There’s never a Linear Progression to Growth; Lessons learned from my Volunteer Work at the e-Buddies Program
There are a few moments one would look forward to when thinking about work, conditioned on the idea of doing jobs and not building careers, the average employee rarely event looks forward to work. Yet in my volunteer work at the NUL Center for Teaching and Learning there had been minute scenarios I’d cherish, one of which would include car rides to the institution with the director: Dr. Pulane Lefoka. Our regular conversations had to her even coming up and calling me by a nickname: “Mr. Fundamental”. Well aside from me overly using the word, the “fundamental” reason for this is motivated by latent and manifest lessons from the e-Buddies program.
Background Story
Motivated by the idea of fostering and developing e-Learning across the institution, our then coordinator and school peer (ntate Sechaba Keketsi) organized a meeting (apparently it was an interview) with the director of the center: Dr. Lefoka and former head of the instructional technology office: Dr. Lehlohonolo Mohasi. After sharing our frustrations [and with that, solutions] in as far as digital transformation in “Teaching and Learning” was concerned, they received our thoughts with much enthusiasm as we shared them and were more than eager for us to start. Digital transformation actions taken by the Center to further teaching and learning were fostered by Thuto, the institution’s Learning Management System (LMS).
After the introductions, launches, inductions etc. had been done with, July arrived and work was ready for us. Part time B.Ed Students needed to be taught about Thuto. Our first meeting I sat in, Dr. Mohasi oriented us on what’s to come and yet when she spoke, I heard lamentations about Computer Literacy; introduction into computer, its components and different parts (what some might consider a waste of time), albeit asking myself “Why are we taking so long to get to Thuto?”. Being who I am I just brushed it off and mentally prepared for my first ever class. Needless to say, the meeting ended and the eBuddies training session (and with it, its journey) started and when we were in our respective labs, boy were we in for a surprise! These surprises I have summed into lessons (we are taught to be solution oriented after all).
What eBuddies taught me be about venturing into a project
Always Know The Context
Ever heard the concept “Think global, act local?” Well on being ambitious in our attempt to becoming “the change we want to see”, we have to avoid the fallacy of ethnocentrism because simply before applying solutions from a foreign environment to a local one, we have to consider the context. Sure we always have to think global, but we have to apply a step top-down approach in the manner we conduct things. This means “Where are We Globally, what’s the impact continentally, what’s the regional response, and how then do we implement locally?” This I learned in my first encounter with the part time students, not only was I so blown away by the lack of knowledge, but also how hard I had to work to be able to take this “out of space, amazing machine” and turn it into an everyday object just for them to not be intimidated by it to a point of normalizing themselves with it. This meant, where you’d describe a computer as “a machine, or device that performs processes, calculations and operations based on instructions provided by a software or hardware program”, we had to profusely simplify to
“a computer is machine you give commands using those parts you see in front of you called “hardware” to do what you want, whether to do assignments, send message, play games or play music. It mainly does this by processing your command and responding using a software, which is those beautiful icons you see on your screen”.
Crazy right? But for any of the set goal to be achieved, you’d need this important factor;
Patience is not just Virtue, but a Compulsory Trait
Whether school, entrepreneurship or professional growth, “patience” is preached in many forms but, nonetheless an existing trait we cannot take for granted. Value the importance of long-term consequences when partaking in projects and ventures and understanding that it will ultimately take time for any major success to occur. Nonetheless, plan ahead, time your goals and always note the small moments of success you come across, even if they’re hidden behind this bitter thing called “failure”. This, I had to master because (like most millennials) I am very impatient, but one had to be forcibly indoctrinated on the concept and ideal that some things take time, and for any impact to occur, you’d rather value long-term goals (marked by short term noteworthy milestones) than short-term (with no real impact added). The students in their process of going from intimidation, to normalization, to a point now of actually learning, required overtime and a considerate amount of patience and importantly; understanding. The latter is an imperative trait, a variable reliant on one thing; Empathy
Being Empathetic is Always the first step to Human Interaction
I am no foreign to human predispositions of frustrations and exasperations whenever you have to bridge the knowledge gap. I believe this is common in almost every fields we come across. In the process of indoctrinating and socialization, you are teaching. Meaning your one goal is for someone to learn, which happens in the following stages;
1. Knowledge Acquisition
2. Knowledge processing
3. Knowledge Retention
4. Knowledge Implementation
This is a repetitive process which requires time and considerate communication skills. So ultimately (or rather fundamentally) we have to be compassionate in our interactions, especially which involve knowledge and skills sharing which means take into account: language barriers, group dynamics, cultural biases and teachings and economic background. We were young tech-savvy ladies and gentlemen teaching basic computer literacy to a population which might, view us as intimidating, or undermine us (based on our age or other socially ascribed statuses) This now dwells on a skill that many neglect and whose importance is neglected;
Level of Communication Skills Shapes Project Success
Group dynamics and agents or modes of socialization have taught us that people think and interact differently, it is therefore up to you to take note of and act on people’s characters when communicating with them. We made the mistake of talking in a jargon and pace consistent with that of a conversant 18–25 year-olds living in the urban or peri-urban areas of Lesotho, when we were conversing with a 35+ year old lady/lad living in the rural areas of Lesotho with no prior usage or knowledge of a computer. So now it was back to the drawing board on content and context.
These positions we were now assuming put us on a certain status we were not ready for and with this status, everyday interactions were not warned on (nor could we be) and dynamics of formal settings were inadvertently grooming us for.
Always be Conversant on Codes of Ethics on Practices Engaged in
So now we had gotten accustomed to the politics of class room setting teaching, so what happens outside the brick and mortar? What happens when personal spaces are invaded and professional courtesy is not understood? Any field we engage in, one ought to know rules of engagement (both informal and formal) so as to know boundaries and how to react to extreme cases unprepared for, all this while not neglecting supervisors and mentors by your side. From our female e-Buddies informally talking about instigated marriage proposals, or students offering “drinks” as a token of gratitude or even ones getting overly offended by your unavailability at the time required, we ought to be able to not sacrifice professionalism for likeability. Which means we should know: when and how to say yes and no, and how to conduct ourselves outside the confinements of work and also how to do so during working hours in the presence of relevant stakeholders (students, colleagues and peers)
Conclusion
The e-Buddies progression has taught me that fundamentally, there is no linear progression to growth especially in projects that deal directly with humans, so study before you engage and learn as you do so. The program as I type this is still in its learning and growth stages, I don’t think it will ever not be, in pursuit of creating structures evident of Mckinsey’s 7s. It highly speaks on groups to always be learning, reformulating and implementing, only to then learn again. So now in engaging in further studies, workloads and ventures, I’d wish for the entire CTL to never stop indoctrinating the idea “learnability” in each of our e-Buddies students because that is the fundamental trait required for any impact to take place.
