Education and self-development

The AET programme at this mine was designed to change the lives of their workforce by focusing on education and self-development (see Table 4.5) to provide the individuals with basic knowledge tools and necessary skills at home and at work. I was enthusiastic to conduct this study at the mine to be able to comprehend and discover participant’s motives, views and experiences

of the AET programme. This enthusiasm was stimulated in the realisation that learning has an enormous potential to promote the construction of knowledge (Zhu, 2012:127). This theme covers learners as presented in the biographical data in Table 4.2.

Table 4.5: Education and self-development of learners Theme

number Category Theme description Participants

a. Standard of work and knowledge

(i) Ja, I can say that I have been doing better and I don’t know

how to put it but the most thing is I can read with understanding, you know, that thing that has been on the notice board at work and to me it is easy, you know, because when you are on duty sometimes you are working with measures so it’s easy for me to know that when they are talking about 2 m or 3 m how to calculate that without using a what do they call it….measure tape. So, because I know how to calculate these things, ja, AET is really helping me and I do apply what I get from school at work.

P13

(ii) Really my performance is it has really changed. It’s

changed because the management and my supervisors, they like the way I perform at work and the way I control the people at work.

Always at work we talk about safety, so safety is anywhere from here at work and at home and anywhere, so they like the way I work now. My performance is good.

P14

(iii) I measure the square. I know if my square is 34m, I need

eish 8.5 m times 8.5 m to blast underground. If somebody he says is 1.5m but it is 8.5m it means he doesn’t know how to count.

P17

(iv) Yes, my performance has changed a lot. At work I don’t

ask somebody to explain something to me. I read and I write

Theme

number Category Theme description Participants

everything for myself and even if there is a query I can solve it. Even my team, if they have some problems, I try to solve it before I take the further steps to the top management or to the head of department. Then, after I solve it then I take or I make the written letter to the head of department to show him I have solved something.

(v) At home, also, I can help my children. If I am late from

work and I arrive home I am studying my books, he enjoys to come with his books and sit close to me and we discuss something. He likes to speak to me more than his mother because his mother, she is so tempered, she says no. I mean now I have the books but right now I am older at home but I enjoy the books.

P15

(vi) Ja, I communicate well with other people in English. I can

follow and give orders using English, and to read and write proper with English I think it’s another reason to say yes, AET is really a help for my performance.

P11

(vii) I think I have improved a lot at work. I can see the mile

from Level 2 until Level 3. I am starting Level 4 next month. I feel good about my work. I am no longer scared or hide behind colleagues because I did not have much knowledge of my job.

P16

(viii) I write my name on the board and sentences. At the banks

I can interpret the bank statement, my payslip, read them and I can express myself, I don’t need assistance I can read from the board questions and computer and fill the forms. When I have free time I read newspaper and understand what it says. At work I read my shift on time sheet.

P12

b. Confidence and

assertiveness

(i) Yes, I can say it has improved my life because now I can do

the things that I was not doing like going to the bank, going to withdraw money or deposit or want to speak with somebody else or if I wanted help at the bank I can go and ask for myself without sending another person to translate for me.

P11

(ii) Yes, it has improved because I was a leader at work but

somewhere I got problems some big challenge but now I have the confidence and I am a profitable leader for my team.

P15

(iii) The time I walk everywhere in town. I don’t ask for the

directions anymore, the boards tell me the directions. I read the board and I know how many kilometres to get to my place. I am started to use computer here at Own-Time and I can’t use it every day. I work overtime and the cage comes late from underground when the class is finished and I am tired.

a) Standard of work and knowledge

The participants felt that the AET programme afforded them opportunities to improve their performance at work and generally in society through self-development and education. They had developed positive mental attitudes, and their work-related skills had improved. This was a strong conviction expressed by the participants, as substantiated by the following statements:

P16: My job is a PTV. It’s called pipes, tracks and salvage. After attending this course I can read

safety rules for my crew and explain what they mean and what must they follow.

P17: I measure the square. I know if my square is 34 m, I need eish 8.5 m times 8.5 m to blast

underground. If somebody he says is 1.5 m but it is 8.5 m it means he doesn’t know how to count.

For P10, improved performance even meant taking on a leadership role: Yes, my performance has

changed a lot. At work I don’t ask somebody to explain something to me. I read and I write everything for myself and even if there is a query I can solve it. Even my team, if they have some problems, I try to solve it before I take the further steps to the top management or to the head of department. Then, after I solve it then I take or I make the written letter to the head of department to show him I have solved something.

P12 believed that the programme had really improved his performance: I write my name on the

board and sentences. At the banks I can interpret the bank statement, my payslip, read them and I can express myself, I don’t need assistance I can read from the board questions and computer and fill the forms. When I have free time, I read newspaper and understand what it says. At work I read my shift on time sheet.

For these participants, performance had been enhanced beyond the work environment. P15 stated in this regard: At home, also, I can help my children. If I am late from work and I arrive home I

am studying my books, he enjoys to come with his books and sit close to me and we discuss something. He likes to speak to me more than his mother because his mother, she is so tempered, she says no. I mean now I have the books but right now I am older at home but I enjoy the books.

Thus, the participants saw the transformation that the programme had brought in their practice as employees at the mine. P11 was now better equipped in expressing himself: Ja, I communicate

well with other people in English. I can follow and give orders using English, and to read and write proper with English I think it’s another reason to say yes, AET is really a help for my performance. P16 also explained the transformation that the programme had brought in his life

when he stated: I think I have improved a lot at work. I can see the mile from Level 2 until Level

3. I am starting Level 4 next month. I feel good about my work. I am no longer scared or hide behind colleagues because I did not have much knowledge of my job.

b) Confidence and assertiveness

Participants’ expression of their confidence that emanated from attending this programme was useful to the study. Participants claimed that after attending this programme they were able to do the things they could not have done on their own, such as communicating in English and taking a stance to address issues. Their experiences reflected the programme’s efficacy, which has made a positive impact in their lives.

P10: The time I walk everywhere in town. I don’t ask for the directions anymore, the boards tell

me the directions. I read the board and I know how many kilometres to get to my place. I am started to use computer here at Own-Time and I can’t use it every day. I work overtime and the cage comes late from underground when the class is finished and I am tired.

P11: Yes, I can say it has improved my life because now I can do the things that I was not doing

like going to the bank, going to withdraw money or deposit or want to speak with somebody else or if I wanted help at the bank I can go and ask for myself without sending another person to translate for me.

P15 Yes, it has improved because I was a leader at work but somewhere I got problems some big