Indaba Education Fund (dba Indaba Foundation)

Vision: To improve the trajectory of human society in a single generation.

Purpose: The Indaba Foundation serves as a beacon of transformative education, dedicated to reshaping the future, by compassionately empowering women Early Childhood practitioners in socio-economically challenged communities with our CoRE teacher training, and advancing Early Childhood Development (ECD) in support of families and the community at large.

How: With an eight-year commitment to its vision, the Foundation established a world-class delivery platform anchored by the innovative Community-Rooted Education (CoRE) program; this is a ground-breaking seven-month course that empowers women, professionally and personally, within the communities they serve.

The Team Lead serves as Founder, Chairman, and President of the Indaba Foundation (501c3 USA) and Indaba Institute (PBO Non-Profit South Africa) working in complete synchrony. Leads vision, strategy, national policy advisory platforms, research - partnered with Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study, STIAS) - and advocacy for both women's empowerment, and high-quality education and care in the Early Years sector. Chairs both boards (NY and SA), co-ordinates with the global Association Montessori Internationale (Amsterdam, UNESCO partnered organization) and helps co-design the expansion of the CoRE program globally. Advises Abu Dhabi Early Childhood Authority, including the potential application of his vision to develop world's first University of the Child campus.

The Team Lead and Indaba's team members are all intimately involved in the delivery, and constant assessment of, the CoRE program. This includes: 

• Strategic Development
• Business Development (Ops, Admin and Finance)
• Curricular Evolution
• Community Engagement
• Program Delivery Oversight 
• Data Collection
• Best Practice Accountability
• Monitoring & Evaluation
• Constant Improvement through Feedback Loops
• In-Person Mentoring and Guidance

The Team Lead and Supporting Team Members have been involved in the granular R&D, Proofs of Concept and Scaling processes undertaken in the development of CoRE. These intensive and ongoing engagements with the CoRE Program, its training staff and its participants, position the Indaba team to collectively understand the program's machinery and impact, the women participants' needs, and opportunities for proactively ensuring maximum local relevance, to each ECD centre, and each community's individual needs. 

Our ongoing in-community data gathering and baseline studies, coupled with high-quality anecdotal evidence gathering and ongoing and active relationships with research-centric organizations like the Stellenbosch Institute for Advanced Study ("STIAS") and Stanford ensure fidelity in our current and future research planning, data gathering and outputs.

Thus, Community-Rooted Education is enabled to remain precisely that - home-grown, ground-up, locally-relevant and locally-owned education, even at scale. This essential "core" principle, ensures local resilience and sustainability.

CoRE radically improves the quality of ECD to vulnerable children, by empowering women teachers with education, skills and local agency.

There is a clear pattern of inequity in ECD in South Africa, both in terms of access to services and child outcomes. For example, children from the poorest quintile of households are almost three times as likely to be stunted as those in the richest quintile of households, and there is a 30% difference in enrolment in ECD programs between children from the richest and poorest quintiles of households. 

Furthermore, adolescent fertility, under-five mortality, and learning poverty levels are very high. A staggering 80 percent of children in South Africa cannot read for meaning by age 10 – this is far higher than the learning poverty rates in countries like Vietnam (20 percent) or Sri Lanka (15 percent). 

An estimated 80 percent of children are living in learning poverty - unable to read and understand a simple paragraph by the age of 10. 

Investment in ECD presents multiple remarkable returns for individuals, families, communities, and society at large. Studies conducted by the World Bank, the IMF, and UNICEF indicate that investment in ECD leads to better health outcomes, reduced repetition and drop-out, and increased school achievement. The cognitive and socio-emotional skills children develop in their early years are critical to success in the workplace and life. 

The benefits of ECD investments are more pronounced for children from poor households and have the potential to stop the inter-generational transmission of poverty. The long-term benefits of investing in ECD include reduced involvement in crime, increased employment and productivity, better health and increased equality, all of which promote economic growth and reduce the burden on government systems.

According to the National South African Thrive by Five program, a staggering 65% of children attending an ELP in South Africa fail to Thrive by Five.

While the poverty of learners and their families and ongoing infrastructural deficits play a role, a significant contribution to the state of education in South Africa is the quality of teachers and corruption within its system.

