THE EXTRA ORDINARY TEACHER

Being a teacher means a lot of wonderful things to me. I can proof that you don’t need to have a degree or any formal training to be a good teacher but with passion and peservierence you can be the greatest teacher ever. Teacher Zodwa is a volunteer teacher with no formal training, she has been at the NCP (Neighbourhood care point) for over 5 years. She is a teacher, a parent and a lover of all children. 

ENDLESS LEARNING

Although she’s not a qualified teacher, she takes time to listen to the radio and reading magazines and informative books in order to learn more and improve herself. Her eagerness to learn and improve has made her to be chosen to go and do a short course in music and movement at edugate training centre, this has sharpened her skills in this field. The children in her class now sing with rhythm and action, each time they sing they bring a song to life. It’s just a WOW! The volunteers sent out to the Ncps every month are a great asset to teacher Zodwa as they get to share ideas and learn from each other.

CHALLENGES FACED

Since being an informal preschool, there a lot of challenges faced by this extra ordinary teacher, from taking care of orphaned and vulnerable children, sexually abused children, HIV children who are on medication but have no food at home, as well as children who come from child headed families. Besides disciplining the children she also motivates them, protects them and makes sure that every child gets breakfast at school before classes begin, So besides being a teacher she is also a parent to the children hence they spent most of their time with her as a teacher so they trust her and bring their questions and problems to herwhich she handles like a pro. 

What I have learnt from teacher Zodwa is that, if you like children, you enjoy working with them, teaching them and shaping their growing minds. When another group of children gush into the classroom eager to see what is prepared for them this time around, their enthusiasm, and energy rubs off on the teacher. Teacher Zodwa believes a happy teacher is a happy child. This makes teaching and learning a truly fulfilling job for her.

Written by: Eunice Nkambule (NCP Coordinator)