Thinker Spot

The setting is a large rural settlement in South Africa's Mpumalanga Province. The background to this region's development is of course intricately linked to its past: a homeland outside Pretoria created by the Apartheid Government in the name of 'separate development'. The environment is rural: cattle, goats, donkeys and chickens roam freely, while members of this community carry on with their daily lives, far removed from the hustle and bustle of the "other South Africa" - the one characterised by Western civilisation's pillars: individualism, private property & title deeds, credit and mortgages, money, commercialisation, consumerism and personal wealth accumulation. They are all at odds with an idealised Africa. Here in Siyabuswa, the R578 carries traffic, goods, and passengers past rural dwellers for whom time has a different meaning. It is safe to assume that the principles outlined in "The Fifth Discipline" are unknown to the locals, a...

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For Low-Income Kids, Access to Devices Could Be the Equalizer | MindShift While the race in the hardware industry is perhaps most notable amongst makers of devices such as mobile phones and tablets, a seemingly unforgotten reality remains a stark reality for many: the digital divide. With ever smarter phones, and other 'always on' devices, the policies that govern state monopolies over broadband play a damning role for the poor who remains unconnected. This reality stared me in the face when I started to engage with my first cohort of Foundation Phase Teacher students who are part of a program to establish the first new university in South Africa since the establishment of a new democratic government in 1994. In South Africa we are faced with numerous problems and inefficiencies for various reasons. Apart from the usual political upheavals and concerns about the future of democracy in the country, none is so real as the digital divide. The cost of broadband is exceptionally...

Toys are cultural representations and as such carry meaning beyond that which might have been intended by their designers. Or does it? Does a wooden steam engine have the same meaning to a Grade R child in England as it would for a child in a rural area half-way around the globe who has never seen any train before, let alone ride in a steam-driven one? What connection does an African child have with a white Barby doll? Similarly, what sense must a Westerner make of an intricately woven grass bowel or a hollowed out kalabash? Watching a group of rural-based South African teachers unpacking a large consignment of toys that has been donated to them by the European Union became an experience and eye-opener. In many respects the thrill of receiving, unpacking, and opening the numerous boxes resembled the excitement when receiving presents on one's birthday. However, as Grade R teachers in a rural area, these numerous toys do not necessarily connect with what they have been doing ...

The dawning of the digital era and its exhilaration after the Internet became publicly accessible have had far-reaching global consequences. It has changed society, as well as its various institutions, be it the private sector or public institutions like Education. However, soon after the initial euphoria of the Web with its interlinked hypertext that forms an endless web of rich content, a digital divide became evident. This divide, or exclusion as it is referred to in some circles, is the result of differences in the pace of adoption and the roll-out of required infrastructure. In many instances it is the last mile to the end-user that seems unbridgeable. As with other great 'break throughs' before it, technological advancements such as the Internet exacerbate inequalities, many of which have become the norm ever since the Industrial Revolution. As was the case then, the Digital Divide actually exhilarated the gap exponentially. At the heart o...

I am privileged in the sense that I am part of the establishment of a new campus - one that will become the new University of Mpumalanga. My gaze, however, is less on the promise of a new university and the voids it will fill, but more on the first intake of students for the Foundation Phase. We don't know the students, and they don't know us. They don't know each other, either. So, apart from leaving it to themselves to come to know each other, institutions all over the world use all kinds of activities to ensure that individuals settle into their new environment. Above all, the aim of these activities is for people to learn how to start functioning as a group -- as a collective. My gaze remains fixed on the actions - the individuals who stop participating and choose to become onlookers; the energy and the rhythm of the games - traditional games that I guess many city dwellers have forgotten about. I was surely reminded of a few games I use to play when I was small. Th...

It took considerable courage for me to put down everything, block out the noise and pick up the book. It's overcast outside, the kind of weather one would expect to encounter in London NOT Johannesburg in early summer. It's Saturday and I don't need to be at work. Exhausted after a week of traveling to the school where I try my best to teach students for whom school seems an unnecessary stumbling block, staying in bed a bit longer than usual was especially welcome. I recently received five copies of Ghost Boy by Martin Pistorius. Reading Ghost Boy was not going to be easy. Martin Pistorius's life story is a moving one, since he fell ill as a child and became trapped in an unresponsive body. Yet, once he came out of his coma no-one actually knew that he was  awake  and completely aware of his surroundings. In fact, he could follow conversations. Being placed in front of a TV for long periods meant that he was "re-schooled". While other...