Reflective Learning
Learning backlogs in mathematics and inequality in the education system are the core challenges we address. Learning losses due to Covid-19 have placed our education system under strain, threatening the quality of our future workforce. Access to quality education is key to advancing the SDGs. Statistics show that around 500 000 students have dropped out of education, with poor academic results being a major contributing factor. South African learners have been shown to have significant gaps in mathematical conceptual understanding, which prevents them from being prepared for higher-level learning. For most students, it’s a perpetuation of our discriminatory past with the learners from the poorest 60% of schools having backlogs in mathematics of, on average, four grade levels by the end of Grade nine. This challenge is not only unique to South Africa but also in India, where about 73% of year seven students are five years behind and in the United States, where about 50% of year 12 students are five years behind.
Large swathes of students are missing out on higher education (and associated income levels) due to learning backlogs.
For equitable education (SDG 4) we need systems that intentionally bridge learning gaps to ensure every student has the foundations in place to excel in school. Reflective Learning (RL) has studied these trends and has developed a scalable system that identifies gaps in understanding across mathematics. We are then able to create an individualised pathway to accelerate learning so that students who have fallen behind have the opportunity to catch-up.
Reflective Learnings' programme consists of an online, bandwith-lite, diagnostic and catch-up solution. It covers the core learning threads in each subject. RL is curriculum agnostic and follows the logical progression of mathematics, building on the very foundations required to master the subject. In mathematics these threads consist of numbers, fractions, measurement, data literacy, problem solving, patterns and algebra, space and shape. First, students complete a set of diagnostic questions to measure their conceptual backlogs. Based on these initial assessments, we can pin-point exactly what students know and don't know, and how far to go back to remediate. Based on initial diagnostics, we provide a personalised pathway to address these knowledge backlogs. Our metacognitive approach teaches students to become independent thinkers, and life-long learners by building on metacognitive learning characteristics such as self-awareness, perseverance, precision, and confidence. RL supports teachers by providing them with accurate data on individuals and cohorts, enabling educators the ability to gain granular insights into their students conceptual understanding and catch-up process.
Our solution currently serves young students in South African schools (in both urban and rural areas). Our offering is cross-quintile relevant but often more needed in underserved and previously marginalised communities. Given apartheids legacy and the fact that South Africa has the highest Gini coefficient in the world, many families still live in poverty and lack access to basic urban services such as housing, water and sanitation, electricity, food and nutrition, transportation and quality schooling. Education leads to employment and consistent income is a means out of poverty. Further, quality education and equal education is required to advance the SDGs in their entirety.
As our whole team is South African (some team members are from Botswana, Namibia and Congo), we are in close proximity to the communities that we are operate in. We are from the communities we serve and being born in South Africa (the most unequal country in the world) we have an acute understanding of the dynamics socio-economic inequality. Many of us are also part-time educators in the very communities we serve. This ensures we are in close proximity to our core focus: driving sustainable development by equipping youth with the necessary intellectual, emotional and creative capacity.
Further, the students that we serve can eventually become part of the Reflective Learning human resources pipeline. We hope to eventually employ the individuals who have used the Reflective Learning programme, once they have graduated. By bringing in our target audience, we will be able to close the feedback loop between us and the communities we serve.
Our program also has features that give students a direct line of communication to our services team. This allows students to raise any concerns or ideas whenever need be. In this way ideas and innovations can sprout from our community, something we are very receptive towards.
We are a young multidisciplinary team. We have highly qualified experts in maths and science education, sustainable development studies, software development (backend and front end), marketing and business administration.
- Enable personalized learning and individualized instruction for learners who are most at risk for disengagement and school drop-out
- Scale
We are entering the MIT Solve initiative for the following reasons:
* to network with international partners and counterparts who can help us scale our solution to new regions
* to disseminate our project at international conferences and events
* to further optimise our product and resources
* by bolster our legitimacy, press relations and media presence
* to gain access to funding for those who cannot afford the Reflective Learning programme
* to gain independent and international peer reviews
* to increase our social impact to students across the world who struggle with learning backlogs on a daily basis
- Product / Service Distribution (e.g. expanding client base)