GARDEN ROUTE | KAROO NEWS - In celebration of International Teachers’ Day, held on 5 October, we sat down with one of The Love Trust teachers at our Nokuphila School to reflect on his journey of becoming a teacher, his perspective on the role of teachers, the importance of the subjects he teaches, and more!

Matshoene Tladi is a Maths and Music teacher and current subject head of the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) at Nokuphila School. 

Before joining the faculty in 2018, he was involved in ministry work as a Sunday School teacher while studying for his marketing degree. 

In the final year of his B Comm studies, Tladi realised his actual passion was in teaching and so went on to complete a post-degree qualification in teaching as well.

How would you describe the role of a teacher?

Despite the plethora of learning content out there (for example anyone can go on YouTube, or Google and search various topics), the independent learning that this requires if you think about it, is one of the most difficult ways to learn. 

Teachers are the creative individuals who take that learning content (that material from textbooks) and communicate it in a way that is interesting for learners to understand and enables them to learn.

Teachers reach out to students and bridge the gap needed for learners to become problem solvers; to be equipped with the skills that are needed for the jobs of the future, or any career or market they want to be in.

So, the role of a teacher is very important because again, it's not just about teaching. It has different segments as involves care of the whole child, the whole person. This includes pastoral care, supporting the emotional and physical well-being as well as providing students with a safe haven to learn. Most importantly, it is about playing an inspirational role for the learners.

Why are attention and investment in STEM subjects so important?

It is critical that we investigate what the future looks like and monitor the trends: we need to equip our learners with the skills they will need in the future. 

They are the future adult generation. We’re moving into the fourth industrial revolution, which means that how we do things now and how we do things in the future will be very different considering the speed at which technology is developing.

I am passionate about equipping learners so that in the future, they are not obsolete. To avoid them looking back and saying, “I went to school, but I don't see how I can use the information or skills in the current job market.” Or, to create jobs for others, or themselves.

I'm very passionate about technology, not only as a subject in its own right but also how we can integrate it into our other subjects and learning systems. 

We need to teach learners that they can be more than just a doctor or a lawyer (often the two most prestigious career paths impressed on us by society and our parents). We need to expand their horizon by making them aware of more job opportunities.

For example, we now have data analysts, data scientists, and web engineers which didn’t exist thirty-odd years ago. And we now have subjects where our learners can learn to build and code robots. Some of our learners are coding games and quizzes, which is amazing! Our learners were amazed to learn that people make money from game development and that it’s not just a great way to craft games that they can enjoy on their own or with friends.

Tell us a bit more about the music lessons you give and the importance of the arts.

I had been exposed to music from a young age but only recently received formal training thanks to the Yamaha Recorder programme which introduced us to recorders. It’s been an amazing experience for the faculty and the learners alike. The results are evident in other subjects such as maths and it also helps learners with memorising. I believe the acronym should be STEAM by adding “A” for the arts as well.

Has your exposure to another industry helped you in your role as a teacher?

I believe so. Marketing is about making certain items appealing to your audience and I often use some of those skills in my classes as reinforcement tools (such as images, sounds, and videos) that spark an interest in the learners to actually learn the content. I think if I had jumped straight into teaching and not studied marketing, I wouldn’t have developed those skills. I also believe my experience in ministry taught me how to be selfless; how you carry yourself; how you treat others and other basic social skills. Skills I use daily and which I hope to instil in my learners.

What are some of the challenges you’ve faced as a teacher and how has The Love Trust helped you overcome them?

One of the most challenging situations as a teacher is dealing with undisciplined learners. Having the support of the School Based Support Team (SBST) as well as the partnership with parents is crucial for any meaningful change in the child’s behaviour. We’re like the legs of a three-legged stool (the teachers, the support team, and the parents), and if one is absent, the stool falls. Learners with challenging behaviours usually have their own emotional challenges or situations at home that they are dealing with, so we need to understand with empathy, but still be respected as the authority in the classroom.

At The Love Trust, and Nokuphila School, we have good support systems in place, especially when it comes to learners. We have programmes where we engage parents and learners, together. It’s a good way to remind them of the school rules, encourage parents’ involvement, give feedback on the learner and report on any challenges that we encounter. It also helps the parents and teachers build a relationship which is critically important.

In addition, our SBST are actively involved with us in monitoring changes in behaviour or grades in our learners. We start investigating, along with the help of the SBST, the root cause of those issues and then together we develop an intervention and support plan to help the learner overcome their challenges in a supportive and empathetic way. The team includes the school social worker, occupational therapists, remedial therapist, the principal, and a teacher representative.

What would you say to people who might feel drawn to teaching?

I would encourage them! There is a need for teachers: schools are overloaded, especially government schools, and you find schools that still have 80 learners per class.

You don’t go into teaching for the money. I would say it's for the purpose of serving the nation. I believe a lot of people really want to be teachers but are drawn into other higher-paying career choices.

For me, and I hope for others that make the financial sacrifice, it is a way of trying to change the nation because we really need to create a future of problem solvers.

If you're going to be a leader in this world, if you're going to change this world, you need to have the skills, and you need to have the type of character to actualise the change you want.

'We bring you the latest Garden Route, Hessequa, Karoo news'