In this edition you will meet Patrick Sikhumbana, the inspirational principal of Meetse-a-bophelo Primary School, in Mamelodi, Pretoria, and his team of 60 plus teachers.
Like most of you, they are miracle workers.
They do not only teach their learners, they feed them, counsel them and in many instances they try to be the mothers and the fathers the children lost as a result of Aids.
Faced with human suffering, the teachers of Meetse-a-bophelo remain remarkably positive and Sikhumbana speaks of solutions rather than problems.
These teachers make us think: What are teachers made of?
Where do you delve daily for the physical and mental stamina to be teachers, social workers, nurses and who knows what else the system requires from you?
What exactly keeps you from losing your momentum year in and year out?
Do you find your strength in religion? Do you receive therapy? Do you have 10 cans of Red Bull every day? Do you read self-help books on how to be great teachers and great human beings? Are you perhaps aliens?
If you have a minute to spare, mail, fax or e-mail us because we want to know how you do it.
Perhaps if the education experts and authorities understand the factors that allow you to maintain your momentum, they will have a better idea of how to support you in your jobs.
Moreover, when schools of education recruit new student teachers, they could have a list of proven qualities in the back of their files to consult when they conduct interviews.
I am sure some of you will tell me I am wasting my time pondering this issue, or that I am unnecessarily complicating a rather straightforward matter.
Some of you will tell me that you have responded to a ‘calling”, finish and klaar.
Still, what is the mysterious source of this ‘calling”?
A positive schooling experience? Did you have parents who respected teachers?
Did you have a great teacher or teachers? Did your love for children or teenagers (let’s be honest, they are not very loveable) pull you to teaching? Did you have a need to transfer knowledge and skills?
I believe that if we can understand the reasons why you wanted to become teachers above anything else, we will obtain invaluable information, critical for the long-term improvement of the quality of education in South Africa.
This brings me to a second related point.
Over the past month, three of my friends have told me they want to enrol for teaching qualifications. One has a BSc and owned her own business until recently, the second has a BA, an honours in philosophy and her own restaurant, and the third occupies a high-ranking position at an organisation where she is the director of communication.
In addition, at least two deans of education at two different universities told me last year that they had quite a number of adult students who are training as teachers. So there could be other corporate high-flyers, scientists and chefs who have exchanged their worlds for teaching.
What is fuelling this trend?
In the case of my wannabe teacher friends, one believes that teaching has been her ‘calling” all along, but that she chose to ignore it until now. In the case of the second, she discovered after having a child that she actually likes working with children and the third, with three children, wants something to fall back on in the future. All three mentioned the advantage of holiday time with their children.
Of course, teaching is not for sissies and the question is whether they will survive life in a classroom. But that is a completely different issue.
After these conversations, I started to think about the recruitment of teaching students again.
Are recruiters not perhaps focusing their energies on a market that is too narrow? They mostly go after young school-leavers when there could be an untapped market of adult students.
Lifestyle analysts say that many thirtysomethings change jobs, women in particular. I have a suspicion this has something to do with having children. The fact that so many women still find themselves in a child-unfriendly work environment could explain why teaching becomes an attractive option.
This should not suggest that it is only women who consider teaching later in their lives. Though teaching continues to be dominated by women in South Africa, I have come across at least one adult man who literally left behind his shiny luxury company car and Hugo Boss suits to teach. There may only be few, but they are out there.
Perhaps we need to find these exceptional teachers and interrogate them on why they decided to become teachers. We are likely to find some at universities and universities of technology.
But we will try to find out whether we are dealing with a real trend.
Watch out for our findings in the months to come.
In the meantime, take some time out, pour some tea or go for a walk and think about the questions raised here. Also, think about what the fuel is that Patrick Sikhumbana, his team of teachers and you run on as you work in our schools every day.
We look forward to hearing from you.