‘Dedicated, inspiring teacher’ bags Stella Clark Teachers’ Award

For her commitment to excellence and hard work; for nurturing creativity, a can-do attitude, and an engaging in-class environment where respect and kindness thrive, Ntombozuko Mavikela was named the deserving recipient of the 2024 Stella Clark Teachers’ Award.

The award was established in 2006 to honour the legacy of Stella Clark, who was a language development lecturer in the University of Cape Town’s (UCT) Centre for Higher Education Development (CHED). It recognises exceptional teachers who go above and beyond for their learners, despite difficult circumstances in resource-constrained settings.

Mavikela is an English teacher at Sinenjongo High School in Milnerton. She received her award from UCT Vice-Chancellor Professor Mosa Moshabela on Monday, 12 August, as her nominator, Siphosethu Twetwela, a former learner and current third-year engineering student at UCT, watched proudly.

Unleashing potential

In his opening address, Professor Moshabela told the audience, which included a group of matric learners from Sinenjongo, that UCT is committed to its Vision 2030 and unleashing human potential to create a fair and just society. And an integral part of that means recognising those individuals who contribute to learners’ success. So, it’s always worthwhile, he added, to take a moment, look back, reflect, give thanks and celebrate those individuals.

“Our teachers remind us of who we are, of what we are capable of, and they support us in that process, in order for us to unleash our potential. Sometimes if it was not for our teachers, our gifts [wouldn’t] be unlocked. Some of them have such great impacts on our lives. Even years after we [leave their classrooms], we think of them and what they’ve contributed. We know that we are where we are because of the role that they played,” Moshabela said.

He also touched on the value of having role-model teachers outside of the school environment. In his case, he said, his grandmother played this important part in his life.

“In my case, I [had] a grandmother who played an important role [in my life]. She had never been to school, but she loved education. And she helped to unlock my own potential. And so, some of those teachers you’ll find elsewhere, in the home, and they will contribute to your success as well,” he said.

A dedicated, inspiring teacher

Every year, the Stella Clark Teachers’ Award Committee calls on UCT students to nominate teachers who have meaningfully impacted their lives. This year, despite dozens of nominations, Twetwela’s was a cut above the rest. It meticulously detailed Mavikela’s contribution to his life.

Twetwela said Mavikela epitomises the true meaning of a dedicated teacher. Her commitment to her craft inspires her learners to attain good grades and her interactive and inclusive teaching style makes learning English fun. This, he added, is important, especially for those who come from marginalised communities and who are not English first-language speakers. But Mavikela is not just a teacher, she’s also a mother, a friend and often also a psychosocial therapist during challenging times. Twetwela said she serves as learners’ constant source of motivation and encouragement that nothing is impossible; and inspires them to aim for a higher education degree to change the trajectory of their lives.

When he passed matric and left her classroom to start his undergraduate degree at UCT, Mavikela’s support continued. She regularly checked in with him via WhatsApp video calls and motivated him as he navigated the school-to-university transition and the demands of his academic programme.

“Her constant reassurance and belief in our potential kept our hopes alive and motivated us to persevere. This ongoing support is a key reason why I am now in my third year of engineering at UCT. Her commitment to our success, even after leaving school, demonstrates her dedication to her [learners’] long-term achievements and well-being,” he said.

Not an easy job

After accepting her award, an emotional Mavikela said she is grateful and touched that the committee has recognised her work and thanked Twetwela for his nomination. She stressed that teaching is not an easy job, especially in a resource-constrained setting – teaching children who walk up to 10 km to and from school, who rely solely on the school’s food programme for their meal of the day, and who contend with a range of psychosocial challenges including drug, alcohol and domestic abuse. Yet, they are forced to remain engaged and alert in class. Therefore, since qualifying as a teacher, her focus has always been solely on the learner, their needs and delivering the curriculum in the best way possible.

“Our biggest payment is seeing our learners become successful.”

“These are some of the challenges we are faced with on a regular basis. But with that, we always need to move forward, strive and work towards excellence because we are responsible for the future generation,” she said.

Mavikela implements a unique teaching methodology. Step one is creating a positive in-class environment, one where her learners see her as a role model. She also ensures that they fall in love with her subject and her teaching material and encourages them to believe that they can achieve anything they set their minds to. Lastly, she said, she believes that having fun in class is as important. So, she encourages joking around and interacting with each other because it fosters cohesion and ongoing learning.

“As a teacher, we are always told that we don’t get paid a lot. I totally disagree. We do get paid, and our biggest payment is seeing our learners become successful. Looking at [the kind of learner] we produced, that’s the biggest payment any educator will receive,” she said.