Creative learning spaces in South Africa:
Critical success factors,
strategies for systemic uptake
Katie Huston, DG Murray Trust
Ntoko Kunene, Lima Rural Development
Foundation
Creative learning spaces
• Play-based
• Exploratory
• Learner-driven
• Fun!
• It’s okay to make
mistakes
Context:
Teachers
Context: resources
…the result: critically low achievement levels
Matric results 2014
(n = 1 085 570 learners in Grade 2 in 2004)
3%
48%
0%
20%
12%
40%
23%
60%
14%
80%
100%
Dropped out before grade 9
Dropped out or fell behind between grades 9 and 12
Failed
Passed
Bachelors pass
120%
The critical questions:
Can we have creative learning…
of quality…
in an education ecosystem with serious challenges?
New actors
Mobilise assets
Unlock potential
Crowd in the
community
Nal’ibali
reading
clubs
Nongoma,
KwaZulu-Natal
COUNT:
Family
Maths
Pungashe,
KwaZulu-Natal
Family
Literacy
Project:
Khulisa
Abantwana
home visiting
programme
Underberg,
KwaZulu-Natal
Axium
Community
Readers
Zithulele,
Eastern Cape
Keiskamma
Trust: Intlantsi
Creative
Development
Programme
Hamburg,
Eastern Cape
The critical questions:
Can we have creative learning…
of quality,
at scale,
in an education ecosystem with serious challenges,
embedded in government systems?
Community Work
Programme (CWP)
• 8 days/month
• Minimum wage (~R72/day)
• Employment “safety net” – intended to
complement existing livelihood strategies
• 1000 participants per site,
>180 000 in SA
• “Useful work” decided at a local level
• Work within 2-3km of home
• Theory: participants should acquire skills
via training, and (some) should move out
of programme into employment
opportunities
• Theory: requires partnerships
So, returning to our principles…
• Learner-driven, play-based, enjoyment-focused pedagogies
• New actors
• Mindset shifts
And our critical question:
Can we have creative learning, of quality, at scale, in a rigid system
with serious challenges, driven and funded by the state?