Teacher inspired to go the extra mile
She started her career six years ago and was happy to see local teachers being celebrated in this manner.
A good teacher can inspire hope and instil a love of learning in a child. Mercia Mthombeni, a National Teaching Award winner, attended the provincial event of the World Teachers’ Day celebrations on Monday at Hoërskool Bergvlam.
This 29-year-old educator of Bunny Khosa High School in the Bushbuckridge area, won the award for excellence in teaching natural science (GET level).
Mthombeni was recognised for her hard work and effort. She started her career six years ago and was happy to see local teachers being celebrated in this manner.
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“As educators, when we see our hard work being celebrated and appreciated, it inspires us to do more.”
Mthombeni said this event will also help those who are considering doing a teaching course to see the role that they play in society.
“Some of the people who have completed matric will get to see that this occupation is not as boring as they might think it is. I know people get motivated when they see others doing their work, just like me,” she said.
As a way of making teaching simple and fun during class, Mthombeni uses technology.
“Some of the innovative ways I use are YouTube videos, engaging the learners and helping them see other aspects related to subjects on the Internet.”
Mthombeni added that Covid-19 has made them realise that they need to move towards Fourth Industrial Revolution technology and advance to the next level.
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“We came to realise that we can use other platforms to teach, such as WhatsApp, YouTube and recording videos for learners. We do not only need a chalkboard and chalk to get it done.”
She added that the pandemic revealed that pupils in rural areas cannot compete with those in urban ones.
“Some of the challenges that we have had as a rural school, was that our learners raised concerns about data usage and some do not even have smartphones.”
According to Mthombeni, with all that said, they will continue going the extra mile to ensure their learners are prepared for the final exams.
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