History of the Rhodes University Maths Education Programme

RUMEP, formally instituted in 1993, grew out of a series of outreach workshops for primary mathematics teachers. John Stoker and Rose Spanneberg had been conducting these workshops for some years, as members of the Rhodes University Education Department, with the support of British Council funding.

At the beginning of 1994 these workshops were refined in accordance with the vision and mission of a Cambridge University project in South Africa, sponsored by the British Council. During 1994 and 1995 RUMEP offered a Certificate in Mathematics Education and later a Diploma, having its work accredited by the University of Cambridge Local Examinations Syndicate (UCLES). In 1996, following negotiations with the Rhodes University Faculty of Education, RUMEP became a unit responsible for the delivery of the Rhodes University accredited Further Diploma in Education (FDE) for primary teachers, later the ACE, and now the BEd (In-service) degree in Mathematics Education.

This major development from the FDE, to ACE and now BEd opened up meaningful opportunities to work with funders, as well as with regional offices in the provincial education structure, the provincial Department of Education and schools under the jurisdiction of the Department.

Whilst the BEd programme has remained the core activity of RUMEP, a number of other programmes have developed over the years. Prominent amongst these has been the Farm School Programme that gave rise to the Collegial Cluster Project and later the MathsNet Project. These projects work hand in hand with each other to support teachers committed to professional growth.

RUMEP also conducts specific funder initiated programmes and produces classroom based teaching materials that have been trialed and tested at schools.

The first director, Professor John Stoker occupied this position for nine years. The second director, Dr Rose Spanneberg occupied this position from 2002 to June 2012.  Mr Tom Penlington occupied the director position from 2012 until 2021. The present director, Mrs Fezeka Mkhwane was appointed in June 2022.

Mission

Our mission is to: 

• Promote in-service teachers’ content knowledge, teaching and reasoning skills in mathematics that will enable them to be confident and competent in teaching the subject.  

• Support the continuous professional development of mathematics teachers through a variety of programmes in order to address the crises in mathematics teaching and learning.

• Produce graduates from rural and semi-rural backgrounds who are confident, resourceful and sufficiently skilled to guide and support other teachers of mathematics in a cluster of neighbouring schools. 

• Network with all government and non-governmental organisations to assist and participate in the development of mathematics teaching and learning in the Eastern Cape.

• Create a challenging and supportive learning environment through hands-on collaborative experiences that ensure professional growth of each individual. 

• Continually raise funds to support and empower teachers of previously disadvantaged communities to attend and participate in a university-based specialised course to address the crisis in under-qualified mathematics teachers in rural schools in the Eastern Cape Province. 

Vision

The vision of RUMEP is to support, facilitate, motivate and empower teachers of mathematics through professional development programmes within the project.  The ultimate goal is to assist teachers and learners to improve their mathematics knowledge, thinking and understanding. 

Last Modified: Mon, 03 Jul 2023 12:32:19 SAST