Children in South Africa are impacted by:

1. Severe Early Years Trauma rates due to social inequity and poor governance. The rate of sexual violence in South Africa is among the highest recorded in the world. According to the World Population Review, South Africa had the highest rate of rape in the world at 132.4 incidents per 100,000 people in 2010
2. Highest Foetal Alcohol Syndrome rate in the world
3. Teenage Pregnancy rates
4. High Drop-Out Rates, and the worst performing education system in the world, despite having one of the highest budgets per capita spend.

Due to a high rate of "fatherless families", single mothers struggle to parent and survive in poor socio-economic conditions.

In the context of all of the above, it is essential to support early childhood development. We urgently need to unlock the ability of women ECD Practitioners to become providers and custodians of quality Early Learning and support for the family, and thus serve as a key partner in the transformation of the broken education system in South Africa.

CoRE recognizes and builds upon the strengths, culture, latent resources and agency, held by local communities.

Thus, CoRE represents a bottom-up approach to education and development that prioritizes the empowerment and well-being of communities. By recognizing and building upon the strengths and assets of local communities, CoRE contributes to more inclusive, resilient, and thriving communities.

Grounded on Montessori theoretical principles, CoRE is interwoven with practical guidance enabling women to create supportive environments. CoRE foregrounds the importance of the relationship between the child, the adult, and the environment. Moreover, CoRE provides pathways of exploration for ECD practitioners, based on the needs and powers of the child, and plants seeds of change for communities and society.

Critically, CoRE programs are culturally sensitive and contextually relevant to the communities they serve. This approach recognizes the unique socio-economic, cultural, and environmental factors that shape the lives of families, and community members and tailors education and training interventions accordingly.

CoRE represents a fundamentally different way of looking at ECD
practitioner training. The method is different from conventional ECD
practitioner training and the outcome is different from that obtained by
conventional training models.

Based on the view that every community is different, CoRE is
community-rooted and human-centred. Each community has its own
history, culture, challenges and needs, but also holds within its unique
identity the potential of resilience, creativity and innovation. 

CoRE recognises the fundamental human traits of curiosity, compassion,
and intelligence, and that working with ECD practitioners in their own
communities has the potential to power rapid improvement in the
learning outcomes of children.

CoRE ultimately focuses on changing the way in which adults perceive the child, through changing the way in which training is delivered. CoRE sees the child as an agent of change with the power to offer something special to human society. CoRE trainees experience first-hand the benefits of learning in an environment that is respectful of their needs. As they connect with their own agency, they are opened to the possibility of the agency of the child. Trainees are guided in observing the innate potential of the children they work with, leading to an understanding that the child is not a vessel to be filled or a something to be moulded and formed, but as a complete person who can co-create a better world.

CoRE is unique in that it brings proven methodologies to the reality of present day local communities, thus achieving potency and traction in many different contexts. As ECD practitioners incorporate principles of child development, and developmentally appropriate practice into their own social and cultural knowledge they will be able to support the next generation in achieving their full potential. These children will thus be empowered to help transform their communities.

Another feature of the design of the CoRE programme is its adaptability to local challenges. A key element in the design of each iteration of CoRE is a study of the local community in which the training is based.

The basic training outline and methodology is then adapted to meet
the local needs and conditions.

The completed circle of CoRE is a holistic investment in the futures of
children, women and communities.

In order to evaluate our first Proof of Concept in 2021, we undertook a program evaluation research study to independently evaluate the success and impact of our second CoRE training program. This study focused on the ECD teachers enrolled in the CoRE training program. This study employed a mixed-methods methodology (that is: we used both qualitative as well as quantitative research activities) to answer the following research questions:

1. What influence does CoRE ECD Montessori training have on teachers?
2. What influence does CoRE II ECD Montessori training have on child development?
3. Are there barriers to teaching fidelity after teachers receive training? And what influences teaching fidelity

Themes Emerging from the Research:

Below are examples of common themes as raised by participants in both individual and focus group discussions.

