Collaboration for Effective Basic Education Teacher Development

By Boitumelo Khunou, Project Manager, IPASA

“Achieving the desired outcomes in foundational literacy and numeracy—and, by extension, driving systemic change—requires a concerted, collaborative effort across sectors.” – Boitumelo Khunou

Teacher development as a lever for systemic change

The South African basic education system continues to face significant challenges, including disparities in educational outcomes, under-resourced schools, and persistent gaps in foundational literacy and numeracy. These issues are deeply intertwined with socio-economic inequalities, making it difficult for many learners to reach their full potential.

Improving foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes is not only critical for ensuring that learners progress effectively through the education system and fully benefit from learning opportunities, but also essential for building a more educated and skilled workforce—a key driver of economic growth and social development. At the heart of this challenge lies the need for a strong focus on teacher development. Equipping teachers with the skills and knowledge to effectively teach foundational literacy and numeracy is increasingly recognised as a vital lever for systemic change in basic education.

The Independent Philanthropy Association South Africa’s (IPASA) Basic Education Funders’ Report, highlights that literacy and numeracy remain the most supported funding focus areas amongst basic education funders in South Africa. The report also reveals that within this focus area, teacher professional development attracts the most funding, reflecting a shared understanding of the pivotal role well-trained teachers play in driving improvements across the basic education sector.

IPASA’s research on teacher development in foundational literacy and numeracy

As part of its Basic Education Funder Support Initiative, IPASA convenes education funders to share experiences, learn from one another, and explore opportunities for collaboration. These efforts are aimed at promoting sustainable impact in the sector. Given the emerging priority of teacher development in foundational literacy and numeracy, as part of the Basic Education Funder Initiative, IPASA commissioned a rapid research report to provide funders with an evidence-based understanding of current teacher development initiatives in South Africa. The goal is to enhance alignment and coordination amongst funders, thereby amplifying the effectiveness of their investments in this critical area.

This research offers valuable preliminary insights into the state of teacher development in foundational literacy and numeracy. It also highlights opportunities for funders to deepen their support for initiatives that can drive systemic change. Such research, as imperfect as it may be, is essential for identifying gaps, testing new approaches, and refining existing strategies.

Reflections from the rapid research report

The rapid research report is grounded in a desktop review of teacher professional development initiatives in South Africa focused on foundational literacy and numeracy, complemented by a survey conducted with members of the National Association of Social Change Entities in Education (NASCEE). Below are some of the key insights that emerged:

Supporting evidence-based initiatives

Prioritising evidence-based teacher development initiatives is crucial for funders aiming to significantly improve foundational literacy and numeracy outcomes in South Africa. Research consistently shows that a combination of structured pedagogy, high-quality teaching materials, and ongoing teacher support, referred to as the ‘Education Triple Cocktail’¹, leads to substantial improvements in learner outcomes. This approach has proven effective even in under-resourced and disadvantaged schools. By investing in initiatives grounded in these proven methodologies, funders can ensure their contributions lead to sustainable and scalable improvements in education, helping to break the cycle of poverty and inequality that impedes the progress of many learners in South Africa.

Supporting scalability

Scaling initiatives remains a significant challenge, with few initiatives having the capacity to effectively implement and sustain their intervention across a wide geographic area, reaching a significant number of teachers and learners. Navigating government systems and securing sufficient funding are among the obstacles to achieving scale. Research suggests that South Africa urgently needs to move toward sustained, system-wide interventions rather than localised pockets of programmes². However, until scalability can be achieved, the research recommends supporting interventions that are designed to generate learning and evidence to contribute towards building the evidence base.

Finding funding synergies

The report points out that most foundational literacy and numeracy teacher development initiatives receive philanthropic funding, with additional contributions coming from Corporate Social Investment and Overseas Development Assistance. These diverse funding streams highlight the need for strategic collaboration and synergy amongst the different types of funders to amplify the reach and effectiveness of teacher development initiatives. By creating funding synergies, where multiple funders collaborate on joint initiatives, challenges related to scalability can be mitigated. Philanthropic funders, in particular, are well-positioned to advocate for the continued and increased support for teacher development in foundational literacy and numeracy, potentially influencing national priorities and policies.

Enhancing monitoring and evaluation

Robust monitoring and evaluation practices are essential for ensuring the effectiveness of teacher development initiatives. The report notes that while baseline and endline assessments are common, midline evaluations are less frequent, and independent evaluations are rare, only commonly seen in larger organisations or consortiums. Monitoring and evaluation practices can be strengthened through the support of independent evaluations and ensuring consistent data collection across all stages of teacher development initiatives. This is consistent with the evidence of ‘what works’, which highlights the importance of ensuring that impact evaluations are planned, budgeted for and incorporated into the design of the initiatives. 

Harnessing the power of cross-sector partnerships and consortiums

Achieving systemic impact in teacher development requires collaboration across sectors, including government, implementing partners, and various funders. By pooling resources and aligning efforts, stakeholders can address critical challenges such as funding gaps, geographical disparities, and monitoring and evaluation practices. The report reveals a growing trend toward consortium-based approaches in teacher development initiatives. These collaborations, often involving multi-year projects, bring together the strengths of various organisations to create more comprehensive and effective interventions. While the system largely remains fragmented, with initiatives operating at different scales—from small, localised programmes to larger, province-wide efforts—consortiums offer a powerful mechanism for overcoming this fragmentation, enabling initiatives to achieve a more holistic and scalable impact than individual efforts might accomplish alone.

The way forward: collaborative action for systemic change

The challenges facing South Africa’s basic education system are too complex for any single entity to tackle alone. Achieving the desired outcomes in foundational literacy and numeracy—and, by extension, driving systemic change—requires a concerted, collaborative effort across sectors. By working together, funders, government, and implementing partners can create a more cohesive and effective system that ultimately benefits all learners in the system.

¹  Fleisch, B. (2018). The education triple cocktail: System-wide instructional reform in South Africa. UCT Press/Juta and Company (Pty) Ltd.

² Taylor, S., & Spaull, N. (2022). What works and what scales? Returning to a tradition of evidence-based system-wide programmes. Oxford University Press.