2005 Ithuba Activities

In accordance with all applicable USAID requirements, processes and policies, the UTSA began the collaboration with the DOE to design and develop a minimum of 600,000 copies of high-quality, cost-effective textbooks and learning materials by the year 2008 as called for in the TLMP.  Through negotiations and responsiveness to the needs of the key stakeholders in the TLMP, the Program Advisory Committee, the TLMP at UTSA has begun the development of supplementary texts that support the literacy acquisition of intermediate phase learners (grades 4, 5, and 6) in underserved language groups in South Africa. The TLMP at UTSA is currently facilitating the authoring of supplementary learning materials within all eleven official languages, targeting more heavily however, those languages that have been historically marginalized (SiSwati, Ndebele, Tshivenda and Xitsonga). The authors of the textbooks are classroom teachers in our identified areas. Our work has been focused in Gauteng but will expand to include teachers in Limpopo and Mpumalanga. The classroom materials will be accompanied by teachers’ guides, which will guide the implementation of the supplementary reading materials and related content area lessons, in the areas of life orientation, natural sciences, and maths.

A targeted total of 120 titles will be developed throughout the life of the TLMP at UTSA. The development of these materials capitalizes on the theoretical model of writing known as Writer’s Workshop. This instructional model is based on strengthening the writing skills of classroom teachers as a way of building the capacity of the creation of learning materials. It is also based on improving the writing instruction offered to learners through teaching their teachers how to teach writing.