• New knowledge of Montessori theory, method, and practice.
• Physical changes in the classroom.
• Changes in the way practitioners interact with children.
• Changes in the way children interact with practitioners.
• Changes in teaching practice and orientation (pedagogy).
• Changes in the way practitioners see themselves as individuals, practitioners, parents, and community workers.
• Feedback from parents and observable changes in behavior at home.
• The possibilities to grow the ECD center since adopting Montessori.
• Lack of communication and collaboration among ECD centers and practitioners in the town.
• Lack of teamwork work among ECD practitioners at the same centers.
• Lack of support from community mentors and/or community forums for ECD practitioners.
• The current needs of the community, as well as the strengths and weaknesses of the community.
• The role and value of ECD practitioners and ECD centers in the community.
• The role and value of ECD practitioners in the region and Western Cape province.

We are pleased to report that the research program was productive and insightful.

The willingness of participants to participate in research activities is not only heartening but is acknowledged and appreciated.

To better understand the role of the Facilitators (trainers) the researchers set up a reflective meeting with the Facilitators. Making dedicated time and space to reflect on the tangible and intangible changes they witnessed in the Facilitators and participants was remarkable. It became clear that it was not just the participants (the beneficiaries of this intervention) who were transformed by the implementation of CoRE, but all of those involved in the CoRE training program. That includes the research team, who were deeply moved by the generosity of spirit and love for education.

Doing site visits at the various ECD centers not only reminded everyone of the neglected state of Early Childhood Education in South Africa but also showed what is possible when passion triumphs over poverty. Based on our observations and interaction with participants, it was evident that
participants endeavored to implement the skills they learned in CoRE. The research revealed that there is fertile soil for Indaba Institute to extend its work and intervention in communities, as many ECD practitioners are open and eager to explore different methodologies.

It is no exaggeration to state that the CoRE program is truly groundbreaking. It is evident that through doing this CoRE program participants have become practitioners that are more self-aware of both themselves and their practice. Their passion for education has been rekindled and they are excited to share what they have learnt about themselves, the children they care for and teach, as well as their relationships with their peers. The CoRE program has impacted participants so powerfully that many participants are hoping to take up further training/academic studies in Montessori Education.

All participants, except for one who does not have any biological children, have reflected on how differently they would have raised their children and interacted with the children they care for and teach if they had this knowledge before. Based on the data we have collected to this point,
we can safely say that CoRE has changed the lives of all participants, but more importantly, in their own words, they have become more thoughtful human beings.

We also conducted a baseline survey which formed part of the larger project evaluation research study commissioned by the Indaba Institute. The purpose of the larger study was to examine the success and impact of CoRE (to be used interchangeably with ‘intervention’). The purpose of this baseline survey was to measure the skills and competencies of the beneficiaries before the intervention and to learn more about the ECD sector and their support networks. We are confident that whatever impact was identified as part of the larger program evaluation research study could reasonably be attributed to exposure to this intervention.

The findings presented in the preliminary report provided fascinating insights about the community of focus, the ECD sector, and the existing support networks in the town. 

The baseline also sought to gain a deeper understanding of the ECD sector in the impacted community, what learning materials ECD centers have access to, the curricula they use, government and non-governmental affiliations (and the resources that flow from that relationship), as well as to understand the background of the children they teach.

We asked respondents why they enrolled in the program, what they hoped to learn, as well as whether enrolling in this program would somehow contribute to their personal aspirations and ambitions. The survey revealed an overall sense of optimism and excitement to learn and grow as individuals and as ECD practitioners. 

When asked why practitioners enrolled in this program, responses often stated: “As a passionate person who loves children, I told myself that I need to learn more [about] the things which will help the children’s future while growing, and I think this training will impact me in that [way]”.

When asked about what respondents hoped to gain/benefit from this program, many said:
“[Learning curriculum content] that is suitable and important for the
children to know, things that will build their lives and make them better,
and also things that encourage me as their support system”.

These positive sentiments were uniformly expressed by 100% of the respondents.

