POLOKWANE – Master of all trades, Bruce Raymond Phillips, is the Deputy Principal at Jabez Christian Academy but that isn’t where his experience in the education field stops, however, as he has also taught English, life science and mathematics.
Outside of teaching, Bruce is a chef at the school and he runs the school kitchen daily, where he makes a wide variety of food for the learners to enjoy. He is also the general handyman at the school and does the school’s marketing.
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Growing up, he lived in Cape Town, attending John Graham Primary School and Westerford High School in Rondebosch.
After his compulsory military service in 1971, he got his first job as an assistant production manager.
“I decided to study towards becoming a teacher and spent four years towards this goal, first qualifying as a primary school teacher and then as a physical education teacher which enabled me to teach at high school level,” he said.
Shortly after finishing this studies, he studied a diploma in education, shortly after starting his teaching career at Westerford High School in Cape Town.
While working there, he studied through Unisa, obtaining a BA degree with majors in English, philosophy and Biblical studies. At the University of Cape Town (UCT), he was awarded a scholarship from Belgium and completed a B.Ed degree.
“I also completed a Federal Directorate of Education (FDE) degree at Stellenbosch in education leadership. Regrettably I was not able to complete a Masters’ degree as I moved to Chile in South America and had to stop my studies. I’m presently contemplating a doctorate in either philosophy or education leadership,” he added. Growing up, he loved being active, playing cricket, soccer, hockey, tennis, badminton and squash at above league levels. “My highest levels were in cricket where I played for the Boland tour of Namibia and later Chile. I played hockey at provincial level in Cape Town for the u/21 team and soccer for the u/18 team.”
He believes his role at school is to brighten people’s lives and added the teaching profession allows one to interact with people.
“Polokwane is a growing and developing hub and perhaps some of my frustrations have been related to the slow growth in the digital realm where I’m used to working with the digital media at a relatively high level. One of the workshops I run for teachers as well as high school learners is on the dangers of social media and advantages of social media as well as making money from social media. Teaching is a calling, it is not a job. One needs to realise it is not a ‘vacation’ where one can ‘enrich’ oneself financially, but rather that one enriches oneself as a person.”
Out of all his hard work and duties at school, he runs workshops and seminars on numerous topics. This year he has run workshops in Polokwane for secretaries as well as for principals on leadership, as well as hosting workshops in Cape Town and Pretoria this year about bullying in schools.
“In addition I have been the Deputy Chairperson of the Accreditation Committee for Umalusi for the past nine years. I’m also a level three cricket coach and a level three cricket umpire which entitles me to train and umpire for provincial level games. I have not been active in cricket this year but would be more than happy to assist where and when required,” he concluded.
