To "facilitate" or "mediate"? A critical evaluation of facilitation in the life orientation area of curriculum 2005.
Date
2014-03-19
Authors
Nourse, Jill Katherine
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Abstract
This conceptual enquiry critically examines the pedagogic processes of facilitation and mediation. The Department of Education proposes that facilitation be used to implement Curriculum 2005 in South African schools. Documents circulated by the Department of Education are examined in order to show tha t the essential guidelines have not been
provided to assist teachers in their new role as facilitators of learning.The process of facilitation is examined in order to establish whether this process does in fact promote authentic learning, specifically in the learning area of Life Orientation. To achieve this, the role of facilitation is located as an integral part of Outcomes-based Education. The components of facilitation: experiential, learning, group work and reflection are critically examined to establish their possibilities and constraints in the promotion of learning in formal education. Having established a clear understanding of facilitation, the report explains Vygotsky’s notion of mediation as a prerequisite or process to be used in
conjunction with facilitation. The two processes are brought together in the concluding chapter, to demonstrate that it is possible to integrate facilitation and mediation into one pedagogy that will realise the outcomes of Outcomes-based Education in South Africa.