Tony Lelliott

In June 2018, a book entitled Learning about sustainable change in education in South Africa was launched in Durban. The book contains eight research chapters on the Jika iMfundo campaign (2015-2017) in Kwa-Zulu Natal, as well as an overview chapter and conclusion by the editors.

The Jika iMfundo intervention was piloted in two districts of the province, and is due to be rolled out across the province. Saide sent out a call for researchers in February 2017, and commissioned five teams of academics to conduct research over the course of the year. Careful management of the project guided by an advisory committee and editing by Pam Christie and Mareka Monyokolo, meant that by the end of the year all five teams had completed chapters on their research. Additional information on the project was added and the resulting openly licensed book was published early in 2018 and is available on the Saide website.

The book was launched at a colloquium in Durban in June 2018. Invitees included not only the chapter authors, but also other researchers, government officials, unions, funders, NGOs, and other persons interested in sustainable change in education. 130 delegates attended.

The colloquium format was unusual in that the presentations across five themes took place on day one, while day two was set aside for discussion of the presentations and a set of questions on sustainable change, to ensure that the colloquium will have tangible outcomes. The plenary sessions were chaired by Jenny Glennie, while the parallel sessions on curriculum coverage, leadership and management at both district and school levels, lesson plans and assessment for learning were chaired by key participants. All the sessions generated intense discussion, which extended beyond the allocated time into the breaks and after hours. The colloquium ended with reports from the session chairs and final closure by government and union representatives. The sessions were carefully documented, and the report from the meeting will be published by the end of July.

It is hoped that the book chapters and the discussions generated at the colloquium will have a meaningful impact on sustainable change in education in South Africa over the next few years.