Several responses such as learners behave and perform well (i.e. a 100% pass rate in all grades) including quality results; has good management, leadership and human resources; a school management team; has good governance – well established and knowledgeable school governing body (SGB) etc. were provided.
Considering all responses posted and discussed earlier, we deemed it fit to discuss all these ingredients of what symbolises an ideal school.
Today let’s focus on the very first response in our broader question: What an ideal school is, to which the response was “good learner behaviour coupled with excellent performance”.
For a collection of learners to exist, there should be a school; consequently, let us look at what a school is in relation to our argument’s context as described in our last column.
There are many definitions of a school depending on the context or scenario used.
Our constitution (Bill of Rights, chapter two, sub-section two) states that “Everyone has the right to receive education in the official language or languages of their choice in public educational institutions where that education is reasonably practicable.
“In order to ensure the effective access to, and implementation of, this right, the state must consider all reasonable educational alternatives, including single medium institutions.”
Therefore, we believe that these ‘institutions’, called schools as described by the Department of Basic Education, can best be described as follows in relation to the subset of the South African constitution:
A school can then be best described as “A place where we learn to live a life of selfless service on behalf of the community; it’s where we find the path to virtue, subordinating innate self-interest as individuals to the interests of the community, the good of the whole” (https://schoolisnotschool.org/).
As explained in our last article we aspire towards schools that produce future citizens that are well performing in their respective fields and are able to unearth individual talents and the potential of every learner. Following this, we should then agree that a learner is the pivot of these institutions. Meaning, a school, what we normally refer to as – centre of learning including institutions, colleges, seminars, academies, universities, Lyceum, etc. require learners to exist.
Therefore a definition of a learner can be summarised as a person who is trying to gain knowledge or skill in something by studying, practising, or being taught a said skill.
Although a learner normally pursues understanding diligently, is curious and makes knowledge their own, it is therefore expected of learners to uphold their true behavioural norms as inherited from their societies.
For example, common global factors in all societies include respect, understanding, loyalty, honesty, integrity and Ubuntu.
It is therefore, expected of learners to have such characteristics in an ideal school.
This question may then arise: Do current learners qualify from this above argument of learner definition?
If your answer is no, then we should not aspire at schools to produce future citizens that are well performing in their respective fields, as such schools will not be able to unearth individual talents and potential.
However, if your answer is yes or partially so, then these learners should be encouraged and stimulated by the entire community including learners themselves (instinctive or intrinsic motivation) to:
- Behave well in an acceptable manner,
- Adhere to school rules and regulations,
- Be disciplined at all times,
- Recognise religious and cultural rights of fellow learners,
- Participate in most sporting codes,
- Maintain good hygienic surroundings (classrooms included), and be clean at all times, and
- Have faith in everything they do (live a life of possibilities).
This previous list is endless with acceptably good common practices irrespective of class, race and gender.
Based on the ideal learner attributes mentioned above, and with the understanding that learners are human beings and have their own personal traits such as extrovert or introvert; learners affected by neurotic-stability (anxiety, low self-esteem, emotional control, shyness, moodiness); agreeable-hostile (empathetic, cooperative, trusting, irritable, mistrusting), learners should, however, always balance their life activities to curb some of the latter said negative stressors.
This should include physical activities (15%), spiritual activities (20%), family activities (10%), social activities (five %), intellectual activities that include school work (45%) and cultural activities (five %), as further explained by Whetton and Cameron (2002:126-7).
These levels of ideal learner development are calculated on average daily times spent as a learner in an ideal school.
Finally as we now have an understanding of what a school and a learner is, in our next article we will view and examine what kind of an educator should be viewed in relation to an ideal school.
Unfortunately our space is not enough here to share all views, hence, we urge all interested citizens who have the best interest in our educational system to please make use of all electronic discussion platforms available as provided below for these discussions.
It’s so unfortunate that we cannot take all your calls.
I sincerely would like to thank all participants through the volume of interest shown in these articles as clearly indicated by huge responses on these social platforms.
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Dr. Peter Mofokeng is an educational researcher and contributes these articles in his personal capacity.
*Article shortened from original.
