Good day, My name
is Phuti Ragophala, a recently retired head mistress of Pula Madibogo Primary
school in South Africa. I am also one of the honoured top 50 finalists in the 2017 Global Teacher prize.
I will be giving you a brief summary of
my reaction to the nomination, tell you more about what I love most about
teaching, about teachers who motivated me while growing up and what inspires me
most .
My reaction...
Even though I am
retired, I still spend a lot of my time teaching. *giggle* On that specific
day, I was voluntarily assisting local teachers on a computer programming
course at a local university, the University of the north.
During the
course, I had to quickly check up on an email that I was expecting from Microsoft and there was
this email from the global teacher prize. At that time, I had completely
forgotten about the nomination, so I wasn’t excepting an email from them. After
reading the email, I literally screamed in both shock and excitement. I could not
speak!!! Those around me were concerned because they thought that maybe someone
had died. *giggle* We had to stop the entire course because of the commotion
and excitement around me!
I just could not
believe that a retired rural teacher from Africa has been nominated on such a prestigious
global platform! Of course my dedication and handwork have been recognised in
my community and country. I had even received a lifetime award from the South
African national broadcaster for my work. But this was different! I am
representing my country, SADC and
Africa! It is a remarkable feeling I still cannot believe, and one that I am
incredibly thankful and immensely grateful for!
I am now being
featured in leading newspapers in South Africa, national radios, national TV stations
and I have the full backing of the South African government. It has been and is
still an exciting experience.
What I love most
about teaching is that it enables me to inspire young minds, to augment the
individual natural talents that children have through creativity, innovation
and talents searching. It provides me with the immense, yet rewarding privilege
of producing responsible and educated future leaders and professionals. Hence
teaching is often referred to as the mother of all professions.
Throughout my vast
32year teaching experience I have taught several subjects. I first started with
teaching English at foundation phase for about 10years and later Social
sciences, Economic and management sciences, Technology and IT.
During that time
I had developed a way of teaching social and economic sciences by using
technology. Especially considering how techno-savvy children are these days.
For example, In economics, i would teach them about poverty, which is by the way very common in the
community that I taught in , and then challenge them to seek solutions to
reduce it and then require them to give feedback by presenting on these
findings through computer programs such as Microsoft PowerPoint and/or create
other digital presentations.
But I have to
say, my favourite subject that I taught was English at foundation phase.
Growing up, I was very shy and wasn’t proficient in English. I struggled to
express myself in English as compared to my native language. So while teaching
these young minds, I too was learning. *laughs* I can now confidently say that
I am now a lot more comfortable with communicating in English through that. So
while I was teaching, I too was learning.
It was a mutually beneficial process.
My first and most
influential teachers were obviously my late parents. My father was a community
leader, so most community meetings were held at my home. From them I learned
how to be a leader and how to pray. I remember sleeping on an empty stomach one
night and my mother still insisted that we pray first before we slept.
But growing up,
the teacher who inspired me the most was my grade 1 teacher, Mrs Mahlatji. Shy
as I was, she was able to identify and groom a leader in me at a young age and
also motivated me to shine academically. But what touched me most was how even
amongst hundreds of children, she took an interest in my personal life and
domestic affairs.
While still in
school, my mother became extremely ill. I recall how Mrs Mahlatji would
constantly ask about how she was and assisted where she could. From her I
learned that as a teacher, you can positively influence a child beyond the
classroom.
Until this day, I
am inspired by people who voluntarily serve other people, people who want to
see others succeed, and people who enjoy serving beyond themselves. People like
my mother. People like Oprah Winfrey who, from own pocket, built one of the
biggest and most well-resourced schools in South Africa specifically for young
girls who are from poverty-stricken backgrounds. Some of these girls are even
furthering their studies in major universities abroad, opportunities they could
have only dreamed of.
People like the
late former president, Nelson Mandela, who after being imprisoned for 27years,
chose to forgive the apartheid government in order to forge a peaceful and
united South Africa without a civil war.
I was also
inspired by how, unlike a lot of African leaders, he chose to pass on the baton
even while he was still in the race. He groomed younger leaders, encouraged for
more women leaders in government and gave them an opportunity to lead.
I am also
grateful in that during my tenure, I received a lot of support from my staff,
NGOs, teachers and the amazing young
mind that I had the opportunity to lead.
The Greek
philosopher, Nikos kasansakis, once said, “True teachers are those who use
themselves as bridges over which they invite their students to cross; then,
having facilitated their crossing, joyfully collapse, encouraging them to
create their own.”
