EP.11 How to Scale an Edtech Solution through Human Connection

Starting a low-fee private school? Hear from Spark's Stacey Brewer and their 10-year journey.

Around the Table with George Eadie is a podcast dedicated to telling stories of success and scale relevant to the South African Education system. Here we speak with Stacey Brewer the courageous and wildly competent leader who has led Spark to where it is today with 24 schools and 15,000 learners. Have you ever thought about starting a school? This podcast is for you. In the conversation, we speak about the pros and cons of incorporating as a for-profit versus a not-for-profit entity. We go into the learning model and how this model was a departure from the norm of what made a good school in South Africa 10 years ago, but which soon became the point of difference for Spark enough to drive tremendous interest and demand in the market for the schools. Stacey and her team have engaged intimately with the benefits and limitations of technology along the way. She shares how Covid was a truly tough time for the school where collections dried up, without a 'big brother' government element, it was stressful. However, despite this, the deep alignment between the school leadership and the funders as to the position this school holds in society allowed it to navigate those times and last much longer and scale further than any non-profit equivalent schools that were started at a similar time. Stacey also speaks about their commitment to teacher professional development at over 200 hours a year per teacher to underpin the academic standards of the school. 00:00 Introduction 02:16 What was the founding story, how did it start? 04:45 Rationale for non-profit versus for-profit business models for schools? 13:10 Spark's Fly assemblies, culture, core values, and Spark Creed. 15:03 Learning Model. 19:25 Social and Emotional Learning & Character Development. 19:45 Use of Technology. 23:00 Helping parents understand the new model. 24:50 Big turning points and hardest moments along the way? 27:35 Future Outlook. 30:55 Learning about learning, & teacher professional development 33:30 How does SA solve the schooling and teacher supply crisis? 35:30 Cost to open an SA school versus Spark school. 36:45 Advice for someone starting out creating a school. 39:25 Final comments open to shared learning The Answer Series Website [https://www.theanswer.co.za/] · Spark Schools Website [https://sparkschools.co.za/]

EP12. Democratising High-Quality Career Discovery (Yenza)

The modern version of career guidance is here and not a moment too soon. Yenza have found a way to create an in-depth and data-informed journey of career discovery for high schoolers. Whether you are a teacher, parent or learner, this new and important field of expertise is at the heart of what needs improving as we improve schooling. https://www.yenzacareers.com/ https://www.theanswer.co.za/ The Around the Table Podcast has the intention of harvesting insights across the education in South Africa, mostly form success stories, to foster shared learning and overall improvement. www.yenzacareers.com [https://www.yenzacareers.com/] · www.theanswer.co.za [https://www.theanswer.co.za/]

EP.11 How to Scale an Edtech Solution through Human Connection

Around the Table is a podcast dedicated to all those who have a passion to improve the standard of primary and secondary education in South Africa. Sponsored by The Answer Series www.theanswer.co.za In this episode David Fair addresses the success story of recurringly supporting 18000 learners in numeracy and literacy in rural situations with technology and with an innovative funding model. 00:00 Intro to David Fair and Edulution 10:32 The use of coaches instead of teachers 12:00 Power of tech needs human connection 13:50 Maths teachers may not be what we need 15:14 Model of success for coaches 18:45 Organisational culture and design of Edulution 20:00 AI supported content pathways 22:18 Unintended benefit in literacy 25:16 Human connection by design 27:00 Learner energy management tactics 32:38 Have you ever had to make a big pivot? 35:32 Edulution's partnerships 40:00 Edulution's free-market principles that support high-performance 41:50 Edulution outcome funded model 44:15 Ways to join forces or help Edulution 46:12 Dream to augment teachers, not replace them 47:57 Cause for grounded optimism Edulution Website [https://www.edulution.org/what-we-do] · The Answer Series Website [https://www.theanswer.co.za/]

