When Robbie Brighton was doing a BCom degree, he did not have a clue he would one day become a maths teacher.
But then, in 1997, he was invited to do sports coaching at a school while still studying. He enjoyed the kids so much that he decided to complete his BCom and go on to a teaching diploma to teach maths. “I really liked the enthusiasm of the children. They were so keen to please. I realised that I didn’t want to take the BCom further.”
Brighton, a slightly built 31-year-old blue-eyed blond with rather teenager-ish looks, blends in well with his learners at Redhill School, Morningside. One learner describes him as “cool and useful”. The young boy probably meant helpful.
Brighton’s school has developed a maths dictionary – a tool that will help other maths learners in less affluent schools. In March this year, the dictionary will be going to Bele School in Orlando, Soweto.
Brighton points to some teaching methods that really work with maths. Using a multi-resources approach, he takes the kids outside to do measuring. Thereafter, the learners all take a shot at scoring a goal, learning percentages in a fun way. Another innovative method is to take a trip to the nearest main road where they can count cars, taxis, bicycles and motor bikes, and then get back to the computer room to work on graphs and analysing graph information.
“It’s varied, so you don’t feel you are slogging day in and day out. Also giving a child a sense of achievement is very important in this learning area. This pushes them to achieve.”
He follows a team work and constructivist approach, and learners are normally broken up into ability groups to encourage them to find their own meaning and method in maths. However, the drawback of this approach is that it is more suited to the higher achievers, rather than the learners who find maths more challenging.
While he describes himself as a relaxed and happy person (his colleagues and friends confirm this), he gets stressed when he feels he is not doing enough, particularly as he is also the school’s IT man. “I worry about letting other people down, particularly teachers, during report time when computers are not working.”
It is well known that good maths teachers are precious “commodities” in this country. Could Brighton be lured to greener pastures?
“When I started this job I knew it was poorly paid. The rewards are not about the money.” He agrees that it would be harder to survive on a teacher’s salary if he had a family. But for now he is single, and he jokes that when he marries, he “hopes it will be a rich wife”. Like many other dedicated teachers he is pretty much married to the school, which demands a lot of his free time. When he has a moment free, Brighton plays soccer and golf, and is quite the bon vivant – he is partial to beer and whisky.
Does he think he will still be teaching maths when he is 60? “No. Maybe I’d like to be developing or directing a maths curriculum then.”