to develop an in-depth understanding of the significance of sustainability. I have gained insights into how to develop an inclusive working Change Project ideal for transforming community activities that contribute to greenhouse gas emissions. I can look within the current curriculum for workable ESD opportunities and further improve or influence policy and decision making towards ESD.[1]