Ep. 10 A revolutionary model of schooling for modern times

Around the Table with George Eadie is a podcast dedicated to better understanding education and how it might be improved in South Africa. More info for e-books for schools from The Answer Series as mentioned in the ad: https://www.theanswer.co.za/subscriptions/ebooks-b2b/ Tim Viera is the CEO and Founder of Brave Generation Academy. BGA Is a global school network with 53 hubs around the world. Tim and his team used common sense to create this new version of schooling that is better adapted to modern times. https://bravegenerationacademy.com/home 00:00 Teasers; Intro and Ad 3:19 Origin Story of Brave Generation Academy (BGA) 07:12 Emphasis on the use of common sense to chart the course change 7:50 Balancing the demands of life while starting BGA 11:04 Type of kids that were attracted to BGA 11:37 More about the use of the British International Curriculum 12:00 How BGA adapts to the learner 14:05 Peers inspiring peers to find their passion 14:30 The role of learning coaches 15:25 No set holidays 15:50 Your academic timeline and your learning coach 16:28 The role of learning coaches 17:13 The Tech Platform and the structure of academic progression 19:27 The teenage brain and the capability to cope with this model 22:00 Traditional schooling is fine for kids under 12. 20:57 Preparing for beyond school 22:58 Incorporation of 1st University into BGA 24:09 Self-paced learning removes excuses and slow is fine! 25:21 More detail on the hubs and their integration into the community 28:35 Brave and Beyond Curriculum (Social and Emotional competencies) 29:34 Results they're getting 30:47 No failures, only experiences (Vet Story) 29:00 no failure, only stories - funny job shadow story 31:40 Integration of hub into the community 31:55 Why teachers aspire to be a learning coach 32:21 Opinions on how to improve education in South Africa 33:08 National education systems, globally are under pressure 33:39 Business model of BGA: Purpose project 34:10 Technology to deliver a minimum standard of learning 34:50 Declining standard of a South African matric, globally 35:30 Globally relevant skills mean you can live in Kenya and earn in the US 36:13 Re-thinking assumptions, e.g. holidays 36:40 SA needs an extra year for an A-level equivalent 37:06 How does the broader system migrate from where it is now? 38:56 How do schools need to be more relevant? 39:25 What about Microsoft certifications at 15? 40:20 Universities should be including 1st year within school 42:15 Match the adaptability of schooling to the speed of change in the working world 42:58 We need to create wealth creators, not workers 43:37 Was there ever a reckoning moment in the creation of BGA? 46:20 The efficiency of hubs versus the cost-heavy schooling model 50:18 Wrap, thank you and details for following BGA 50:48 SA Hubs: Tygervalley, Waterfront, Sunninghill, Nelspruit For more about All-Access E-books for Schools [https://www.theanswer.co.za/subscriptions/ebooks-b2b/] · For more info on Brave Generation Academy [https://bravegenerationacademy.com/home]

Ep 9. Using ed-tech to shape the literacy landscape in South Africa

Did you know that 78% of South African Grade 4 learners can’t read for meaning and 63% of grade five learners show no basic mathematical knowledge? Unfortunately, weak student performance in literacy and numeracy in Foundation Phase (Grades 1-3) constitutes one of the major factors leading to poor learning outcomes in later grades. Founder of the Click Foundation, Nicola Harris, is changing these statistics with her NGO. She joins TAS CEO and podcast host, George Eadie in this episode of Around the Table to share how Nicola and her team have the amazing reputation of leading one of South Africa's most scaled ed-tech rollouts as an NGO. After 10 years of leading the Click Foundation, she has a wealth of learnings to share. Be inspired by Nicola’s incredible story and how her organisation overcome COVID-related restrictions, as well as the socio-economic issues South African schools face in relation to implementing ed-tech programs like hers. Make sure to subscribe so that you don’t miss any upcoming episodes. Important links: Get access to all Answer Series e-books with just one license: https://www.theanswer.co.za/subscriptions/ebooks/ Get access to free e-Books for teachers: https://www.theanswer.co.za/teacher/free-e-books-for-teachers/ Contact TAS if you're a teacher for group benefits when buying for your class: info@theanswerseries.co.za The Click Foundation: https://clickfoundation.co.za/ Follow George Eadie on LinkedIn https://www.linkedin.com/in/georgeeadie/ or on Twitter @GeorgeEadie Visit TechWays www.techways.online and use the voucher code “TheAnswer” to get a 10% discount. The Click Foundation [https://clickfoundation.co.za/] · free e-Books for teachers [https://www.theanswer.co.za/teacher/free-e-books-for-teachers/] · · Transcript — PDF (160.0 KB) [https://static.iono.fm/files/p2179/att_1195147_20220620_143533_src.pdf]