Elements of Methodology

1. The Texts

The programme is centered on the study of 24 texts. These texts are structured around 5 capabilities areas which include language, mathematics, science, technology and service. The capability areas are not like subjects that you find in conventional schools and which you may have studied during your basic and secondary school experience. The purpose is not to present to you information and help you increase your knowledge. It is rather to assist you to begin thinking and acting in a manner that enables you to support a process of social and economic transformation. While many educational materials try to answer the question “what should the student know”, the PSA texts try to go beyond knowledge and ask the question “what should the student be capable of doing”. All the texts are therefore taken to the level of application, the kind that allows you to develop the mental and practical skills and abilities, the knowledge, attitudes and qualities that will make you an effective agent of change. In doing this, the texts integrate knowledge from different subject areas in one capability in a manner that assists you to be capable of undertaking tasks essential to your actions as an agent of change.

The document “The Texts” gives a detailed description of the 24 units of study. We ask you to study it individually in preparation for the group study that will take place at the first meeting. We hope the study of the document will help you develop a clear vision of the process in which you will be engaged for the next two and a half years.

2. The Tutor

In your studies you will be assisted by a tutor who will organise all the activities of the group including the study of the texts, practice and service activities, research and projects that you will develop and implement as part of your learning activities.

It is important that we say a few things about the tutor. The role of the tutor is very important and crucial to the success of the programme. In as far as the study of the texts is concerned, the tutor will guide the study, make necessary clarification, provide additional information where necessary, carry out the accompanying evaluation and keep in contact with your families and appropriate institutions in the your community. It is however important to mention that while the role the tutor plays is similar in many regards with that played by a teacher, he or she is not a teacher. One way of thinking about your tutor is that of a friend and a co worker who accompanies you in your studies and services. The relationship you develop with your tutor will therefore be essential to the overall success of the programme. We hope that your tutor, together with other members of your group, will be your best friend during the next two and half years and after.

3. The Group

We mentioned above that the PSA programme is delivered through groups made up of peers that function at the community level. Although you will be required to carry out a lot of individual work most of your learning activities will take place in your group. It is helpful to think of your groups as your first community of support and your initial arena of service. Think of your group as a body and each one of the members as a cell. You will benefit from the group and at the same time you will contribute to it. Your progress, to large extent, depends on the progress of your group. Since its happiness and unity will contribute to your development it is important that one of the first commitments you make is to ensure the unity and happiness of the group.

Together you will study the texts; helping each other understand the many concepts you will meet, and develop the required skills. You will carry out practice activities, some of them in the area of research and others experiments of varying nature; you will carry out service activities, initiate and implement service projects and engage members of your community in ongoing conversations. You will learn to consult and make collective decisions, a capability that is essential to your future services as promoters of community wellbeing. You will seek to influence the community around you through your unity, moral and intellectual excellence, and humble service.

We have included in this package a description of your first meetings. One of the questions you are asked to consider is how your group can become an environment of support for each of the members. We hope that you will pay the utmost attention to this aspect of the programme.

4. Service and Production Projects

As part of your studies you will be required to carry out a number of service and production projects. Through these projects you will learn how to apply the knowledge and skills you are developing to the wellbeing of the community. In block one your group may decide to initiate any service activity it chooses. In the second block you will be required to initiate projects in the areas of environmental health and in supporting efforts of small scale producers. Other projects you will initiate will be in the areas of family and community health, and education of children. These projects will be part of your studies and will require your total commitment and attention.

5. The Community

The last element is the community. As we mentioned above the programme is delivered in the community because it allows you to increase your understanding of the society that you seek to transform, immediately apply what you are learning through practice and service activities, and initiate projects that reinforce and support the learning processes. The community will be your partner in the learning process. You will in the next two and half years develop a clearer understanding of its nature, its strengths and challenges, its history and experiences, its institutions and processes, its hopes and aspirations, and its resources. You will help to organise this knowledge in a manner that makes it accessible to you and others that seek to contribute to the community’s advancement and also use it to initiate service activities and projects that will contribute to its advancement.

You will establish strong relationships with individuals and various institutions in the community. You will learn from them just as they will learn from you. If you remember to remain humble and open to learning you will benefit more than you imagine from the knowledge and capacities that exist in the community.

A few words on service activities are necessary. One of the principles on which the PSA programme is founded is the importance of service in your intellectual and spiritual development and of your capacity to contribute to the social and economic development of the community. Service we believe is the arena through which individuals achieve the highest form of development. During the next two and half years, you will, both as part of the study programme and as a result of the initiative of your group, carry out service activities in your community. These activities, apart from increasing your understanding of your community, will also help you understand yourself, your special talents and abilities, your aspirations and hopes, even deeper. This, again, is another subject on which we hope you will consult at you first meeting.