Year 8 Sesotho African Language Project draft 2 - Eunice High School

Topics the groups chose included:• How to lose a guy in 10lessons• Learn how to swim• A Sesotho driving school• A live cooking show withonline recipes• Growing your own vegetablegarden• A survival guide to a newschool• Running a fashion week inParis• Is she guilty? A court case• A restaurant servingtraditional African meals• A traditional Sesothowedding• First ever teenage Sesothomagazine• Cops and robbers – aninteractive play for 5 yearolds• Wildlife of South Africa• A road trip through Lesotho• Rights of children in SouthAfrica• CSI – one episode in Sesotho• How to use a taxi in SouthAfrica• Saying no to drugs• Zoo – a touch and feelexperience• Helping Sesotho speakersfind their way around thehospital• The history of Microsoft andhaving your own Sesothorepairs shop• A lesson in self defense• A Sesotho fairytalewonderland• Who are the South AfricanNdebele?The Outcomes:The first major improvement came in participation. The project eventually succeeded in activelyinvolving almost every single learner.There was a good balance between peer assessment for learners’ individual contribution and groupassessment by other groups and volunteer teachers.There was definitely an improvement in the learners’ ability to collaborate as a team. The long termnature of the project meant that learners had the time to work through barriers in the need to meetthe deadlines and earn a decent grade.There was something special about Black girls being the leaders of all the groups. This may soundridiculous but, in a South African sense, especially in a traditionally Afrikaans-speaking andconservative area, the project provided quality opportunities for changing perceptions, for valuableacademic, social and cultural interaction.A new collaborative relationship was established between the school and one of its neighbouringstakeholders: The unit for ICT Innovation in School Education (ICTISE) at the local university, sharingresources, expertise and skills.The final end of year exam was actually an exhibition. More than 200 desks were removed from theexam venue in minutes. Each group was assigned a space and they had a designated time to set up.Soon the hall looked like an innovative teachers’ forum, just a lot noisier! The groups performed their