Bukelwa Selema didn’t train as a teacher. She trained as a nurse and then taught nurses. But in 1989, when she went on maternity leave, she realised that her real interest lay in community work – and decided not to return to nursing.
What started as an informal aftercare programme in Springs, Gauteng, soon gathered ground as parents of the afternoon group asked Selema if she would start a pre-school.
Over the next few months Selema and the parents visited various pre-schools to assess and evaluate the programmes. It was during this process that they came across a Montessori school in Inanda, near Sandton, and they were particularly impressed by the atmosphere of calm: no anxious teachers screaming at the children, and youngsters who seemed mature and engrossed with their learning materials.
Selema enrolled in a training course and soon afterwards started the Zama pre-school. She and her assistants were given additional training and support by staff from the Montessori school in Inanda. They have since expanded their intake for children between the ages of two and a half to nine.
A crucial element to the workings of Montessori class is a deep respect for the child, which has no space for an authoritarian-teacher approach. The benefits, says Selema, is that ‘You as an adult see how better the class functions than one that is controlled”.
Being a Montessori facilitator has also meant academic growth and personal development for Selema. ‘You have to be a generalist. Encyclopaedias open whole new worlds, and you discover a new sense of curiosity in yourself, which can’t help but be transferred to the children.”
Her personal journey has included attending an open-space course for adults in which they experience acceptance for what they know and could do, an experience that reinforced her appreciation of both the methodology and philosophy of Montessori.
One motivating factor for Selema’s innovative approach is that she herself never liked school – she says she succeeded only because she had the ability. She is determined to give her own learners a better deal: ‘Every child should have respect, not be oppressed or put down. Every effort should be made to make sure a child succeeds,” she says.