Hands-on Learning Issue 14
Through our Hands-on Learning publication, we hope to play a helpful role in synthesising information from innovators and implementers in civil society, supporting them to share what they have learned so that others are able to draw from and build on their experiences. In this issue: Dynamic networks are amplifier strategies that enable social innovators […]
Networks as amplifiers of social impact
Dynamic networks are amplifier strategies that enable social innovators to achieve two vital objectives: scale and impact. DGMT supports a number of initiatives that use strategies to mobilise large, ever-growing networks of people. A social network is a connected group of people who interact in different ways to inform, influence and mutually benefit each other. […]
Creating jobs and improving education at the same time
There’s a wonderful book by Dr Seuss that all parents should read to their children. It’s called Oh, the Places you’ll Go, written for young people as they set off on life’s exciting journey towards success (“98 and ¾ per cent guaranteed”!). But it’s not all breathlessly gung-ho. The book acknowledges that there are amazing […]
DGMT and Primedia launch a massive billboard campaign to support early childhood development
DGMT and Primedia have recently launched one of the country’s largest-ever national outdoor media campaigns, demonstrating the power of early childhood development to change the future of South Africa. The billboard campaign will showcase three large-scale initiatives to prevent nutritional stunting and promote early learning and reading –namely Grow Great, SmartStart and Nal’ibali. It comes […]
Three ingredients for great ECD centres and how to support them
We often talk about the importance of Early Childhood Development (ECD) as a key strategy to change South Africa. That is because children are the source of human capital. If we want to change the education system, grow the economy and create jobs, we must invest in young children. We are also not only talking to […]
A million happy faces: Nal’ibali talks about the success of World Read Aloud Day 2018
We were so excited by the fact that Nal’ibali mobilised South Africans to read to 1 294 345 children on World Read Aloud Day this year, that we asked them to tell us how they did it: You have seen an 80% increase in the number of children who were read to on World Read […]
“Your child is also my child” – becoming part of an “army of adults” reading to children
First published by the Sowetan on 2 June 2016. We often hear about South Africa’s dismal education outcomes and low literacy rates. We have also been hearing that early literacy, reading for joy, and growing up around books can change the life trajectories of individuals and dramatically improve our society. Yet we hear much less […]
Why big business must get behind reading
This article was first published by Business Day Live on 25 November 2015. There is a business product with a proven rate of return in excess of one thousand percent in emerging markets. In South Africa, demand for it outstrips supply by at least two to one. Estimates are that the national GDP would be at […]
Why listening to stories is part of learning to read
By Carole Bloch In his insightful book, The Rights of the Reader, Daniel Pennac comments: “When someone reads aloud, they raise you to the level of the book. They give you reading as a gift.” People who love reading know the precise value of that gift, and how to access it. But there are those […]
Brain food for growing minds
Why parents and teachers should rev up the read-aloud engine with their children and pupils First published in the Mail & Guardian, February 27 2015 In South Africa, most of the adults who spend time with children in their various capacities, including parents, teachers, caregivers, adopters and custodians, do not regularly read aloud to them. And even […]
