FACULTY OF EDUCATION
An activist in education: PROF NADINE PETERSEN , Executive Dean: Faculty of Education
computer scientist or other ‘big’ careers, some of which I don’t even remember,” she said. However, a turning point came in the unlikely form of an education inspector – who around 30 years ago played a vital role in the school process – who made a career in education sound valuable, enjoyable, and something I could enjoy. It also helped that there were education bursaries available to children from financially constrained backgrounds, and from designated groups. Failing her first year studying a BA in Education at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) all those years ago, is something Petersen is not ashamed of. In fact, it’s what
When Professor Nadine Petersen, Executive Dean: Faculty of Education at UJ and her team of 130 staff across five academic departments, four SARChI Chairs, four research centres and an administration division strap on their boots in the mornings, they do so with one mission: to turn their students into good teachers and empower other educational practitioners and researchers who will hopefully go on to do great things in, and for, the country’s education sector. Education has not always been a career choice for many students. Just 10 years ago, when the Faculty introduced its Foundation Phase programme, Petersen recalls having to scrap around to actively
look for at least 60 students who wanted to study the programme. They ended up with 56. Fast-forward to today, and that very programme is overwhelmed by more than double the number of applicants, all vying for a coveted space in what will be the launchpad to their careers. Yet for Petersen - the eldest daughter raised by a single-father in Bosmont, Johannesburg - teaching was not her initial choice of career, and today she laughs at the irony of having had an educator father, and not initially wanting to become a teacher but then eventually becoming one herself. Petersen explains: I had these dreams of being a
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