Research suggests that children enrolled in high-quality comprehensive early childhood education programs, which include healthcare and nutritional components, were in better health than those who did not. These studies suggest that, at the age of 21 years, people who participated in a comprehensive early education program exhibited fewer risky health behaviors; for example, they were less likely to binge drink alcohol, smoke cigarettes, and use illegal drugs. This group also self-reported better health and had a lower number of deaths. Furthermore, by their mid-30s, children who participated in comprehensive early childhood development and education programs had a lower risk for heart disease and associated risk factors, including obesity, high blood pressure, elevated blood sugar, and high cholesterol. These studies show that quality early childhood development and education programs can play a key role in reducing risky health behaviors and preventing or delaying the onset of chronic disease in adulthood. The overwhelming majority of scholarship suggests that investment in high-quality comprehensive early childhood education has huge returns on investment. However, the delivery of high-quality early childhood education requires skilled, competent, and confident practitioners.

Since its inception, the Indaba Foundation has been creating and delivering a world-class ECD practitioner training program: Community Rooted Education (or CoRE) and its AMI Diploma in Early Childhood Education. Our flagship training program, CoRE, is a holistic approach to education that focuses on addressing the specific needs and challenges of communities. Moreover, CoRE empowers ECD practitioners (the majority of whom are women) and communities by providing training and support networks that contribute to sustainable development and social transformation. To assess the impact of our intervention on women and communities, the Indaba Foundation commissioned an external research consultancy to conduct a pre-intervention baseline survey, and an ethnography during the roll-out of the intervention over 10 months. The study included post-intervention interviews and site visits. The qualitative findings of the commissioned study revealed that the CoRE program contributes to professional development, promotes personal growth and self-awareness, promotes creativity and self-reliance, promotes goal-setting, planning, and leadership development, and cultivates communities of practice. Furthermore, the study found that CoRE impacts multiple stakeholders, most significantly, the children. However, additional research is required to examine whether/how quality ECD practitioner education and training directly impact childhood health, psychosocial well-being, and cognitive functioning. This additional evidence may potentially facilitate policy change, lead to increased investment in early childhood development and education, and rapidly increase the quality of life for children, families, and communities at large.

Our primary research question is: What are the quantitative and qualitative, direct and indirect, impacts of CoRE on practitioners, children, and communities?

Subsidiary research questions include:

• Does CoRE practitioner training shape the perception of self and cognitive functioning of participants? (post-intervention)
• Do children perceive changes in ECD practitioners' implementation of curriculum, pedagogy, and interpersonal relationships?
• Are there cognitive, affective, and psychomotor changes in children? How can this be measured?
• Do parents/caregivers, ECD practitioners, and communities, observe changes in behavior, engagement with curriculum content, perception of self, and cognitive functioning in children?
• Can CoRE be adapted to be implemented at scale, across time and geographic locations? What indicators would suggest that CoRE is ready for this, and what would signal the success or failure of such a program?

We believe that a combination of qualitative and quantitative data will enable us to appreciate the qualitative and quantitative, direct and indirect, impact of CoRE on ECD practitioners, families/ caregivers, communities, and children – the ultimate beneficiaries of our intervention. In particular, we hope to use the assistance, guidance, and support of the LEAP mentors to develop a framework/index/indicator/assessment tool to answer the above questions, which can be updated and adapted at a later stage to answer similar questions. To this end, we propose the following approaches:

• Formative research: Pre-post and multi-measure research framework
• Summative research: Impact evaluation framework

Formative assessments are a range of formal and informal assessment procedures conducted by CoRE Facilitators and Trainers to monitor student progress and impact. It typically involves qualitative interviews, completion of tasks, material making, site visits, demonstration of learning, and coaching. We hope that through our involvement in the LEAP sprint, we will be able to develop a framework/indicator/metric which will inform the different formative assessment activities and tasks. Summative assessments refer to the assessment of participants where the focus is on the outcome of a program. Summative assessments are used to evaluate learning, skill acquisition, and academic achievement after the completion of CoRE.

