Get on the Smart Bus

The updated curriculum is still the talk of the town, generating much debate, heat and light! It remains fertile material for those adept at exaggeration and the sensational. I guess when the novelty subsides, its salient and poignant features will become more familiar and customized.

THE following is an editorial from Moses Mukoyi, National Association of Secondary Heads (NASH) Secretary General published in the 2017 NASH NATIONAL CONFERENCE MAGAZINE released at the NASH indaba held in Kariba.

THE seminal publicat ion, “CURRICULUM FRAMEWORK FOR PRIMARY AND SECONDARY EDUCATION 2015- 2022” remains a key reference point. My own critical appreciation of it as a teacher of Literature is that it captures and responds to the smart direction of 21st century education. Nearly everything around us is now getting smart!

Many school heads now use smart phones and like their counterparts in society are often glued to social media and online communication. They have to be smart, lest their digitally native learners outsmart them. We are inundated with and engulfed in the smartness of things… in the bank, in shops, at service stations we must get smart by swiping away on a card swipe machine. No need for a Form 4 certificate to do this… common sense will smarten up things for sure. Then there is e- learning, e- books and other digital reading and learning tools. In the home, a few privileged ones have smart devices and gadgets (smart TV with HD channels and other smart options, smart locks, wireless operation of gadgets….it is smart this, smart that and smart everywhere!

In some hotels, it is possible to get lost in a smart toilet!

Eventually, inevitably and inexorably, education will go the smart way at an accelerating pace. Already some remote marginalized rural schools have digital learning hubs. The current Honourable Minister Dokora recently launched a smart agriculture ZIMSWAP project that uses drip irrigation technology to green a once dry, dusty and desolate landscape. I was there! And he talks passionately about smart school feeding. One school head recently boasted about escaping from chalk dust by introducing whiteboards…. he is going smart. Funds permitting, he could even up the stakes by installing interactive whiteboards as a pedagogical tool.

School records and documentation on smart soft copy, smart online registration for Form One and A-Level placement, platforms for mutually syndicated groupings (PEDs, DSIs, heads, sub- groups) looped in at the click of a button! Click! And every parent has the agenda for AGM! How smart you can get!

A smart education incorporates smart learning areas and outcomes, smart teaching and learning methods, smart formative and summative assessment, smart learner exit profiles, smart classes and infrastructure, smart teachers and smart learners.

When everything has been said and done, the head as leader is the pivot or fulcrum that holds the centre…the smart anchor at the helm. The business of conference is to share insights into leadership skills that will facilitate the successful implementation of the updated curriculum. The smart education so provided will realize the desired knowledge, skills and values.

Get on the smart bus or remain in perdition!

TALKING POINTS

1. What is a curriculum? What do you know about the updated curriculum of Zimbabwean education? Do you know the names of important Zimbabweans who have been at the bottom or centre of the new curriculum?

2. Do you feel as students you know enough about the new curriculum? Do you think it is important that you know much about it?

3. What is the main objective or goal of the new curriculum?

4. In paragraph 3 the writer says school heads have to be smart; otherwise ‘ their digitally native learners outsmart them.’ Who are these digital natives? Why are they referred to as such? What is outsmarting someone?

COMPREHENSION QUESTIONS. 1. You will remember paraphrasing refers to use of your own language to simplify complex words and expressions: Paraphrase the following expressions used by the author in his editorial and opening speech at the NASH conference in Kariba.

(a)… still the talk of town

( b)…. generating much debate (c)… when the novelty subsides (d)… Eventually, inevitably and inexorably

(e)… its salient and poignant features

2. Quote a line or expression from the passage which shows that the writer is a teacher.

In paragraph 3 the writer says there is “No need for a Form 4 certificate to do this…” (a) To do what?

( b) What does the writer mean by that expression?

3.VOCABULARY WORK

Do you think the word ‘ adept’ ( line…….) means

(a) afraid of

( b) Not interested

Or (c) skilled or skilful at

4. What does the writer mean by, “it’s smart this, smart that and smart everywhere?”

5. Do you think ‘a key reference’ means

6. (a) the first reference

( b) most important reference Or (c) the end or concluding reference?

7. In paragraph 5 the writer talks about ‘a soft copy.’(a) What is a soft copy? ( b) What is a hard copy?

8. Give a word or expression which is not more than seven words which means exactly the same as the following as they are used in the passage: (i) salient ( line…) (ii) poignant ( line…) (iii) novelty ( line….) (iv) inundated ( line….) (v) engulfed (vi) pedagogical ( line….) (vii) glued) (viii) desolate ( line…) (ix) accelerating ( line…) (x) facilitate

9. One school head is said to have “boasted about escaping from chalk dust by introducing white boards…” What does the word ‘escaping’ suggest about the feeling of the school head?

10. The writer passionately and strongly advises: “Get on the smart bus…” (a) What bus is he referring to?

( b) According to the writer, what is the consequence of not getting on the smart bus? ……………………………………… ………………………………………… ……………………………

SUMMARY WRITING

The writer through and through highlights the advantages of smart education to his colleagues he is addressing at the NASH conference. Summarise these advantages and give the examples he cites to campaign for a smart education. Your summary which must not be more than 160 words and must begin with the following 10 words:

Eventually, inevitably, inexorably, education will go the smart way and… ……………………………… ………………………………… …………………………………..

LANGUAGE USE

The writer generously uses fresh idioms and figures of speech. The following are some of them:

1. The talk of town: Obviously he does not mean literally everyone is talking about the new curriculum and does not refer to a town or any town at all. He simply means the curriculum is today a topical issue. Many people are talking about it.

2. Generating heat and light: In his use of ‘ heat’ and ‘ light’ the writer resorts to symbolism. What does ‘ heat’ symbolize and what does ‘ light’ symbolise?

3. Glued to social media: Discuss the effect of this symbolism in constructing a fresh idiomatic expression.

Do the same analysis or study with the following:

4. …escaping from chalk dust

5. Get on the bus

6. Outsmart them

7. Remain behind to perdition

8. The smart anchor at the helm

9. Engulfed in the smartness of things

SENSE OF HUMOUR

Most good writers and speakers love to season their speeches or written works with a sense of humour. This adds amusement and shows the joy and ease with which the speaker or writer is going about his or her work. Moses Mukoyi is no exception. ◆ Study the text carefully again and pick out what your think are glimpses of a sense of humour.

The Adjective

The adjective qualifies or modifies a noun. What this simply means is every noun becomes more vivid or clearer when an adjective is used to qualify it. It is therefore a descriptive technique used to foster descriptive detail in expression. It therefore also means clever use of the adjective can improve level or command of language in story telling or writing and for you the student, a narrative composition writing tool.

EXAMPLES:

Paragraph 1: Instead of referring to a plain curriculum the writer describes it as ‘updated’- the updated curriculum.

He also does not talk about plain material, but ‘ fertile material.” He continues:

(a) salient and poignant features

( b) critical appreciation

(c) smart phones, smart devices, smart gadgets

(d) remote, marginalizes school (e) interactive boards

(f) syndicated groupings

( g) formative assessment

( h) summative assessment

(i) desired knowledge

The question you ask to appreciate the ‘smart’ impact and effectiveness of adjectives is, ‘ What appreciation, what phone, device, gadget, school, boards, groupings, assessment, knowledge?’ And the adjective before the noun answers the question vividly. That is the purpose of adjectives. Make it a habit to qualify every noun with an accurate adjective and improve your command of expression in speech and writing.