Education

Empowering education: bringing technological knowledge to impoverished classrooms

In a 4IR world, the North-West University (NWU) is ensuring that learners at disadvantaged schools are not left behind and have the tools and knowledge to meet the challenges of the ever-changing world of work.

To this end, the Faculty of Education at the NWU’s Mahikeng Campus has initiated a community project, “A service-learning project for schools’ pedagogical integration of ICTs”.

Submitted on Tue, 07/04/2023 - 11:21

New approach to practical education isn’t just child’s play

LEGO® bricks in the classroom are proving irresistible to learners and pre-service teachers alike, who discover that play and learning are not so different.

Researchers in the Faculty of Education at the North-West University (NWU) are using the brightly coloured plastic bricks for the practical component of pre-service teacher training programmes. They hope to inspire change and progress in teaching methods within the university student body and the broader community.

Submitted on Tue, 07/04/2023 - 10:49

Faculty hosts succesful international conference

The North-West University's (NWU’s) Faculty of Economic and Management Sciences recently played host to the fourth International Conference of the HR Division of the Academy of Management (HRIC2023).

Held at the Sun City Convention Centre, the conference was jointly organised by the NWU’s School of Industrial Psychology and Human Resources Management and the WorkWell research unit.

Submitted on Mon, 07/03/2023 - 09:28

Practitioners learn about the power of music

By Menziwa Msibi

Music plays an important role in early childhood development. It enhances cognitive abilities, support language development, promotes social and motor skills and nurture creativity and imagination, among others.

This is why the NWU recently hosted a workshop for practitioners from various Early Childhood Development (ECD) centres in the North West province and in the Sedibeng East area.

Submitted on Tue, 06/13/2023 - 08:39

Recalibrating teacher training in African higher education

Three North-West University (NWU) academics, Dr Sifiso Sibanda, Prof Gideon van Tonder and Prof Washington Dudu are the proud editors of the book Recalibrating teacher training in African higher education institutions: A Focus on 21st-century pedagogical challenges.

The book, which critically examines the role of governments in promoting parity during and in post-pandemic education, is published in open-access format by AOSIS Scholarly Books.

According to Prof Dudu, this comes from the realisation that the pandemic has deepened the crisis.

Submitted on Thu, 05/11/2023 - 09:10

NWU academics on a collaboration mission to improve early childhood education in Africa

Dr Marinda Neethling and Dr Susan Greyling, both academics from the North-West University’s (NWU's) research focus area Community-based Educational Research (COMBER), recently travelled to Namibia and Zimbabwe to collaborate and build relationships in the field of early childhood development.

Dr Neethling's research focuses on providing comprehensive training to caregivers in African early childhood development centres, where many caregivers are unqualified grandmothers or mothers.

Submitted on Tue, 04/25/2023 - 09:32

Becoming a professor at a time of decolonisation

Prof Emmanuel Mfanafuthi Mgqwashu, the director of the Centre for Higher Education Professional Development at the North-West University (NWU), recently delivered his inaugural lecture on the Potchefstroom Campus.

The topic of his lecture was “A timely question: How can we not talk about becoming a professor in the context of decolonising higher education?”

During this lecture, Prof Mgqwashu drew from his 26 years of experience in the academia and shared critical reflections on his journey to becoming a professor.

Submitted on Tue, 04/18/2023 - 10:19