Since 2018, the Independent Examinations Board (IEB) has offered the Collaborative Problem-Solving Challenge (CPS) for senior school students. This learning and assessment experience takes place online – allowing students from different schools to apply their grit and ingenuity to develop a solution to problems that fall within the National Development Plan goals.
Recognising the value of the skills that are developed through this assessment, SAHETI School approached the IEB in 2022 with idea of creating a CPS challenge for grade 7 learners to complete in term 1 of 2023. IEB Assessment Specialist Robyn Mowatt, and SAHETI Primary School Principal Sophia Zachariou led and co-ordinated the event, which was hosted by SAHETI.
“The IEB was honoured to collaborate with SAHETI on the project, as both institutions share the same educational philosophy – that is, actively promoting quality education for every South African citizen to establish a just, open society based on democratic values, social justice and fundamental human rights, in which cultural diversity is appreciated and embraced,” says Mowatt. The structure of the grade 7 challenge was designed around this philosophy.
Finding solutions to real-world challenges
Participating students collaborated to design a future-ready school that could be upscaled and implemented across South Africa. A total of 174 grade 7s from nine schools – St Andrew’s School for Girls, St Benedict’s, Dainfern College, St John’s College, St Dunstan’s, Marist Brothers Linmeyer, St Peter’s Boys, St Peter’s Girls and SAHETI School – took part in this experiential learning challenge.
They worked in teams of six, providing solutions to questions related to critical thinking, moral reasoning, and creative thinking. The learners were guided and motivated through the challenge by 29 mentors – alumni of SAHETI School. The solutions were presented to an external panel made up of IEB assessment specialists and teachers from the participating schools.
The moral reasoning task required learners to develop a charter for their school, which listed the rights and responsibilities of learners, staff and parents. Learners had to grapple with the values they wanted their school to promote. Their responses indicated an acute awareness of diversity, respect for difference and the value of physical and mental wellbeing of all stakeholders.
Dr Zano Tyrannis, SAHETI alumnus (class of 1991), commented: “It was very interesting to see that instead of the learners wanting more technology in the education system, more than anything they want an environment that is psychologically safe.”
“I learnt that change is sometimes not a bad thing. We need to be able to connect and communicate with each other. It was amazing to see all our ideas come together.”
Critical thinking
In the critical thinking question, learners had to consider how best to get their school future ready. Specifically, they had to consider what skills were needed for future success, and what resources schools should provide for learners and educators. Despite the expectation that learners would prioritise technology, they focussed instead on the soft skills that differentiate humans from technology. This nuanced approach demonstrated sophisticated thinking for this age group, who recognised the current trend reflected by educationalists and HR practitioners.
The creative thinking question required that learners design their future-ready school, with a specific focus on classroom design, curriculum and co-curricular offerings. Learners were encouraged to use images and pictures to help them develop creative solutions. Their designs championed sustainability through renewable energy sources and recycling initiatives, and individualised learning pathways with greater subject selection and self-paced learning.
Three computer venues, 29 iPads, and media and art centres were available to the learners throughout the day. There were also two ICT staff members, a librarian and eight teachers to assist the teams.
The collaborative challenge
The collaborative challenge received an enormous amount of positive feedback from all involved. One student commented:
I learnt that change is sometimes not a bad thing. We need to be able to connect and communicate with each other. It was amazing to see all our ideas come together.
Nico Papanicolaou, SAHETI alumnus (class of 1997) said: “It was great to work with learners from different backgrounds and perspectives and recalibrate my own heuristics on the capabilities of children of this age … I was able to play a guiding and facilitative role in the tasks, which allowed me to see how learners work in a team and how they approach problem-solving.”
Stefano Nicolopoulos, SAHETI alumnus (class of 2022) commented: “Even though our wild and wonderful creation of a future school seemed unreachable, we had plans in place to make our operations viable. After seeing a child’s belief in their idea, a lesson I walk away with is that no dream is ever too far-fetched to become a reality if you believe in it.”
Zachariou summed up the initiative: “It was an inspiring and empowering experience, providing the grade 7s with an opportunity to collaborate, develop critical thinking skills and problem-solve. The challenge afforded educators the opportunity to reflect, evaluate and understand the power of conversation and collaboration. Together with the learners, we experienced the value and relevance of collaborative learning and how innovation, critical and creative thought are likely off-springs from this process.”
Experiential learning tasks such as the SAHETI Grade 7 CPS Challenge require learners to become active knowledge creators and to see themselves as people who can solve big problems. It combines the capacities of reasoning (ethical, critical and creative), collaboration and communication which are essential for learners to develop into citizens who are socially responsible, proactive and interculturally competent.