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Peer Review

Creating People Centred Schools: Taking account of traditional ways of learning in Africa

Reviewed:

Mar 24, 2018 by Teacher Education
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Ratings

Overall Rating: 4.2 stars
Content Quality: 4.0 stars
Effectiveness: 4.5 stars
Ease of Use: 4.5 stars
Overview:

This audiotape is linked to Creating People Centred Schools learning guide, but carries debates which could also be used in a free-standing way by anyone interested in school organization and change.

Type of Material:

The material is listed as a tutorial because the audio presentation has an learning guide with assignments.The learning material is also a case study. The case study examines school and organizational change in Africa.
Recommended Uses:

Can be used as a part of an in-service workshop Can be integrated into a lesson about introducing new learning strategies into the classroom to better engage learners The learning material could be used after a teacher-led discussion and background readings. An assignment was suggested to identify ways rituals and ceremonies.
Technical Requirements:

Access to YouTube via browser
Identify Major Learning Goals:

The learning goals are to promote change in organizations by focusing on the needs of the community and by creating an emotional experience through the use of rituals and ceremonies.
Target Student Population:

School administrators and in-service teachers; the target population is in Africa, but the ideas covered can be applied universally.
Prerequisite Knowledge or Skills:

An introductory course on change management in organizations would provide more background information on the topic; existing teaching or education administrator expertise would be useful.

Content Quality

Rating:
Strengths:

The concepts discussed are significant in that when applied can to any classroom whether in South Africa or other parts of the English-speaking world.
Concerns:

There were no indications such as citations or a bibliography to indicate that the audio presentation was informed by scholarship. More specific examples were needed to place the information into context. For example, the audio tape mentioned singing and dancing to promote learning but details regarding the subject or context were not provided in order to explain how.

Potential Effectiveness as a Teaching Tool

Rating:
Strengths:

The audio presentations argues the importance of social and emotional learning in schools and organizations to promote the spiritual growth and creativity. The learning material could be used after a teacher-led lecture and background readings in application stage of learning. An assignment was suggested in the audio presentation encouraging the listener to identify ways rituals and ceremonies in their organizations.
Concerns:

The video refers to a guide, but none seems to be available on the originating website. This makes it difficult to see how the audio presentation built upon prior concepts.

Ease of Use for Both Students and Faculty

Rating:
Strengths:

It is accessed from the originating website linking to YouTube video. As long as YouTube is not blocked by the institution at which the video is being viewed, it will be easily accessed for the foreseeable future. A transcript in English is available.
Concerns:

While this is an audio only, it links to a YouTube video with minimal visual media included. The YouTube closed-captioning was used an thus the transcript is a little bit "off." The site does not identify that the user is going to a separate website (YouTube) when the link is clicked.
Other Issues and Comments:

The missing instructional guide made it difficult to see how the presentation fits in to the overall lesson.
Creative Commons:
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