University of Limpopo

Rural Development and Innovation Hub (RDIH)

Private Bag X1106, Sovenga, 0727, South Africa
Tel: 015 268 4698/072 248 4838, Email: [email protected]

FINAL INDIVIDUAL STUDENT EVALUATION

OF THE 2024 COMMUNITY ENGAGED INTEGRATED SCHOOL SUPPORT
PROGRAMME

Complete electronically ON THIS WORD TEMPLATE and email to

[email protected] and cc [email protected]

By not later than Friday, 25 October 2024

NB Save the document as

 2024_ISSP_Indiv Eval_Surname
 2024_ISSP_Indiv_Eval_Moloi

Please complete Sections A - B below

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SECTION A: IDENTIFYING DETAILS.

Name and Surname of PHOLOSO KGATLA

Student as you want it to
appear on the certificate.

Please note that I will REMOVE ALL IDENTIFYING DETAILS for reporting or
research purposes. The purpose of providing your identifying details is purely
for certificate purposes.

We value your feedback (positive or negative), and your honest opinion will have a
significant influence on the future community engaged scholarship programmes.

NEGATIVE FEEDBACK WILL HAVE NO INFLUENCE ON YOUR

ELIGIBILITY FOR A CE CERTIFICATE AND OR LETTER TO FUTURE
EMPLOYER.

 On the contrary your ability to provide constructive criticism and

recommendations will be commended upon as you then
demonstrate your critical thinking skills.

Only if recommended by your peer group, community, or any unethical behavior will
disqualify you from a certificate and letter of recommendation.

Section B: Evaluation of Programme

1. Provide a short description of your school support project implemented in the

school. (Identify learning themes, how you helped learners, and how you
evaluated the programme with the learners)

Our programme was school support.

Main objective was to improve learner’s academic performance, foster a supporting learning
environment. We helped learners by encouraging discussion and questioning, monitor
progress through giving learners quizzes and adjust strategies that will help them in
understanding the subject even better. Summative evaluation was to group learners to
gather qualitative feedback.
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2. Dates, location and how you implemented the project.

Every Saturday from 07:00 to 13:00 we would go to allocated schools around areas like mankweng
and ga-molepo to execute our duties. Even during the week if needed. We will be given a certain
topic few days before so we can be able to study it and also find possible ways of teaching it and
gathering necessary materials before the school visit.

3. Number of PARTICIPANTS and a short summary of demographics (i.e., male/female,

age, geographic area/school)
4.
In most schools they were less than 20, mostly females. Age range between 15 to 21. One school
was at ga-molepo(maisha secondary) the others were schools around mankweng area.

5. What in your opinion is community engaged scholarship?

Education initiatives with schools and community groups, one of the benefits is to increase
academic-community collaboration and it prepares students for civic engagement. Identifies
and address community needs and also provide training and support.

6. What in your opinion is the role of the students in a community engaged scholarship
programme?

Volunteering, provide services to community organizations and share knowledge with fellow
students. Collaboration, working as a team to tackle challenges and organization objectives. It
also includes active participation.
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7. If you must prepare students to participate in a community-engaged scholarship

programme, what advice would you give them?

Before engagement I will tell them to have a proper background or research what the
programme is all about. Make sure they familiarize themselves with the duties and
responsibilities. They must have essential skills such as teamwork, self-awareness and
reflection, flexibility and adaptability. Also, they must respect the community’s expertise and
knowledge also their differences. They must be prepared to learn and grow, embrace
challenges as opportunities for growth.

8. In your opinion, should a community engaged scholarship programme for students, as

you were part of, be voluntary or compulsory and motivate your answer.

It should be voluntary because when you volunteers it means you have genuine interest and
motivation, you can even choose a programme aligning with your interest without being forced
to. It also increases commitment and engagement when you volunteer than when it is
compulsory to do so.

8.1 Rate your experience of the programme this year out of 5, with an X.

1 = Extremely 2 = Negative 3 = Average 4 = Positive 5 = Extremely

Negative Positive
X

8.2 Motivate your answer above.

This programme had a positive impact on me because it made my life useful, sharing my knowledge
with other students is something that i liked. Also going to different schools or communities taught me
the cultural difference. It boosted my confidence and public speaking skills.
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9. What was for you, the most significant experience of participating in the community
engaged scholarship programme?

I am someone who cannot engage in conversation with new people, this programme forced me to
build meaningful relationships with other students. Witnessing personal growth and increased
confidence is something that stood out for me. Gained leadership skills and teamwork.

10. No programme is ever 100% and there is always room for improvement. If you must
lead the community engaged scholarship programme with students, what would you
do differently and why?

I would make sure the participants have necessary materials to carry out their duties and also have
personal meetings on improvements than writing them via email of which is not effective.

11.1 Rate your experience of the workshops for UL students before going to schools
out of 5, with an X

1= 2= 3 = Average 4 = Positive 5 = Extremely

Extremely Negative Positive
Negative

11.2 Motivate your answer above.

It was quite good even though everything seemed to be moving fast and somehow you get left out or
do not understand what is required. It would have made more sense if we had a venue based
workshop than via google meet, simply because the supervisors can see where we are challenged
during the workshop and assistance will be quick.

12. As said before there is always room for improvement. If you must facilitate these
workshops for UL students, what would you do differently and why?

Having venue-based workshops so we can get to know each other because on our first school visit,
we did not know each other and it was a bit awkward. Knowing about our colleagues before the
school visit would have been a great idea.
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13. How will you describe your work with real-life school learners?

At first it was challenging but I knew how to handle them because I was once a student. It has shown
me that being a teacher requires patience and a good heart because some of these learners are bad
influencers to others. After a few visits I managed to control the class and conducting it in a peaceful
manner.

14. Communities not only learn from us, (students, academics, researchers etc.,) but we
too learn and change as a result of our engagement with communities. How did you
change and what did you learn from the community during your work with them?

I have learned to have empathy, cultural humility and social issues of other communities. At first I
thought the learners had the same school experiences as me, but after I have observed I saw that I
should not judge other schools based on facilities they have rather than on what knowledge they
have and it made me appreciate what my school had.

15. In your opinion what are the things you have heard and seen from the school learners
that could be addressed in future community engaged scholarship programmes?

Some schools do not have material, specifically nkoshilo secondary those learners said they were
not provided with textbooks but just notes. How can learners be able to study without textbooks?
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16. What skills did you obtain participating in the community engaged scholarship
programme that you think will improve your future employability (if so) and motivate
your answer by means of examples?

Public speaking to be honest, I was afraid to make speeches Infront of people I do not know. Also
leadership skill, among my group I was allocating roles to others and making sure that everything is
in order.

17. Provide a metaphor for your community engaged scholarship experience this year
and explain.

-bridge building
Community-engaged scholarship is like building bridges. Connections between academia and
community are forged, spanning gaps and fostering exchange. These bridges facilitate mutual
understanding, supporting the flow of ideas, resources, and benefits.

We want to thank you for your time and energy spent completing the programme. It was a
privilege to work with you!

If you have any questions do not hesitate to contact me. NB kindly indicate in all communication to
which student group you belong to i.e., 2024, Child abuse, SENR 040/SGEO 080, School Support
etc. as we have different students in different programmes.

Kind regards
Cuzette du Plessis
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