Page 67 - Thetha Issue 7

ALUMNI FEATURES

mater, Nelson Mandela University in the socio-economic backfoot.
2015, initially as Executive Dean of the “Universities will have to invest
Faculty of Education and now DVC: more in student academic support
Learning and Teaching from 1 June and development.”
this year.
It takes a village
Weighty wish list As a mother of three, Dr Moeng
Dr Moeng has translated her own values the role adult guidance plays
educational experience into a set of in the lives of children, and feels
progressive, ambitious goals for her that they need more definitive,
Mandela University students. committed help to map their goals
“We want students to graduate and career pathways.
with attributes that prepare them for One solution is better career
the world of work, jobs that do not counselling from a younger age.
exist and life in general. “We’d like to see it introduced in
“Our students face myriad Grade 7, giving children a better
complexities: climate change, artificial foundation and understanding of
intelligence, political uncertainty what’s available to them.
and human strife. They need critical “It’s amazing how we ask children
thinking skills to help them interpret a in Grade R, and in their formative
new and unimagined world.” years, what they would like to become
The impact of COVID-19 is still when they grow up – and then leave
keenly felt across the higher education it there.”
space – and this is a particular focus.
“There’s been uneven preparation A woman of substance
of learners because of societal As she breaks in her mantle of
inequalities; the pandemic deepened leadership, Dr Moeng is carving
and exposed this. space for a passionate goal: drawing
“Even though online learning more women into STEM education.
odds again, surviving breast cancer tried to bridge that gap, the perennial “Research has shown how women
following a shock diagnosis in problems of connectivity and are likely to be more humane in
March 2020. loadshedding have made matters their approach and how they tend
But, like her mentor mother, a worse, especially for those already on to go back to their communities and
domestic worker-turned-entrepreneur, develop others.
she has always dusted herself off, Online education: “Can you imagine what it would
choosing determination over defeat. mean if we had more scientists who
striking a balance understand what it means to improve
A will to win Dr Moeng and her team focus the human condition in its totality?
Dr Moeng became the first person on putting students first, which “If you teach a girl child, you teach
in her family to attend university, means confronting stumbling and develop a nation.”
graduating with a BA degree and blocks in higher education’s Her own journey has moulded an
teaching diploma. biggest chestnut in a post- instinct for servant leadership, and she
“I always wanted to teach. COVID world: online education. is comfortable sharing her life battles
Surrounded by passionate teachers, “An element of online if they inspire people – particularly
I felt safe, loved, heard, and excited learning is here to stay and we women – to greater heights.
at school. have to prepare ourselves and “When I was diagnosed with
“I’d come back from class and our students to fully engage with breast cancer, I had a lumpectomy,
teach my friends what I had been it. went through chemotherapy and
taught. I used an old car bonnet as my “But our country’s history has radiation. I lost my hair and gained a
blackboard and charcoal from burned resulted in an unequal society, so lot of weight.
wood as my chalk.” our students face challenges in “That whole experience gave me a
Dr Moeng received a scholarship accessing technology, data and different perspective on life: we must
to study at St Cloud State University devices that support learning. do our best with every opportunity
in the US, completing an MSc in “We have to be careful not that we get, be courageous and lead
Curriculum and Instruction. This led to to create other inequalities when with humility.”
a lifelong career in higher education: responding to the immediate Depending on each other for the
first as a junior lecturer at the-then need of connectivity and online greater good, she says, is always the
UPE, a move to North West University learning.” best disposition to have.
and then back home to her alma

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