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.

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.

The research unit for Education and Human Rights in Diversity (Edu-HRight) recently organised a significant discourse in collaboration with the Legal Perspectives, Governance and Democracy research subarea and the Education Law subject group at the North-West University (NWU).

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.

by Phenyo Mokgothu and Thuso Molefi

Victor Thambe, a security officer employed by the Mi7 Group, has defied all odds and graduated with a bachelor's degree in education, specialising in the foundation phase, from the North-West University (NWU) on 15 May 2023.

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.

Giving up has never been an option for 23-year-old René Engelbrecht, who recently graduated with her BEd Foundation Phase degree at the North-West University (NWU). She obtained her degree with cum laude.

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.

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.

North-West University (NWU) students in the Faculty of Education pursuing African languages studies recently undertook an excursion tour to the Achterberg Camp and Conference Centre in Krugersdorp.

The aim of the tour was to empower the group of second and fourth-year students with academic skills, focusing on teamwork and ethical matters.