Teaching

latest news & developments
Stand up for kids who attend school hungry

Pastoral care does not clock out after the school bell

Extramural activities are often treated as mere hobbies, but for many learners they serve as vital spaces of emotional safety and belonging. Educators must recognise that…

When One Teaches, Two Learn: Empowering the Teachers Who Shape Our Future

Afrika Tikkun Bambanani highlights the transformative power of ongoing training and empowerment for early childhood educators, proving that when teachers grow, entire communities…

Flawed: Young people are not equipped for the fourth industrial revolution and adding computers to the classroom isn’t a solution. They need to start their education at the age of three.

The classroom is an ecosystem, not a one-person job

As South Africa faces rising educator resignations and high rates of burnout, building collaborative support networks and mentorship programmes is crucial to keeping teachers in…

Recognition: The author strives to make each learner feel they are seen and heard in her classroom. Photo: Delwyn Verasamy

The subject I teach without a syllabus

There is no curriculum or rubric for belonging, yet fostering connection and individuality is the most vital lesson an educator can deliver in the classroom.

A university that teaches but does not innovate, that researches but does not apply, will find itself detached from the society it is meant to serve and elevate

SA’s universities must move beyond didactic and research paradigms to advancing society

A university that teaches but does not innovate, that researches but does not apply, will find itself detached from the society it is meant to serve and elevate

let us also focus on the teachers who stay up past midnight marking, who sacrifice weekends for extra lessons and who quietly absorb the stress so their learners don’t have to.

Teaching is an act of nation building

Every learner whose life is shaped by a teacher has the potential to shift the future of this country

Teachers need to move beyond asking learners to memorise information to being able to ask meaningful questions and work together on real-world problems.

Less testing, more thinking: The case for project-based learning in schools

If we want to equip the next generation to lead, innovate and collaborate in a complex world, we need to move beyond outdated models of education

Nelson Mandela University’s Professor Azwinndini Muronga. (Heather Dugmore)

What Vhembe’s success teaches us about quality education in South Africa

In 2020, Nelson Mandela University physics professor, Azwinndini Muronga, wrote in the Mail & Guardian about Vhembe’s remarkable performance in the 2019 national senior…

South Africa has made strides in ensuring access to primary school education for children despite their socio-economic status or geographic location, according to a global study. (Photo by Gallo Images / Sunday Times / Thuli Dlamini)

SA’s teachers deserve more than criticism … here’s how we can support them

Rather than pointing fingers at educators for poor results, let’s shift the narrative and empower them to do more with less

How should we teach in a time of genocide when teachers are being silenced?

Given South Africa’s history of colonialism and apartheid, learners are asking why Israel is called an apartheid state but teachers have been told not to talk about power,…

Mix and match: Teachers from different backgrounds bring other views into the school to the benefit of learners, teachers and parents and prepare the scholars for adult life in a diverse society. Photo: Gianluigi Gurcia/AFP

Schools need teachers with diverse identities

Despite desegregation, schools tend to retain their historical learner and teacher racial profiles

Epitome of ethics: Author and cultural critic bell hooks insisted that care, love and spirituality were the core of black feminist practice and freedom. Photo: Karjean Levine/Getty Images

A spirit guide to ethical black feminist thinking and praxis

bell hooks’s refusal to ‘get in formation’ foregrounded healing as the foundation to a communal liberatory agenda

(Delwyn Verasamy/M&G)

What do South African students learn when we teach about race?

There is a conspicuous lack of teaching resources to address the historical construction of race in the South African context.

What is the best way to train South Africa’s teachers?

The apparent benefits of the internship model need to be offset by operational, political and academic challenges

Entrepreneurial: Kamo ‘Skanju’ Mogajane and Thabang ‘Mafufa’ Molebatsi, from Katlehong, started their own business when they failed to find jobs. They own a clothing brand called Izinja. (Andy Mkosi)

GDP, recession, JSE, rallying rand … these terms mean very little to unemployed South Africans. This is the real picture of our economy

The economy is not producing work, with many young adults working outside their fields of study or considering leaving the country as a result