With thanks to Elna de Beer and Linda Hlengwa for their detailed feedback.
During the final Training Advisory Working Group gathering of 2018, the focus was on the review process conducted by the RISE team on the Community Development and Conservation (CDC) module. It was a true “Learning by Doing” approach, as the content of the learning material was revised by the team while it was being implemented through contact with the Higher Certificate students and the Makuleke community. This was truly an undertaking of significant proportions, as it took six months to fully review, update and implement the revised and improved contents.
This is largely due to the fact that the academic quality assurance process requires that in preparation for the training of a module, the following deliverables need to be prepared and submitted prior to the actual training event:
- Module review based on lessons learned from the previous year.
- Module lesson plan structuring the outline of the module to be presented.
- Training block assignment.
- Class test and examination.
Recognising SAWC’s policy of learning-by-doing and the importance of learning outcomes informed by Bloom’s taxonomy, the training approach is competency-based. Competency as the ability to deliver at the required level of a job, in this particular case, that of a CDC practitioner. Competency is seen as a combination of knowledge, skills and attitude, which have to be reflected in the learning objectives.
The revised Modular Outcome was agreed to be “Introduction to the relationship between community development and conservation management approaches”, with the RISE Unit being responsible for training the Higher Certificate students on the CDC Module.
Updated Learning Outcomes include:
- Identifying and linking development related concepts to community based conservation approaches.
- Identifying and comparing different community based conservation approaches with your work situation.
- Identifying and applying participation as an instrument to involve local communities in community based conservation approaches.
- Practicing basic skills in support of the relationship between conservation and local communities.
A very thorough review process resulted in a manual of high quality that is pertinent to the stakeholders.