The main and direct output of the LEAP sprint would be the framework/indicator/ metric we can use to answer our key and subsidiary research questions. For example, concerning Subsidiary Question (i) and (ii) (hereafter S(i) and S(ii)) our previous research suggests a positive correlation between participating in CoRE and a favourable perception of self, as well as changes in curriculum, pedagogy, and interpersonal relationships. However, we would like to measure whether the positive perception of self and even improved self-confidence, leads to greater cognitive functioning. Furthermore, regarding S(iii) and S(iv), ECD practitioners and caregivers/parents report anecdotal evidence which might suggest increased cognitive, affective, and psychomotor functioning of children. A direct output from this project would thus be the development of a framework/indicator/metric to examine the extent to which this might to true or false. Moreover, concerning S(v) we want to explore whether CoRE can be adapted to be implemented at scale, across time and geographic locations, and which indicators would signal the success or failure of such a programme. Here, too, a direct output would be a framework/indicator/metric which would inform subsequent iterations of CoRE as well as the technical, financial, human capital, legislative and logistical requirements which will inform where, when, how, and who is best placed to adapt/update/deliver CoRE.

Output 1: Framework/indicator/metric to measure if/how CoRE training informs perception of self and cognitive functioning of participant – To be conducted with ECD practitioners pre-post CoRE.

Output 2: Framework/indicator/metric to measure changes in ECD practitioners' implementation of curriculum, pedagogy, and interpersonal relationship – To be conducted with ECD practitioners pre-post CoRE.

Output 3: Framework/indicator/metric measuring the cognitive, affective, and psychomotor changes in children – To be conducted with children of beneficiary centers pre-post CoRE.

Output 4: Framework/indicator/metric to measure parents/caregivers, ECD practitioners, and communities' perceptions of changes in child behavior, engagement with curriculum content, perception of self, and cognitive functioning – To be conducted with ECD practitioners, parents/caregivers, and local community members pre-post CoRE.

Output 5: Framework/indicator/metric to measure whether CoRE can be adapted to be implemented at scale, across time and geographic locations, and what would signal the success or failure of such a program – To be conducted internally to inform planning and measuring potential to extend the scope of CoRE. 

Seventy-five percent (75%) of ECD practitioners in South Africa have never received any kind of training. Simply filling this gap, providing current and future potential caregivers basic training in early cognitive and physical development, creates an opportunity to halt this cycle and give disadvantaged South African children the opportunity they need to begin life on the right foot. Furthermore, a troublesome combination of undertrained caregivers and limited resources leaves the majority of South Africa’s children passing time, rather than engaging in age-appropriate exploration, play, and development at ECD centers. Consequently, the majority of six-year-old children who graduate from ECD centers to primary school are grievously underprepared and not school-ready. Said differently, the majority of children from disadvantaged backgrounds, are already behind at the starting line of their lives enter a school system that is overburdened and challenged by poorly trained teachers, and under-resourced schools. The need and urgency for interventions such as the CoRE could not be more pressing.

We are proud to share that since our inception, the Indaba Foundation delivered seven (7) full CoRE programs across the Winelands district, in the Western Cape Province, South Africa. More than 222 ECD practitioners benefited from our CoRE program; more than 5000 children were impacted, and 129 ECD centers were empowered and supported. CoRE facilitators and trainers conducted more than 890 site visits, conducted more than 672 hours of coaching and mentoring, and more than 100 hours of post-training support and mentoring to participants. Perhaps more profoundly, given the above-mentioned circumstances, ECD practitioners enrolled in our program completed more than 482 honors of instruction and learning. Our vision and mission are to rapidly increase the reach of CoRE. In the short term (2024 – 2026) with the necessary investment, we will deliver 43 CoRE programs, and train 1505 practitioners, impacting approximately 40,000, across different provinces in South Africa. In the medium term (2027 – 2030) we plan to offer CoRE across Africa, the Middle East, Latin America, and India. Our long-term plan is the development of a pioneering and first-of-its-kind endeavor, The University of the Child. The University of the Child will be an interdisciplinary hub, foregrounding children and their interests.  The university will, among others, host the following faculties: Education and Training, Earth Stewardship, Social Justice and children rights; Traumatology and Neuroscience, and Music, Art & Design. Our involvement in the LEAP sprint will not only lead to the improvement of our offering, but will enable us to track the qualitative and quantitative, direct and indirect, impact of CoRE on ECD practitioners, families/caregivers, communities, and children. Finally, participation in the LEAP sprint would take us a few steps closer to realizing this dream!