SA needs to move away from traditional teaching methods

Ntombi Gontyeleni

The GESF brings together world leaders from the public, private and social sectors and seeks solutions to achieve education, equity and employment for all. This year there were more than 2,000 delegates from 144 countries.

One of those attending was Ntombi Gontyeleni, a literacy teacher from Spark Maboneng in the Johannesburg CBD, who took away plenty of learnings from the summit.

“I realised that it is time we move away from traditional methods of teaching whereby students are only the receivers of content and teachers are the deliverers. We need to create spaces where students are empowered to take ownership of their learning and be able to dissect and engage with the content in ways that suit them,” says Gontyeleni.

She also believes that the use of technology in education is vital: “However, it is not yet widely accepted globally by teachers so we have to work out how it can be implemented without making teachers feel that they are being replaced. They certainly are not being replaced, and the benefits of incorporating technology in classrooms outweighs the drawbacks.”

Gontyeleni was the winner of Spark Schools’ inaugural Innovation Summit which was open to all its staff with the aim of showcasing moments of innovative genius that happen in Spark Schools every day. Her Peer Tutoring project won the top prize which was the trip to GESF.

She adds: “GESF was an amazing experience. I was surrounded by individuals who are not comfortable with the status quo and want to bring about a change in the global education system. The discussions were solution-oriented and showed how one person can make a difference. I am proud of many things in my life but nothing beats being a teacher.”