Teachers at the heart of education recovery

Presenters at Unisa's 2021 World Teachers' Day

The College of Education (CEDU) celebrated the 10^th World Teachers’ Day in 2021 in style. CEDU annually honours this day, since the college produces 52% of teachers nationally. In her opening remarks Professor Meahabo Magano, programme director and Manager for Teaching and Learning in the college, noted that the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) designated 5 October as World Teachers’ Day to celebrate and to raise awareness of and appreciation for the vital contribution that teachers make to education and development across the globe.

Professor Veronica McKay, Vice-Principal: Teaching, Learning, Community Engagement and Student Support, outlined the theme for World Teachers’ Day 2021: “Teachers at the heart of education recovery”, and introduced the keynote speaker, Panyaza Lesufi, MEC for Basic Education in Gauteng. Lesufi reflected on how COVID-19 has impacted education, gave statistics of learners who have been infected by the virus and outlined the importance of the interventions that had to be introduced so that teaching and learning could take place to ensure that learners do not lose their schooling year. He commended the 97% of teachers who have been vaccinated, so that they can continue to render service in schools.

Lesufi also mentioned some of the other challenges facing education, such as the decrease in the numbers of students who want to be teachers, schools that are being managed by acting principals, the shortcomings regarding ICTs and the training that teachers require in this regard, and the aspiration of establishing one common examination for matriculants.

At the event, several other speakers reflected on education from different angles. According to Professor Phaladi Sebate, the Executive Dean of CEDU, teachers are the backbone of society and he remarked how we always remember the teachers that made a difference in our lives.

Professor Thenjiwe Meyiwa, Vice-Principal: Research, Postgraduate Studies, Innovation and Commercialisation, based her address on the question: “What is it that I am contributing for the advancement of students who receive my practice?” She said quality assurance should improve service delivery, since Unisa’s core mandate was teaching, research and engaged scholarship: “There should be some reflection on what we can learn from our fellow corporate organisations and we should consider how we improve our practice; as teacher trainers, this is key to service delivery,” she said. Meyiwa also elaborated on co-reflecting as a phenomenon that could be connected to the philosophy of ubuntu and emphasised that we should continue to learn from other people, even from our students.

Shatadi Phoshoko, General Secretary of the National Student Representative Council, praised teachers as people who shape society. She cited Paulo Freire’s words that we should liberate human potential and not promote oppressive approaches. She proposed that teachers should teach a localised curriculum and reimagine education, and that they should promote digital pedagogy.

Professor Lulama Makhubela, owner and managing director of African Research House, addressed the topic of COVID-19 and how it has opened doors for research in teaching and learning. She highlighted the importance of not disregarding the learning that takes place under the tutelage of the grandmothers and uncertificated teachers in our society, who have indigenous knowledge. During COVID-19, these uncertificated teachers and grandmothers have found solutions to many challenges. She emphasised the importance of local knowledge, which is often omitted in academia. She highlighted that participatory action research can promote the voice of civil society when research is approached with the aim of undertaking appreciative enquiry, sharing stories and using reflective methodology.

In the questions and answers session, the speakers responded to several matters that were a concern to the participants, including how to instil a sense of responsibility in students in not reacting violently, autism and the availability of resources and support, access to devices and improving the internet download speed.

Makhubela raised the issue of how COVID-19 has exacerbated gender-based violence (GBV) and femicide, and how this might impact women in their teaching duties and, in general, how women’s promotional opportunities may be hampered because of GBV. The MEC’s response was that universities should collaborate with other departments to develop a curriculum that could assist in the fight against GBV. He suggested that, starting in the lower grades, there is a need for learners to be taught how to respect one another, since they will one day be husbands, wives and parents. He supported research done at school level to identify the problems that communities are confronted with at that level, in order for the appropriate interventions to be initiated at each school.

The day’s highlight was the launch of the twelve modules on the Open Educational Resource (OER) platform. The academic project started in May 2020, led by Denzil Chetty, Development Open Virtual Hub (ADOVH) project leader, and Magano, together with academics in the CEDU. The theme of the OERs was indigenous knowledge, science and technology and 4IR.

* Submitted by the College of Education