In the lead up to the publication of A School Where I Belong, we have shared some of the conversations we have had with learners, teachers and principals.
The book is now available in stores!
In the coming weeks all of the filmed conversations will be available on this site as well as advice, strategies and suggestions for schools to create places where all feel they belong.
As the book is launched across the country and we continue our work in schools with teachers, management teams, parents and learners, we will keep on sharing reflections and what we are learning.
Earlier this week Professor Mamokgethi Phakeng was chosen as Vice-Chancellor of the University of Cape Town. "My goal," she said in her first statement as Vice-Chancellor, "is to transform the university while building on its excellence." Her appointment was undoubtedly important for the University and the transformation journey it has been on.
Read MoreIn the United States, black learners are seldom taught by black teachers. But when they are, according to research over the last few years, black students perform better and are more likely to finish high school and consider tertiary education. Black teachers also have higher expectations of black learners than their white counterparts do.
Read MoreWhat Leah speaks about sounds like such hard work for teachers! Hard work that seems to have no end. A teacher will have to continue re-visiting their assumptions, challenge their own perceptions of the world and continue to find ways of making what is unconscious, conscious. Damn hard work!
Read MoreCertainty brings assurance. Uncertainty is disconcerting, but it brings with it the possibility of change. This is the paradox of human existence.
Read MoreSometimes we need to hear. Sometimes we need to sit down, pause and listen. Sometimes we need to resist the urge to respond immediately. Sometimes what needs to be said has to be said first.
Read MoreIt’s open season. It’s that time of year when anxious parents and excited children attend Open Days at the schools that appear on their short-list. Of course, the majority of parents in South Africa don’t have a list or much choice on where their children end up at school. They are left with the school which is closest and, for many, which doesn’t charge school fees. But for those who have some choice, their list has been painstakingly put together based on what they have read in the newspapers, heard from their friends and family and what they see when they encounter children from the schools on their list.
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