Trevor Manuel’s maths teacher helped develop his head for numbers
Who was your favourite teacher?
My favourite teacher was Peter Meyer — he actually only became my favourite in retrospect. I had much too difficult an adolescence to have really considered school or particular teachers favourite, but even then, there was a grudging admission that he was better than the rest.
Why was he your favourite?
Meyer taught maths and had the occasional ”religious instruction” (RI) class. With respect to maths, he was able to break the phobia that most townships youngsters have for the subject. His RI classes were used for discussions on political issues.
What did you learn from him?
The breaking of the maths phobia happened by emphasis on hard work. The class was used for teaching and correcting the previous day’s work and the bulk of exercises happened at home. So, hard work as part of the ethical foundation lives with me. He also allowed the discussions to flow (I was at high school in the early 1970s, the heady days of black consciousness). Meyer let us be in the debate.
How did he influence your life?
The core issues — hard work and open debate — are essential to my make-up.
What qualities did he have that made him a good teacher?
The qualities of a good teacher are leadership by example, patience with difficult adolescents (see, we remember this stuff), and the laying of a fibre beyond the subject matter. There weren’t too many teachers who did extramural stuff with us. The all-consuming passion distinguished this excellent teacher.
What is the fondest memory you have of him?
I have no particular fond memory. It was a few years of active engagement that distinguished the relationship. As it turns out, I have disagreed fundamentally with Meyer’s politics since school and have never met with him since I left Harold Cressy in 1973. It’s so bad that the school doesn’t even recognise that I am its product.
What message do you have for other teachers?
My message for other teachers is that your interaction with young learners presents a wonderful opportunity to assist in the development of whole persons; that will be more important than the mere transmission of course content. A good foundation lives on. Oh, and by the way, the collective of my teachers wrote me off a long time ago, yet they’ve each left something of themselves with me. Thanks to all of them.
— The Teacher/Mail & Guardian, May 23, 2000.
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