POLOKWANE – Teaching is the one job in which a woman can have it all, says physical science teacher at Taxila Secondary School, Siobhan Meaney.
“When you are a teacher, you are an educator, a parent, a friend, a nurse and an advisor,” she says.
Meaney was born in Belfast, Northern Ireland and completed her studies as a teacher at the University of Manchester.
She moved to South Africa in 1981 and worked as a lecturer at the University of Limpopo before she started working at Taxila in 1983.
“I enjoy teaching because I love working with children and I like talking. The best part is that I get paid for doing what I love.
“Chemistry is my second love and one thing that is a challenge for me as a teacher is to get the learners to be just as passionate about the subject as I am,” Meaney says.
Meaney adds that to ensure she always had the learners’ attention and to avoid them being bored with the subject, her delivery in class was always based on everyday life.
“I must say, teaching is not your ordinary job, you have a responsibility to shape the learners into the leaders of tomorrow. One of the positive things about teaching is that it is not boring. It keeps me young and up to date,” Meaney says.
Asked how she handled a difficult learner, Meaney said: “by not giving the learner what he or she craves – attention. I ignore them and make them understand that a person catches more flies with honey than with vinegar”.
According to Meaney, she had the most amazing moments at Taxila over the years and met a lot of different learners, but the most memorable was the school’s 30th anniversary celebration, which took place in March 2011.
Meaney has been married for 34 years and has two children and a granddaughter.
