On the 07th of February 2019 The Lecturers attended the Annual Best Practice Seminar at Welkom Campus. The purpose of behind this seminar was to afford the College lecturers, management coupled with the invited guests from sister Colleges, Department of Higher Education and Training to share best practices and express mission to achieve academic excellence.
The Seminar had Dr Pitso Kheza Student Support Services Manager and Mr Peka Qhojeng Project Manager for Occupational Programmes as Programme Directors. Mr Francis Mahlangu the College Principal welcomed guests while Dr Rachere Radile Deputy Principal for Academic Services unpacked the College’s 2018 academic performance and he also indicated that lecturers should endeavour to benchmark with other best performing Colleges in South Africa.
Engineering Studies Lecturer Mr Jasper Cotzee and Business Studies Lecturer Mr Mxolisi Makasi shared best practices on teaching National Certificate Vocational NC(V) programmes. Other Lecturers who made presentations include Mr Aaron Nkukuma Business Studies Lecturer and Engineering Lecturer Mr Ngagazibini Zonyane shared best practices for teaching Report 191 programmes.
It was explained that students spend the better part of their lives in the classrooms and that it was therefore crucial to create the correct environment for them to learn and grow. Also, that dealing with students from different backgrounds required high levels of understanding from the lecturers coupled with great determination to establish good communication between lecturers and students. Presenting Lecturers cited on how all College lecturers should be game-changers, provide inspiration, and encourage the students to dream big converse to their history of being previously classified as poor performing in some subjects by their “unimaginative” high school educators.
One Lecturer revealed that his formula for success could be attributed to his successful spiritual connection with his students. He indicated that each lecture was started with prayer in order to enhance the spirituality of the students. Another focal issue raised was that concerted efforts must be made to instill a positive attitude on the Psyche of the students and to steer them away from being armchair critics of the government. It was also highlighted that the students were supposed to be schooled in the reality of life and be equipped with foresight of the challenges they were to face following the successful completion of their studies at Goldfields TVET College.
Several discussions were held as part of the seminar during which a number of issues were put up for deliberations. Mrs Selloane Maqelepo, Campus Manager at Tosa Campus and Mr. Ratsilo Maleke Welkom Campus Manager, led some of discussions on the Campus Life and the relationship of Lecturers and their students. Ms Nozipho Khumalo, Deputy Director Student Development & Support spoke on contextualizing Academic Support within the TVET Colleges while Mr Sello Sethusha, Director for Lecturer Development at Department of Higher Education and Training spoke on Lecturer Development activities within the TVET College sector and the benefits thereof. Mr Mahlangu mentioned that the College was planning to bestow awards to those lecturers who performed best during the 2018 Academic Year lecturers in terms of student results later in the year as part of Employee Recognition Awards.
